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2024-10-29 19:42:56[Welcome to Valandria]
In Langit’s all-dark vision, the texts flickered. There was no sound, no scent, not even could he feel the tightness of the muscles in his body.
"Am I dead?"
Langit replayed the last moments that were drawn in his memory.
***
Langit has just returned from school where he works even though working hours are not over yet. A letter of layoffs (Termination of Employment) flew to his desk this morning. And that means no more work today, nor tomorrow.
“You are fired, Sir. It’s been a pleasure to work with you."
"Of course you guys are happy. My pay is no more than a cleaning service officer at the mall.”
Langit worked as a teacher in a private school. People thought that the expensive private school fees would definitely provide a large salary for their employees. But in reality, it was not. Langit's wage isn't even worth it. Not only is it barely feasible, it doesn't even obey the government regulations. The workload and working time rivaled that of a unicorn (corporation), but the rewards given to its employees were like that of donkeys. Every employee's complaints would only be answered with the same words: "You must be sincere." If they are fed up with the complaintnts, they would surely respond with a love letter containing a termination of employment. Just like what Langit had received this morning…
The life of a teacher in the Republic of Indonesia was indeed like that. Only suffering. The lowest caste that suffered the most were honorary teachers, then followed by private teachers—especially private teachers at schools whose foundations often borrow God's name to legalize their uncivic treatment of employees. Ironic. The more God's name they mentioned, the more natural it seemed to treat their employees like martyrs.
"Be sincere! Sacrifice your soul and body for the sake of God." Sounds like a cult, doesn't it? It's just that they use the name of God, instead of idols.
Langit spurred his motorbike as fast as possible to vent his frustration. Around a corner, his eye caught an interesting advertisement for religious activities. "Have you been sincere today?" the inscription was written on the big board. A man in that poster wearing formal attire gave a questioning gesture, looking as stupid as Langit who had lasted a long time at the school where he worked before.
“Trash,” Langit grumbled. "Why always sincerity? How come people never talk about justice? Why is it always us teachers who must be sincere, while we always get paid unjustly?”
When Langit's gaze returned to the street, the roadblock was already in front of him. His vehcle hit the very same roadblock. Langit (which means sky) toppled and soared into the sky—what a poetic and ironic scene.
Life review. Flashback before death. A phenomenon widely reported as occurring during near-death experiences, in which a person rapidly sees much or the totality of their life history. They said that life flashes before the eyes upon death. Langit also experienced it. He saw the happiest event in his life: his childhood.
Strict, but caring parents. Small but comfortable house. The room he always tidied up. Study table full of magazines. Shelf of consoles and collection of RPG games.
Ah, those games . Since he was an adult, Langit had never played them again. If Langit could repeat his life, he would play them more often. Oh no. It doesn't really matter. If Langit could repeat his life, he would be more forthright. Langit will not allow people to abuse the word “sincere” to take advantage of others ever again…
BANG!
Langit’s body slammed into the bottom of the abyss. Langit (means the sky) was down to earth. Quite literally…
***
[Welcome to Valandria]
Lisa, mahasiswi tingkat akhir yang menyambi sebagai asisten kurator ditugaskan untuk memilah barang-barang antik di sebuah villa. Sesampainya di sana, tidak ada penghuni vila yang menyukainya atau tak disukainya. Ada Kris, pembantu lalki-laki seusia Lisa; Katemi, pembantu perempuan paruh baya; Bram, sang majikan dan pemilik vila; serta Anne, putri sang majikan. Setiap penghuni menjebak dirinya sendiri dalam masa lalu dengan cara mereka masing-masing. Dapatkah Lisa memecahkan kemelut yang berusaha menelannya?
Sabtu Malam Lisa adalah bacaan sekali duduk yang sengaja disusun sebagai sebuah puzzle.
The text was still flickering in his vision. Langit thought he was lying in a coma and was numb, but it turns out he could actually move his body. It's just that it felt a bit different. His hand touched something hard in front of him, but he could feel neither its texture nor its temperature. Like a wall, but seems lighter. Then he pushed it up.
KRIIT
A squeaking sound. Then a beam of dim light entered through the gap. Langit pushed against the wall again, this time with all his might. The wall turned out to be a board, more precisely, a coffin lid…
Langit took a sitting position and looked around. The sight was so foreign to Langit. The space around him was not made of concrete or cement, but of stone or hard earth hewn in such a way that it was so smooth and flat. On one side of the room there is a door made of wood. The four corners of the room were perforated as places to put candles. There was no adequate lighting in the room other than small candles with a reddish yellow flame. The ceiling of the room was also flat as the surrounding walls. No windows. No ventilation.
“Is this a morgue?”
[Welcome to Valandria]
The text appeared again in his field of view, much like an augmented reality. As he paid more attention, the text was not written in the language of the Republic of Indonesia. However, somehow, Langit could understand the text’s meaning..
Langit tried to get rid of the text from his sight by waving his hand. The text disappeared, but then another text soon appeared.
[What's your name?]
A transparent green window appeared below the question. That green rectangle was meant for Langit to put his name.
“Hey, this looks like a scene from a video game!” Langit was genuinely impressed.
Langit stroked his beard as usual as he was seriously thinking about something. Langit really thought hard for a suitable name in every game he played. But before that, he felt something odd when his fingers touched his chin. He could not find his thin beard! He felt his chin again with both hands and it became more awkward. No beard there. Not even skin!
Langit then raised both hands and looked at his palms.
“Uwaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!”
Langit was shocked to half-death. Oh, wait, isn't he already dead?
~To be continued~
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Chapter 12: Enemies Resurrected!
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Chapter 11: Dark and Light Magic
Tens of pairs of red dots on the cave ceiling moved together like a colony of swarming bees. O immediately ran out of the room and closed the door. THUD! THUD! THUD!The door was hit successively. O did not know what kind of creature was eyeing him at that moment. He counted to ten after asking the Narrator to display the earth and fire magic formulas."...Nine. Ten!" O called to himself and ran down the narrow passage without looking back.“Lapis!” O casted a spell just as he exited the narrow passage. Three stalagmites stabbed and became a kind of gate that closed the passage. It is undeniable that earth magic and its potential as a blockade has become O's signature move.Dozens of winged creatures chasing O were caught in the stalagmite barricade. Their appearance was clearly visible now: a monkey-like creature, with a pair of bat wings. Some of them were smart enough to find gaps in the barricade, but O's magic was faster.“Ignis!” O shot a fireball from his forefinger. However,
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Chapter 10: Investigation Mission (3)
O panicked. He was trying to break free from the cage he had created himself, meanwhile the magic circle underneath his feet grew brighter as if it was about to explode. “Aaah! Wait! Wait! Ceasefire!"O managed to escape from the stone cage and ran towards the door. However, the circle didn't stand still, but followed his steps…“Shiiit! This is not fair!"The light from the magic circle grew brighter, making O's tension and panic soared to the sky. In that state, O remembered his crazy idea: separate the crystal core from his body.O's still intact hand reached into his hollow ribs and reached for its thumb-sized core crystal. He threw the core crystal towards the door, while his body turned around and ran towards the monster instead.“To hell with the rescue mission! I don't want to die anymore!” O lunged at the monster, right at the head where a black-purple magic circle glowed. If this holy magic was fatal to him, it must be the same for this undead monster in the form of a winge
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Chapter 9: Investigation Mission (2)
The roaring sound really came from a beast. A huge, scary beast. O's vision of a male lion came true, many times over. The monster in the room took the form of a white lion and had a pair of wings of the same color. The monster's size was so big that the huge room was almost full. Even scarier, the monster wasn't really alive … Part of the flesh on the monster's body had fallen off, revealing its pale white bones. Even the monster's organs were bursting out; his intestines blurted across the floor; its collapsed lungs dangling; its torn hull dripped with acid that made the hard ground puff out smoke. One wing was broken and the tip was dangling, while the other wing only had a bit of skin and a few long strands of hair. Part of the monster's face also fell off. His golden yellow eyes spun wildly like a pair of googly eyes. On the monster's forehead, a purple-black magic circle glowed. In that state, the monster was still howling and struggling. The monster seemed to be trying to bre
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Chapter 8: Investigation Mission (1)
O began to open the door with his trembling hand. If he had sweat glands, his whole body would be wet by now. A growling sound from behind the door traveled through the air, reflected off the walls of the room made of hard and compacted earth.Have you ever been to a safari park and seen a male lion roaring from your safari car? O have experienced it. The iron bars and thick glass of the safari car that ensured his safety could not prevent the lion's roar from shaking his guts. This time too, the sound that came from behind the door was like the roar of a lion, even more sinister than O could remember. Behind the door, O found a large passage. This passage was exactly like the first one he had entered after returning to life as a Lich. O thought, if every area was made with a similar architecture like this, the existence of a map probably wouldn't help him at all ...But O kept going foward anyway. If the architecture of this area was the same, then after the dimly lit large hall, th