Chapter 1: He's Still Alive!?

 

Falling upside down, the scenery around me appeared completely reversed from the usual view.

I could clearly see the Russian soldiers up on the cliff, eyes wide in shock, staring down at me—probably surprised by my sudden action.

The ground was approaching fast, yet time seemed to crawl. So this... is death, huh? Life only comes once. I might as well enjoy this final sliver of time.

The moment the distance between me and the ground sharply decreased, time snapped back to normal—and my head slammed into the hard ground with a merciless, sickening thud.

Darkness.

No sound. No sensation on my fingertips.

So this is... the world of death?

Surprisingly, fear didn’t rise in me. But if I were sealed into this space for eternity, it’d be dreadfully boring—and stifling. Still, I doubt that's actually the case.

Heaven or hell... for me, it’s probably hell.

Deeper darkness layered upon the darkness.

I was surely being drawn toward death.

I wonder what the other world is like. If I get to choose, I’d prefer somewhere strange and wild. Heaven or hell, that’d at least help pass the time.

◇

A single beam of light pierced through the desolate world of darkness.

The light grew steadily larger until a full landscape came into view.

I saw leaves... and a sun shining brightly. Apparently, I was lying down.

"Ugh... I’m alive?"

Feeling discomfort from my sweat-soaked body, I sat up, still foggy-headed, and looked around.

All around me: forest.

I wondered if this was hell, but I didn’t see King Enma, the judge of the dead. Then again, I didn’t see any angels either, so it probably wasn’t heaven.

In that case, could I have somehow survived?

"...No way. No... way!?"

The cliff that should have been towering behind me was gone. If this was reality, then the cliff I had jumped from must exist somewhere.

I felt a faint discomfort in my left arm. Considering the height I fell from, it wasn’t surprising if I’d been injured.

I unfastened the button at my wrist and rolled up the sleeve.

Amid the wounds from battle on my skin, a blue star-shaped scar was etched, as if glaring back at me.

"What the hell... that's creepy..."

Seeing the scar, I wondered if I’d failed to take my own life and had been captured by Russian soldiers, tortured somewhere, and then dumped here. But there’s no way those sloppy soldiers could have made such a clean, precise mark.

Besides, the scar didn’t seem manmade—it looked more like a naturally formed rash. I rubbed it gently, but felt no pain at all.

As eerie as the scar was, I decided to set that aside and try contacting my comrades.

I pulled the radio from my plate carrier and punched in a specific number.

"No good, huh..."

The simple speaker emitted only grating static. Not a single member of my squad responded.

With communication clearly down, I figured I should explore the area while I still had stamina. My team might be nearby.

Once I made up my mind, I stood and quickly checked my equipment.

I assumed I would have lost at least one or two weapons from the fall—but both my primary weapon, the HK416, and my sidearm, the Government pistol, were still with me. What’s more, they looked cleaner than they did before.

Even the magazines and flashlight in my plate carrier were still intact and right where they belonged.

"This is... strange."

Muttering to myself, I disengaged the gun’s safety and readied it to fire at a moment’s notice. On full alert, I began my search of the area.