Chapter 3 : A New World

  It was 7 o'clo the m when rad opened his eyes. Last night felt like a distant dream shrouded in haze and mystery. Even after experieng a near-death situation, he had slept well through the night.

  "Anira," rad called out calmly.

  His nerves had calmed down now. After accepting his situation, he was able to think clearly and anize his thoughts well.

  It's m, so she will not be able to respond to me. Iing...

  rad g the clock.

  I have two hours before css. I feel much better. I think that's because my brain is not hurting from two memories now.

  "Phew!" rad took a sigh of relief.

  I should first get ready for breakfast.

  He stood up ao the attached bathroom to his face. Looking in the mirror, he smiled.

  Well, well, aren't you a handsome fellow.

  rad fixed his medium-length dark hair with patches of chestnut. His house was her small n. Before his demise, his father had held a good job. They were not rich, but the Valor family didn't ck mu day-to-day life.

  Looking at everything in the m does feel different. Everything is like a Victorian and modern hybrid design. I don't know what to call these. This coat has a Victorian pattern, but the way it's designed and the simplicity of it could really pass in my era as well. This is fasating. The desk and chair feel more modern-styled with a focus on fort for students like me.

  rad adjusted his well-worn, knee-length coat, a faded charcoal garment with subtle hints of Victorian tail in its high colr and slightly fred hem. Though the fabric showed signs of age, the patchwork repairs along the cuffs and seams hi his resourcefulness. Beh the coat, he wore a simple button-up shirt in an off-white shade, its colr slightly askew, paired with a loosely knotted narrow scarf that doubled as a tie—practical and stylish in its simplicity.

  His waistcoat, though pin and slightly frayed at the edges, fit snugly and bore the telltale marks of careful mending. It was dark gray with a few mismatched buttons, a nod to both his modest means and his determination to present himself well. His trousers, slim and practical, were a sturdy wool blend, their dark hue cealing the wear and tear of daily life. They ended just above his scuffed leather boots—serviceable and sturdy, with low heels and faintly Victorian buckle ats.

  Now you look someresentable. rad, you're better than me. See, this is how you use yood looks. As someone older than you, I teach you one or two things.

  Tuck! Tuck!

  A kno the drabbed rad's attentioole a g the mirror's refle, then with a faint smile walked towards the door.

  "Big Sister, is there anything I help you with?"

  Isalde looked at her younger brother, who now had an air of maturity around him.

  "Oh my, when did my learn to dress himself up so well? Maybe it's true that a girl really does ge a man's life," she chuckled.

  A girl? Oh yes, I retly had a girlfriend. I mean rad did. Well, with his good looks, it's only natural. But I don't have much memory of her because they just started dating one week ago.

  "Sister, it's not a good thing to tease your younger brother," rad replied with a slight smile.

  Isalde looked at him with warmth in her eyes. ", you do some work for me?"

  "Sure, anything you ask."

  "We have to make breakfast, but it seems like we need some bread and honey for oatmeal."

  The food is as expected a little behind, but I also have to remember the Valor family hasn't much wealth left. Only this house that was left by their te parents be called some kind of asset. In front of society, they may be upper middle css, but in actuality, they are poorer than it seems. rad himself has a huge debt to pay for his education. He only gets the loan because Isalde works in a bank. So much to worry about.

  Isalde gave rad 25 Sili: two 10-sili notes made of paper and one 5-sili ade of silver.

  Money. Usually as somebody who worked as an IT professional, I didn't have that much oney, but still, I was from a humble background in my previous life, so I appreciated it more than anybody—in fact, the happiest moment of my life was supposed to happen because of this money, but as.

  rad felt somehow sad deep in his heart.

  Seeing her brother's rea, Isalde was lost for some reason; she had never seen her brother show this much calm. Then she said softly, ", don't worry, I received a big bonus retly. Now go and buy these things for me. It will be te otherwise. Take care on your way."

  rad took his e and walked out of the room. In the hallway, he saw a girl walking towards him.

  Leona.

  Leona Valor was the other pilr of the house. She dropped out of her css early due to her worthless brother. She applied for national guard service through application. She was always a very strong-willed girl. Leona got rejected two times but didn't give up. Instead, she tried once more. She is now an official civil guard who is well respected. She usually es te due to her job.

  Leona Valor, in terms of earning, she is the main source of ine for our family. She is also two years youhan me.

  rad looked in her dire to say his m greetings, but before he could speak, Leona passed by him without even looking at him.

  The hatred and disgust runs deep. I see.

  rad gave a self-depreg ugh.

  7:30 am. Prismara, Prime State, Crystalline Republic of Aurealis (Teocratic Democracy, member of UG), Freya (Largest ti by nd mass)

  Looking down at two notes in his hands, rad felt somewhat curious. There was a strange man's picture oe. He was the first president of the try Aurealis.

  It's very iing—even though everything looks Victorian with little marks of modern style, they have a democratic party as the ruling party.

  rad put the two notes into his pocket and tried to recall something.

  There seem to be a total of five tis in this world: Freya, Athena, Aisa, Lupus, and Anterca. I don't have muformation on those, but from the memories of this dummy, I see there are 50 nations recorded in books. There is a Unified Gover (UG), which is an anization of 15 different nations. They are more or less the most powerful entity in this world.

  Walking through the market, rad noticed many things that left him speechless. Multiple girls were standing there wearing sty clothes despite the extremely cold weather. This year is even colder than st year. Yet, these girls wore such small clothes. A guy wearing a hat went towards one of these girls; they discussed something before entering the shop behind them.

  A carriage passed by rad. The road was her empty nor full. Oher side was a beautiful pce with an exquisite design. Two couples were sipping some beverages. One of the guys tossed a towards a man who erf some kind of dan outndish attire.

  "Meat! Fresh Meat!"

  "Fish, Fish, Fish!"

  "Please e this way, sir..."

  tless voices peted for attention. Year 12001 in the Linear dar—or year 4001 of the 7th epoch (modern era) in the modern dar—has been really tough on people. With the rise of teology, industry, and religion, there has been astonishing growth in the pages of history books, but poverty, prostitution, and crime have been at an all-time high.

  rad passed through the road, taking a small turn, witnessing tless lives before him.

  They are also humans like me. Right? Everyone has their own story, their own struggle, and their own clusions.

  After buying honey and bread, rad returo his house. Before entering, rad looked around a bit. His house was somewhat of an isoting pce, a little further thaual market. There were very few neighbors. There was quite a distaween one house and the other. Only in front of his house, across the road, was the home of a newlywed couple who had just moved in.

  I believe they have talked to my sister one or two times. I didn't get the ce to greet them as I generally stay inside my room. I should greet them at least once when I get the ce.

  Ring!

  The doorbell rang. A beautiful woman with emerald eyes and blonde hair opehe door with a warm smile. Her face was as beautiful as ever. The m glow made her look like some aristocrat noblewoman.

  ", where were you? I was getting worried. I was just about to send Leona to look for you."

  "Hi hi hi, the air was beautiful, so I was taking my time walking through the market," rad replied with a small chuckle.

  Isalde frowned a bit but then smiled at her brother.

  "Okay, now e in quickly. Let's have a good family breakfast."

  There was a table set in the middle of the room with five chairs surrounding it. Two girls were sitting on one side of the table in silehey didn't even look in rad's dire.

  After she prepared the breakfast, Isalde sat in the middle seat meant for the head of the house. Previously their father used to sit in that chair. rad took his chair opposite his two sisters, close to Isalde.

  Sigh.

  rad looked at his two sisters, then sighed quietly.

  There was an uny silence during breakfast. rad felt really awkward in the silence.

  Cra Valor, my you sister who is three years youhan me. She has been attending free schools which have retly been opened by Churches.

  The main religion in this world is Aaka, which worships the sun god as the ter of everything. It is said that he is the supreme being who created eight pantheons of gods who oversee our existence. But most people in this world are nious at all. That's because after the iion of the telescope and other teologies, people were able to discover the pary structure, and there were no such gods—just some ps revolving around a star.

  Isalde broke the sile the end of their family breakfast.

  "I will be a little te today. Cra, you're in charge of taking care of your older brother."

  Taking care of me? My sisters are youhan me. Do they think I am that worthless?

  "Sister, don't worry. I will be fine. Make sure to take care of yourself," rad said softly.

  Leona and Cra looked at their older brother, who was now ly dressed unlike before and had a calm expression and faint smile on his face.

  "Okay, Isalde," Leona said with a strong tone.

  "..."

  After that, they all fell silent.

  At 8:15 am, rad took his notebook and readied himself to go to the uy for the first time in weeks. Tomorrow was Sunday.

  It's really fasating that there are some terms and simirities like dates and weekdays from Earth. Also, the term 'sun' is used oh. This world is not totally different from Earth after all.

  I figured out at least one question I had before. Why did I uand Anira even if she eaking some uage? It seems like because she was using a native nguage of this world. Even before I ied rad's full memory, I could uand the nguage that rad khe primary nguage used in this world is Heraphant, which has a structure simir to Sanskrit and Latin in our world. But there are also many nations which have other primary nguages, such as the Lupus ti's Wolfhaven mainly using Polyphant. Monoglif is used by Aisa's most tries, and so on and so forth.

  rad was walking through the hallway of his house towards the door when suddenly he noticed some space around the stair that leads to Cra's room on the upper floor had some kind of distortion.

  This... rad squinted his eyes as if fog oairs.

  "What are you looking at?"

  A sudden voice startled him. Leona was standing behind him, ready to leave for her duty. She was holding a sword. Her deep blue eyes held ions. They gave chills to anyone who looked into them.

  "Nothing, I was just thinking our house needs some renovations," rad said calmly.

  Leona looked at him deeply, then turned around to open the door as if saying 'dies first.'

  Shouldn't it be me doing this for you?

  rad gave himself a sarcastic ugh inwardly.

  Walking through the road, he stopped suddenly and looked up to the sky, which was more pale than blue. The trees were quietly preparing for the wihe air was as cold as before.

  I o ask Anira about that strange space.