Log Horizon: Just Like Paradise

Just Like Paradise

The dull roar of ocean waves and the gentle lapping as it touched the foot of a prone body started to stir the man awake. The light was blinding, the light being too much to bear for his sleep ladled eyes, as he held his hand up to his head, trying to blink the sleep and light out of his eyes, the grains of beach sand sliding off of him sat straight up.

He opened his eyes and choked, his senses overloaded. Before him lay the cosmos, the black vacuum of space littered with the brief flashes of starlight. Snow-like particles drifted down and into the ocean. When the two collided, a dazzling beam of light shot out and for a moment, the water rippled before it calmed once more.

As he gazed at the horizon, instead of the bright sun lighting up the beach, Earth hovered over the sea line. He couldn't tell which Earth it was however, the one that he called home or the one he was currently trapped in.

Pain blossomed in his chest and he suddenly couldn't breathe. He held a hand against his chest and with a ping, he felt something shatter inside. He could only hear the roar of the ocean for a second, the world dimming.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain vanished and he was sitting back on the beach. He looked around and saw no one and with a sigh, got up. He dusted his pants off and stared at the Earth.

"I guess I died," he murmured quietly to himself. He flexed his hands and felt the tendons in his wrist contract. For a second, he flexed his fingers and realized the sharp fingernails he'd grown accustom to have vanished; he reached around and grabbed air. His fingers ruffled through his hair and felt very human ears. He rushed over to the water and leaned down.

His reflection stared back at him, but not the one he had grown accustomed to seeing the past seven months. Two dull blue eyes, one real and the other fake, blinked behind a pair of glasses. A strand of silver hair covered the right eye and his hair would best be described as bed-head.

He ran a hand through his hair and plopped back on his backside. He pulled his knees up close to his chest and sighed. He looked around and hoped that someone would show up to him and tell him the past seven months had been a dream, or some elaborate joke. No one showed up and sadly, he remained alone on the shore.

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against his pants, listening as the roar of the ocean got louder. His body grew heavy and the water kept getting louder and louder...

Birds chirped as air filled his lungs and blistering light melted his skin. His ears twitched and a plethora of voices overwhelmed him. He leaned up, his vision blurry. He focused on his forehead and his inventory popped up.

He sat on the cathedral slab, the mosaic glass shining bright through the rainbow spectrum. The remains of empty pews dotted the cathedral, several windows themselves broken or in disrepair.

Mother earth had gradually reclaimed her lost land; moss had eaten away at the concrete and mortar. Cracks dotted the cobblestone ground, with small sprouts of weeds thriving.

He groaned and hopped off the slab, stretching his back. His fluffy dark brown tail twitched, brushing against a fine layer of dust. He shuffled towards the massive wooden double doors on stiff legs and stumbled through.

He muttered to himself as blinding sunlight made him grimace and cover his eyes. His nose was overwhelmed with hundreds of smells carried along a gentle chilly breeze.

Fresh food, moss, the morning dew that coated the lands, nearby livestock of the People of the Land... it was hard to comprehend that this was the new world he lived in. Back when this was a game, none of these things would have registered to him. It was nothing but simply polygons and lines of code.