Chapter 2: Mortuary
This physical sensation of my current body... Did I transmigrate successfully? Did the Metempsychosis Method work? Does that mean Celestine’s scientific papers on the Transmultiversal Theorem and Transmigration were feasible?
Elias felt a surge of excitement as he realized his desperate, last-ditch plan had succeeded. The next moment, however, despondency washed over him as he thought of his comrades.
If not for Celestine’s theorem, I wouldn’t have survived.
Elias lamented not being able to express his gratitude in person, to thank her for her contribution to his survival.
I hope she survived the aftermath of the battle with the invaders.
Elias hadn’t even had time to check if she and the others had made it before that strange phenomenon with the Quantum Bridge occurred.
I wonder if I can return to check on them after recovering my strength in this multiverse.
Pondering briefly, Elias’s mood shifted abruptly, diverting his attention to his present circumstances. Against all odds, he had survived what seemed like certain death.
In his excitement, Elias’s first instinct was to stand up and examine his new body, but this proved a mistake as his head bumped against the ceiling of the metallic compartment. He grimaced, gritting his nearly frozen teeth in pain.
Damn it! I forgot I was trapped in some confinement.
—He needed to find a way out quickly.
Elias suspected that the body he now inhabited had been recently pronounced dead, which meant he was likely in a morgue storage unit.
Elias focused, readjusting his mindset. He contemplated how to escape his entrapment before his body succumbed to the relentless frigid air that filled the compartment.
...
A dim, sterile room, bathed in the flickering light of candles that cast long shadows across weathered masonry. The air was thick with the nauseating stench of preservative herbs. Along the walls stretched rows of cold storage units, each holding a silent occupant.
From the slight openings of these rectangular units, chilly fog escaped constantly, causing the room’s temperature to plummet to an inhospitable level. The room’s design clearly wasn’t intended for the living.
From within one of these storage units, movement sounds echoed. These movements disturbed the stillness in the room.
...
Confined. Cramped. Immobile.
Inside the cuboid storage unit, Elias tried to move his body but found his limbs stiff, his fingers tingling, as blood reluctantly resumed its flow. Simultaneously, he devised his plan.
A metal wall pressed against his head.
A chilly metallic surface lay beneath him.
A ceiling that emanated chilly fog above his body.
An exit door was positioned below his feet.
Elias’s breath quickened as he gathered his thoughts. Through sheer willpower, he regained control over his body.
Lying horizontally on the rectangular tray, Elias braced his hands against the wall behind his head for leverage. With a surge of adrenaline, he forcefully kicked the steel door of the storage unit below his feet.
BANG!
The steel door rattled from the impact but held firm.
Again!
BANG!
Elias’s adrenaline surge teetered on depletion, but he refused to give up.
Elias took a deep, cold breath, ignoring the stinging sensation in his lungs as his gaze sharpened.
One final, desperate kick.
BANG!
The door finally swung open with a metallic creak. The momentum propelled him out of the compartment, and he landed hard on the floor, the tray clattering beneath him. His head struck the edge of the metallic tray, sending a surge of pain through his body, but the numbing cold dulled his senses, preventing him from losing consciousness.
Elias gasped for breath, his lungs screaming in protest. He felt as though his lungs were on fire, as they burned with each ragged inhale. His exhalations emerged as vapor clouds, his nearly frozen lungs struggling to function.
Eventually, Elias scrambled to his feet, leaning against the wall lined with rows and columns of storage compartments. At this moment, one of them was empty.
After catching his breath, Elias rose unsteadily, his eyes scanning his surroundings. What he saw left him slightly shocked.
On rectangular tables, rows and columns of bodies lay motionless on identical metallic trays. Some were covered, others exposed. Many looked grotesque, as if they had been experimented on, their forms barely recognizable. Some appeared inhuman, and Elias couldn’t determine whether these were native species of the current world or were merely modified humans.
Unconsciously, Elias’s trembling fingers pressed against his bare skin, rubbing it gently.
Cold.
Too cold.
Elias couldn’t feel any heat from his body. It was a miracle he could even stand, given how dangerously low his body temperature had dropped. The scene before him confirmed his suspicion.
—The body he now inhabited had indeed been a corpse not long ago, but his transmigration had somehow resurrected it.
...
Elias believed that his transmigration inside a dead body had most definitely defied some natural laws of the new world.
But I’m glad to be alive.
While contemplating his fortunate transmigration, Elias searched for the exit. Soon, he found it and stumbled forward, his legs sluggish and heavy. His feet dragged across the cold floor.
The chill in Elias’s bones made every step feel more laborious than the last. His gaze fixated on the metallic exit door as he pressed on with determination.
Suddenly—
BANG!
A sickening sound echoed through the room. A jolt of pain erupted at the back of Elias’s head. Someone had appeared behind him without warning and struck him just as he was about to exit the morgue.
Elias’s vision spun, and his body faltered, but he refused to yield. He had just transmigrated into the new world; he refused to die so easily.
With blurry vision, Elias twisted his head just enough to glimpse his assailant.
A lanky figure stood there, clad in a pristine white cloak, gripping a bloodied wooden club that dripped with Elias’s blood. Witnessing his attacker, Elias was consumed by resentment and indignation, wishing to tear them apart for obstructing his path.
However, Elias’s wishes were unfulfilled. He couldn’t muster any strength from his new body, his present state as a weak lifeform sinking in. Before Elias lost consciousness, he heard the man’s unfeeling voice.
"You weren’t supposed to wake up just yet."
Those were the last words he heard before darkness claimed him. His vision distorted, and he slumped to the cold floor, his consciousness fading.
The white-cloaked man stood impassively, watching Elias’s unconscious body as if detached from reality.
...
Ah... Where am I? Did I just die again?
After the brutal assault, Elias found himself on a vast, featureless white platform, leaving him puzzled. His puzzlement quickly turned to irritation as he realized he had died at the hands of the white-cloaked man.
Looking ahead at the expanse that stretched endlessly before him, as if without boundary, Elias sighed helplessly, coming to a disheartening conclusion. After expending all his power to transmigrate into a new multiverse, he hadn’t even had a chance to explore the new world before his life was cut short by that hateful white-cloaked man. He believed his assailant was likely a mortuary worker, which only added to his frustration.
However, as he wallowed in his misfortune, a surge of unfamiliar memories suddenly flooded his consciousness. Moments later, Elias processed and absorbed these new memories, realizing they belonged to the original occupant of the body he now inhabited.
Wait—
A realization dawned on Elias.
If I can still access these memories, does that mean I’m not dead yet? Where am I? Wait. Am I inside the subconscious space of my current body? Yes, that must be it!
As this thought crystallized in his mind, Elias no longer felt despondent. Instead, his hope was reignited. He stood up, determined to explore the subconscious space and find a way back to the physical world.
After taking a few steps forward, Elias halted in his tracks. He saw a silhouette approaching cautiously, as if guarding against an unknown threat. Assuming it might be the lingering consciousness of the body’s original occupant, Elias unconsciously willed himself toward the figure, breaching the distance between them.
However...
"What the hell! Why is it you?!"
Elias froze, shocked by the identity of the figure before him. It was none other than the white-cloaked man who had assaulted him earlier, the same man responsible for his presence in the subconscious space.
A sense of trepidation washed over Elias as he wondered if the people of this world also possessed the means to invade the subconscious spaces of others. If so, his chances of survival had significantly dwindled.