The world slowly swam back into focus, a dull ache throbbing behind Zhuge Liang's eyes. He blinked, feeling the rough texture of the cave floor scraping against his cheek. A faint, earthy smell filled his nostrils. A quiet drip-drip of water into a pool entered his ears. He pushed himself up, wincing as a sharp pain shot through his temple. He figured he must have been knocked out by a falling rock during the tremor. Amused, he found that he was still holding onto the flute he was playing when the shaking started.

  He ran his hands over his body, checking for injuries. Aside from a few scrapes and bruises, he seemed relatively unharmed. "Lucky," he muttered, his voice echoing in the damp stillness of the cave.

  He stood and slowly swept his gaze across the dimly lit space. The earthquake, or whatever it was, had clearly taken its toll. Debris littered the floor, and cracks were found all over the cave walls. As he made his way carefully towards the cave exit, a chilling sight stopped him in his tracks.

  A figure lay sprawled on the ground near a pool of water, unmoving. Zhuge Liang rushed forward. His heart pounding. The man was clearly injured, his breathing shallow and ragged. He appeared to have been caught in the same cave-in that had knocked Zhuge Liang unconscious.

  He knelt beside the injured man, frantically trying to remember the first aid training he received while in the military. As he examined the wounds, he couldn't help but marvel at the man's clothing. It was like something from the historical dramas he’d glanced at occasionally. It was a mix of roughspun fabric and intricate fastenings that spoke of a bygone era. "What is this, some kind of historical reenactment?" he wondered aloud.

  As he gently cleaned the man's wounds, he noticed something unsettling: the man's face. His breath hitched. The injured man’s face wasn’t just familiar! It was his face! Not “looks like me” familiar, but “looking into a damn mirror” familiar! His stomach twisted. What the hell was going on?"

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the man's eyelids fluttered open. His gaze was weak, but lucid. "Who… who are you?" he whispered, his voice barely audible.

  "My name is Zhuge Liang," he replied, leaning closer. "What's yours?"

  The injured man's lips trembled. "Zhu… Ge… Liang," he breathed, his voice fading. "Born… fifteenth day… second month… fourth year of Guanghe." He gasped, his eyes fluttering closed once more.

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  Zhuge Liang's gasped! The fifteenth day of the second lunar month... that was his own birthday, the twentieth of March, 2000! "That's… that's my name and my birthday too," he stammered!

  Zhuge Liang tried to rouse him, but it was too late. The man's breathing ceased, his body going limp. He was gone.

  Zhuge Liang stared at the lifeless form, his mind a whirlwind of confusion. The uncanny resemblance, the shared name, the identical birthday… it was too much to be a coincidence. "This… this is insane," he muttered. Did he just witness himself dying?

  Looking around, Zhuge Liang finally realized this cave was definitely not the same one where he had set up camp. At first, he thought he was still in Hebei. Maybe the quake knocked him into a different section of the cave? But... where was his gear? And why did everything feel so different? None of his gear, with the exception of his trusty swiss army knife, magnesium fire starter, and survival knife that is carried on his body is anywhere to be found. The cracks in the walls… the way the debris had fallen… something about it felt off. Almost like… no, that wasn’t possible. The rock formations didn’t match what he remembered!

  His so-called brilliant engineering mind, warped by countless isekai anime, began to formulate a theory. "This looks suspiciously like a different world… Have I just been isekai’ed?" he whispered, "Transported to another world, another time? No truck-kun but killed by cave-in?". He starts getting excited thinking “If I have been isekai’ed, I must have the ‘system’ or some god granting me abilities!” At which point he starts shouting, "System! God! Anyone there?” he yelled, his voice echoing through the cave. “'Where's my status screen? My cheat abilities?" He waved his hands around, like he was trying to use a touch screen. "Hello?" he asked to the silent cave. “Open inventory! Display map! Summon OP allies!” before sighing in frustration, muttering, “Figures. No Wi-Fi, no god powers. Just great.” With a sigh, he accepted that he was on his own, no system, no god given abilities, just him.

  He looked down at the dead man, then back at his own hands, strangely calm despite everything he had just experienced. He started to realize that this is not Hebei, and this is crazy. Completely insane. But what else could he do? If he was stuck here – wherever “here” was. He couldn’t exactly go around introducing himself as a lost engineer from the 21st century, could he. Thinking logically, although he didn’t wake up in this guys’ body like most isekai settings, taking this guy’s identity might still be the only way for him to survive. His chunni self thinking, "If I'm going to survive here, I need to fit in. I need to become him." He then sighed, “Sure, I can ‘fit in.’ I just need to figure out how to churn butter, shoot arrows, and ride a horse without falling on my face.”

  With a sudden, almost desperate resolve, he made his decision. He would assume the identity of the dead Zhuge Liang and try to make sense of this impossible situation. "Don't believe in superstition! Must believe in science!" he proclaimed to the silent cave, even as his circumstances defied the very science he so desperately wishes to believe in.