vncnus Chapter 1 is about that man.
Chapter 1 is about that man.
It's so dark, so scary.
Lynn's consciousness rose from the chaotic darkness.
The crackling sound of burning wood filled my ears, along with a strange smell of herbs mixed with animal fur, constantly wafting into my nostrils.
With difficulty, I opened my eyelids, my vision blurred and overlapping, and it took a while before I could focus on the log beam above.
"#＊……%#&*……￥?"
A hoarse male voice sounded in my ear, chattering away like some kind of indigenous language.
Lynn turned his neck and saw a burly man with a thick beard, wearing an animal skin vest, looking at him with concern by the bedside.
The burly man was holding a wooden bowl filled with dark, murky medicinal soup.
This is where?
How did I get here?
My memories are a jumbled mess.
Now all he remembers is that his name is Lynn and he comes from Earth.
When the burly man saw that he had woken up, he grinned and said a long string of unintelligible words, then handed him the wooden bowl.
Lynn propped himself up and found himself lying on a simple wooden bed. Looking around, he saw bows and arrows and animal hides hanging on the walls, clearly indicating that it was a hunter's hut.
Ignoring the suspicious bowl of medicine, Lynn stood up unsteadily and pushed open the door.
A gust of cold wind hit him, instantly sobering him up.
Outside the door was an absolutely unfamiliar world.
The low stone houses are scattered in a neat and orderly fashion, with wisps of smoke rising from their chimneys. In the distance, there are continuous green mountain ranges, and the sky is as blue as a jewel. Several long-haired goats are grazing on the roadside grass, and the bells around their necks make a crisp sound.
Everything exudes a primal aura.
The burly Hans followed him out, gesturing wildly behind him, probably worried that he would wander off.
But Lynn had no time to analyze it.
Soon, his gaze was drawn to a stone statue in the central square of the village.
It was a statue of an elegant man holding two swords.
The elegant man, draped in a cloak, held two swords crossed in front of his chest, gazing resolutely into the distance.
Lynn recognized the figure the statue represented.
Brave of the South!
That man who fought alone against all seven members of the Seven Sages before the hero Simmel, ultimately killing three of them and perishing together with the omniscient Shurahat!
This is... the world of "The Burial of Frillian"!
So that means... I time-traveled!
Lynn walked toward the statue and touched its cold stone base with trembling hands.
hum!
The moment their fingertips touched, a warm current flowed from the statue into their bodies.
Immediately afterwards, a virtual blue screen appeared in front of me.
[Compatible soul detected... Synchronization initiation...]
[Completed simultaneously.]
[Inheriting some of the powers of the "Hero of the South"...]
Congratulations on obtaining the Southern Hero Physique!
Congratulations on acquiring the skill: Dual Blades (Beginner)
Congratulations on obtaining the innate magic: Future Vision (Incomplete Version)
[Current ability acquisition progress: 5%]
[World languages completed simultaneously.]
Please continue searching for the statue of the Southern Hero and inherit its complete will.
In an instant, a massive amount of combat experience flooded in.
How to adjust your breathing rhythm, how to maintain balance while moving at high speed, the optimal angle for swinging dual swords, the force required to sever a demon's neck...
Lynn loosely clenched his hands, and a phantom-like sensation came from his fingertips—the roughness and heaviness left by years of gripping the twin swords.
Even though he had nothing in his hands, he felt as if he could instantly cleave through the air in front of him.
"Hey! Are you alright?"
The hunter Hans's voice came from behind again, this time not in completely incomprehensible bird language.
Lynn turned around, looked at Hans's anxious face, and smiled, "I'm fine."
Hans breathed a sigh of relief, walked over, and patted him on the shoulder:
"It's good that you're alright. You've been sleeping all day, and when you woke up you were still dazed and didn't say a word. I thought you had your brain damaged by the miasma in the forest."
Hans continued in a gruff voice, "You're dressed strangely, you're not from the nearby village, are you?"
Lynn looked down at her clothes; she was dressed in modern casual wear.
It was still a physical transmigration, no wonder he fainted. It's a miracle he didn't end up meeting the goddess because of the change in environment.
"If I said I wasn't from this world, would you believe me?"
Lynn's voice carried a hint of probing; he was prepared to be mistaken for a madman or someone spouting nonsense.
Upon hearing this, Hans scratched his messy beard and gave an "I see" look, saying:
"Of course I believe you. After all, the place where you collapsed is no ordinary place."
"Where did you faint?"
Lynn frowned, a momentary gap appearing in his memory.
His last memory was touching a stone tablet at a tourist attraction, and when he opened his eyes again, he was at the hunter's cabin.
"That's right."
Hans pointed north of the village, "You fainted in front of the Goddess Monument in the northern forest."
"...There's a legend in our village that the Goddess's Monument is a gateway to the world. There are rumors in the village that it can take people back to the past, and there are also many stories about bringing people from other worlds here."
This explanation made Lynn's heart skip a beat.
Monument to the Goddess!
He vaguely remembered this setting; the Goddess's Monument was an extremely ancient relic, said to be related to the power of the Goddess of Creation.
"Now that you've brought me here, is there any way to get back?"
Lynn pressed for an answer.
He didn't want his parents on Earth to worry.
Hans's smile faded, and he shook his head, saying, "I don't know about that. Legends are just legends. In hundreds of years, you are the first outsider to appear before the Goddess's Monument."
Lynn's eyes dimmed.
"Don't make that face, young man."
Hans, unable to bear the somber atmosphere, waved his hand and said, "Since you came from there, the answer can probably only be found there. The Goddess's Stele is very ancient, with many ancient characters that we can't understand. Perhaps there are some clues there."
"Sir, could you please take me to see this place?"
"Of course, come with me."
Hans turned around, took a gleaming one-handed axe from the wall, and tucked it into his belt. "But let me make it clear first, don't wander off into the woods. The wild animals there have been quite ferocious lately."
Lynn nodded and followed.
The two passed through the village and soon arrived at the stone tablet in the forest.
The Goddess Monument is carved from a single piece of bluish-gray boulder, its surface covered with traces of wind and rain erosion, and engraved with countless mysterious runes.
Lynn's eyes searched carefully over the stone tablet.
He couldn't understand most of the texts, and even with the synchronization of world languages, these ancient texts were beyond his reach.
Soon, his gaze was drawn to a line of words at the bottom of the stone tablet.
The writing was quite new, clearly indicating that it was carved on later using a sharp tool.
[The Land of Sleeping Souls]
Those four simple words sent a shiver down Lynn's spine.
The Land Where Souls Rest!
He was very familiar with this place name.
This is the final destination of Frilian and her companions, a place where, according to legend, one can communicate with the souls of the dead.
Frilian embarked on her journey to that place, to see the hero Simmel again.
Could it be that by going to the Land of Souls, we can find a way back to Earth?
However, with only half of Nan Yong's abilities at present, he could be wiped out on the spot simply by being besieged by monsters from the northern plateau.
Not to mention that to enter the Northern Plateau, one must possess a Level 1 Mage qualification certificate or be accompanied by a Level 1 Mage.
He is now penniless.
Just as he was fretting about this, a scene suddenly unfolded before his eyes.
In the scene, a white-haired elf carrying a vintage briefcase walks at the front, looking languid and dragging his feet. Behind him follows a purple-haired girl, clutching a staff tightly, her cheeks puffed out as if she's complaining about something. At the back of the group is a red-haired boy carrying a giant axe, his head drooping, looking utterly dejected.
The image was incredibly clear; you could even see the ruby earring on the radish elf's earlobe that swayed with her steps.
This is the scene two months later!
The three people in the picture are none other than the Frillien Squad.
At this time, Frilian's squad should be preparing to head to the magical city of Oisaster.
If we can hitch a ride with Frilian, the problem of becoming a Level 1 Mage will be easily solved, and we'll also pass through Fabel Village along the way, where there's another statue of Nan Yong.
"This future vision is completely beyond human control. It seems we have to continue touching the Nan Yong statue to improve it."
Lynn rubbed her temples.
Uncontrolled future vision is of no help in actual combat.
"The wind in the woods is getting cool; it's time to go back."
Hans tightened his animal-hide vest and warily scanned the darkening shadows of the trees around him. "The forest after dark is another world. It wouldn't be good if we were targeted by monsters."