Lost in the Otherworld

Today marks the twelfth year since Gao Yang's transmigration. Before the transmigration, Gao Yang was an orphan who had just celebrated his sixth birthday in the orphanage. That night, he had a cupcake that the dorm supervisor bought for him and fell asleep contentedly, wishing before he drifted off that he could find his parents.

When he woke up, he found himself sitting at a dining table with a steaming bowl of noodles in front of him, half of the noodle dangling from his mouth. The living room of the old house was softly lit by the morning sun. Across the table sat a pair of unfamiliar young adults, and behind them, in the honored seat by the door, sat a kindly-looking old lady. Next to him was a big-eyed little girl, about four or five years old.

"Don’t just sit there, eat quickly, or you’ll be late for school!" the young woman urged, looking to be in her thirties, dressed simply in a nightgown, yet still beautiful.

“Son, do you want me to give you a ride?” asked the young man, who was tall and strong, with a slight bulge in his stomach and a receding hairline, but still had traces of handsomeness from his youth.

“No rides! Daddy needs to take me to kindergarten!” the little girl pouted, leaning over the table to pick at her bowl of millet porridge.

“Ha ha, then I’ll take your brother first and then take you, okay?” the old lady said kindly, reaching out to pat the little girl on the head.

Gao Yang’s mouth dropped open, and a noodle fell onto the table with a ‘thud.’ At six years old, he couldn’t understand what “transmigration” meant, nor did he know what a “parallel world” was. He thought he was still dreaming, but he didn't realize that he had been dreaming for twelve years.

Now, Gao Yang had long since adapted to this new world and had merged completely with his host. He was Gao Yang, eighteen years old, a high school senior living in a warm family of five, with a loving grandmother, parents who occasionally bickered but were affectionate, and a quirky little sister.

He lived a good life, studying hard for the college entrance examination like most of his peers, occasionally daydreaming about which university to attend, what job to find, whom to marry, and how many kids to have… In short, Gao Yang’s wish at six years old had come true; he had “found” his parents, along with a grandmother and a sister.

He lived happily and wanted for nothing. Until the day of his eighteenth birthday, everything changed.

After evening classes, Gao Yang rode his bicycle home. As he passed through a dark alley, a shadow suddenly darted out from the corner, knocking Gao Yang and his bicycle over. Gao Yang stumbled but was not seriously hurt. Grinning, he got up and finally saw who had hit him. Under the dim streetlight stood a short middle-aged man, gaunt and pale, his expression one of terror, dressed in ragged hospital clothes, stained with blood.

“Are you okay, uncle…”

“Run!” The man gripped Gao Yang's shoulders tightly with terrifying strength. “Monsters! There are monsters everywhere! Run! Get away from here!” His voice was filled with a desperate, bloody urgency. “Don’t trust anyone…”

“Bang!” Before the man could say more, a bullet struck his temple, piercing through his skull and exiting from the other side, instantly blooming into a crimson rose.

A thick mist of blood, mixed with a nauseating stench, surged toward Gao Yang. The hands that had gripped his shoulders slowly loosened, the man's terrified expression forever frozen. His bulging eyes no longer moved, filled with despair, confusion, and unwillingness.

Two seconds later, the body collapsed heavily. Gao Yang was stunned. He stood there, his feet quickly soaking in the spreading pool of blood, feeling it sticky and wet. The slight ringing in his ears from the bullet piercing the man’s head was gradually overwhelmed by the sound of his own heartbeat: thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...

“Child, are you hurt?!”