I’m dead?

That was the first thought that ran through my mind. So much just happened all at once and I’m still trying to process it.

My name is... or was Jon Markom, a 20-year-old loser who’s bored out of his mind and spent his life playing video games and watching anime all day instead of actually being productive.

Ok maybe I shouldn’t be that harsh, I had accomplished many things in the past, things were just slow, though I guess none of that really matters anymore.
What the hell did I do to get into this situation you might ask? Well, I’m still trying to figure that one out myself.

Tomorrow was the release date for the game I’ve been kinda hyped for recently, so I’ve spent the last few hours getting ready. Getting my computer and the drivers fully updated, making sure I have enough food, and spending way too much time rewatching past game trailers.

I didn’t realize how late it had gotten already, and I needed to get some sleep. However, as I was turning off my computer someone familiar called me, and of course I answered.

(???)「B」

(Jon)「C」

This is normal.

(???)「If you got some time, wanna play something?」

(Jon)「Ugh, sure give me a few seconds.」

This is Devon Obel, known online as whensdev, and also one of my childhood friends. We have known each other since middle school, and ever since then, he’s become my best friend. From time to time we like to play video games together, usually online, but we sometimes hang out IRL too.

(Devon)「Yo, by the way, have you finished that anime I sent you?」

(Jon)「Which one? The highschool shounen or the weird loli slice of life?」

(Devon)「Neither, I’m talking about the fantasy/comedy anime.」

Honestly, at this point, I don’t even know which one he’s referring to.

(Devon)「It focused on the comedy, but also some amazing ‘plot’.」

Huh? What does that even— Oh wait, he means boobs, got it.

(Jon)「I watched it yesterday. Wasn’t really interested in it to be honest, although I might have just been tired.」

(Devon)「Well whatever, I think it was good. You’re just boring and don’t understand the beauty of anime girls.」

I swear is this man even remotely normal? I guess I can’t really talk considering how much of a pathetic loser I am.

This conversation went on for some time, eventually devolving into jokes like usual. We spent the next several hours playing games and making fun of each other.
Little did either of us know, a thunderstorm was forming in the area.



(Devon)「Well, I think I’m done for tonight. Tired of all these hackers.」

(Jon)「You were just unlucky, don’t worry about it. Anyways, have a good night—」

Suddenly, a loud crash of thunder roars into the room, startling me for a second. I love the adrenaline rush caused by bad weather though, so this was fine. Although I don’t remember there being storms in the forecast for tonight, so this is out of nowhere.

(Jon)「Huh? Guess it’s storming tonight then. Hope you’re not afraid of loud noises.」

(Devon)「As if, cya later.」

Hanging up the call, I lean back in my chair to stretch. Tomorrow was gonna be a busy day, and I’d already stayed up way too late, so I needed to go to bed. Thankfully, it was perfect sleeping weather! After getting a drink, I laid down for the night.





…
Why is it so loud outside? Come to think of it, I never checked to see what the storm looked like. Looking at the radar on my phone, I see the source of the issue: A thick squall line combined with both a severe weather warning and a tornado warning; how lovely!

I took a look outside the window to get a front-row view of what’s going on. Rain downpouring, and wind beating against the walls, this didn’t look too good… Time to pull out the camera! Just kidding, I’m tired, not stupid. Deciding that the storm was probably going to pass over the area quickly like usual, I headed back to bed to get enough rest for tomorrow.


I was having a pretty nice dream you know, it was one of those dreams where you can fly or jump high if you try hard enough. It was relaxing, yet exciting. I wished it could stay like this forever.
Ahh wait, no— I woke up.

*sigh*
While still being depressed by the fact that I’m awake, I quickly realized how loud the wind outside had gotten. It almost sounded like a train going by. Suddenly, my room started to shake violently before breaking apart.
The wind howled through my room, lifting everything it touched and throwing it into the air. I tried my best to hold on to something, but my body was still in the process of waking up, and I flew up into the sky.

A tornado was tearing through my house. An actual tornado! It had taken me a few seconds to come to that full realization. Panicking, I flailed my body around trying to do something, I didn’t know what, but I didn’t want to die yet!

And as those thoughts went through my head, a severe pain coursed throughout my body, centering at my heart. I only had what felt like a second to see what had happened. A pipe, probably about 2 inches in diameter, was sticking out of the left side of my chest, stained with my blood.

I screamed. It was excruciatingly painful.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I was currently several hundred feet in the air, tumbling around inside of a tornado, and being beaten by debris, I would have fallen to my knees and cried.

Thankfully, it all ended quickly. Maybe just a few seconds after being impaled, my body was quickly thrown towards the ground, and everything went dark.





...
When the pain subsided, I stood in the middle of a dark void.
Wait, I can stand? There’s solid ground here, like a pure black floor… and pure black everything else for that matter.

Where am I though? I’m certain that I had just died in that storm, so what is this place? Looking around, I can’t really see anything, so I can’t say for sure.

(Jon)「Hello!?」

Not really sure why, but I called out hoping to hear a response.

(???)「A-ah, hello hello.」

A feminine voice responded.
Wait, that actually worked?

(???)「Hold on, give me a second...」

A ball of light appeared before me, growing as it molded into a humanoid shape.

Her form is definitely female that’s for sure. Devon would be going crazy right now if he was in my position.
She has long silver hair tied up into a ponytail, wearing a long green dress with sleeves that flare out at the shoulders, and a black collar. The dress was embroidered with flowers and various other flora in golden thread.
Wait, are those elf ears? Is she maybe some kind of cosplayer?

(Jon)「An elf?」

(???)「Yup! Is this your first time meeting one of us?」

(Jon)「The only elves I’ve ever seen are in media like anime or games.」

(???)「Media? Oh, you’re from Earth, aren’t you? I’m so sorry.」

Huh? What does that mean?

(???)「Well then allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tia, and yes, I’m a real elf. I know you humans from Earth aren’t used to seeing other species so this may be a little confusing.」

An actual elf? You’re kidding me, right?

(Jon)「I’m beyond just a little confused right now. What is this place? Why am I here?」

Tia puts her index fingers to her head and thinks real hard for a moment.

(Tia)「Uhh, this is the Universal Rift, kinda like a void between worlds, a barrier protecting them, and sometimes used as a highway by people like me. Normal humans are usually unable to enter, so if you don’t mind me asking, who are you? 」

Right now I’m being overwhelmed by information. Other species? Different worlds? And the rift between them? This is all completely bizarre!
How should I even respond?

(Jon)「I’m just a regular human being, nothing special really. Had a relatively boring life up until today. Before arriving here the last thing I remember was a large thunderstorm that swept through my area. Long story short, it spawned a tornado on my house, and after being impaled and tossed around inside said tornado, I’m 100% sure that I died.」

Just thinking back on it gives me chills. If you’ve never died before you don’t know the pain I’ve just been through.

(Tia)「You died in that storm..? Ah-! That’s uh, very unfortunate, I’m sorry to hear that.」

Tia is visibly sweating. Why does she look so nervous?
As if trying to avoid the topic, Tia asks me another question.

(Tia)「Well, now that you’re dead and probably have nothing better to do, wanna come visit Efrolisa?」

(Jon)「Efrolisa?」

(Tia)「It’s the name of my world, which is not too far from here. I thought you might enjoy exploring it since you said your life up until now was boring. It’s not too advanced in basic technology like your previous world, but instead it’s full of magic.」

Magic? Like actual magic?
Hold up, I'm interested now.

(Jon)「I have nothing else I can really do, so sure, I may as well. Plus I do like the sound of magic.」

(Tia)「I knew you would!」

(Jon)「But How do I get there though? I have no clue where anything is in this void.」

(Tia)「Don’t worry, I don’t want you to get lost so I’ll go ahead and send you directly there. I’ve got other things to take care of first though, so you go on ahead.」

Tia holds her right hand out in front of her, and closes her eyes. Suddenly, something that looks like a magic circle from a video game shoots out from her hand, glowing with a dim yellow hue.
Is this real magic? That’s actually pretty cool.
I wonder if ghosts can use magic too?

(Tia)「Alright, have a safe trip!」

The magic circle passes through me, and my vision is suddenly filled with light. Instead of the pitch black that surrounded me before, now I’m in a tunnel loaded with many different vibrant colors.
I look back to see Tia waving at me before disappearing into the light.





As the magic circle disappears, Tia sighs in defeat.

(Tia)「Damnit. I didn’t realize it was powerful enough to have leaked out that much. Why did someone have to get caught up in that storm? Well, at least he wasn’t too upset about it.」

Tia prepares to leave after taking a moment to reassure herself.

(Tia)「Guess I should go make sure no one else got involved.」





The streaks of light flow all around me as I pass through the tunnel at high speeds.

(Jon)「A different world huh? I’m actually kind of excited...」

Looking back on my life, I don’t think I’ve ever actually been this excited for something. Yeah there were events that I got hyped for, but it all felt temporary. I might be dead now, but my life wasn’t really going anywhere, so that doesn’t matter. It’s not every day that you get to die and explore a completely new world.

While I’m thinking about the past, the tunnel around me begins to fade while a bright warm light floods my field of view. When the tunnel ends, I fly out into the open sky.

Is this Efrolisa?
Trying to block the sun from getting in my eyes, I raise my hand to my face. Eh? Looking down I immediately notice a change.
Instead of having a normal body like before, I now have more of a ghostly form. Interestingly enough I still have my clothes, albeit also ghost-like.

Taking a look around me, I notice something else. Down below is a vast forest that stretches for miles, the sun shining down on it, giving life to the sea of green. I guess it’s nice that it’s not completely different from Earth.

I spent the next few minutes figuring out how to move in this form before getting the hang of it. It’s not that hard actually, I just have to think of where I want to go and my body follows.

This world is beautiful though. No buildings in sight, and nature everywhere. I wasn’t too much of an outdoors person in the last few years of my life, but this still amazed me.
Wait, I lied, there is a structure far off in the distance.

I flew over to this large building, taking note of how tall it was. A tower, pushing past the clouds above. With nothing but forest around it, what purpose does this place serve?
As I came to a stop in front of the tower, I noticed just how big it really was. It had six sides, each around 1000 feet wide.

While inspecting the tower, something came out of the walls. Or should I say, someone? A girl, human, and about my height with the same kind of ghostly form as me.
She’s looking directly at me and holding out her hand, beckoning me to come closer. I’m not sure why but I feel compelled to do so.

Eh what’s the worst that can happen?
Cautiously, I move towards her.

(Jon)「Who are you?」

… No response. She just continues to motion for me to come closer.
Well whatever, let’s see what she wants.

Approaching her, I can see just how beautiful she looks. Her clothes are pure black, and she has long pink hair that flows down to her waist. And while a little difficult to see, she has attractive blue eyes that I get lost in. Is this a ghostly love at first sight?

Now that I think about it, maybe it was a mistake to go towards the strange, pretty, ghost girl that I knew nothing about.
When I got close enough, she rushed towards me. The moment her body touched mine, she disappeared, and I blacked out.





When I woke up, everything was bright. Extremely bright. I could also hear.. voices? Hello?? Who’s there?

As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see the source of said voices. People, specifically an older looking man, a young boy, and three women standing around and looking down at me, all smiling.
Am I back on Earth?
Easy answer: No, I’m not. Their clothes look completely different from the ones I’m used to. Two of the women have on what look like maid outfits, while the other three have regal clothing.
The boy is looking at me with shining eyes, could you please stop staring at me like that?

So where am I then? I tried to get up but I couldn’t move anything besides my head. Looking down, I noticed the issue, I no longer had my previous body.


I’m a baby.


Prologue - END