Chapter 3: 2 [a magicless world]

My first lesson in this new world is that magic does not exist. 

In this world, humans are the dominant sentient race. Instead of magic, this world relies on science and technology for everything it needs. To live a good and stable life, you just have to follow a predetermined path and climb the career ladder to success. Work, marry, save up a healthy sum of money, retire at a ripe old age and happily live out your last days until death claims you. 

There isn’t another race seeking world domination. There isn’t any existential threat to the immediate survival of humankind. Demons, faeries, elves, beastkin—all of them simply exist in imagination.

In short, there’s no need for a Hero in this world.

Well…then again…

I should be satisfied with my reincarnation, shouldn’t I? 

… 

Didn’t I wish for a world without magic? Didn’t I wish for an ordinary peaceful second life? 

So why…why do I feel that something is missing? Why does it feel like I’ve lost a part of myself in this second life? 

I…I’m not satisfied. 

I’m not satisfied until I find what I had left behind in my past life. 

“Sohai, what’s your problem?” 

A gruff, nicotine-tinged voice brought me back to the now. The heavily-tattooed man towering over me spat out his cigarette butt and shoved me by my shoulders. “Chibai, I’m talking to you, eh?!” 

I levelled a glare at him and his three bold lackeys leaning against their motorcycles. “Your stupid gang is causing too much of a disturbance here. Will you please leave this carpark?”

Silence, then ignorant guffaws and snickers among the four men. 

“Nabei, this siao lang’s ang moh so good. Wa em zai yi gong simi sai.” His friend came over to grab my collar with both hands. “Hey, you understand Hokkien? Fuck your mum, you understand?” 

I smiled. “You want to fight me?” 

Lackey No. 3 and No. 4 snorted loudly. “Look at this chibai talking crap to Brother Kong.”

Brother Kong? This scrawny, ill-fed guy with an obnoxious body odour is named after the legendary King Kong? For real?

“Ah, you want to fight me?” The guy they called ‘Brother Kong’ yanked my collar harder. “Come lah, fight then fight—oooopphhh?!”

He suddenly wheezed and doubled over as I delivered a hard knee right into his groin. Yeah, I know how painful that feels. Time to say goodbye to your future children, King Kong.

“And this is payback for ruining my shirt.” I gripped his hair to jerk his head back and drove my knee into his jaw. A loud crack resounded across the empty carpark. Fresh crimson-red blood splattered onto the asphalt. 

“B-brother Kong!” The heavily-tattooed man’s shock quickly turned into unbridled fury. “Chao chibai—!” 

I grabbed his fist before he could land a punch in my gut. Alarmed, he tried to shake my grip loose, but all he could do was watch in terror as I flipped myself up and kicked his face hard enough for him to hit the asphalt howling. 

“Alright, you and you—” I languidly pointed at the two remaining lackeys frozen in fear “—come at me together. I still have homework to finish after this, so let’s end this quickly.” 

Trembling, they hastily put their hands up in the surrender position. “M-mai lah, xiong di. I-I-It’s your win.”

“Tch, that’s all?” I sighed and bent down beside the heavily-tattooed man curled into a crumpled heap. Reaching into his front pocket, I took out the pack of cigarettes and neatly pocketed it. “No smoking in HDB carparks.” 

I kindly gestured at the two lackeys to pick up their fallen brothers before heading back home. 

This is frustrating. I had initially wanted to only call the police and report them for being a public nuisance, yet somehow I ended up involving myself in such a mess again. I racked my brains to come up with an excuse to Mum and Dad for my dirty and torn shirt later. 

But…oh well, I can’t deny the little satisfaction I gained from that fight. 

 

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“Looks like tonight’s going to be a cool rainy night, Stephanie, doesn’t it?” The radio DJ said over the car radio, his canned laughter grating on my ears. “Well folks, the hourly weather forecast for May 16, 10 PM is as follows: thunderstorms in the North, West and Central areas, while scattered showers are expected in the East and South…”

“Have you finished all your homework from school?” Mum asked over the noise of the car.

“Mm, yeah.” I said, glancing out of the window dashed with rain. Streaks of tiny droplets glistened like diamonds in the glow of the passing street lights. A thunderstorm had begun to rage outside, lashing out at our Toyota sedan with all its terrifying fury. The windshield wipers could no longer keep up with the torrent, and the road ahead dissolved into a grey blur. 

Mum, seemingly unfazed by the heavy lightning and downpour, continued, “By the way, did you remember to bring along your umbrella?”

“Yes, Mum,” I replied languidly. 

“Make sure you go through your school homework and clarify any doubts you have with Mr. Yong, alright? We’re paying for your tuition so that you can learn, not play around with your friends.” 

Sigh, here we go again. “Yes, Mum…”

“On your way home, remember to buy your ten year series—” Her ringtone interrupted her mid-sentence “—gosh, where’s my phone…hello? Ah, Mr. Tan, thanks for calling in. I’ve sent you an email earlier regarding the meeting details…”

Relieved, I shifted my gaze back to the window. A signboard with flashing amber lights whizzed by us overhead. 

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING — DRIVE WITH CAUTION

I glanced at the speedometer on the dashboard. 80 kilometres per hour. That’s a little concerning—

A deafening horn blared behind us, cutting off my thought. I turned to see a massive truck coming up the inside lane towards us. Our car shook disturbingly as the truck barrelled by inches away from the side mirror, hauling a heavy pile of seven-foot long concrete pipes on its flatbed. 

Up ahead, the truck veered into our lane without using its blinkers. The pipes, only held down by thin, rattling chains, were directly in front of us. 

“I CC’ed Madam Lim in the email—” Mum clicked her tongue and flashed her high beams at the truck “—yes, that is correct. If you open up the attachment…”

“…you know, I watched Final Destination over the weekend and it was amazing how well this movie has held up over a decade later!” the radio DJ’s voice crackled with static. “Ah, sorry Stephanie, give me a moment. We have just received a traffic alert from LTA. There’s been several reports of road accidents along the PIE, AYE and KJE. If you’re travelling or planning to travel on these expressways tonight, please drive safely!” 

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Our car passed another signboard along the roadside. ALERT! FATAL ACCIDENT ON CLEMENTI AVE 6 (PIE) AHEAD

Now I’m seriously getting the creeps. “Erm, Mum…”

“Not. Now.” She shot me a warning glare via the rear-view mirror while clutching her phone between her shoulder and ear. “Sorry, yes, I’ll reach the place in fifteen minutes, Mr. Tan. I just have to drop my son off at his tuition centre on the way…” 

She flipped the blinker to the left. Click-clack-click-clack-click-clack. The car lurched forward as we overtook the truck. 

“Mum—” My words died on my tongue the second I spotted the tree falling across the road ahead.

Mum slammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel by reflex. Tyres squealed. Horns blared behind us. My head was thrown back against the headrest. Our car jolted violently and began to skid out of control.

“MUM!” I yelled as I desperately clung onto my seatbelt. The car isn’t stopping. The tree is falling too fast. We aren’t going to make it—

Something heavy slammed into us from behind, abruptly slewing our car sideways. Mum’s phone smashed against the windshield. The front bumper missed the guardrail by a hair’s breadth. Mum cried out. Then the entire world spun around me. 

It felt like an eternity before the car finally skidded to a halt in the middle of the road.  Red lights and beeping alarms were going off all over the dashboard. My hands trembling, I fumbled for the seatbelt clasp to unclip it before pulling myself into an upright position.

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The next moment, there was a sickening crash behind us—the truck had collided head-on with the fallen tree and flipped on its side. A cacophony of metal crashing against metal tore through the rain. 

“We’re alive?” I breathed, clutching my chest. 

“Ou-ou-ouch…” Mum groaned and massaged her temples. “Avery, are you alright?” 

“Y-yeah,” I said. “Mum, what about you?”

“Just a little bruise from the steering wheel.” She clumsily picked her phone up and opened the door. “Stay here, Avery. I’m going to check on the car and call for help.” 

I nodded my head in stunned silence. Th…that was…no, it can’t be. Impossible. I must have been mistaken.

But that sensation I felt just now…it feels so strangely familiar to me. And there was that glow of light while our car was spinning out of control…it was definitely…

Could it have been…magic?

 

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“Following heavy rain in the Clementi area, a large tree collapsed along the Ayer Rajah Expressway just before Clementi Road, causing an accident that involved seven cars and a truck. The driver of the truck, a 40-year-old man, was taken to hospital in critical condition…”

I was so engrossed in watching the news broadcast on the TV that I didn’t notice someone else had entered the classroom. 

“Shitty weather today, huh?” Liam said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Your mum drove you here?”

“Yeah.” I shifted my gaze to the light brown bob of hair standing next to me. Noticing this, Liam pushed his absurdly long dyed hair to the side and met my gaze with a pair of sleepy-looking blue eyes. 

“You’re wearing coloured contacts?” I asked, surprised. 

“Nice, right?” he said, puffing out his chest boastfully. “I look like an ang moh now.”

“You look more like a sohai,” I chided.

Liam gave me a light punch in the elbow and glanced up at the TV screen. “Did you see this accident on your way here?”

“We came very close to being one of the cars involved in the pile-up.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Mum was still shaken about it when she dropped me off.”

“Lucky bastard, ain’t you?”

“I refuse to believe that Iʼm that unlucky.” 

“I believe that it is a skill issue, you know.” He laughed and waved his hand at the dark-haired, bespectacled man who just entered the room. “Good evening, Mr. Yong!” 

I bowed my head in greeting too. Mr. Yong returned a friendly smile as he set up his laptop. 

“How has the week been?” he asked. “I hope you two didnʼt get into trouble in your school this time round.” 

“Of course not,” we rejoined in unison. 

“Thatʼs good news.” Mr. Yong turned the TV off and gestured for us to take our seats. “Do you still remember where we left off from?” 

Liam stiffened. “Uh…” 

“The chapter on chemical bonding,” I said, shaking my head at Liam in jest.

“Ah, right. Thanks, Avery.” He promptly opened up the correct presentation on his laptop. “Seraphine is late again, isnʼt she? Never mind, Iʼll hand you guys back last weekʼs assignment.”

“How did I do, Mr. Yong?” Liam asked anxiously. 

“Not bad this time.” Mr. Yong raised an eyebrow as he gave out the marked worksheets. “In fact, your answers were a ninety-nine percent match to Averyʼs. Care to explain that?” 

“A coincidence,” he answered without hesitation. 

“Coincidence, my foot.” Mr. Yong gave both of us a knowing look. “By the way, a new student will be joining us from today onwards. Make friends with one another, okay?” 

“New student?” I asked. 

Liam straightaway asked Mr. Yong the important question. “Is it a girl?”  

“Youʼll find out later,” Mr. Yong said with an enigmatic smile.

Suddenly the classroom door burst open and a rain-drenched girl with dark shoulder-length hair stepped in.

“Sorry that I’m late, Mr. Yong,” Seraphine said, sounding as though she had practised saying this exact sentence in the mirror many times before. “I was caught in the downpour without an umbrella.”

“I-I see…are you alright?” he asked worriedly. “Do you need me to turn the aircon off?”

She shook her head without hesitation. “What did I miss?”

“Oh, nothing, we’re just getting started. Here’s your assignment from last week.” Mr. Yong watched Seraphine take her seat in the corner of the classroom before clearing his throat. “As I was saying, we’ll be having a new student joining our class this lesson. She should be coming in as soon as her registration at the counter is completed.”

“Did you hear Mr. Yong say ‘she’?” Liam whispered, his eyes shining with a strange excitement. “I hope she’s cute and less weird than Seraphine. You must have heard the rumours about her, right? How she is always by herself in school and rejects anyone who approaches her, like a literal ice queen…”

“Is that so…” I murmured, not particularly interested in his attempt to gossip.

“I can count on one hand the number of times I had a conversation with her—” the click of the doorknob turning momentarily attracted his attention “—oh, that must be the new student.”

Out of mild curiosity, I also shifted my gaze to the door frame.

A pair of deep aquamarine eyes met mine with a demure smile. Blinking in surprise, I took in her tall, svelte figure, her striking navy blue pinafore over a crisp white blouse, her natural jet-black hair with violet highlights perfectly tied into a thick, flowing ponytail. She wasn’t a student from the school I went to, but why did she seem so familiar? It was the same peculiar feeling which struck me after seeing the weird flash of light that enveloped Mum’s car earlier.

My eyes travelled back up to her mesmerising aquamarine eyes, but she was no longer looking straight at me.

“Please give a short introduction about yourself if you don’t mind,” Mr. Yong said, gesturing for her to come to the front of the classroom.

“Yes, of course.” The girl calmly walked to the spot pointed out by Mr. Yong and bowed her head politely at us. “You may call me Terasia. I recently moved to Singapore from a distant place, so there are many things and local customs that I do not know yet. It’s my pleasure to be acquainted with everyone here, and I hope that we can get to know each other better!”

Her introduction prompted a round of applause from both Mr. Yong and Liam, while Seraphine and I remained silent.

“Thank you very much,” Mr. Yong said. “You can sit anywhere you like, Terasia.”

“Ah, then…”

To my astonishment, Terasia approached me with a shy look on her vividly prepossessing heart-shaped face. I felt an involuntary shiver down my spine as she pointed at the empty chair to my left. 

“Will you mind if I sit next to you?”

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