A New World

Kaelum reclined in his chair and heaved a deep sigh of relief as the final lines of code ran without fault. He had undergone many hours of wrestling with bugs and logic errors to complete his linear algebra assignment for the class in computer science. Exhaustion weighed on him, but he could feel a little sense of triumph. "How am I going to survive another semester of this?" he muttered under his breath as he looked up at the ceiling.

Feeling a bit too cramped in his head and needing some mental downtime before getting battered with the next grueling assignment, Kaelum opened YouTube to begin searching for something interesting. He scrolled aimlessly through the video recommendations until one familiar thumbnail caught his attention: a gameplay video of "Eclipse Realms," a turn-based RPG that had taken over quite a blaze in gaming recently. It was a game with multiple endings and epic storylines that boasted a claimed true ending that no player had ever reached.

Kaelum clicked the video, showing another player trying to reach the elusive true ending. This would allow an attempt only after pulling off every possible ending available in this game. This player had actually made his way through the final stage and the fight with the final boss, but he failed. The rest of the video was just rammed with speculations of the true ending, each one more speculative and intriguing than the last, and Kaelum becomes curious and excited.

He check the marked date of his next assignment deadline in the laptop calender.

"The deadline still far though, I can work that assignment another time."

He close the calender and booted up "Eclipse Realms" and decided to start a new run. As the game's loading screen came up, he leaned back, ready to get lost in the game world once more. The next thing he knew, his screen was filled with the words, "You have been chosen," followed by a blinding light.

The next time Kaelum opened his eyes, he was surrounded by undulant darkness. He thought maybe there was an electrical short circuit in his room. He started walking slowly, feeling his surroundings with his hands. Right after a few tentative steps he felt something soft - like fabric - with his fingers. The moment he felt that it was some kind of curtain, he started noticing some dim light from behind it. He continued thinking this was light from another building that might have power, so he pulled back the curtain to let the light brighten up the room.

Much to his surprise, the light was of no other building but a beautiful aurora changing colors all the time and moving in wavy lines like that of the ocean. The view was mesmerizing, and his eyes opened wide as he took in the scene. The vivid display of colors seemed to dance across the sky, painting hues of blue, green, and pink. A moment left him breathless at the beauty of the aurora.

A loud cry broke his amazement. Kaelum had turned to see a giant whale, dark-bodied, swimming in the sky with small glistening crystals stuck to the skin. He stepped back with shocking openness of jaw, trying to understand the surreal scene. The massive sheath of the whale moved graciously, undulating across the air as if it were water, its crystals illuminating the light of the aurora in a mind-blowing sort of way.

With all this whirring in his mind, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him, a girl's voice chanting, "Rejuvenation Arts, No. 16: Quick Step." He turned just in time to see caramel-colored hair before something connected with his stomach, and he sprawled onto the floor. Quick darkness overcame him.

Kaelum came to in another room, one much like an interrogation room. There was only one centre table with two chairs, and he sat in one of them. Suffocation was felt a bit in the room, but exactly for what reason, it wasn't clear. He tried standing up with his body, but it refused to rise. He was frozen, yet no bindings held him to the chair. Panic had begun to raise its head as he realized he was paralyzed from head downwards. He screamed for help, trying to move his helpless body in agony.

A man filled the chair across from him. He appeared to be in his thirties—white hair, yellow eyes, casual dress. A sword swung from his belt, and he had a friendly smile. "Hey, you're finally awake," the man grimed. "I thought you'd sleep all day after the way she treated you like a sack."

"Before we began." He tapped his finger, and Kaelum felt as if cold water washed over his head. His mind calmed, his breathing stabilized, and he was able to move again.

"Are you calm now?" the man asked with a smile.

Kaelum nodded, still dazed. The man introduced himself as Elte, a professor at Antares Academy, and then asked who Kaelum was. Kaelum explained truthfully from the very weird circumstance he had been flung into. Thus, Elte bombarded him with questions for almost an hour, all in hopes of connecting Kaelum's story cohesively.

The questioning done, Elte offered Kaelum a snack of what he called a healthful protein bar. "Don't worry," Elte said with encouragement. "I promise that you will get out of here." With that, Elte vanished as mysteriously as he had come, leaving Kaelum alone with his thoughts about his strange new world.

Kaelum's eyes were turned vaguely toward the protein bar, as his mind finally came to the surface. How is this even possible? Why is he here, a place that straight out come from a fictional wok. Taking another surprisingly good-tasting bite of the protein bar, he endeavored to collect his thoughts.

The eeriness of the silence, the strangeness of it all, descended upon him. Suddenly, Kaelum remembered the aurora and the flying whale he had seen earlier. And if those fanciful elements were real, then what manner of wonders—and dangers—inhabited this world? Excitement mixed with fear as the realization dawned that life definitely took a turn far beyond anything one could have ever fathomed.

Kaelum decided to take things one step at a time. For the moment, he would just have to trust in Elte's assurance that he was safe. The questions could wait. He had to focus on the immediate task of understanding his surroundings, working out how to navigate this world. He leaned back in an attempt to try and relax when the door of the interrogation room opened again and another figure walked in, signaling his journey was far from over.