Renas suddenly felt a force pulling him from the direction of the portal and turned around. He couldn't see what was on the other side, but he did see a hand reaching out through it.
"Cuhlun…"
Without looking anywhere else, Renas lunged forward, trying to grab hold of the portal.
The white portal was shrinking slowly. Just before it vanished completely, he heard one last voice.
"This is where we part ways, R-e-n-a-s."
The final letters of Cuhlun's words cracked and echoed faintly as the collapsing portal swallowed the sound.
Then, the portal vanished. Renas began to fall. He realized he hadn't looked around at all since leaving the portal.
When he finally turned his head, the sight stunned him.
Dozens of buildings surrounded him. Their architecture resembled the 19th–20th century of his own world. Smoke puffed from chimneys, and the sky was shrouded in thick clouds. The streets below teemed with brass-plated bicycles, and higher up, rails made of the same metal hung in the air—support beams for cable-car-like vehicles gliding between the rooftops.
Renas nearly slammed into one of those rails, but stretched his hand forward just in time, grabbed it, and swung himself around.
The ground was at least ten meters below.
After a brief swing, he let go and landed gently on the street.
Thea wasn't so lucky—she'd fallen flat on her back.
As a letter drifted down from above, Renas glanced at the large crowd forming around them.
He wasn't sure how to disperse them. He'd need some kind of ability…
Ah, right. He did have one.
–Eye of the Leviathan–
In the next instant, three vertical lines tore open above his head, splitting the fabric of reality like cracked glass. The lines widened slowly, like eyelids parting.
From the rift, a monstrous being stared out. This was the Authority mentioned in the "Eye of the Leviathan" description.
Every person in the crowd froze. Pupils shrank. Faces twisted in terror.
Then chaos erupted—everyone scattered in panic.
Renas had meant only to frighten them off, but this level of fear... that wasn't what he'd expected. Still, it didn't matter. The letter drifting down from above had clearly come from the same place they had—it must be from Cuhlun. That was the only thing that mattered right now.
Renas sat down beside Thea, reached toward the letter that had landed a little farther away, and picked it up.
He unfolded the smooth paper carefully. The clumsy handwriting confirmed it was Cuhlun's.
"If you're reading this, it means you're no longer in World 774. Congratulations—you won. I probably didn't get the chance to tell you that in person.
I think you'll understand why I did what I did. Even if I know you wouldn't betray me, the game gave both of us that possibility. In our current weakened, defenseless state, others might try to steal what we've earned—or manipulate us. I don't want that, so we'll be apart for a while.
There's a girl with me now—Even though I'm a little afraid of that girl, she's at least as strong as me. So don't worry; I'll be fine.
Also, I noticed when I was a lizard last time that you broke your glasses. Small detail, I know, but I've seen firsthand what kind of mistakes you make without them. I don't want that guy with you to experience the same thing, so get them fixed—fast. I'm saying this out of pity for him, not you."
Renas smiled faintly. Then, without a word, he released the letter into the air and sliced it into dozens of pieces with his blade.
With a half-amused expression, he muttered to himself, "He could've asked for my opinion first, though..."
Then, in a calmer but colder tone, he added, "Next time we meet, he's paying for that."
Thea slowly got to her feet, coughing a little."Damn it—couldn't you have helped me? I know I insisted on following you, but this was just rude!"
Renas turned toward her and stared in silence. For a second, Thea wondered if something was wrong with her outfit. She looked down, checked herself, then back up—still confused by his gaze.
But Renas's thoughts were elsewhere—on Cuhlun's letter. Something about it reminded him of Thea herself.He thought, Wait… what even is Thea's real gender?
She had a body-switching ability, after all. Her current form might be muscular, but that didn't necessarily mean it was her original body. Even her name didn't seem to match it.
With a puzzled look, Renas finally asked, "Hey, Thea… just curious—was your original body male?"
Thea stared blankly at him, face turning slightly red. Seeing Kael's old face blush like that gave Renas a very strange feeling.
"Um… I don't usually explain my ability right away, but—it's not really a secret. So… no."
Renas froze for a moment, visibly deflated. He lowered his head and stood up.
Then, glancing back at her, he said, "I might've scared the civilians a bit too much while you were out cold. We should leave. Come with me."
Two figures dashed through the bustling steam-filled streets.
One wore black, blood-stained clothes with a hood pulled low over their head. The other was a young man in his mid-twenties wearing a brown suit—though it was now dirty from the chase.
They weaved through the crowd, the suited man pursuing the hooded one relentlessly.
In this world of steam and machinery, countless cults and organizations existed. The young man was part of one of them—the Arena Clan. His current mission as a clan member was to capture the man he was now chasing.
After a long pursuit, they finally broke free from the crowd and entered a narrow alley.
The blood-stained figure in the black robe spoke calmly."Now that we're away from the crowd, I can finally finish this. You've run far enough. Let's fight."
As he said the last words, his calm tone shifted into a twisted smile. He looked like someone who enjoyed fighting—perhaps more suited for the Arena Clan than his pursuer was.
The man in the suit checked his watch, then slowly looked around the alley. With a faint grin, he replied, "Yeah. No one can hear us here."
He raised his watch to his left ear. The device seemed to twitch—then latched onto his ear like a living thing.
In a low voice, he said, "Berserker."
A burst of energetic music erupted. Red light flooded the alley. His eyes turned crimson.
Normally, the music should've been audible only to him—it was, after all, coming from a personal earpiece. But his ability didn't follow normal rules.
The sound spread far and wide. That was why he used it in isolation—he didn't want to attract people. Loud sounds always drew attention.
As the rhythm intensified, a massive, translucent crimson hammer materialized in his hands.
His movements followed the beat flawlessly. It was more than combat—it was dance.
Somehow, even in the cramped alley, he moved freely, swinging that colossal hammer with impossible precision.
The robed man pulled out a gun and fired, but every bullet was crushed midair—smashed to the rhythm of the music.
When the song reached its peak, the suited man surged forward—and before his opponent could even react, the hammer came down.
The body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Silence followed. The music faded, and the earpiece reformed into a wristwatch.
In a quiet mutter, he said to himself, "A hammer this time, huh? Using that in such a tight space… a bit unlucky, but I managed fine."
This self-talking man was Charlos, the rising star of the Arena Clan. The man he'd just crushed had been a member of one of the many dark organizations plaguing this world of steam and machines.
The clan had given him—and his strange gift—a name:
–Orchestra of One–
As Charlos disappeared into the backstreets of the mechanical city, a new report came in.
Two people had fallen from a portal and caused a public disturbance.
Without hesitation, Charlos set off to find them.