You've Lost Your Memory

[Bite]

[Attention, host, the tenth mission world is about to begin. Ten-minute countdown has started. Please prepare.]

The electronic notification sound seemed to pick its own time; it rang out just as the rainy day was over, alerting Russell that another world node had been captured.

Time travel isn't necessarily addictive, but you'll definitely get the hang of it after a while. Russell calmly drank his goji berry tea, and ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

A flash of blackness appeared before Russell's eyes, and when he opened them again, it was still black!

The dim moon hung high in the sky, obscured by scattered clouds, shrouding the entire forest in darkness. Occasionally, moonlight would shine through, highlighting the strange, menacing trees that looked sinister and terrifying.

The forest was too quiet at night. Russell threw off the blanket, smelled the decaying scent of dead branches and leaves, and frowned as he looked around.

He was thrown into the wilderness, but not alone. A horse's reins were tied to a crooked tree nearby, and two fine horses were dozing side by side, their heads slightly lowered.

By the campfire, a tall man added some firewood. Seeing Russell wake up, he immediately came over and asked with concern, "Russell, how are you feeling?"

The man has thick eyebrows, big eyes, a high nose, and almost impeccable handsome facial features. It's a pity that the frown between his eyebrows is frowning, coupled with his unkempt appearance and unshaven beard, he looks a bit decadent.

He was in his early twenties, but had the air of a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. Judging by his appearance, he was a fallen aristocrat with a lot of bitterness and resentment!

Russell labeled him as someone from a fallen family, completely ignoring the man's handsome face; he never judged people by their looks. Handsomeness wasn't important; what mattered wasn't appearance, but a noble soul, and in that respect, he felt he was quite qualified.

"Hey buddy, do you remember me?" the young middle-aged man asked again, his furrowed brows revealing a hint of concern.

Russell: "..."

With their gentle and affectionate gazes, if it weren't for the fact that the two were dressed in medieval clothing and had swords instead of revolvers at their waists, he would have wondered if he had stumbled upon Brokeback Mountain.

"Russell?"

"Uh...I..." Russell was speechless for a moment. Others recognized him, but he didn't recognize them. He was thinking about how to make his story believable.

"You have amnesia!"

"Ha?"

"You drank too much and fell off the horse, hitting your head on a rock. I took you to see a doctor, and he said you might have amnesia. I never thought it would be true," the man said with a sigh.

"Well... cough, buddy, look, I've lost my memory, so hurry up and introduce yourself!" Russell coughed lightly. Since he was already here, he might as well make the best of it. Losing his memory was fine. Being taken care of was better than pretending to be stupid.

"That's right, I almost forgot about that..."

The man helped Russell up, his expression solemn. "Your name is Russell, a wandering swordsman. My name is Aragorn. We met two years ago on an adventure. Yesterday, we bumped into each other at the hotel, and you were drunk..."

"Aragorn!?"

"That's right!"

"I feel like I've heard this name somewhere before..." Russell raised his hand and stroked his chin. The name was so familiar. With a little more prompting, he would remember.

"Of course, you just have amnesia, not a brain transplant, so you must remember me." Aragorn, with his mature demeanor, breathed a sigh of relief. It was a relief that Russell hadn't become an idiot from the fall.

Actually, the two met by chance yesterday and reminisced about their past adventures. They couldn't help but drink a few more cups. It was Aragorn who fell off his horse, and then... he instinctively grabbed Russell's sleeve.

He's fine, but Russell bumped his head!

But this matter couldn't be said outright. Aragorn felt that it was enough to keep it to himself. They were brothers, and he couldn't let such a small thing ruin their precious friendship.

Besides, he wasn't lying; he just omitted a few insignificant scenes, which wasn't intentional on his part, since he was blacked out from drinking!

Russell was thinking for a moment when he suddenly shuddered and swallowed hard, "Aragorn, where are we now?"

"The nearest location is the River of Strong Liquor. What's wrong? Did something remind you of something?"

"No, I want to know which country we are in... It doesn't matter which country, I wouldn't know anyway. Tell me quickly, which continent are we on?" Russell was practically asking if we were in Middle-earth.

"Middle-earth, this is the Eastern Road near Buri."

Aragorn had said so much, Russell had only heard of Middle-earth, but that was enough. He knew very well what Middle-earth represented.

The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbits, Sauron, and... Gandalf!

The thought of meeting this legendary figure among mages filled Russell with excitement, and he couldn't help but grin. How should he greet him? Which hand should he extend first?

If Gandalf thinks he's a magical genius and wants to teach him a few tricks, should he agree, or should he hold back a bit before agreeing?

Hehehehe————

Seeing Russell standing there grinning foolishly, Aragorn felt deeply guilty. He was such a smart guy, but Russell had pulled him down and turned him into a brain-damaged fool.

"Cough cough, Russell, are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I feel refreshed after falling down, I've never felt so good." Russell jumped up and down and said, "Aragorn, where are you going next? Let's go together."

"Buddy, I have something important to do next. We'll have to part ways here. You continue your adventure."

Aragorn's expression hardened. The Ringwraiths were searching for the Ring, Gandalf was nowhere to be found, and the Hobbits carrying the ring was isolated and helpless. He had to get to the Prancing Pony Inn as soon as possible to protect the Ring and the Hobbits. This journey was extremely dangerous, and he could lose his life at any moment. He couldn't let Russell get involved.

Moreover, meeting Russell had already delayed things by a day, and they couldn't afford to delay any longer.

"I'm afraid that won't work. I've lost my memory; how could I remember where we were going on our adventure?" Russell sighed, looking down. "Right now, you're the only person I know in the whole world. Without you, I wouldn't know where to go."

Aragorn is an important character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Following him will lead to Gandalf and trigger World Quest. Unless Russell truly loses his memory, he will never be separated from him.

"Yes, you have amnesia..."

Aragorn's lips twitched, thinking to himself that drinking had led to trouble. If he had known this would happen, he would have just chatted casually back then.

The two extinguished the campfire, mounted their horses, and rode along the path into the night. Aragorn was, after all, a responsible man; Russell had lost his memory because of him, and he couldn't abandon him.

"Aragorn, where are we going?" Russell didn't know how to ride a horse, but once he got on, he was able to. Within a minute, he was a skilled rider, and Thomas could easily turn around.

"Prancing Horse Wine... Never mind, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. Just come with me." Aragorn decided to take Russell with him to Rivendell to see the elves and try to cure his amnesia.

"I'm so sorry to trouble you, but there's no other way, since I have amnesia."

On the horizon, the dark clouds slowly began to recede, and the moon, no longer obscured, gradually shone its light...