Staring at the slowly dipping sun over the horizon, Lucian let out a deep, long sigh.
"So that's how it is, huh?" He muttered in a low, almost inaudible voice. "27 days... I wasn't expecting it to be that long..."
He pulled his head back into the room through the window, closed it shut, and began walking towards the farthest corner of the room.
His eyes were tightly shut as he clenched his fists in silence. What he was going through right now was far more dangerous than anything he had ever seen and fought.
A danger so immense that half of mankind could die within an instant upon a single glance. A gigantic bright room with lights installed every 3 steps. Huge mirrors, a clean floor, perfectly done laundry, and not a single empty wrapper of a snack rolling around in the room...
And to make matters worse... Everything within the room... From the bedsheets to the paint on the walls... everything was Pink!
Lucian wanted to wail for his life, but he feared accidentally opening his eyes. He carefully walked towards the corner with his legs trembling and his back hunched.
"Ack!" Hitting his head into the wall, Lucian groaned in a low voice.
He then squatted down and sat with his legs crossed. His face was tilted low as he slowly opened his eyes. The pink was still there, but that amount was bearable since Lucian merely let out a breath full of relief.
Almost immediately, his brows tensed and eyes sharpened as he began reorganizing his thoughts.
'According to what Sera has told me about this world... It's been about 27 days since the 'Update'. If added correctly, it's been approximately a month since it all began.'
'Upon the completion of the update, massive earthquakes took over the earth. Within minutes, countless buildings collapsed and gigantic cracks appeared in the ground. Before anyone could know, millions of lives were lost beneath the falling rubble.' He slightly shifted his head towards the wall in boredom.
'Within hours, people noticed the sudden difference in terrains. The houses they had spent their entire lives in seemed to have grown distant. Natural structures that didn't even exist had appeared within minutes. The earth itself had become twice the size.'
'Of course, that wasn't enough. Along with such a drastic change overnight, the world was met with yet another disaster—The Gates.'
Gate—a portal that connected the real world to countless different dimensions and worlds. Some contained only a small part of the world, while others connected one another through stable wormholes.
In a sense, they were both beneficial and dangerous to humans. Since there was no way of knowing whether the other side was hostile or not. At first, the world was oblivious, and countless monsters poured out of these gates. Before anyone could act, hundreds of cities and countries were razed to the ground.
As such, humans who had awakened as "Players" through the "System" came together as "Hunters." Hunters who hunted down such monsters and gates. Graded by their powers, countless small and big factions were formed over the slowly dying world government.
At last, the government collapsed, and a new order was established among hunters—the Hunter's Association.
The Hunter's Association took matters into its own hands and allied with every guild and individual to form an intricate network of bonds. They released classified and the newest discoveries to the normal civilians and handled each newly found gate with the help of guilds over mutual interests.
"It's fascinating..." A soft smile crept onto Lucian's face. "To take over the entire world within a month... Truly fascinating."
Then all of a sudden, his eyes twitched and darted to his left. The next second, he sighed.
"She's here."
Almost immediately, the room's gate creaked open. Sera stepped inside the room and began walking into the room with a tray—cradling plates and cups—in her hands, humming.
"Eh?" Not being able to see Lucian in her room, Sera stood completely confused. Her eyes were wide open, wondering where he could have gone.
"I'm right here," Lucian called out loud, raising his left hand up in the air.
Hearing his voice, Sera turned around immediately and noticed Lucian holed up in the corner of the room.
She moved closer and, in a soft voice, asked, "Did you drop something?"
"Ca-Can you turn some lights off?" Lucian asked politely.
"Oh... uh, yeah, sure! Just give me a minute." Sera beamed in confusion. She quickly put the tray on the bed and pulled a few switches down. Almost half of the lights were turned off, and the room grew visibly darker.
As she turned around to inform Lucian, she widened her eyes in shock. Lucian was nowhere to be seen! But, at the same time, a munching sound echoed from her bed.
Her eyes moved. There he was. Lucian. Munching on a small piece of cheesecake she brought for him.
"Da cake iz great." He mumbled with his mouth full, beaming.
Sera burst into laughter as she realized just how adorable and funny he looked in that moment. Soon enough, her laughter subsided. Out of curiosity, she asked, "Say, you haven't told me yet. Were you really in that room for a month?"
Lucian raised his gaze and noticed the concerned look on her face. "Yes," he replied, nodding.
"Why... What were you doing there?" Her voice wavered, remembering the image of the completely destroyed room.
"Me? Well..." His eyes rolled to the right instinctively as he caught a soft cerulean glow from the corner of his eyes.
A system window hung mid-air, displaying an unread text.
---
———————————————————
[#~System Notification~#]
———————————————————
[The System congratulates Host on your first successful breakthrough.]
[As such, The System has prepared special rewards for the host!]
[You may now claim your rewards.]
---
Lucian smirked, "I was powering up."
"Oh..." Sera stood frozen in confusion, pondering whether it would be alright to disturb him again while he was eating the cake. While all this time, her eyes were stuck on his face, half-blushing.