"What the hell?" Victor blurted out, discovering that his voice sounded different and unfamiliar from what he remembered, as it appeared smoother and youthful, which caused Victor to frown more deeply, with a shiver running down his spine.
"Is this… is this really my voice?" Victor whispered, feeling dumbfounded with his voice cracking slightly. He tried it again, louder this time. "Heeeellllllooooo?"
"You got to be fucking kidding me," He groaned finally understood that he wasn't imagining, but his voice did sound younger and smoother—like a teenager, not the gruff, weathered voice of a man who had smoked his way through three packs a day for the last three decades.
"No, no, no," he muttered, running a hand through his hair, wincing as a jolt of pain shot through his head. "This is… this can't be right."
"I… I sound like a fucking kid," Victor hissed at the bedsheet, his voice cracking with a hysteria he couldn't control. He then immediately tried to get off the bed, ignoring the dizziness that threatened to topple him.
!!!!
The movement sent another jolt of pain through his bandaged stomach, forcing him to gasp and sit back down. "Okay...okay…"
"I need to calm the fuck down like I usually do," Victor murmured, trying to quell himself and his uncontrollable hysteria. After a while, he tried again, whispering this time, but the unsettling youthfulness remained. "Maybe this situation is temporary."
"Or there must be some rational explanation," Victor rasped, forcing the words out of his mouth while trying to remain optimistic in this situation with his eyes squeezed shut, and covering his face with his left hand. "Don't be fucking stupid, Victor."
"There will be no real comfort in thinking like that," Victor croaked, slightly shaking his head and his voice trembling. A sob soon escaped his lips, a pathetic mewling sound that mirrored the terror gripping him.
Was this some bizarre punishment? A cruel joke?
With a sob that turned into a choked cough, he scrambled to sit up again, ignoring the stab of pain in his stomach. "Fuck, fuck, fuck…"
After a while, Victor's sobs began to subside, replaced by a trembling silence. His eyes, still squeezed shut, were filled with a mixture of fear and confusion. A new wave of nausea washed over him as he tried to steady his ragged breathing.
Suddenly, a sharp breath escaped his lips as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A dark rectangle, a television, sat across the room. With trembling hands and his heart pounding in his chest, he turned his head towards it.
A cold dread settled over him as he caught his reflection on the black screen. A younger face stared back at him, an unfamiliar face yet undeniably his own. The lines around his eyes were gone, replaced by smooth, youthful skin.
"What the hell? First, it was these injuries, then my voice became way younger like a brat and now this?" he whispered, becoming hoarse each minute. "What the fuck is going on???"
A chill ran down his spine as he tried to comprehend the impossible, and a couple of wild theories began to form in his mind. Could this be some sort of strange dream, a fever-induced hallucination? But the sharp pain in his side and the sterile hospital room argued against that.
"Th-thi-thiis can't be real," he muttered, scanning the room frantically, searching for any clue, any explanation as his voice rose in panic. His eyes landed on the remote control, and he immediately reached for it with his fingers trembling. He turned on the TV, hoping to find some news, some explanation for this bizarre situation.
As Victor fumbled with the remote, he channel-surfed frantically, his eyes darting across the screen. None of the news channels, reality shows, or soap operas made sense to him. The world seemed different, somehow. The faces, the voices, the language—it was all off. He couldn't quite place the difference, but something was undeniably wrong.
After searching for information for a while, he stared blankly at the screen, the remote forgotten in his hand. A wave of nausea washed over him again, and he pressed his hand to his forehead. He felt dizzy and disoriented.
"This can't be happening," he muttered, his voice barely audible. "This isn't real."
He discovered a unique phenomenon that existed in this world known as "Gates."
These mysterious portals called gates suddenly appeared across the globe, serving as gateways to otherworldly dimensions filled with monstrous creatures. These creatures, diverse in shape and size, possessed extraordinary abilities and posed a significant threat to humanity.
The gates' unpredictable appearance made them a constant danger. They could open anywhere, from bustling city centres to remote wilderness areas, unleashing chaos and destruction. As the monstrous creatures poured forth, they attacked and consumed everything in their path.
"It's like something out of a cheap sci-fi novel," he muttered to himself, fear and disbelief mixing in his voice. "A world where monsters are real. And somehow I found myself stuck in it."
"Could this be reincarnation?" Victor wondered, recalling the novels he'd read for fun. The idea had always seemed like a creative plot device, not a real possibility.
"If this is reincarnation, whose life am I living? Was I a good person? Do I have a family waiting for me somewhere?"
These questions swirled in his mind, causing him unease. But he shook his head, deciding to push the thoughts aside and sighed, "Let's not think about it for now."
"But still, it is crazy to think that beyond that normal, beautiful sky, danger can happen anywhere, everywhere," he uttered, glancing out the window at the blue sky, his voice filled with a mix of disbelief and resignation. "That is the reality of this world."
He then picked up the remote that had fallen from his hand, and with his fingers trembling, Victor flipped through the channels, hoping to find something to distract him.
"Honestly, how could I have ended up in a world like this?" " Victor muttered, skipping past several channels, but at some point, he couldn't help but sigh. "What a shitty luck."
Each channel offered a different kind of entertainment: a reality show, a sports game, a news broadcast. None of them seemed to grab his attention or spark his curiosity. After a few minutes of aimless channel surfing, Victor stumbled upon a late-night talk show in full swing.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!" the host, Olivia, announced cheerfully, her smile infectious. "Today, we're going to be discussing the devastating gate disaster that occurred last week."
"And joining us today is a special guest," Olivia announced, her voice filled with excitement. "He's one of the renowned hunters who survived after braving the most dangerous yet extraordinary mission and confronting legions of the most terrifying creatures."
"Please welcome the captain of the third hunter division from The White Tiger guild! Captain Marcus Turner!!!" Olivia's voice resonated through the studio, and the audience's applause filled the room. The camera panned to the entrance, revealing Captain Turner entering the stage, dressed in tactical gear with a hardened expression. He nodded appreciatively at the audience before taking his seat opposite Olivia.
"Captain Turner, welcome to the show!" Olivia greeted, shaking his hand. "Now, tell us about this high-grade gate you and your team just faced and cleared after a week alongside other guilds. It's been making quite the news."
Marcus leaned back in his chair, his gaze steely and focused. "Thank you for having me. The mission was very intense. We were dealing with a level of threat we hadn't encountered before. Honestly, that disaster that we faced was unlike anything we've seen."
Olivia leaned forward, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. "Can you walk us through the operation? What challenges did you and your team face?"
After taking a deep breath and exhaling, Marcus continued, recalling the harrowing details. "When we first received the news, I felt really horrified to hear that the gate suddenly broke open, unlike usual, where there is time to prepare for the situation, with hundreds of monsters pouring out after it suddenly happened in the densely populated downtown area."
"And when my team and I finally arrived at the scene, it was a complete mess in many ways than I could describe for example, our team had to immediately face a lot of aggressive monsters like those hordes of harpy that target our archers and hordes of basilisk that our tanks have difficulty dealing with."
"With the added hundreds of more gates suddenly appearing out of nowhere, you could say the entire situation can rival the first era or perhaps surpass it with all of those destruction and chaos." Marcus then said, shivering a little, recalling that horrifying moment. "Despite all of that, we fortunately managed to minimise the damages they caused as much as possible with the coordinated effort of many, including the production association, the unaffiliated hunters, and the authorities."
Olivia nodded, absorbed in the narrative. "And how did your team manage to close those gates? What was the turning point in the operation?"
Hearing that question, Marcus's eyes glinted with a mix of pride and sombre reflection. "It was thanks to the combined effort of many guilds that took action at the scene, whose leaders at the scene, I'll admit, are very adaptable and flexible, allowing us to close those gates successfully."
"And the main turning point of this event is thanks to the effort of Techno guild's specialists who lead all the tech support during the event and worked tirelessly to pinpoint the gate's boss and the leaders that have been leading the monsters, while the rest of us held the line against the onslaught," Marcus said, looking at the crowd with a soft smile, reminiscing about that moment. "After gathering all of the necessary information, it finally came down to a precise sequence of dealing with every type of monster with its weakness, and when the moment presented itself, some of us who had the opportunity quickly dived into the gate and sealed it by defeating the final boss and destroying the core, preventing further incursions."
Olivia leaned back, feeling impressed. "Incredible. Now, Captain Turner, there's been speculation about the aftermath of such operations. Can you shed some light on the impact and the measures taken to ensure the safety of the affected area?"
Marcus nodded, his expression grave. "After closing a few of the gates, our White Tiger guild's main priority was securing the area and providing immediate aid to those affected by the aftermath with the challenging part being required to provide constant ongoing support but fortunately, thanks to the collaboration between us, the local authorities and relief organisations, we're able to provide enough relief to all communities that lives in the area."
Olivia leaned forward, her tone serious. "Captain Turner, you and your team are hailed as heroes after that event. Would you like to share any final thoughts or messages with our viewers?"
Marcus smiled with a hint of humility in his eyes. "I appreciate the recognition, but the real heroes are the ones who endure the aftermath. To the affected communities out there, please stay strong and stay safe. We're here for you, and together, we can overcome anything."
The audience erupted in thunderous applause, acknowledging Captain Marcus's and his team's sheer bravery in facing disaster head-on. Olivia, visibly moved by their tale, expressed gratitude to him and even bowed down, as her mother was also one of the disaster survivors.
As the show headed into a brief break, Victor let out a heavy sigh, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. Frustration etched itself onto his brow as he ran a hand through his hair and quietly growled, "Fucking hell."
"Well, at least that explains all this," he muttered, turning his gaze down toward his bandaged body, and a wry smile soon crept across his lips as he traced the white cloth that wrapped his arm and torso. "You must be a survivor from that disaster as well, huh?"
To Be Continued