Ch. 2 - The Forest Journey

Have you ever heard about <Parallel Universe>?

Parallel universe is a popular concept in the future. But to explain it to you whose knowledge is naked, parallel universe is another version of our own world. There's another world existing out there, it's just different from us. The difference can range from small scale like having different clothes or people, to colossal scale like having entire different civilization or world history. The difference is can be big or small.

Nevertheless, that difference change everything.

When an alternative world is created, it means the universe has change its course once again from its original place. How is that possible? It's too gigantic to describe. All I can tell you, is that when that happens, so many things will change. But the interesting part is, when that change occurs, no one will notice that change happens at all.

No one, except me..

I was crying that day. I'm alone, shifting into a parallel world that no single human ever heard. My mind were teared apart. The shift happens blazing fast.

//*Glitches. Shift. Absence. Time intersection. Neuron splitters. Madness. Time temporals. Timeline changes. Modifying the history of the world...*//

"Brother… Brother… get up! We'll be late for school!"

That shift happens so fast. When I wake up, I am already stranded in a world I have no longer recognize.

I was born in Tokyo modern time and live in Tokyo 2015. I was born in the same era as you. But when I woke up 'that day', I was already in the year 2145.

In an area called Freelight Neo-Tokyo City, in a timeline no one has ever reached…

The history of the world changed so much. Something very wrong happened here, but I can't grasp why. I can't even grasp the basic of it all. My neurons were shattered apart, my memory turn into mussy mess.

That day, I suddenly had a little sister.

"Hikaru.."

I drool on my desk, looking at her face. She looks beautiful. I was just waking up. Wait, why am I sleeping in school uniform? I look at the clock. Oh crap, it's junior first day of school!

I run to reach the toasters. I run down the stairs.

Well, my sister is flying with a drone to the school complex.

The important thing is, I arrive in that world on year 2143. That day, I arrive as a schoolboy.

10 years later, I grow into a young man & spend my time researching about space-time shift.

10 years later as well, World War IV began…

***

I try to remember something from the past. But my neurons are hurting me once again.

After my butt landed on the grasses due to falling from the portal before, I decided to find the nearest settlement. I walk among the leaves. The autumn pine trees have dropped down their orange chlorofiles.

The sunray falls gently upon those leaves. I look at them tenderly, slowly walking among the steps. The leaves are falling down, my feet are slowly dancing. Piles of leaf flew away as my hit feet hit them.

I glance at the side of my shoulder. An armadillo scale is attached there. Part of my suit. It works as a screen as well. I read the information presented on that screen.

Power remains; 67%

Jeez, my suit's power must have been sucked during our last course of time-traveling leap.

Another thing that will consume my suit's energy is its need to constantly maintain the thread between here and the future control centre. That's one of the function of this suit. That function requires constant flow of power, hence resulting in the power of this suit getting consumed bit by bit everyday and then.

The consumption is slow. But keep it going for long enough, my suit's energy will be dried. I need to recharge this suit sooner or later. Not with normal material, but with [exotic matter].

My Mechanical Circle can be activated by fueling it with blue and yellow liquid. I can extract that from the beasts later. But my suit specifically needs exotic matter in order to run. We can't use another kind of material. Use normal matter, and poof- that material will just get deconstructed when we break through the barrier of time-space travel. I need a material capable of withstanding that rift breaking. Cr@p, this is all starting to hurt my hea-

…

Oh, I just came up with an idea.

Why the heck do I have to hurry to get back?

Consider this. Imagine timeline of the future as a series of wagons. Year 2155 is here, 2156 is there, 2157 is next, and next, and next, and next.

We will call those wagons, "Future Wagon Series".

Because I have done a time-leap, I have jump across another time in the past. I have jumped to another wagon series. I previously arrive at the year 579. The next wagon of the year after this will be 580, and then 581, 582, 583, and so on.

We will call this wagon, "Past Wagon Series."

When I do a time-leap, I leave my future wagon in a frozen state. The future can continue without me, but it will be empty because I'm not there.

Now, no matter how many years I spend in wagon 579, year 2156 will always be year 2156.

Whatever happens after year 2156, year 2156 will still remain as year 2156.

Nothing will change in that exact year.

I can spend centuries living in the past. 100 years, 200 years, 300 years. I can invent medicine to prevent my aging, or I can consume Life Elixir from this era. I can spend all my time enjoying my glory here, and I can come back whenever I want!

Year 2156 can actually change if I modify the past too much. But f*ck it. I'm the lord of time and space now. Paradox boundary will not hold me.

I can become king here. I can play cheating, using the science knowledge I gain at school to restart the civilization around here. A scifi civilization in the outskirt of a fantasy world. A reigning space kingdom, filled with elves & dwarves as the maid. Dwarf girls are so freaking cute...

I understand quantum physic, while these people don't even comprehend arithmetic. I have a great jumpstart. F*ck World War 4.

I should reign supreme here, and rise an interstellar empire! I'M UNDEFEATABLE!!!

YAHAHAHAHAAHHAAA!!!!!!!!!

"YEHEHEHEHEHEEEE!"

A laugh suddenly comes out of nowhere. I stood silent. That laugh is creepier than my thought. Where's that laugh coming from?

A bush shakes back and forth, jumping out from behind a tree. That bush let out a pair of black hands. A knife is held there. A bandit jumps out from his disguise. He pointed his knife at me.

"Yehehehe, boy! I got you now! You look rich, so I'll empty your entire pocket. Surrender yourself now, and we will turn you into our b*tch!"

He looks crooked. What does he want with me?

I did not bring any currency from this age. My wallet has been empty from the dawn of age, besides.

I still haven't return Kayoto's money. Nevertheless, that bandit still points his knife at me. Two another bandit stands beside him, posing like ero tight clothes model. They grip and lick their knife with lust. Egh…

Well… they point their knives at me. It is rude of me not to point another weapon at them as well. Hehehe, I pull my gun from my suit to them.

"Cmon boy, you better give us your pocket now. Or we will tear apart your clothes, and turn you into erotic porn sta- Aaaarrghhh!!!"

The bandit got blown away.

Two of his friend look back with widened eyes.

"Brother!"

"Big Brother!"

I just shoot that bandit with my liquid oxygen burster.

My weapon consists of a handgun and an Anti-Tech Burster. This is the weapon that government provides to us. Other people use other smaller more-manageable guns, but I use LV-5 Desert Eagle myself.

That modified gun is modified to be lightweight, but still capable of dealing a huge blow to any metal. They modify for me so that it uses laser. The burster that I use as well is a special burster that shoots water, specific for breaking the suit of soldiers' digital armors. The burster use frozen liquid oxygen. No electronic mechanism can escape once it is attached.

It is really cold.

"Aaaakh! My chest is smoking! My chest is cold and smoking!! AaaAAAA!"

The bandit scream seeing a sticky liquid vaporizing on his chest.

Haha! Taste that glimpse of scifi, you neanderthal!

Well, they're probably not neanderthal…

Two bandits beside him are pointing at me in disbelief now.

"W- a witch! This can't be... This must be the act of the witch!"

Witch? I read about that granny in the book about fairies.

"Sorcerer! Witch! Voodoo weaver! Corrupt wizard!"

You make me sounds like a politician.

"Stay away! S-stay away from us!"

Three of the bandits run away.

Well, you're not going anywhere!

I aim my laser gun at them. But when I was about to shoot, three of them step onto something on the ground.

Eh? I tilt my head. Three of those bandits get pulled up by a net onto the top of the trees.

"-eh?"

Another problem hereby occurs. Those bandits seem to be more terrified by the net than me. I look around, searching for the net's source. Those bandits desperately try to cut that net.

"Brecky, cmon! We gotta get out of this net! We gotta get out already!"

"It's no use Chad! The knife won't go through it!"

"Impossible!"

"We must get out from here! She is COMING!"

"Burn it! Burn the net!"

They throw a molotov bomb into their own net. The molotov bomb is exploding, but the net won't cut at all. The bandits are screaming. They roll over in their bundle of fire now.

I don't know what they're thinking. But when I glance at the place where their net is tied, I notice a dark figure is approaching. A silhouette of a woman, stepping in from inside the forest. This must be that evil witch that they're talking about! Bloody nails, crooked grins... I can already imagine it!

That silhouette sends a chill down my spine. The wind howls as she steps closer to us!

The silhouette grab the rope that ties the net where the bandits hang. Oh cr@p, oh cr@p, she's going to do it! She's going to do it! The leaf howls darkly around her. I can't see a thing!

She finally pulls that rope.

"Aaaaarghh!"

I close my eyes. The bandits crash to the top of the forest.

Oh my god, it's so sca-! Wait, what?

The bandits only crash at the branches. The girl pulls the rope back and forth. The bandits crash at those top branches again and again.

"Aaaaa, god, help us!"

"I don't want to get vertigo anymore!"

"I don't want to spend money to buy headache pills again!"

"Motheeeer, save meeeee!"

"Aaaaaaargh!"

"Hyahaahahaha!!!"

Turns out it's not a witch. Turns out it's only a teenage girl in the middle of the forest. She wore hunter's clothes, with a cape flowing down from her shoulder. A sword and a bow is dangling behind her. I can hear her laugh, exactly like a brat. The girl pulls the rope again and again. The bandits go up and down. Maniac laugh is marked on her face. She must have a great grudge against criminals.

Look at her. She is having the best time once in her life.

I should get going.

Bye, everyone. I'm going to run and live myself a peaceful undisturbed lif-

Kreek!

A beartrap pierces through my feet.

The teenage hunter turns her head to me.

"Wait, traveler! Don't run there! There are a lot of beartraps there!"

Don't worry, I already knew. There is one currently biting my feet now.

Sharp fangs shape the outskirt of that trap. That rusty trap exactly looks like the amalgamation of a metal mouth. A bear emote is drawn on the side of the trap. I look at that cute lines. Probably drawn with feather pen, mmmh…

Blood is dripping out of my feet right now…

…

I should scream right now. I open my mouth. The girl approaches me before I have any chance to scream.

/Slap./

I pass out.