The night had been unusually quiet. Even the hum of traffic below felt distant, like a faded memory. I had spent the evening pacing around my apartment, phone in hand, re reading old texts that no longer meant anything. There was a strange pressure in my chest, not quite anxiety, just a persistent heaviness I couldn't shake off. Sleep never came easy on nights like these, but I tried anyway.
Suddenly a phone number called me. The voice was nothing short of hoarse and neutral sounding. It spoke four words: "You are divinely chosen..."
I hung up and got a glass of water while watching the beautiful white moon and the city lights in the distance, whenever I couldn't sleep or was stressed I would sit here by the window and just doze off.
At first I thought it was a prank by my neighbor's kid, after all, he is known as quite the troublemaker. And with his father's connections, he rarely gets in trouble, so it wouldn't surprise me too much.
My apartment wasn't too expensive, but it had a unique view that only I seemed to appreciate, which is what convinced me to settle here and call it home.
After a few minutes, I gathered my thoughts and went back to my room to sleep, the sheets and pillows cooled off, my whole body seemed to sink into the bed as I lay down tired.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Three loud noises rang in my head and woke me up. I was sweating profusely, my shirt was wet and my head hurt. However, I was in a state of tranquility that made me ignore everything around me or what was going on, as if I didn't care about anything in the world. It was extremely addictive and gave me a striking pleasure that overloaded my senses.
I wasn't a smoker or an alcoholic or had a lover. But I felt as if I had just relapsed into a sin I didn't know I craved. This feeling of euphoria seemed to take over my body, with no intention of ever giving it back.
It was really a strange feeling. I seemed happy, but for what? I couldn't feel anything, I couldn't hear anything, hell, I couldn't even see! Am I dead? Was this some kind of cruel joke?
Then I remembered that voice and the words it spoke: "You are divinely chosen...". Divinely chosen? Chosen to die, maybe.
Feelings of anger and uncertainty began to take over my mind, and rightly so. The situation is beyond me, an answer would fettle my dying self's presumably last moments.
But how many times can one get what one wants without any effort. I've never been the type to be lucky or given things without even lifting a finger.
However my constant whining presumed to something. That giddy feeling began to dissipate, at first it was like an over inflated balloon, but after a few moments the balloon seemed to deflate, running wild. As more time passed, I seemed to have more control over my body and my feelings.
After what seemed like an eternity, the balloon finally ran out of air and was lying in a pitiful state. My head hurt like someone had shot me with a cannonball. Most likely the balloon had hit some objects while running free...
I weakly tried to open my eyes, that alone seemed a ridiculously hard task. However, my left eye steadfastly refused this simple task, it started to hurt quite badly, so I decided to give up. My vision slowly took in my surroundings.
At first, I saw the sheets, dark brown, itchy, with a texture that sent a shiver down my spine. They weren't the soft, firm white sheets I was used to.
Secondly, the unfamiliar furniture, everything was light brown, everything! It was like an old man's obsession with sepia toned photographs, or perhaps a particularly bland cup of Earl Grey tea.
To my right was a type of window that you only see in the countryside in some old houses, it was composed of a scratched wooden frame that was clearly in a pitiful state, while in the middle, placed horizontally and vertically were two pieces of wood to support the frame.
Through the window a ray of sunlight split the room in two, below it was a small table with two matching chairs. Next to me was a tall bookcase that looked as if it would deal me the final blow should I decide to ignore its might, it was even leaning slightly forward.
All in all, it certainly wasn't my home. If I'd been drugged, abducted and experimented on, it wouldn't have surprised me one bit. Having that thought, subconsciously I exerted all my strength to lift this unnecessarily heavy quilt off me.
After fighting one on one with the quilt like a fool and barely winning, I realized something, there are still things that could surprise me, this would be that I am no longer the man I used to be, literally, I was a child, with short, skinny arms and legs.
Either I'd met the most talented doctor alive, or I was in the most realistic dream imaginable. Either way, I'm not sure what my sanity will look like when it's all over.
I really doubt the first option, who in the world would be able to do such an impossible thing?
Come to think of it, the second option doesn't seem feasible either. These details and especially the pain throbbing in my head and body are so realistic that I feel like I could die at any moment, wouldn't that have woken me up a long time ago?
I took a second look at myself. Bruises. Everywhere. Bandages barely holding on, some are even soaked red. But then, judging by the state of this room, it doesn't look like the one who bandaged me could afford to change them.
After thinking about it, a third option came up... Reincarnation or transmigration wouldn't be so far fetched. It adds credence to the phone call last night.
But if that truly happened, then a million questions arise. Why me? Where am I? Why was I brought here? Why this body?
An unexpected feeling of anticipation stirred in my chest, despite the confusion, and more so the pain. I can't say that I haven't had enough of my last life, having regrets accompanying you every day is definitely not something you want to see.
But even so, that doesn't mean I can forget my past life... This is really a sick joke.
Letting out a deep sigh, I stopped looking around and stirred weakly, ending up fixing my eyes on a not so interesting spot, trying to sleep. My growling stomach wasn't helping my cause, my dry throat was just as bad.
Not long after I fell asleep, to my surprise. But this sleep did not last long as my eyes suddenly opened, waking me up. Someone was coming into my room.
I don't know why but a suffocating feeling engulfed me, like I was suppressed. It was coming from my left, the door. Likely the owner of this place.
This person seemed important because my body was telling me to listen to that person, I felt an air of authority from that person even through the door. I didn't know what to think about this feeling.
The door opened slowly, making a creaking sound.
I didn't know what to do, what was the right option? Should I pretend to be asleep or just doze off into the distance?
I barely had time to think before my gaze locked onto the ceiling. What was I even doing, trying to see through it?
After a few moments I looked at the old man I had already analyzed out of the corner of my left eye? My left eye... the one that had hurt like hell earlier? It healed already? How can that be possible? What the hell was going on?
This old man was disheveled looking, unhygienic, but somehow seemed charismatic and caring. He knelt down, placing his hairy left hand on my left arm.
I looked into his eyes. His pupils were gray, just like his hair and beard. He looked at me, then frowned. At that moment, my heart skipped a beat.
With a smile on his lips, he told me enthusiastically. "It's a miracle little Meng, you healed completely in just four days!"
Now it was my turn to frown at him. He was speaking a strange language, but for some reason I understood it perfectly and I was actually capable of speaking it.
That moment confirmed my suspicions, I transmigrated. It was like a kick in the gut, but I knew I had to play my cards right. I couldn't tell him I had transmigrated from another world and possessed this young kid's body.
"Little Meng?" I muttered, looking visibly confused. It wasn't hard to act confused, because I genuinely was.
The old man's pupils shrunk a little, confusion and panic appeared on his face. He then conveniently started spouting out information in an attempt to stabilize his nerves.
My face still showed a look of confusion but internally I was shaken. Zhuo Meng? Zhuo He... this old man? Cultivation? And I failed something called 'ascension' just four days ago?
I sighed internally before speaking out loudly. "Grandpa... don't worry too much, it's probably a temporary thing, my head still hurts a lot."
Zhuo He looked at me confused, not as anxious as before. He likely didn't know what to make of the situation, a couple of moments ago he entered the room finding me completely healed and just now I showed symptoms of dementia.
Sigh, what in the world I got myself into...
Zhuo He's expression turned serious. "Meng, I will bring you food and water, be sure to eat well. Stay in bed and recover."
Hmph, did I say something wrong? No, it can't be that... Maybe he is in delusion?
After that the old man Zhuo He brought me food and water and left me for the night. But his behavior was becoming increasingly weird. I guess he had his suspicions. Well, at least he didn't try to strangle me or something like that...
The rest of the night I spent watching the moon and the dazzling stars in the sky while also thinking of what just happened. These things gave me quite a lot of mental pressure.
That old man Zhuo He is my grandfather? And I'm Zhuo Meng... the same name I had in my past life. What kind of twisted joke is this?
Zhuo Meng paced around the room with his hands behind his back, his gaze absent, as if deep in thought.
His socks were made of a strange skin colored material, they were surprisingly smooth for the texture they had, but far inferior to even some of the cheapest on earth. Having this comparison in mind, Zhuo Meng thought that the technological advances of this world should be comparable to the middle ages on earth.
The stars here shimmered unnaturally, some pulsing with faint hues of violet and blue. The trees outside were impossibly tall, like spires reaching into the heavens, many bare of leaves. Yep, definitely not earth.
After coming to terms with the idea of transmigration and the fact that he probably wouldn't be returning to earth anytime soon, Zhuo Meng couldn't help but smile slightly at the thought. He had no living relatives left on earth, so it could be said that he had left everything behind.
A new beginning, a different world, a magical one at that, who wouldn't dream of it?