"Huh?" I muttered the moment I regained consciousness.
I was... standing?
Oh.
Yeah, I'm probably still suspended—
Wait.
I could feel it.
I looked down.
My legs.
HOW?!
"What the hell?!" I screamed in disbelief.
I could feel my hands too.
I could feel everything.
My eyes began adjusting to the darkness.
I could see things now.
I looked back.
The whole place was in shreds—it was a wonder it even held up.
But how is this possible?
I looked at my arm.
No scars.
This doesn't make any sense.
Wait.
I touched my chest.
Why... do I feel this way?
Something was off.
I felt strange.
I've never felt like this before.
My emotions—they were all...
Disconnected?
I couldn't explain it.
But I felt...
Bland.
Sigh.
I placed a hand on my forehead, then sighed again.
Wait.
My face.
It was... fixed.
I touched my skin—it was soft.
I ran my fingers through my hair—it was there.
"Regeneration?" I muttered.
It was the only explanation, but even I didn't believe it.
Only elves could perform regeneration-level magic. Or mages with healing blessings. Or someone with a high-grade healing spell.
Not that healing spells could actually regenerate limbs...
Well, I don't really know if they can.
But this doesn't feel like that.
My body feels foreign—even to me.
I stretched my hand forward, then clenched my fist.
Hm.
Something's not right.
Oh well.
I inspected the place.
Chains—broken—littered the floor.
I looked around.
And then, just as I was about to run my hand over my face, something caught my eye.
A tattoo?
It was on my right hand.
At the center of my palm, there was a circle. Inside the circle, a symbol I didn't recognize.
Five chains extended from it, veining through each of my fingers and connecting at the back of my hand to another circle.
This one had a symbol too.
A Roman numeral: I.
I frowned deeply.
What really happened here?
Could this... be the reason I didn't die?
Most probably.
I stared at the mark a bit too long, then sighed—for the third time—dropping my hand.
And that's when I saw it.
Or rather—her.
"Anna," I breathed.
My eyes widened.
My fists clenched.
She was injured.
It was obvious.
Blood trailed from her forehead, soaking into her already blood-drenched clothes.
At this point, I didn't even need to ask.
I did this.
Did I... awaken or something?
I closed my eyes, trying to feel it.
Wait.
Ether.
Suddenly, an invigorating sensation surged through me—
Soothing, warm, alive.
I lost myself in it for a moment, soaking in this new feeling.
"Haaah!" I gasped, opening my eyes.
This all felt so strange.
WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!
WAIT.
I think... I heard something before I passed out.
"System," I said.
And in an instant... something appeared before me.
[Cannot access system in current level]
I frowned.
But I always had access to the system—until it left me.
Then...
That only means this isn't the system the goddess gave me.
Hm.
So that static voice I heard before losing consciousness was the system?
I looked back at Anna—
Bloodied. Battered.
Then I looked down.
Her finger.
A spatial ring.
I reached for it and slipped it off her finger.
Then I stood.
The tattoo.
It was on her too.
"What is really going on here?" I muttered, frowning.
I turned her hand over.
There was a circle in her palm too.
But the symbol inside was different.
I turned her hand to the back—
Another Roman numeral.
I.
Hm.
This...
This feels like some kind of slave mark.
Or...
Am I overthinking it?
Sigh.
I have to eat first.
I looked at the ring in my palm.
There should be food here, I thought.
I couldn't even remember the last time I ate.
I sat on the ground, closed my eyes, and channeled mana into it.
Suddenly, everything inside became visible to my mind.
Clothes.
Healing potions.
Food.