...
A musty smell.
It's familiar.
I look around as I open my eyes to the darkness around me.
It's... My old room. The four walls which bound me for the last 15 years of my life.
Am I dreaming right now? What happened to the assassin?
...
I sit down on the chair, letting out a breath.
Haaah.
The air is clammy here, as usual.
I guess I got too adjusted to the fresh air in Feydrion. This room is familiar, but not comfortable.
My old monitor.
It's the one which I used to play Feydrion on.
Wait.
Was it always that big?
I stared as it grew larger... and larger.
"...Why did my computer become a flat screen TV?"
It turned on by itself.
After I recover from the temporary blindness due to the sudden brightness, I look at what appears to be a POV of someone running.
"What am I looking at?"
...
Aren't those the training grounds in the Valencrest Estate?
My jaw dropped.
The person running...
...Was me.
It wasn't a recording, because I never ran with weights on my ankles, the ones that the "me" in the video seems to be wearing.
No.
That's not me.
That's... The protagonist.
My heartbeat slows down. I start to feel an immense sadness welling inside of me.
That's... Cain.
I thought I finally had another chance at life.
A healthy body.
Opportunities to grow.
"…So I didn't survive."
"I'm just a... Thief."
Just like how my body was stolen in that accident.
I stole his.
Now I'm back in my prison. My never-ending, pathetic life has come back to me.
|Agility has been increased by 0.2 (6.7->6.9)|
...He's training diligently too. Maybe even more than me.
"I guess there's no going back, huh."
|Would you like to assume control?|
|Cost: 10 Mana|
What?
|Warning: Mana consumption may increase under resistance|
"That... Is actually possible?"
|Yes, Master Elias|
...
I have to choose.
...
"Yes."
Air.
A lot of it.
Unlike before, it's refreshing.
I feel my body's weight. I feel my heart beating. My legs moving- AHH
...
I fell.
"Hah. Haha. Hahahaha!"
This pain isn't too bad either. I've never appreciated feeling alive this much before.
No.
Wait.
It's Cain's body.
...
...
If I just chose not to go...
He wouldn't even know.
...
No. This isn't right.
Memories of my life, living as a paralyzed person throughout my twenties, into my thirties, flash back in my head.
If I forced someone into the same prison... I couldn't live with that guilt.
"... I've decided."
"System, give control back to Cain."
|Understood|
"…What just happened?"
"…Did I lose consciousness?"
I guess I overdid it with the weighted training.
"I should head back now. The sun is already setting."
...
I'm back in this room. Although. It feels a bit... different.
If I were to guess, I'd say.. it's not that suffocating anymore.
The screen still glares at me.
"Yeah.. This is the right decision."
"I won't be taking that child's body away from him."
"Not like that."