NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Another Life
Zero felt like he was floating, though his mind was a jumbled mess. His surroundings were an endless void of light, soft and warm, like the memory of sunlight on a chilly morning. He wasn't alone. All around him, glowing orbs drifted like fireflies in slow procession toward something in the distance. These were souls—he could feel it somehow—but unlike the others, which glowed a serene blue, his own essence was a deep, inky black. It was as if he didn't belong here.
"Why do I look like... this?" Zero muttered, glancing at the other souls and back at himself. He tried to move, but the sense of direction was meaningless in this place. Yet, just like the others, he was being pulled toward something, as if they were being called. At the end of that pull was a towering altar that seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly light attracting every soul towards it.
Tension mounted for Zero as he approached the ominous structure. It was undeniable the altar did not invite him with warmth. First of all, it was shaped in a way he had never seen—a cube, not of wood, stone, or even a rich metal, but some clear material he had no reference for. The material resonated with light, pulsating softly and sending wavelengths across its surface. Other patterns were also present on it's surface but these lacked the sharpness of the primary designs. At the foot of the altar was a moving gold mist that cloaked a steady body of water below it. The water caused rays from above to ripple in a gentle manner that was enchanting.
At the top of the altar's peak was a woman—or something even greater than a human being. Silver hair as if situated in flowing air never to settle, her eyes like no, they were more than mere eyes and more than just the key features of the head. Those were huge and unlimited as if someone was gazing straight into the dead of night with infinite secrets concealed in its stars – secrets that a human being like him ought to neither know nor pursue. It was like every motion of hers created a light, a soft-spoken yet relentless testimony of her might reaching every corner of existence.
Zero's cruise, however, came to a swift end the moment her attention shifted to him. Her calm demeanor cracked. A scowl etched itself on her face, her bright eyes squinted as she lifted a hand, almost immediately, Zero was skinned frozen.
"Nani!" He scolded himself as he struggled in a reflexive helplessness. "What's the big idea? What did I even do?!"
The woman, no, the goddess, surely tilted her head, furrowing her brows like she was pondering over an unsolvable puzzle. "This is…" she spoke in a low tone that was audibly resolute. She waved her hand and a screen of weird symbols lit up before her. She swept her gaze across it and her frown deepened even further.
"You shouldn't be in this place," she said at last, irritation and disbelief very apparent in her voice. "This is not right. You were meant to die in your own world and but not coming to this one,".
"What the hell does that even mean?" Zero retorted, his voice rising slightly as panic set in. " Look, I don't even know where here is!, but I didn't come here willingly!"
She shook her head in response while pressing her temples, the moment almost certainly dreadful for Zero as she held her intensity without overexerting her composure. "You were born in the wrong world," she stated bluntly, her voice borderline sarcastic now in an almost rude fashion. "You weren't meant to exist here, for that matter… just don't look this way," she said with a scowl.
"Excuse me? That sounds like your problem, not mine," Zero shot back, his frustration bubbling to the surface. "And what the hell am I even supposed to do about it? Go to some customer service."
She then said, "This is the dirty work of Kaldor."
"Kaldor?" Zero said, staring confused. "Who is that, a cosmic intern? Because he appears to be the one with the issue, not me."
The goddess—he assumed she was some kind of goddess—pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Kaldor is a trickster god who delights in chaos. If he thought it was amusing to drop you here, he'll owe me dearly." She straightened, the commanding aura around her intensifying. "And I will force him to grant you a small compensation."
Zero blinked. "Small? After dragging me out of my life and tossing me into… wherever this is?"
Her lips curved into a wry smile. "Getting compensation from a god at all is already a rarity," she retorted. "Consider yourself fortunate."
Before Zero could argue further, she waved her hand dismissively. "I'll grant you my blessing too," she said, her voice smooth but firm. "It will aid you in the new world."
"Wait—what blessing? What are you—" Zero began, but she cut him off with a small, knowing smile.
"You'll find out," she said, her tone almost playful now. She raised her hand again, and glowing runes began forming beneath him. "Good luck, mortal."
"Wait, hold on! I'm not ready—" Zero shouted, but his words were drowned out by the surge of light enveloping him.
The runes flared to life, and Zero felt a pull like nothing he'd experienced before. Panic set in as he realized he was about to be hurled into the unknown. "This is insane! You hear me, Kaldor?! You'd better make this worth it!"
"Do not waste this chance, mortal."The goddess's voice echoed faintly as his vision blurred.
And just like that, the light swallowed him whole.
________
Zero groaned as his body crashed against the damp ground, his senses reeling. The world around him slowly came into focus—thick jungle foliage, towering trees, and an unsettling quiet broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves. He groaned again and pushed himself up, rubbing his head as the reality of his situation settled in. The first thing he noticed was the plain, yet functional clothes now adorning his body.
"At least that goddess had the decency to give me clothes," he muttered to himself, casting a glance down at attire. His gaze then shifted to the object still clutched in his hand—the grimoire. It was unnerving, its dark cover adorned with a jagged design of fearsome teeth, bordering with the same intricate patterns he'd seen etched into the altar earlier. Turning it over, his stomach sank. A blood-red eye stared back at him from the back cover, its gaze penetrating and unsettling.
With a final growl of annoyance, Zero cracked open the grimoire. The first page gleamed in the dim light filtering through the trees, and his eyes fell on the neat, almost mocking handwriting.
"Here's your little compensation, enjoy it. I'm not responsible for your mess, but I've let you live two lives, so take this book and forget about me. By the way, you've been sent to the world of Black Clover. Have fun dealing with that."
His frustration peaked as he cursed under his breath, "Damn you, Kaldor! You couldn't just leave me alone, huh? Had to drag me into this mess..."
Zero's jaw tightened as he read the words, his grip on the book tightening. "What the hell is this? Black Clover? Is this some kind of twisted joke?" he muttered to himself, the weight of Kaldor's words sinking in. He slammed the book shut with a growl of frustration. "I swear when I find you—"
His curses were cut off by a rush of water nearby. His thirst gnawed at him, so he made his way toward the riverbank.
With another frustrated sigh, Zero glanced at the grimoire, its dark presence now an anchor to his chaotic reality. "Well, guess it's time to figure out what this Black Clover world even is."