Chapter 3: Distant memories
Laying in his bed, the baby born just a few days ago was in deep thought.
'If only I were born into a rich family.'
The baby sighed. He had no way of knowing what was happening, but judging by his mother's situation, it was not a good place.
He was probably going to live a life of poverty, but that would not be enough to make him despair. His mind was calm, and he could easily analyze the situation.
The first thing he needed to do was to find out where he was. That was the most important thing.
He doubted that he was on Earth anymore. There were plenty of indications, but the most obvious one was that the beast hide that served as the door for his hut was from an animal he had never seen. It looked like a cross between a lion and a wolf. It seemed like it had several horns and was at least 2 meters tall when it was alive.
Then, a sudden thought crossed his mind. 'Several horns... looks like a mix of a lion and a wolf and about two meters... A Lesser Direfang? Is it the same world as Forgotten Games?'
Forgotten Games could not be considered a real "video game" in the conventional sense. It was an extremely realistic textual game. There were no graphics or sounds. Everything was displayed in text, with a few pictures here and there. So, it was extremely difficult for him to recognize a monster since all he had was a textual description.
'But If I truly reincarnated there ... I am in deep trouble.'
The game he played his whole life was insanely difficult. A single mistake could end a run, and of course, there was no such thing as a "save," meaning that he could not just go back in time and retry.
He only completed the game thanks to his luck and numerous retries.
But that was not all. In addition to the difficulty, each run would be different. All characters and events were randomly generated, meaning that you could not have the same run twice. The only thing that remained unchanged was the power system and beasts. Each world would use a power called manifestations.
'Talking about the game...' thought Elias as he remembered a distant memory
Elias randomly found Forgotten Games on the net.
The first few runs felt extremely weird. He could see that all the characters had unique and detailed personalities, and ... They felt so human to him. This was so fascinating that he did not even try to finish the game but instead lived a rather peaceful life.
He remembers exactly his first run. Born into a very prosperous merchant family, he would often be pampered by his parents. They loved him so much that Elias was sometimes jealous behind his screen.
As he grew up, he met and married a nice young lady who also came from a wealthy family. He then had three children. The couple was extremely happy and never had a bad day.
It might sound pathetic, but this was Elias's first love. He truly loved her despite knowing that she didn't even exist.
The problem came when he was 56 and had 15 grandchildren. One day, as he was celebrating his 56th wedding anniversary, he suddenly died because of a sudden disease that killed him in a flash.
Elias felt heartbroken. He had tried so hard to keep his saves by searching the game's file, but no matter what, he could not find any files related to the game. It was as if the game was mocking him. He spent three months living as a character, only for it to disappear.
Yet, he did not mind retrying. He wanted to meet her again and continue living with his lover. He also had some regrets with his parents, and he wanted to apologize to them for his mistakes.
He was too immature back then and took them for granted. Only when he lost them did he realize how much they meant to him. Even if they were in a game…
It was ironic. Some pages of texts were better parent than his own.
However, to his horror, he soon discovered that his parents were not the same. He was not born as the son of two merchants but instead as the son of a soldier and a prostitute.
It was not only this. The world was different, too. The clan he lived in did not even exist, meaning he wouldn't ever see the people he loved in his first life.
Feeling devastated, he did not play the game again until several months later. Each night, he would think about the game. Elias wanted to feel this happiness again and ultimately continued living his own life through his characters.
His second life was way more painful than the first. This was because he was born in an impoverished and wartorn country. His parents were constantly fighting to stay alive. The father would often be forced to serve in the army, while the mother had to sell her body to feed her child. Despite this, they were good parents, and just as he started to like them, something happened.
One day, when he was only ten, a group of soldiers entered their home and assaulted his mother before killing him. This event marked the end of his second run.
This event shocked Elias. This game was ruthless in its text. There was every detail of how the woman was being assaulted, how each of them took turns, and her cries for help. He could even feel her pain as she saw her child being stabbed to death.
Despite this, he continued playing the game. Slowly but surely, Elias became addicted to it. He felt like he lived through his characters. He finally felt alive. Thanks to this game, he felt happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and even lust.
However, after a few years of living a peaceful and enjoyable life, the repetitive life began to bore him. Those characters who felt so alive slowly lost their humanity and personalities and became boring and bland. Gradually, they reverted back to mere text once again.
Then, a certain curiosity took root in his heart. What would happen if he completed the game?
As the baby was lost in his thoughts, the hut door opened, revealing his mother.
"Mommy is back..."
As she said, his mother was back. She was covered in sweat, and her clothes were extremely dirty.
The mother, exhausted, let her body fall to the ground and suddenly began to sob uncontrollably. Elias did not know why his mother was crying. Perhaps her situation was so miserable.
But he did not feel any pity. Instead he was more interested in her breasts.
After a few minutes of continuous sobbing, she finally stopped. She then took a deep breath and began singing the same song. Her voice was hoarse, and it was barely audible, but it was still beautiful.
This time, she was not singing for Elias but rather for herself.
'This melody... It is the same as the one she used to sing when I was born, ' the baby thought, listening carefully.
When she was done, she slowly got up. She went over to her baby and picked him up." I am sorry, Elias... I was just tired...It's time for you to eat, my dear. Don't worry about mommy. She is fine."
Her voice was still shaky and tired, but she quickly removed and started to breastfeed him.
The mother's breast milk tasted strange, with a slightly bitter aftertaste, but the baby did not care. He was hungry.
Seeing how the baby was fiercely sucking on her breasts, the woman could not help but laugh.
"It seems like you were hungry haha. Don't worry, it is all yours." She then affectionately stroked the baby's head.
"You are such a good boy. You did not cry even once when mommy was gone. She is glad. Now, you should go to sleep now."
She gently placed the baby back into his bed and began to clean the place.
After she was done cleaning, she looked at the baby and sighed.
"I should do something about the bed," said the mother, looking at the pile of hay the baby was sleeping in.
"For now, I will just replace the hay, and we will think about the rest later."
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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