TWG Prologue : Death & Rebirth

The sun is setting, dusk is arriving.

In a land far, far away from Earth.

Amongst the countless shops and the hustle and bustle of the market, a track of railroad could be seen.

This market is very unique that In the middle of the market, there is actually a railroad stationed in the middle of the road. The railroad was covered with 2 tall walls on each side, to prevent any accidents from happening.

Residents that lived close to the market occasionally brought their children along. The mothers could shop at leisure while they leave their children at the usual train watching spot along with other children of their age.

The residents that lived close to the market are all poor villagers that barely has enough to eat and live everyday. Since young, the kids of these families would be told the story of how big and wide the world is.

Hence, these little kids have dreamed of going outside their village from generation to generation, hoping that one day, they will escape this poverty stricken life. That is why the train that passed by the market became a source of inspiration for them to someday become someone amazing that will traverse the world.

Just like any other day, today, a huge amount of crowd has already gathered at the usual train seeing spot. The crowd consist of children of varying age but the majority of them were around 5-7 years old as kids at the age of 8 would usually have to help their families at home with work.

It was moments before the sun sets. In terms of Earth's measurement of time, it is around 5:30 pm, around the time where the train would come to pass.

And indeed, not long after, the awaited train came passing by, the sound the wheels create when passing by the rail road with high speed vibrated in the children's ears, as if that sound was a beautiful melody in their ears. A melody that sparked their dreams and wishes.

Inside the train, the occasional chatters of the people inside could be heard.

The train was very crowded with people, and the lack of windows inside the train did not help at all. Barely any light passed through, making the interior of the train looked very dark, any lights that should have passed through the windows were blocked by the people's heads instead.

The kinds of train that passed by the market are all cheap, old trains with not a single one maintained well. And at the time, lightbulbs were considered a very precious commodity in poor areas, which is why there were very few of them that were placed inside the train. To make it worse, it was only lighted at night, which also corresponds with the higher train fees.

In an edge of a room in the train, however, light from the sun passed through the windows, brightening that area.

The place where the light shined was vacant of crowds, with only a single person sitting at the edge of the seat, looking out of the windows.

He was a lean middle age man that looked like he is in his 30s. The man, if you take out the sense of dread and baleful aura permeating out from him, along with his messy unkempt hair. He would look very charming in one’s eye.

If you erase the man from the scene, then it would immediately create a warm and fuzzy feeling from the light of the sun, that will bask away your tiredness. But with the man there, that warm and fuzzy place instantly turned into cold and desolate, as if that very man itself is rejected by the world.

Li Zun, the man in question, peeks out of the window from the sit he is sitting in. Just awhile ago, he could see the kids at the market looking out at the train with eyes full of hopes and dreams.

Right now however, all he could see was the scene of the sun setting down, slowly but surely.

“ Ah....beautiful “ He could not help but sigh with praise towards the setting sun. It was as if being bathed by the sun’s light could shed away a bit of his loneliness.

Li Zun kept on looking out of the window until the sun has completely set. When the light of the sun ceased to shine, Li Zun finally looked away from the window.

What greeted him was the usual dark, gloomy space which is completely void of life.

After closing his eyes for a moment, he muttered faintly “ Hahh…this is why…I would never want to ride trains.. “ .

Every time he left the wilderness and returned to human settlements, he would always be reminded of this ability of his, a dreaded ability that made people stay away from him. This ability has accompanied him throughout his whole life, albeit it was getting worse as he age. When he was young, it only made people uncomfortable when staying near him for too long, but now in the age of 30, not a single life dared to come close anywhere near him.

It was even a miracle to think that he is actually still living at the age 30, any normal person would have killed themselves out of loneliness a long, long time ago.

Every living being, be it bugs or humans would somehow stray far away from him. This was his ability, or maybe a “ curse “ is a better way to describe it.

Li Zun have always lived a very lonesome life, a life that no one else could ever imagine.

People said that humans are creatures that needs the presence of others to live, if they were to be left alone, then they would die of loneliness.

For someone to live like Li Zun? It's enough of a miracle to think that he actually still have the will to live.

“ Haaah..I wish I could get back quickly “ Li Zun muttered softly, the longer he stayed amongst the countless people, the more bitter he felt. As if the train could hear his thoughts, the sound of it arriving at the station broke out.

Li Zun took up his things and started to walk towards the door. Naturally, at the exit he chose, no one else dared to walk towards it.

Li Zun quickly left the station and soon he arrived at a crossroad close to his ' home ' where he would usually stay for a few days before going out into the wilderness once more.

His residence is of course not anything fancy. It's located on the abandoned old city where one needs a quarter a day ride on train to reach the cities. In short, it's just slightly better than the situation on the market, on the country's map, this area was considered their impoverished or slums-like area.

He was still deep in thought, staring absently at the badly attended road beyond him. All of a sudden, his half closed eyes opened wide. A few meters away from him, he saw a little girl running towards a rolling ball at the road. Then, at the corner of his eye he saw a woman in her 40s a bit far away from him who looked like the little girl's mother, screaming at her with panicking eyes shifting towards the left.

When he saw the woman's eyes shifting towards the left, he naturally followed. At a distance away he could see a new modeled car, the kinds that only exists out of this shabby, poverty stricken district of his speeding towards the little girl.

“ Dammit ! “ Li Zun, who no longer had the luxury to think, rushed towards the little girl, he managed to push the girl over before he was hit by the car speeding at at a high speed.

“ Craash !! “ The sound of his body hitting the car boomed throughout the street. Li Zun's body spun in the air and tumbled along the street.

Screams and shouts rang out, some called for help to come. Others rushed to help him, but when they reached a distance close to him, somehow, they reluctantly stepped back in fright, as if a shadow of the grim reaper had manifested in front of them the moment they reached close to him.

Li Zun, although close to his deathbed, could still see the scene of the people not daring to get near him.

" Ahahaha, pitiful, truly pitiful!! My life is truly pitiful! People hated me, but I ended using my life to save them. And now in my deathbed not a single one came to help. “ Li Zun gave off a weak, self mocking-laugh as tears inevitably came out.

Why did he choose to save the little girl while all he would receive in return are eyes of fear and loathing?

In that moment, Li Zun felt that he was truly foolish!

He had ended up saving the human that would only look at him as if he were an alien, someone that would never be welcomed anywhere he went.

Just what has he done to deserve this ?

30 years he lived in loneliness!

Not a single hand reached out to him, it was a miracle to think that he could even survive his childhood!

He cursed the World for this pathetic life of his, he cursed the Gods if they existed and all the living beings that looked at him as if he was an outsider.

But at that moment..

A faint, yet soft feeling touched him. To be precise, " it " touched his cheeks that was flowing with tears.

A feeling that is extremely familiar to human, yet not to Li Zun. Yes, that's right, it was the warmth of a touch, the heat of another person touching him. Oh how long has it been since he last experience this feeling?

Before Li Zun could turn to look at the warmth that touched him, he faintly felt something dripping down his face.

“ Water ? No..this..tears ? “ Li Zun may have never experienced the feeling of other’s tears, but he surely had experienced his own. But the feeling of this foreign droplets felt truly different!

Li Zun could only come up with one word to describe this feeling.

“ Warm.. “ Li Zun muttered faintly as he turned his head and looked closely at the little girl he saved earlier on. The little girl was sobbing endlessly when he looked at her, she seemed like she wanted to say something but the words were stuck at her throat, unable to come out.

Li Zun looked at the girl closely, the childish face of her that was splattered with tears was extremely cute and heart-warming to Li Zun. To Li Zun who had never felt the “ kindness “ of others, this feeling was a first for him.

The little girl, if one looked closely, looked very cute and lively. Were it not for her crying buckets right now, she would have gave out the usual feeling of liveliness and warmth that she gave off. If she were given time, in another 10 years, she would definitely be a peerless beauty that infuriated the hearts of many.

Li Zun took one last glance at the little girl before he closed his eyes peacefully..at the same time, he smiled. Smiling was a natural expression of human, but Li Zun had never truly smiled for the last 10 years. Never, ever has he smiled like this, a truly peaceful smile.

“ At least my death wasn't worthless “ Li Zun silently thought.

“ Mmm…finally, this cursed life has come to an end “ . At the same time, his heart stopped beating.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

“ Hey, have you come to ? “

As he woke up, Li Zun could hear a faint voice ringing through his ears. The voice sounded extremely soft, like melody to his ears.

“ Ughh..huh ? “ When he woke up, Li Zun turned his head up and down, left and right. All he could see was..white, complete white. There was no furnitures or even any other color that decorated the room.

“ Am I in afterlife...? “ Li Zun muttered.

But when he looked in front of him, there lies a goddess sitting on a table whilst sipping tea. That goddess was truly truly beautiful. Li Zun had never seen a woman as beautiful as her, it was as if those beautiful celebrities he had seen on pictures were like chickens compared to her.

Even Li Zun could not help but stare at her absentmindedly. It was not until the voice of that goddess sounded out that woke him up.

“ Hey, hey..how long do you want to keep on staring ? I don't have much time you know ? “ The Goddess looked a bit in a hurry as she talk but at the same time she seemed very happy that Li Zun has been staring at her mesmerized.

“ Eh ? Eh..S-sorry, you were too beautiful I could not help but stare. “ Li Zun looked slightly embarrassed as he said while scratching his head.

The goddess could not help but giggle at Li Zun’s straightforward confession. The look of her giggling mesmerized Li Zun even more.

" Alright, because I don't have much time with me, I'll make it quick. I'm giving you a chance to reincarnate, I have already placed all informations you need to know later on when you reincarnate. “ The goddess’ voice drifted through the air as that voice carried an invisible, formless wave that entered Li Zun's head, flooding him with countless of information.

“ Wa-wait what ? Me ? Reincarnate ? God ? What are you talking about ? “ The sudden influx of information from the goddess confused Li Zun.

Li Zun himself never believed in the existence of Gods before. If you have lived a life in solitary for 30 years and you still believe in the existence of gods then it would have been really weird instead.

" I don't have much time..you will know eventually the answer to those questions of yours. Do you have any other questions ? “

“ Umm..then, why are you doing this for me ? It's not like I'm the only person that have lived a pitiful life right ? “ Li Zun asked her, confused.

The goddess stared blankly at Li Zun's question for a moment, before she answered him.

“ I..I just happen to see you and decided to help you because I felt truly pity for you “ The goddess felt very hurt as she said those words, especially the word “ pity “ felt like stabbing her own heart.

Even Li Zun could see that the goddess is lying to him. But she looked like she wouldn't be willing to tell him the reason. Since he guessed she wouldn't tell him no matter what, he didn't ask any further. As long as she is helping him, he wouldn't mind the details for now.

“ Alright, looks like you don't have any other questions..“

“ Wa-wait ! “ before the goddess could finish her sentence, Li Zun immediately interrupted her.

This made Li Zun sweat profusely. “ Just what is with this goddess ? She has all the time in the world and she looked like she is being chased by a wild beast “

“ Hmm ? What is it ? “ The goddess looked like she was worried about something but immediately turned calm again, it felt like she could completely understand Li Zun.

" What..what happened to the little girl that I saved ? “

A look of surprise swept the goddess’ face before she quickly recovered.

” Even after all that you still think of other people's well being…Aii.. “ A trace of pain could be seen in her face.

“ Right now..I couldn't explain it to you, but I can tell you one thing. The strings of fate have tied her with you, you would surely be able to meet her one day. “

Although he didn't really understand the meaning of the goddess words, it felt like she was safe and he would be able to meet her again one day, isn't that great? This alone had sparked happiness in Li Zun's heart.

“ Alright, looks like you don't have any other questions..Remember, when you reincarnate you could never-ever talk about me alright ?

Li Zun nodded his head in response. He knew the goddess had her own reasons.

A look of relief showed up in the goddess. She then stared blankly at Li Zun.

“ Can I ask you a question ? “ The goddess looked at Li Zun with her big, beautiful blue eyes.

Although Li Zun was confused as to why the goddess who was acting as if she was being chased by a beast awhile ago is now trying to prolong his stay, he didn't say anything out loud. Li Zun answered naturally..

“ Sure. “ Li Zun looked back at the goddess, although he could be considered an introvert. He rarely lose his calm, it was only because of his first time seeing a woman that beautiful that he lose his calm a while ago.

And although the woman who stood before him is a very beautiful goddess with unmatched beauty, somehow Li Zun felt a very familiar feeling with her and that caused him to feel completely comfortable and relaxed around her, it also allowed Li Zun to speak up his thoughts.

“ Why..why didn't you bear any hatred for the people around you ? “ She looked a bit perplexed as she asked Li Zun.

Li Zun's turned silent for a moment before he slowly answered..

“ If I was to say that I bear no hate for the people and the world, then I would definitely be lying. I am no saint after all. How could I not be jealous? How could I bore no hate? "

All those people could talk normally with others, they could love others normally, and in return they have people that love them back. If I wasn't jealous of them then I wouldn't have been human, haha….but…although I am jealous of them, although I hate the life I lived so much, I could not bring myself to fault them… “ A faint self mocking look could be seen across Li Zun’s face.

" Then why ?! Isn't it normal for you to fault them ? After all you are living a truly truly unfair life! “

“ The world bears no fault, the people bears no fault, even you, Goddess. Bears no fault for my situation. if I was to vent my anger at them wouldn't it be me who was at fault instead ? “

The Goddess stared at Li Zun for quite a bit before she finally uttered.“ ….Y-you truly are kind “

“ Hahh..I wouldn't call myself kind, if..if I have a very important person that I treasure and someone wants to hurt that person, then I would be very very ruthless to that person. No matter who he or she is. I'm sure of that, that's the very kind of person I am “ Li Zun looked very dignified, although he never had a person who he have truly treasured, it was as if he somehow knew that, that would definitely be the action he took.

…That is why you are very kind you know ? You really have never changed..even after all that..

A bitter look briefly appeared on the goddess’ face, but she quickly returned to her normal indifferent look.

“ Alright…are you ready to set off ? “

“ Sure..and thanks “ A smile crept from Li Zun’s face

" Live your life as you will this time Li Zun.. " The Goddess spoke faintly

Li Zun felt a bit surprised, he thought to himself. " Although she acted as if she were rushed, This goddess really do care for me ! “

Although it was spoken faintly, Li Zun could feel the sincerity in those words.

" Sure ! " A bright smile crept up from Li Zun's face. A smile so bright that even wouldn't have imagined himself making one if he saw himself.