Coleuria | (reworking)

『CHAPTER 01』

1: New Beginnings

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The faint breeze blew Akane's red hair as she roamed her gaze around the vast dark room, shaking and clenching her fist. A hologram mysteriously materialized in front of her, followed by computerized words read as: [Welcome to Coleuria, Akane Shihong]. The hologram then disappeared in the next few seconds.

Frowning, Akane wandered in circles with her mind filled with questions. She paused after walking a few more rounds, stood still, and remained quiet until she could only hear her breathing.

"Stop following me!" cried Akane. Her voice echoed around the room. She began sweating, gulping, and shaking as the sound of footsteps moved closer and closer.

She immediately turned around, her whole body shivering. A statuesque lady with white hair, wearing a long blue dress, stood in front of her.

The lady's ocean blue eyes locked on to Akane's lilac eyes. "You must be Akane?" asked the lady in a tender, angel-like voice, with a gentle smile on her face.

"Yes, I am," answered Akane.

The lady stepped closer to Akane, exposing her blinding pale skin, indeed like an angel.

"Don't worry, I'm not an enemy," the lady stopped a few meters away from Akane, who's standing still, staring heedlessly at the lady.

"I was ordered to give you some data about this [game]." The lady snapped her fingers. Many holograms appeared around them, making Akane stare at the holograms in shock, at the same time, amused.

"There are approximately nine colors here in [Coleuria]: [Radians], known for their Speed. [Bluetians], known for their Intelligence. [Yellians], known for their Magic. [Viollians], known for their Creativity. [Grenians], known for their devotion in Nature. [Golians], known for their Strength. [Blaikians], known for their Agility. [Cyanians], known for their Summoning skills. [Whitians] such as myself, are known for their Serene mind."

Akane remained quiet and slowly nodded. The lady stepped towards a massive hologram, showing Akane's design and data.

"You're a [samurai]. You wield a [katana]." The lady turned Akane's character around in the hologram. Akane nodded and got amused by the advanced technology. The hologram of Akane's character shrank and reverted to its original position.

The lady marched behind Akane, another massive hologram appeared. Akane looked behind. The hologram displayed a world map with assorted colors.

"This is the map of [Coleuria]." The lady said and touched at the area with the color red on the hologram.

"You reside at the [Crimson Red Nation] located near [Neusud], a nation where people with red appearance, Radians, live." Akane nodded. The lady touched the hologram and reverted to what it was beforehand.

"If you desire to engage with other people having different colors, you can travel to [Neuzentrum], a region where different-colored people can lawfully assemble." The lady touched the place in the middle of the forests symbolized as a large sparkling tree with mixed colors between it.

Akane stared at [Neuzentrum] in awe and then looked at the lady. "[Neucentre] is a continent in the middle of the Color nations and is divided into five parts: [Neuzentrum], [Neunord], [Neusud], [Neuost], and [Neuwest], located beyond the forests encircling [Neuzentrum]."

"You can't travel to other nations because you're a Radian. Radians are people with red symbols. Symbols are found either on the hand, neck, arm, shoulder, chest, or even on the forehead. Yours is at the top of your right hand." Akane then looked at her right hand. There was a red symbol that made her screech silently in amazement.

"You can also tell someone's nationality by their outfit's dominant colors but, some people can deceive you." The lady continued. Akane froze after realizing that she's a wimp.

"So I presume I explained the data thoroughly?" asked the lady that snapped Akane back at reality.

Akane nodded hysterically. The lady stared at her before turning away. "Okay, I'll be leaving." The lady begins to step away from her. Akane remembered something she forgot to ask. "Wait!"

The lady halted. She looked at Akane. Akane was grateful that the lady hadn't gone that far yet.

"What if I'll die?" asked Akane. She recognized something termed 'Respawn' which unexpectedly popped inside her mind.

"You will die." The lady replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"I mean, you 'respawn' right? Like, you will be alive again?" Akane demonstrated and was awkwardly smiling. The lady inexplicably stared at Akane.

"Yes. However, in our case, we are cursed in this [game]. Our life is dependent on the [game]. If you die, you die, as well as your rea--" Akane had a hunch of the lady's next word so, she cut her off, "Real self?"

"Yes." The lady paused and appeared troubled by Akane's abrupt interference. Akane placed her fingers on her chin and nodded.

"Interesting. Wait, one more thing." Akane said. The lady frowned. "Why are Radians not permitted to travel toward other nations? Like, go to Yellow Nation? Blue Nation? Orange Nation?"

The lady let out a deep breath and was visibly troubled. Akane formed a twisted smile.

"The [Colors] have been against each other ever since monsters emerged in [Coleuria] and began pointing fingers to each other. Now, the officials of [Neuzentrum] have agreed to the law where people can't go freely to other nations, except [Neucentre]."

Akane tilted her head slightly in confusion. She shook her head and pretended to understand the lady's statement.

"Oooh, I see. Well, if you mind asking me this." "Umm," Akane hesitantly spoke. "Speaking of a curse. . .Is there a way to, you know, escape?" asked Akane. The lady's expression loosen.

"There was, however, reports stated that the new creator disabled ability to log out from the [game]." The lady replied and slightly looked down. Akane bowed, pouting.

"I see, do you know who is the creator now?" Akane asked. The lady closed her eyes, sighing lightly.

"I'm sorry, but I don't." The lady replied and opened her eyes. Akane looked up, her fingers on her chin, pouting.

Akane stopped looking up instead, gazed at the lady. "I wonder what the 'real world' looks like."

"I think it is as cruel as this world- or [game]." The lady answered. Akane thought of how the 'real world' looks.

"Hmm. Anyway, thank you for your kindness." Akane said. The lady nodded. "No problem." The lady turned away. Akane scratched her head in confusion as she processed the information that is happening to her.

"My name's Winter, by the way." The lady said, making Akane gaze at her in shock. Winter continued walking, smiling. "We'll see each other again soon, Akane."

Winter gradually disappeared from Akane's sight. The holograms around her disappeared too. The place returned to what it was, a dark, spacious room.

Akane held her aching head and decided to close her eyes.

• • •

When Akane opened her eyes, she discovered herself resting on the roof of a random house in [Crimson Red Nation]. Akane gazed around in amazement and beamed.

Akane believed in the real world's existence. She vowed herself to uncover the answers.

She giggled as she skated down the roof.

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