Demo Origins

Chapter 3 - I Met a Stranger Wearing a 'YOLO' Shirt

"Ugghhh...my head..."

By the time I opened my eyes, I realized I was on the ground in the middle of nowhere.

"Huh? Where am I? How did I get here?"

My memory was a little foggy but I started to recollect all that happened.

"My chest?!"

I immediately looked down at my chest to see where the crystal ball had pierced, but...

"It's...fine?"

My chest was fine, and the clothes I was wearing were also intact. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. No pain, no discomfort at all.

"What the heck is going on?"

First, it was that crystal fragment, then a mysterious person appearing out of thin air, and now I'm in the middle of nowhere with a spherical orb that's most likely inside me.

"Arrghh, this is so confusing!" I said, scratching my head aggressively with both hands.

"Calm down Jay, calm down. Relax."

Yeah, now wasn't the time to panic. I needed to understand my current predicament first and foremost.

After looking around for a bit, I noticed the ground was uneven, covered in fallen leaves and tangled roots from the trees. A low mist hung in the air, smelling of damp earth and pine, while shadows moved between the trunks. There were no paths—just endless green and the distant sound of something rustling.

"Hmm...I seem to be in a wilderness."

It was obvious enough; Demo City also had a few wilderness areas. Considering there were more than a hundred million people within the city, I was surprised there was still so much space for such things.

"Ignoring the question of how I even got here, how do I get out?"

Rustle.

I suddenly heard a loud rustling sound behind me.

I immediately whipped my head around; for all I knew, it could have been a wild beast. I'd never seen one before, but I'd heard stories, and my conclusion was to avoid an encounter for as long as I lived.

Surprisingly, it wasn't a beast. What made the sound was...a person?

A man was sitting on a boulder about five meters away from me.

How had I not sensed him until he made a sound? Had he been behind me this entire time?

I may not be a wizard or have superpowers, but I'd developed keen senses from my experience as a thief. For someone to bypass all my five senses was a shock, even if I was a bit disoriented at the moment.

The same thing had happened in Demo City Hall when that enforcer had gotten beside me without me realizing it.

I think I'm losing my edge, sigh!

As I got up from the ground and was about to move, the stranger spoke first.

"Yo, kid, you stable now? You were muttering stuff like 'Sister Catherine,' 'I hate you,' and 'Screw this' in your sleep."

He said that with a poker face, but for some reason, I could feel a snicker behind his words.

His voice was deep, but not too deep—almost like someone knowledgeable about many things, yet reserved and not eager to speak. It was also very calm. He spoke as if he wanted to be heard clearly and wasn't in a hurry at all.

Looking at him closely, I noticed he had very pale skin, dark circles under his eyes, and a very unique set of pupils.

His white spiky hair stood upright, while black spiky bangs fell downwards.