Chapter 21: What Just Happened?

  "Dong...dong...dong..."

  Low, deep chimes echoed as Alex opened his eyes, looking up at the sky.

  "Where am I...?"

  He opened his mouth to speak, but was shocked to find his voice hoarse and eerie. Not only that, his body felt strange, as if he was inhabiting an unfamiliar shell rather than his own body.

  What's going on?

  Alex shook his head and slowly stood up. It was only then that he realized he was in a graveyard.

  He was dressed in heavy armor, with a sword and shield by his side. Judging by appearances, "Alex" seemed to be a knight already id to rest in a coffin.

  'So, only my mind has ehis world? No wonder I leave anytime...'

  Stretg his body, Alex finally uood the cept of the Free World. It appeared he wasn't using his own body here, but rather ohat already existed in this world.

  It was more like his soul had possessed someone else. To Alex, this felt like aransmigration."

  However, unlike his transmigration in the main world, this transmigration didn't seem t him any bes.

  The inal owner of this body had no memories, nor any items to prove their identity. The only useful things were the sword and shield at his side.

  Is this aname world? Could it be another dark fantasy world?

  Looking at the sky, shrouded in dark clouds simir to a dark fantasy setting, Alex couldn't help but frown.

  Fortunately, although this body didn't e with the previous owner's memories, it did e with some bat skills. But Alex soon discovered that these were indeed just bat skills.

  No fshy teiques from the main world, not even skills from dark fantasy games—just basic on bat skills like thrusting, sshing, rolling, and blog, which Alex had already learned from Stone.

  The only eique was something called "parry," a move to defle attack at the moment of tad then strike a fatal blow.

  No fshy skills, no unique moves, just basic teiques.

  'This isn't a dark fantasy world, so where am I?'

  Curious, Alex looked around and walked out of the coffin, following a path forward.

  "Uhh..."

  At that moment, a skeletal figure crawled up from the ground, blog Alex's path.

  An enemy? A zombie? Or a revenant?

  Seeing the creature, Alex tensed, gripping his sword tightly. Before it could fully rise, he sshed it down.

  To Alex's surprise, this world's monsters didn't seem as tough as those in dark fantasy games. His single ssh sent the creature sprawling. Whatever it was, it was as weak as it looked.

  'Doesn't seem too dangerous. How is this world supposed to help me train bat skills?'

  "Whoosh!"

  Just as Alex uzzling over this, he heard the sound of an arrow. Instinctively, he rolled forward, narrowly avoiding a fming arrow.

  When he looked up, he saw another skeletal figure not far away, reloading a crossbow.

  What the heck! These creatures use ons? Startled, Alex hurried forward, sshing the creature down with his sword.

  What a strange pce...

  Looking at the fallen corpse, Alex frowhe sky was dark and oppressive, the cold wind was biting, and everything around him seemed shrouded in gloom, like the ashes of a burnt-out world. It was a very uling feeling.

  'In any case, I should iigate this world.'

  Afterward, Alex followed the mountain path out of the graveyard, sying several more revenants along the way, until he reached a bonfire.

  As he looked at the bonfire, a memory seemed to stir. He reached out toward it, and soo a mysterious energy drain from his body, igniting the boh a "whoosh."

  "..."

  Watg the e fmes flicker, Alex sighed in relief. The monsters in this world didn't seem particurly strong, but the ruins around him and the endless dark clouds on the horizon gave him a bad feeling. This world didn't seem as simple as it appeared.

  Time to keep moving.

  After sitting by the bonfire for a few minutes, Alex decided to tinue expl. So far, he hadn't entered another living soul, which made him uneasy.

  Could this be a post-apocalyptic world? Was everyone dead except him? He hoped it wouldn't be like a world where he was the st human alive.

  Moreover, Alex didn't think these slow-moving creatures posed any threat to him. Although the undead in the dark world also moved slowly, they were incredibly strong and defensively formidable.

  However, the monsters here had no defense and moved extremely slowly. Several times, Alex even rushed up to them, and these monsters hadn't even fully stood up yet, moving sluggishly like ordinary people.

  Could such a world really train his bat skills?

  After walking along the mountain path aing a monster guarding the gate, Alex arrived at a square.

  It was empty, except figantiight, over two or three meters tall, half-kneeling in the ter of the square.

  The knight had a battle-axe by his side, and Alex could see a bck spiral sword pierg through the knight's chest. No matter how he looked at it, the knight was already dead.

  However, Alex did not approach the knight. Based on his experience, something that appeared so suddenly in a strange pce was bound to be problematic.

  Either it was a trap or a boss. Being cautious was the correct choice.

  So, he chose to bypass the knight and tinue expl. Luckily, behind the knight, Alex found a building, but to his frustration, he couldn't open the wooden door no matter how hard he pushed. It seemed to be sealed by something.

  'Do I really have to take down that knight?'

  Helpless, Alex returo the knight, approag cautiously. trary to his expectations, the knight did not suddenly spring to life, nor did any monsters jump out to ambush him.

  The knight just quietly khere, perf the duty of a deceased knight.

  'Should I pull out the sword from his chest?'

  After hesitating for a moment, Alex decided to pull the sword.

  Although his instincts told him that doing so might trigger a "boss battle," his previous fights with the monsters made him feel they posed hreat and did not help in honing his sword skills. But this knight, being a boss, shouldn't disappoint him.

  With that in mind, Alex reached out and firmly grasped the spiral sword embedded in the knight's chest, pulling it out with force.

  As Alex withdrew the spiral sword, he saw the dark, jelly-like substan the knight's chest wound begin tle as if alive, thereating bato the knight's body.

  This ued se startled Alex, but the moment, he saw the knight stand up, grab the battle-axe beside him, and swing it at him with great force!

  'What the heck! Why start fighting now? I'm your savior, after all!'

  Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Alex quickly rolled to the side, dodging the knight's battle-axe.

  But before he could get up, the gigantiight charged at him, knog Alex away with a fierce shoulder bash. The knight then lifted his battle-axe again and brought it down on Alex.

  This is bad!

  Seeing the glinting battle-axe, Alex was terrified. He quickly raised his shield, managing to block the strike just in time.

  "g!"

  A tremendous force smashed into Alex, causing his legs to buckle, nearly bringing him to his knees.

  But the knight didn't stop there. After his first strike was blocked, he immediately swung his axe again.

  This time, Alex couldn't hold on and was ko the ground. He then saw the knight leap high into the air, bringing the axe down with all his might.

  "Thud!"

  In the moment, Alex felt the bde ruthlessly cut into his body. His visio bck, and everything around him plunged into darkness.

  Then, Alex felt as if he were a balloon being pulled up into the air befently desding. When he opened his eyes again, he saw only the burning campfire and the old sword stu it.

  "...."

  Staring bnkly at the campfire, Alex was pletely bewildered. His mind was in chaos, utterly unsure of what to do.

  'What just happened? Where am I? How did I die?!'

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