Eve

    It was dark, a plain black scene had just passed me. All that I remembered was the last scene of me running towards a kid in the middle of the road and how my body flew away. The lights flashed, the sound of the horn echoed loudly, the voices of the trembling screams. There was blood everywhere and my body felt numb. Strangely, I did not feel any pain. It was calm, it was gentle. I closed my eyes. I felt a split second of peace in my mind. I guess this is the end of my life. But... is this really the end of my life? Have I been a good person? Had I, slowly tears fell down on my cheeks. I… regretted it.     I opened my eyes and woke up in a beautiful field scenery. The vast green grass fields, the blooming and colorful flowers, there were sounds of birds chirping, everything was so mesmerizing. As someone who grew up in a city, the view was really astonishing. But then the memories flashed back, my tears started to run on my face, my mind went blank. Is this... heaven? Am I in heaven now?     Suddenly a figure appeared in front of me.  A woman wearing a white long feathery gown with white veil. Her hair was dark brown, long, and straight. Her eyes were brown like the redwood, and they brought some peace into me. She smiled. She was gorgeous.     “Welcome to The Garden of Eden. This is the beginning for the souls who are filled with regrets. For Thou who wanted to find the answer. And for Thou who seeketh redemption and salvation.”     “Garden of Eden?” I asked.     “Thy journey in the world might have ended, but thy soul is filled with sadness and sorrow. This land is the place to purify thy soul.” said the woman.     “Who are you? How could I purify my soul? Will I be able to go to heaven after doing so? What should I do?” I asked worriedly.     “Thou will findeth the answers by yourself.”     Those are her last words. She then vanished into thin air. I was confused and perplexed. I looked around and spotted a stair into the sky to the north. I felt the wind breeze and how the wind wanted to lead me to the stairs. That seems like the destination I should go to.     However, before I could even take a single step, my feet felt weak… I sat on the grass. Tears ran through my cheeks again. So, I am dead now. I was never scared of death, as it seems like something that is far away from my life. But now that I know I am dead, I became so scared of what would happen to my life starting from now on. Memories started pouring out from my mind.     I missed my family, my dad, mum, and my younger brothers. I was supposed to graduate by the end of this year. After the whole 2 years of studies I have been going through. I was supposed to graduate, find jobs, and work hard for my family. But now all the money that my parents had spent on me became wasted. I missed playing together with my brothers, or eating our favorite coffee cream croissants at a nearby bakery.     I missed my friends too. We were supposed to go to the Berry Shop on Sunday and shop for some presents for one of my friends. We have planned a little surprise birthday party for her. We had called her family to help us for the surprise too. But I guessed they would celebrate it without me now.     I missed my bed. A place where I spent most of my free time. A place where I had some secret calls with my friend after bedtime without my parents knowing. The blanket that hugged me when I was sad. I missed my home. The fridge that I have always opened when I got bored without taking anything. The cute owl clock that has been broken for years. I missed… everything in my life.     I closed my eyes. I wanted to go back. I did not want to die. Why did I save the child? When I was in thoughts, something made my body shiver. I opened my eyes. A hologram light blue window popped out of nowhere.     “Welcome to The Land of Eden. The world where all the people who have died with regrets came. To seek the answers, please proceed to the first floor of Eden Tower from the Stairs to Heaven. Rewards: 500 Experience Points.”     “Experience points? huh?” my mind went blank for a second.     “Wait, what does it mean? A quest?”     “Status!”     Another hologram light blue window popped out in front of me. My eyes were wide open. I was shocked. Status Name : Airyse Natasya Lvl: 1 Experience to lvl up: 500 Health Point : 100/100 Mana Point : 100/100 Strength        : 5 Intelligence   : 5 Agility             : 5 Wisdom          : 5 Dexterity        : 5 Vitality            : 5 Additional Status Points : 0 Money: 0G 2S 0B Details ▸     “What are these?” I gasped.     “Am I inside a game? An RPG (Role Playing Game)?”     “Equipment! Inventory!” Equipment Head : (empty) Weapon : (empty) 2nd Hand Weapon : (empty) Body : White Gown Back : (empty) Necklace : (empty) Hands : (empty) Ring : (empty) Pants : (empty) Ring : (empty) Legs : (empty) Earring : (empty) Belt : (empty) Earring : (empty) Inventory (empty)     “Oh… No…!”     Am I inside a game? Oh, no!     As someone who was used to playing games, I had always dreamed of being able to enter a game world. But to be really able to be inside a world like this, things are starting to make me worried.     Will there be monsters? Is this the real world?     I pinched my hands. “Auchh…” This is real. I had really moved to a world where many things inside this world could be really similar like a game.     I started to look around more. Beside the stairs on the north, there is nothing peculiar in this place. There is a river, massive flower fields, and some trees in this place.         “Skill! Map!” I shouted. Two new windows opened. The first window showed a map of this floor. There was nothing particular in the map beside the stair icon in the middle of the map. The skill window showed one skill that I have and the rest slots are empty. Mana Affinity (Passive) Lvl. 1 The core of energy and magic inside humans. The higher the level of this skill will increase one’s understanding about energy flow and sources of mana.     This is real. This is not a dream. I have really transferred into a game. But why?     I remembered the popular fiction stories before. Stories where people moved into a game world, stories about apocalypse, and stories about a tower that appeared in the world, are starting to be more and more popular all over the world. But to think that I have really entered a world that was similar to a game, it has never really crossed my mind.     What should I do? Can I survive here? What kind of world have I been transferred into?     In this kind of environment, monsters were not the only thing I should be cautious about. People who came here might have regrets from their previous life. Regretting about their poverty, betrayal that they might have experienced, being treated unfairly by the society, losing someone they have loved, and other things. But what I was scared about are the people who regretted the power that they could not get from their previous life. The greedy one… or even… the blood thirsty people.      I felt anxious. I was too scared to continue to go to the next floor. I laid down on the bed of flowers. It was beautiful. I remembered the story when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane before He was brought to justice. That prayer came into my mind.     My Father, forgive me, have I ever hurted your heart. Forgive me, have I ever made you disappointed. My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. (Matthew 26:39)         I have always been scared to face my life. The fear of failure, the fear that things might not go as what I have planned has haunted me. Everyone told me, being pessimistic was something that I should have changed. But my mum was the only one who told me that it was ok to be pessimistic. When you were able to see the failures, you would know things you have to fix. It would be hard to make you feel easy, and the most important thing is, I would rely on God more.    That was why, after I had finished my short prayer, I felt peaceful. I opened my eyes. Everything happened according to His plans. I just need to keep on believing. That was what I thought.     I stood up and raised my arms up. I straightened them and started to stretch out. This is a new start. I should try to move forward. I have played a lot of games before. It will be fine... right?