MTLNOVEL Chapter 3: - Chapter 3: The Day the World Forgot Me
Yun Wao didn't say a word.
He just stood there like a broken game character frozen mid-cutscene.
His mouth opened, but nothing came out.
His lips barely moved.
> "Who…"
It just slipped out.
Not really his voice — more like his soul asked before his brain could catch up.
He shut his mouth fast.
Looked around like someone else had said it.
But no. It was just him.
Alone. In the ashes of everyone he ever knew.
…
He didn't scream.
Didn't cry.
Didn't fall to his knees in the rain like some dramatic wuxia hero.
He just blinked.
Turned around.
And left.
No plan. No goodbye. No nothing.
He ran like a broken NPC who didn't know what quest to follow.
He used what was left in his space ring.
Not for food or fancy stuff — that life was dead.
He bought transport. Flew over oceans, then boats, then walked. A lot of walking.
He didn't care where he went.
He just didn't want to be near the ashes.
Or the memories.
Or the silence.
…
And that's how he ended up here.
Sitting in some unknown place.
Yeah — he didn't even know where he was anymore.
It wasn't on any map he knew.
The stars looked different. The trees were weird.
Even the squirrels barked. (For real.)
He sat in the corner of a dusty village — no name, no gold, no anything.
His once-shiny robes were now just rags.
One kid asked if he was a scarecrow.
Another offered him a single boiled pea.
A peasant pea.
And Yun Wao stared at it like it was treasure.
…
The worst part?
He still hadn't fully reacted.
Three months passed.
And all he'd done was run.
He hadn't processed it.
Hadn't accepted it.
He was just... floating through the world like a ghost with a heartbeat.
Until—
> "Who…"
It came again.
Same voice. Same feeling.
Not from him. But inside him.
He didn't try to answer.
Because deep down... he was scared the answer might be him.
…
He lay down next to a chicken coop that smelled like regret.
Looked up at the sky. Different stars. No answers.
And finally — just barely —
He let himself think it.
> "They're really gone."
"All of them."
"And I'm just... here."
…
Li Yun Wao.
Once the rising genius of a proud dynasty.
Now?
A barefoot, nameless beggar on a continent he couldn't even name.
The world didn't just forget him.
> It never even noticed he was gone.
…