NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: I Have A Sister
[Welcome, Player. Your reply to the new challenge has been accepted.]
[Task Complete: Obtain the body of Asher Morgan.]
At first, it was nothing more than a whisper in his head, but as seconds passed, it grew louder, more defined.
His breathing was slow, measured, yet an odd pressure built in his chest and at the center of his forehead, spreading outward like water.
[Initializing synchronization…]
The sensation was both familiar and strange, like warm and cold liquid pouring on one's body.
[Calibration complete. Welcome to Velcrest, Asher Morgan.]
"Asher Morgan," a scoff left his lips, laced with dry amusement, despite being half-asleep. "Who names their kid Asher?"
Seconds of silence passed, and the only sound in the room was his breathing and the soft hum of the working AC.
Then his eyes suddenly snapped open.
The first thing he saw was white. Not the dull, yellowed white of his bedroom ceiling, where cracks lined the surface and glow-in-the-dark stickers clung to the peeling paint.
No, this was spotless, assumably smooth, a perfect white ceiling.
It felt wrong. Goosebumps formed on his skin, as the silence pressed in from all sides, a reminder that he was the only one in the room.
Something was different. No, everything was different.
He slowly turned his head, letting his gaze move through the unfamiliar room. On his right, light filtered in through the large window, casting a warm glow over the white tiles.
A desk was placed close to the bed, organized with books neatly stacked beside a phone.
His phone.
'Did someone clean up?' was the first thing that came to him, despite the discomfort he was feeling.
His room had always been cluttered, filled with the mess of someone who spent more time on his computer than bothering to clean.
There should have been scattered papers, a tipped-over drink can from a week ago, clothes piled on the ground by his desk, and fast-food wrappers crammed into an overflowing trash can.
But this place, even without seeing everything, just the ceiling and desk alone...told him it was too neat, too orderly.
He forced himself to sit up, the sheets slid from his shoulder as the cool air brushed against his skin.
The weight of the blanket was even lighter than what he was used to, and it had a unique scent... burning incense.
Even the clothes on him, a simple pair of black pants and a loose shirt, were strange because he remembered falling asleep in shorts, shirtless.
His gaze moved back to the desk, then to the phone resting there. He carefully reached for it, his brow curving when he realized his neat and moderately long fingernails.
However, instead of the familiar black Ace against the background of his phone, what he saw when he turned it on was an image of a guy and a blonde girl holding hands.
A scoff left his lips. "Pathetic."
It was his phone, though, the same weight, the same feel.
But the wallpaper was not his.
The time displayed in the corner made no sense. The date was all wrong, even the battery percentage was wrong.
He let out a tired sigh and rose to his feet. That was when he caught sight of a mirror by the wardrobe… which was never there.
He took a step forward, then another. Each one felt different, like he was just learning how to walk. Not to mention how far the ground seemed now.
Then he stopped before the full-body mirror, hoping he was just seeing things, but his eyes widened.
The person staring back at him wasn't him.
Bright amber eyes...unnaturally on the red side instead of gold....stared back at him. His hair, that once a dull brown, was now black and slightly longer.
His skin, which had been rough and pale before, was now healthy, with a few barely visible scars and a mild tan.
A lean, muscular, and athletic build, one that looked like it belonged to someone who had spent years training.
Whereas his old body had just been lean, with no muscles....just a weak, lazy body.
He took a slow step closer, barely aware of how his fingers twitched beside him. He hesitantly raised his hand, pressed a finger against his cheek, and traced the lines of his face.
Warm, solid, and real.
He froze. Panic curled in his gut and spread through his body. Breathing became difficult. His mind scrambled for explanations, for something rational, but nothing made sense.
'Alex, relax. This might just be a dream.'
He told himself, aiming to calm down, but the door suddenly slammed open.
A girl stood in the doorway, black hair held up in a messy bun, red eyes assessing him up and down.
She wasn't dressed like a nurse or a doctor....just a simple outfit, a loose shirt and black leggings, a casual fit.
In one hand, she held a spatula. In the other, a roll of bandages.
Her gaze moved from him, taking in his disheveled state with something between concern and annoyance. Then she sighed.
"Asher, what the hell are you doing?!"
He froze.
She called him Asher. Not Alex or Alexander.
The name settled into his mind, and then he remembered the distant voice in his head from a while ago.
She frowned and stepped closer, her irritation shifted to concern. "Are you alright?"
He parted his lips, hesitating before finally asking the only question that made sense.
"Who… who are you?"
She blinked, her expression twisting into something between disbelief and irritation. "Are you serious right now?"
He didn't answer. He was still confused.
Her grip on the spatula tightened as she took another step forward and closed the door behind her.
"It's way too early for this, Asher. It's me, Alya. Your sister."
He froze again, unable to process it.
Sister?
He didn't have a sister.
He had been an only child his entire life.
He searched her face, looking for something, anything, that might explain what was happening.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something. A photo album sitting on his desk.
Slowly, his gaze moved from the album back to the girl standing before him.
In the photo, there was a woman with the same black hair, though her eyes were gold.
There was a slight resemblance between the two of them. And behind them stood a taller figure, wearing a smile.
"Sister?" He glanced at her, frowning, his shock and terror now replaced by irritation.
"When the hell did I get a sister?!"