Prologue
China city suburbs, noon.
This is a normal street in what could not be a more regular civilian area, the burning sun baking the ground along with the countless pedestrians,, causing the passing-by pedestrians to occasionally complain about or curse at the uncomfortable weather. The area couldn’t be considered calm, but it wouldn’t be as lively and flourishing as the center of the city.
At the side of the street, a still body lay on the ground. The intense sun like fire, yet he wore a body of black body wrap, under the intense sun you didn’t need to think to know that the pure black face cloth was incredibly hot. Not to mention the ground was already baked to the point that people don’t even dare to touch it. Black clothes such as his, the ground the way it is, just the thought of how they feel sticking to the skin can induce fear. Yet this person, has already been lying there for one day and one night.
“Why is this person still here?”
“Probably dead already.”
The gaze of pedestrians only stopped on him for a brief moment before quickly leaving. The majority of people living here belonged to the lower cast of society, rushing about busily every day for their livelihood. In this society where human nature is cold, kindness for them is a cheap thing. At the same time, in this era, a person how has collapsed on the street must not be helped, this unwittingly had already become a cold consensus.
“Quick mom, look, there’s a person? Is he sick?” A little boy with his hand held by his mom points his finger at the man on the ground and says.
“Don’t get close to him, do not forget what mama said before, people who have collapsed on the ground, a lot of them is because they have contracted ‘Isrock’ and thus been abandoned, you must never get close or else you will get infected. Come, let’s get a bit further away.”
“Ahh!” the little boy gave a cry, his face revealing a scared look, taking his mother’s hand on his own and running towards a further area, even afraid to just give the man another look.
Even a boy that is just six, seven years old knows the dreadfulness of “Isrock”.
“Isrock”, is a terminal illness that can cause the human body’s immune system and life force to slowly deteriorate. The only way way to contract the disease is from another “Isrock” carrier. Its nature is similar to “AIDS” that was once common in the 20th and 21st centuries, but is a lot more scarier than “AIDS”. At the moment, after contracting Isrock the world’s longest survivor only lived for five years.
After entering the 30th century, humans suffered from Mother Nature’s revenge. To fight for the increasingly limited resources, terrible battles constantly erupted, the smokes of war rose from all corners of the world. By the nuclear and magnetic pollution left behind after the battles, the “Isrock” disease was born. After people with naturally weak immune systems live in these polluted environments for a long time, it is easy for their bodies to develop the “Isrock” virus. The appearance of the “Isrock” virus also meant that this life was nearing its end.
Even more terrifying is the contagiousness of the “Isrock: virus. It can spread through any bodily fluid…including blood, saliva, even sweat…therefore, whenever a person contracts the “Isrock” virus, their family can only choose to mercilessly abandon them. Because no amount of money or effort is enough to save their life, keeping them on the other hand could cause even more people to become infected…
“Isrock” is like a horrifying demon causing people to avoid it only afraid that they are too slow. While it, has been considered Heaven’s punishment towards humanity’s cruel battles. Because without the nuclear and magnetic pollution left behind by the battles, the “Isrock” virus would not have been born. Thus, under the criticism and cries of the world’s citizens, the “Hundred Year Armistice Convention” known by the whole world was signed by each country. And the battleground to solve international disputes, under the terms of the “Convention”, moved towards the second world that humans had already become deeply dependent upon, the virtual reality game world.
Using the win or loss of battles in the game world to settle issues, this method was approved and accepted by the majority of people in the world. After the “Hundred Year Armistice Convention” was signed, the advances in virtual world games had also reached an unprecedented pinnacle. Each country would also pour in large amounts of financial resources and painstaking effort on the topic of training the gaming world’s top players.
After the “Hundred Year Armistice Convention”, following the decrease in nuclear and magnetic pollution, carriers of “Isrock” became less, but the horrifying shadow it left humanity would never dissipate.
And so, this black clothed man lying on the side of the road, who people naturally assumed was one of the poor abandoned people who had the “Isrock” virus, not a single person dared to get close.
Until…
“Big brother! Big Brother, hurry and wake up, you’ll get a horrible burn lying on the ground like that. Big brother…””
In front of the man, there was little girl wearing a light yellow dress, she only looked about ten, with a pair of eyes as beautiful as the stars and a young face as intricate as a clay doll. Any who saw her would subconsciously stop, wondering in amazement if they were looking at an angel who accidentally appeared on earth.
The little girl held a cold drink of which small portion had been drank in one hand, her other hand throwing away her parasol, lightly shaking the non-moving male, her star like eyes filled with worry and anxiety, calling out with a soft, tender voice.
Maybe it’s because the man was only lightly knocked out, or maybe he was never unconscious to begin with, under the call of the girls not too loud voice, the man’s body slightly moved a bit, and slowly, incredibly difficultly lifted his head up, revealing a pale man’s face, this is a teenager who looks no older than 16,17 years of age, messy hair, lips completely cracked, more so his entire face was scary pale. He opened his eyes slightly, clouded eyes meeting a pair of pure, crystal like eyes.
Such pretty…eyes…
“Thank goodness thank goodness, you’re finally awake!” the girl gave a sigh of relief, and then happily laughed. The teenage male looked at her pure, flawless smile through his hazy eyesight, startled for a moment. Before today, he had experienced too much cold stares and indifference, and had long ago become accustomed to it, he found it a little hard to believe that on this world there still existed such a pair of pure, clean eyes.
“Big brother, are you sick?” Can you stand up? It’s very hot lying on the ground like that…ah, no problem, my dad and mom are about to be here. They’ll help big brother, oh right, my dad is a doctor here, he’ll definitely make big brother better again.” The little girl held up her parasol, covering her upper body, using a soft, pleasant voice asking and comforting him.
The man moved his chapped lips, his throat as if burned by fire. He tried for a long time, but only managed to say one word…
“…Water…”
“Water…” The girl blinked her eyes and then placed the slightly drunken cold drink at his lips: “I don’t have water… will this do? It’s very cooling, and very sweet.”
The little girl carefully placed the straw in his mouth, the teen used all his energy, taking a long drink, instantly, a mass of cold liquid like a clear spring filled his mouth. After it slowly flowed down his throat, flowing into what seemed as a dead body. At that moment, he finally felt the existence of his own body, his vision also became clearer. He tightly bit the straw that brought him back from the line of death. His eyes, staring at the girl who was at the same time looking at him, not willing to leave.
“Is it tasty? If it tastes good then drink the rest of it hehe, if you want to drink more, I can have papa and mama buy it again later.” Seeing him trying hard to suck the straw, the girl’s thin brows arched into two crescent moons, revealing a super kawaii to the max smile. This smile was also heavily imprinted in his heart… he knew, this life, it would be impossible to forget this moment, and especially this girl.
Uniform footsteps came from behind, the girl turned around immediately, proceeding to wave her hands and started shouting: “Papa, Mama, I’m here, there’s a big brother here who’s collapsed.”
The one who came are a husband and wife not yet in their middle ages, regular clothes highlighting that their family was not wealthy. When they saw the girl and the man lying on the ground beside her, both of them had the living daylights scarred out of them.
“Ruo Ruo (若若）, hurry up and get away from him!” The girl’s mother ran towards her terrified, hastily carrying the girl to the side. With a soft cry, the cold drink in the girl’s hand slipped, cooling liquid splashing across the ground.
“Nn…Mama, why did you carry me aside, big brother is thirsty, he really wants to drink water…mama, papa, can you guys save him please? Papa, you’re a great doctor, you’ll definitely save him right? “The girl struggled slightly in her mother’s embrace, her eyes revealing her worry as she looked at the teenage boy,
“Don’t worry, he does not have ‘Isrock’.”
The girl’s father is a doctor, usually he interacts with a lot of “Isrock” patients, after looking at the teen a couple times, and he knew that he did not contract Isrock. Only after listening to his words did the mother feel relieved. She crouched down, showing an apologetic smile towards the teen: “Child, sorry, at the time I was too worried about Ruo Ruo (若若) which is why… what’s your name? Why are you here?”
The teen’s lips moved, after a while, he difficultly let out a voice: “My…name…”
What is my name right now… I don’t know.
Because. I already decided to forget my past name… I really wish I can forget forever.