Welcome To The New World

"Freaking hell…"

She groaned, her head was like someone threw a brick at her. Her hand reached her head, massaging it with a purpose. Her head was like splitting into two, and her vision was like split into three directions. In the darkness, she saw a few repetitive statues.

"Ugh, where am I?"

Opening her eyes seemed like an impossible task when she fucked up her vision, so she became accustomed to the darkness first and foremost.

"Ughhh~ my body. I'm struggling for an unknown reason."

Her eyes closed shut at the darkness, warm fuzzy feelings stirred inside her.

"Funny, I was no stranger to darkness. Darkness was my first friend, lover, and protector. In the darkness, it taught me how to survive the unsavory reality, it taught me solidarity and it taught me… that I could be a human."

She feels that cold breeze stroking her face.

"This is so calming. Darkness is my closest friend, beloved parents, and my only light. I have conquered the season of darkness by opening a door to my own light. Ironically, my light was also darkness."

So, it was not strange when she found comfort in this lonely place with darkness accompanying her. That was until her body caught up with her brain, of course, after she felt a foreboding feeling residing under her rib.

"Ughhh! My whole body..."

Under the moonlight, she slowly opened her eyes as she raised her left arm and scrutinized the bloody long sleeve. The dry blood was evidently painted on her sleeves.

Her eyes then traveled to her bloody fingers, her long trousers, and also her clothes. The evidence of trauma was clear on her whole body.

"Yeah, I had a brawl with 'them'." She chuckled dryly.

Brawl? It was an understatement. What she went through was close to war.

"Well, probably it was a war. The war between me and my family. To my side, it was a suicide, by the way. I waged a war with my family in hopes of dying in it. Hah~! This is funny."

Unfortunately, Malikul was there, saving the apparent damsel in distress.

"Where am I?" She looked around albeit slow.

The place she was in was downright daunting. It has nothing but an abandoned tree. She was currently sitting on the bench after being dumped by Malikul.

But when she refocused her vision, the brain quickly understood the whole picture. She was inside a silent park with no electricity.

"This is scary. Where is Malikul, Wan?"

Probably, the place she was dumped was the corner of the park because her eyes caught a glint of a road lamp.

As the nose inhaled the air shakily, the park grew ever darker.

She shot up, her current strength prevented her from being as fast as before, she stood straight and stretched up. She stretched her arms, her abdomen, and her legs.

"Fine," she mumbled alone, cracking her necks left and right.

Summoning her leftover strength and accumulated fatigue, she strode towards the light as steady as she could. The shadows of the trees blended into blackness, and their silhouettes against the sky grew less pronounced.

"This place is creepy."

As the view disappeared the sound emerged as if the volume was gradually turned upward. The sudden breaking of simple leaves or twilights became the focus of Shadow's attention.

"Malikul! Malikul! Wan! Wan! Guys?" She sought them. Blinked her eyes a few times.

Frankly, her senses worked just fine, even when she was under the influence; drugs. Her body was highly adapted and resilient to any harmful substance inside her body.

Long story short, her body was immune to any kind of poison, let alone drugs. Her body was an embodiment of perfection.

She noticed the loam fragrance in the earth breeze and looked up to catch a glimpse of the moon before a dark cloud erased the precious silver rays.

"Where the hell am I?" She mumbled to herself, nearly whispering.

The healed skin under the torn fabric felt cold when the night wind brushed against her. She shrank and hugged herself to control her body heat. While looking around, she tried to collect any information.

"This is hella embarrassing. What am I doing?"

Her feet planted right under the lamp, her side leaned over it as she took a heavy huffing soon after. Who had thought the Almighty Shadow was huffing tiredly from the bench to the lamp which covered up a total of 20 meters in length?

"What is wrong with me? What did they do to me? This wasn't supposed to be this difficult." She rubbed her face roughly. "Where am I?"

Her eyes then caught the fallen leaves in slow motion. The green leaves danced in the air, the action was like a ballerina, the movement was so dazzling even for her uninterested eyes.

Her eyes followed the leaves swirled around, tossed to the side before it fell on the grass softly.

Something inside her heart flipped, but she didn't understand it yet.

She looked down on the road. The road was a smooth black river, the wheels floating so effortlessly along. The car was passing by steadily.

With a loud gasp, she looked up yet again. And only now, she realized what she was doing.

"Am I walking on this road or this road walking under me?" She couldn't rationalize her mind.

This was the weirdest experience she had ever had.

"The road doesn't rise or sink, it's me that did the walking. Or am I?" She was confused. "Am I tripping?"

She shut her eyes as she continued her walk, into the rich tapestry of dark blue, the cold night shivered one body.

"Huh~ what am I even doing?" She chuckled in irony.

Striding in darkness, she felt so free, walking without a purpose. Warming her cold heart.

"Where the freak Malikul is?" She cursed the boy's name out, looking around to find any hint. In case, he played a prank on her.

But, her expectation soon shattered into pieces.

Suddenly, a bright blue-ish light steadily spread across the night, Shadow's eyes seek refuge under her elbow to screen out the excessive light.

"Ugh, what the hell? What's going on? Why is this happening to me?"

The light slowly spread and engulfed her surroundings. The light ran rampage and blindly attacked the surrounding and loitered around but Shadow had a feeling the sudden appearance of the light had a purpose.

"What the..."

The light brightened up, making it impossible for her to peek at the surroundings, thus leaving her no choice but to focus on her senses.

"Whatever the light is for, I have no intention to sacrifice my life for the second time today. I escaped death numerous times and I am tired of surviving another death. This curse... ugh!"

The curse on her was not a simple curse that could be cleansed by killing the one who put the curse. It was more than she could imagine because… the one who was putting the curse had died in her hand, yet, the curse was still implemented inside her.

It was a waste of effort to even think about it.

But, the light circled her. As soon, her sensing alarmed her body.

"What the…" Shadow inevitably opened her eyes, but the strong light against the idea.

The light steadily concentrated right in front of her eyes as soon it found its intended target. After a few minutes of patience, the bright light slowly turned dim.

Probably the sign of Shadow to open her eyes.

The game-like message (in the shape of a rectangle) flickered in front of her.

{Welcome, mortal.}

-Register name: Shadow.

-Gender: handsome lady.

"Huh?" 

A sudden voice of a robot bulged her eyes. Her red and yellow-ish orbs one at each side came into view.

"What is this..."

Strangely, she managed to sober up from any kind of pain or fatigue she was currently experiencing.

-Age: 26-year-old.

-Code name: SS50.

-Title: The Emperor of the Underworld

-Height: 150 cm (short)

"Oi!" Shadow knitted her brows together.

This machine just attacked her unprovoked.

{Thank you for safely landing in this world. For a great experience, please listen to the explanation until the end.}

Shadow's eyes quivered. What did I just hear?

{Without further ado, let me introduce the storyline to you. This storyline will help you greatly to achieve your goal.}

'Storyline? Not a synopsis? I mean… the synopsis is just right.'

Shadow blinked rapidly. Her fast brain started to overwork due to a sudden message in front of her eyes. She felt like she was going crazy.

{We are living in an unjust world, where demons, humans, beasts, and many wonderful animals coexist together. The world was never safe for anyone. Particularly to a human.}

Shadow snorted mockingly. Coexist. 'What a unique choice of word.'

{We are searching for world peace, to find a hero within the dark world to light up the unsavory… kssskkk… kssskkkk… hope… ksskk… for humans…. kssskkkk….}

Shadow arched her brow. A certain familiar feeling soon embraced her. 'What is this? Don't tell me…'

Her brain suddenly made a connection.

{A long time ago, those living were breathing in harmony but everything changed...  when the fire nation attacked… ksk! Ksk! Ksk! SIKE!!!!!! Hahahahaha. How are you feeling, Your Excellency?}

"For fuck sake. Wan!!!!!" Shadow's anger flared up.

{Just kidding. Do whatever you want. Shall you eliminate your anger, at the end of the book, you will leave unscathed.}

"Try me, mofo." Her whole body trembled in anger.

{Shall you escape before that, Malikul Afdal will greet you in disappointment.}

Her anger was temporarily stopped. The name was enough to crumble her resort.

Malikul Afdal was not a typical boy or man for that matter. Not only was he her boyfriend, but he also was her future husband.

{And before you think negatively, your fiance didn't betray you. He dumped you here to sate your anger. So, Oh the lord of Underworld, destroy your qualm for this humble servant, dare to serve you with his whole heart.}

The robotic voice suddenly had emotion in it, and the voice of Wan was annoyingly clear in her ears.

"What the hell…" She could not believe what she just listened to.