Slowly, Vitus opened his eyes.
He had thought he would be greeted by searing pain or something else, but in truth, there was nothing at all.
He did not feel the slightest discomfort. He even felt as refreshed as if he had naturally awakened after a good night's sleep.
The sensation left him somewhat dazed, and so he failed to notice at first that he was surrounded by a gentle golden radiance, or the person standing at his side.
"Vitus."
Only when the other person spoke first did he snap back to himself. He swiftly climbed to his feet and turned around, seeing his friend Neiguyi. The latter nodded at him and smiled.
"You're finally awake."
Vitus stared at him for quite some time without responding. Instead, he suddenly asked, "Am I dead?"
"No. Why would you think that?"
Vitus spoke calmly, as though he were discussing something that had absolutely nothing to do with himself.
"Because you look like a real person right now. Nothing like this has ever happened before, and combined with what I just experienced... I can't possibly still be alive. I must be dead. Who exactly are you, Neiguyi? And where is this?"
Neiguyi opened his mouth, wanting to answer, but in the end, all that came out was a sigh.
"Let's talk about what you just experienced first. Did you see them in the Warp?"
"Who?" Vitus asked.
"Your parents."
The young lieutenant's pupils suddenly constricted, and he immediately snapped back, "I don't know what you're talking about, Neiguyi! My parents died long ago—"
Two figures that had suddenly appeared, condensed from golden radiance, interrupted him.
One was a woman. She was very thin, almost like one of those patients suffering from incurable illnesses, worn down to such frailty by tremendous torment. Even so,