The robber and that officer must have been Players as well, Nawa mused, pondering the events at the bank. Their power and abilities were remarkably similar to what he had encountered in the Himmapan Forest.
It wasn't power derived from machines, robots, or any kind of technology, but rather energy resembling magic that originated from within a living being—what this world now called 'Skills.'
Even though the robber and the officer seemed superhuman, to Nawa, based on his time in the Himmapan Forest, those two were virtually nothing.
Had Nawa not lost his power, a single wave of his hand could have effortlessly shattered the clay buffalo golem into dust. It was a shame that he no longer possessed any such power; he couldn't even use a trace of his Telekinesis psychic ability to control the smallest object.
Nawa guessed this loss of power must be related to the event when he used the dimensional gate to return to Earth.
Before Nawa used the dimensional gate, his friend, who had risked his life alongside him in the Himmapan Forest, went first. Nawa's friend was named Jack. He was no ordinary human—in fact, he was barely human at all.
Jack was a hybrid of a werewolf and a vampire who had stumbled into the Himmapan Forest just like Nawa.
Jack volunteered to use the gate first because, physically, he was dozens of times stronger and tougher than Nawa.
This was coupled with his incredibly rapid regeneration abilities, inherited from the bloodlines of both werewolves and vampires—races renowned for being the closest thing to immortality.
If something went wrong, Jack would have a better chance of survival than Nawa. And indeed, something abnormal did happen.
When Jack stepped into the middle of the empty archway, the dimensional gate activated.
Nawa saw it light up, and then some kind of energy was drained from Jack's body, used as fuel for the gate. Soon after, there was a brilliant flash of light, and when everything settled, Jack's body had vanished from the spot.
Seeing that made Nawa feel both joy and sorrow simultaneously. He was happy that the gate worked and that he was going home, but sad that he had to part with his best friend—perhaps forever.
Nawa walked into the dimensional gate the same way he saw his friend do. But for some reason, nothing happened. Only when Nawa intensely thought of 'home' did the gate finally react.
It was as Nawa hypothesized: this gate was like a machine that operated on mental commands. But any machine, anywhere, requires power.
The gate began siphoning energy from Nawa's body. What he didn't expect was that the power he possessed wasn't enough to send him home.
Although Nawa didn't have his friend's physical strength, his mana reserves were far higher than Jack's—yet it still wasn't enough. The dimensional gate continued to drain his energy relentlessly.
When his mana ran dry, Nawa felt his life force begin to deplete instead. His skin started to wrinkle and wither. At this rate, he would soon become a dry corpse, devoid of life.
In that life-or-death moment, a white serpent suddenly darted out, coiled around Nawa's body, and slipped inside him.
Immediately, the dimensional gate erupted in a blinding white light—the same kind of light he'd seen when he first arrived in the Himmapan Forest. When he regained consciousness again, Nawa found himself back in the human world, but all the powers he once had were completely gone.
Initially, Nawa believed his powers would soon return.
During his time in the Himmapan Forest, he had pushed his limits many times until his mana was completely depleted. However, in that mystical land, he had learned the art of meditative absorption (Jhāna) from the wizard Alfor, which allowed him to siphon mana from the surrounding nature.
Back then, it only took a short while for his energy to be fully restored. But now, several days had passed, and he couldn't feel even a trace of mana.
Yet, Nawa didn't dwell on it. Even if his powers were gone, it wasn't a major concern—he was back on Earth, after all. He was finally going to reunite with the family he had long yearned for: his parents and the younger brother he missed so dearly.
"Thank you. This is far enough," Nawa told the taxi driver.
After paying with nearly all the cash he had left, he stepped out and walked down a familiar path. Despite five years having passed, the place hadn't changed much from his memories.
Nawa gazed at a single-story house, a typical sight in the outskirts of Bangkok. It might have been a bit small for a family of four with grown children, but it was filled with a warmth that made his heart swell just by looking at it.
He stood at the front of the house, looking toward the door just a few dozen feet away. It was a simple wooden door, crudely painted with oil-based paint, lacking any artistic beauty.
Yet, in Nawa's eyes, it was more magnificent than any palace gate in the world.
Throughout his time lost in the Himmapan Forest, he had dreamt of this moment—the moment he would return to his family.
Nawa composed himself and took a deep breath, as if testing to ensure he wasn't dreaming. Just as he was about to press the doorbell at the front gate, the house door swung open.
The person who stepped out was a middle-aged woman whom Nawa didn't recognize at all.
Deep down, Nawa had considered the possibility ever since learning that five years had passed on Earth, yet he had secretly hoped his parents would still be living in this house, unchanged.
But now that the reality had set in—that time stops for no one—he had to accept it and move forward. Nawa asked the woman who opened the door where the former owners of the house had gone.
The answer he received only deepened his despair. She had purchased the house three years ago and had no idea where his parents had relocated.
In this day and age, payphones were a relic of the past. Nawa asked to borrow the woman's phone to call his parents, only to discover that people had stopped using traditional smartphones altogether.
Instead, they used a tiny device that fit snugly behind one ear. Powered by advanced AI and groundbreaking technology, it replaced every function of a smartphone.
From watching movies and listening to music to browsing the internet, images and sounds were projected directly into the brain simply by thought.
Even communication was seamless; one only needed to think of a person to initiate a call. No one memorized phone numbers anymore.
Nawa had faced countless perils—from Weretigers and the Kinnara tribe to the legendary Phaya Nak—yet he had never felt as hopeless as he did at this moment.
He walked aimlessly until he realized he had come to a stop in front of his old high school.
Seeing the school made him feel a fraction better; looking inside felt like a small piece of home. Drawing strength from the sight, Nawa decided to begin the search for his parents using the most archaic method possible: walking and asking around.
He spent hours questioning people until his body could no longer ignore the gnawing hunger. As he searched for a place to eat, his eyes caught something that left him stunned.
On a row of commercial buildings across the street, there was a massive advertisement—but it wasn't a standard billboard, nor was it a giant LED screen.
The image projected onto the billboard looked incredibly real, like an actual person floating in mid-air, only many times larger than a normal human. It was a highly realistic hologram.
"Our world is now entering a new era. S-rank Players are emerging more frequently, and today we are honored to host Adam White, a Player from the United States and the first S-rank Player in history, to discuss the current situation of Players," a female news anchor in the hologram announced.
"S-rank, huh?" Nawa exclaimed in surprise.
Players are ranked based on their fundamental stats, from E all the way to S. It seemed the bank robber he encountered earlier was only a D-rank.
This made Nawa struggle to imagine just how strong this S-rank Player was, and if they surpassed his own power back when he was in the Himmapan Forest.
Since he was in no rush, Nawa continued watching the hologram broadcast. Most of it was news about Players and stories from The Oneness.
"The 39th Unique-tier Artifact has appeared. The guild that acquired it is the Manliver Guild from England... blah, blah, blah..."
"Elder-level Braised Mammoth Meat in Chinese Herbs, 50% off! Served with Professor-level Ent Salad at a special price until..."
Though the names sounded strange, the three-dimensional images of the food looked so appetizing that Nawa felt his hunger sharpen.
He currently had 1,500 baht left in his pocket. While it wasn't much, it was enough to find something to fill his stomach.
Nawa stepped into a mid-sized shopping center located beneath the giant advertisement. However, once inside, he realized it wasn't a mall at all, but rather an expansive, upscale restaurant.
"Good evening, sir. Do you have a reservation?" a young waitress asked with a polite smile. If one didn't look closely, it would be impossible to tell she was actually a highly advanced AI-driven hologram.
"No, I don't. It's actually my first time here," Nawa stammered.
He had only intended to find something simple to eat and hadn't expected to end up in such a grand establishment.
"Oh, I see! Then you've made the right choice, sir," the holographic waitress continued her pitch with practiced ease.
"Our restaurant uses premium-grade ingredients sourced directly from The Oneness, combined with our master culinary techniques. We guarantee that dining with us will provide a significant boost to your base stats. Many renowned high-rank Players are regular guests at our tables."
She didn't give Nawa a single opening to decline, but the real reason he didn't stop her was because her words touched on something he was curious about.
This restaurant used monster meat to prepare dishes, and different types of meat provided different physical enhancements—some increased speed, while others boosted defense.
While these properties primarily benefited Players, ordinary people also frequented such places because most monster meat tasted far superior to even the most expensive meats found on Earth.
"Well, since I'm back on Earth, I might as well treat myself to a good meal," Nawa decided.
He was curious to see if the monster meat from The Oneness tasted anything like what he had eaten in the Himmapan Forest. Besides, he still had some of the cash he had withdrawn from the bank left.
Nawa didn't even bother looking at the menu. He simply ordered a plate of Basil Stir-fry—a basic dish that any Thai person could easily whip up at home.
Before long, the food was served alongside the bill. The moment his eyes landed on the total, Nawa froze, his face turning pale instantly.
Five years ago, a plate of street food like this would have cost maybe 50 baht; even in a proper restaurant, it shouldn't have exceeded 300. But the price on the bill before him was over 5,000 baht.
He scrambled to grab the menu and was hit with a second wave of shock.
Prices ranged from the thousands to tens of thousands, and some even reached hundreds of thousands. If his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, there were even items priced in the millions.
Nawa was speechless. It was his own fault for not checking the prices before ordering; had he known, he would have walked out immediately. With no other choice, he asked to return the dish.
While the restaurant was kind enough to take it back, they still charged him a 'raw material loss fee' of over 3,000 baht—an amount he simply didn't have.
After a lengthy lecture from the staff, it was decided: Nawa had to work at the restaurant for a week to clear his debt.
"Alright, go change your clothes and start right away. We're short on dishwashers," the restaurant manager told him.
The kitchen in the back looked more like a factory than a culinary space. Every staff member wore full-body protective gear, resembling doctors in a lab.
The kitchen equipment was industrial machinery; because monster meat was many times tougher and more resilient than any Earth animal, ordinary human strength was insufficient for the preparation process.
This necessitated the use of heavy machinery for cooking.
Nawa worked until late into the night. Even though washing dishes didn't require immense physical strength, he felt more exhausted than he had after three consecutive days of hunting monsters in the Himmapan Forest.
"What is happening to my body?"
Nawa gasped as he collapsed onto the floor. It wasn't just that his mana was gone; he now felt even weaker than an average person. If things continued like this...
As he was lost in thought, a voice called out from behind him.
"Are you alright, young man? Is there anything I can do to help?"
It sounded like the voice of an ordinary elderly woman. But to Nawa, this voice carried more weight than all the gods of Mount Olympus combined. His heart hammered against his ribs. When he turned toward the source of the sound, tears began to stream down his face uncontrollably.
"Mother!"
Nawa cried out instinctively. His previous exhaustion vanished as if it had never existed.
Pim felt as though her soul had left her body. Her son, whom she had long believed to be dead, had suddenly appeared before her.
It was more than a dream. She felt completely numb, unable to form words, only able to let out sobs. Nawa was the same.
Their feelings at that moment were beyond description; even the wealthiest person in the world could not buy a moment of happiness such as this.
After they had wept together for a long time, Nawa finally began to ask about his father.
"Your father?" Pim said only that much before falling silent.
"Why are you silent, Mother? What's wrong with him? Please don't tell me that he..."
Nawa trailed off as his mother placed a finger over his lips.
"Don't say such things. Your father is alright. Once I finish my shift, I'll take you to see him," Pim said.
Nawa returned to washing dishes with overflowing happiness. Finally, he had found his mother and was about to see his father. The mistake of eating a meal he couldn't afford just a few hours ago now felt like the best thing he had ever done in his life.
By the time Nawa finished the last of the dishes, it was exactly when his mother ended her shift.
"Where is Dad, Mother?" Nawa asked as they walked out of the restaurant.
"He's not far from here," she replied, her brow furrowed with an expression of deep concern.
Nawa's mother led him back toward the front of the school and crossed the street at the corner. This direction began to give Nawa an uneasy feeling.
"Is Dad in the hospital, Mother?" Nawa asked.
"Yes, he's still at the hospital," Pim answered.
"What happened to him? Why is he there?"Nawa's voice was laced with worry.
"He's alright. You'll see when we get there. Now, tell me... where have you been all this time?"
Pim changed the subject, reaching up to stroke Nawa's head as if he were still her little boy.
Nawa didn't tell his mother the truth. She had suffered enough already.
Even though she didn't say it, he knew the kitchen work she did was incredibly taxing, and he didn't want her to worry about his burdens anymore.
That meant she didn't need to know about the Himmapan Forest. While he was searching for news at an internet cafe earlier, he had seen a report about a plane crash that occurred on the exact day he had disappeared.
Nawa lied to his mother, telling her he had been in a plane crash while traveling home and had woken up in the wilderness with amnesia for five years.
He claimed he had only just regained his memories and returned. Pim didn't press for more details; having her son standing before her was more than enough. Several times, she had to slap her own face to prove she wasn't dreaming.
"Let the past be past, my son. Just having you back is the greatest joy of my life," Pim replied, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Nawa finally understood everything. His father wasn't technically injured or ill; he was simply asleep. The only problem was that he had been sleeping for several years. It was a state known as a 'sleeping beauty'coma.
This condition occurred in about one in a hundred thousand people and was first recorded five years ago, following the construction of the teleportation gates.
Experts concluded that the illness was linked to The Oneness, and as of now, there was no known cure.
"One day, your father will wake up," Pim said, comforting her son.
Nawa gazed at his father lying on the bed with a complex expression, silently vowing to himself that he would find a way to save him.
Nawa then turned to ask about his younger brother, who should now be a young man around 17 or 18 years old.
"Thos? He should be waiting at the house by now," Pim answered flatly.
When Nawa reached the house, he finally understood why his mother's voice had sounded so weary and sorrowful when mentioning his brother.
Thos was currently pushing a cart filled with meticulously sorted scrap and garbage. It was a sight that didn't fit a handsome teenager at all.
This should have been his prime, a time for a bright and vibrant life—not an age where he had to earn a living by scavenging through piles of trash to sell for survival.
"Brother!" Thos cried out, his face looking as if he had just seen a ghost.
He sprinted forward and threw his arms around his elder brother with the intensity of a young child. Nawa embraced him back, and soon the entire family was locked in a tearful embrace.
" I'm home, Thos. I'm finally home," Nawa repeated those words countless times. In his heart, the mysterious issues with his body felt insignificant now that he was back where he belonged.
As he stepped inside, Nawa realized their home was merely a tiny rented room. There were no separate bedrooms—only a small kitchen area situated in front of the bathroom. It was smaller than the dormitory he had lived in during his university years.
The space was far too cramped for three people, especially with the piles of scrap metal and junk that Thos had scavenged from the trash.
"Mom, don't worry anymore,' Nawa said firmly. 'I'm back, and I have my degree. I'll find a job and earn enough money so you don't have to struggle like this."
"I'm not struggling, son,' Pim replied, trying to ease his mind. 'An old woman like me just needs something to do so I don't get lonely."
"And Thos, you go find a place to continue your studies," Nawa turned to his brother, stroking his head.
"Tomorrow, I'll start applying for jobs with my engineering degree. It won't be long before I can comfortably support your education."
Thos smiled up at him. "Oh, come on, Brother. This is just a hobby of mine. You know how much I love collecting old stuff to build things," Thos said, trying to reassure his brother.
For the first time, Nawa felt like he had truly returned home. Being with his family again felt like waking up from a long, arduous dream. But suddenly, his vision went black—as if someone had abruptly flipped a switch on his consciousness.
The next thing Nawa knew, he felt as if he were floating in mid-air. When he looked down, he saw his younger brother sitting beside his own body, which lay there, completely unconscious.
"Mom, is he going to end up like Dad?" Thos asked, clutching his mother's hand with a face full of dread.
"No, he's probably just exhausted and fainted. Don't say things like that," Pim replied, trying to comfort and scold him at the same time, though her own eyes betrayed a clear sense of anxiety.
Nawa desperately wanted his unconscious self to wake up. He tried to force himself back into his body, but it was futile.
Before long, the image of his mother and brother faded away. In its place appeared a giant black serpent swimming overhead; Nawa recognized it instantly as the Naga that guarded the Rainbow Cave.
Then, a man appeared, offering him a large egg—the size of an ostrich egg—for him to eat. Nawa consumed it with relish. The old man gently stroked Nawa's head, and Nawa remembered that face well—it was Alfor, the wizard who had saved his life many times in the Himmapan Forest.
The vision shifted again. This time, it was a colossal city, so vast it defied imagination.
The structures seemed forged from pure gold and precious gems; if heaven truly existed, this had to be it. But now, this celestial paradise was engulfed in flames. Buildings lay in ruins as if caught in a war—a war unlike anything he had ever seen outside of a movie.
Lightning strikes, fire explosions, and gargantuan storms erupted everywhere. Nawa couldn't begin to fathom the scale of this conflict.
He didn't even know if it was happening on Earth, for there were countless monsters battling humans who radiated powerful auras. Both sides possessed terrifying and equal strength, locked in a devastating struggle.
The most bewildering part was not just the vivid sights, sounds, and sensations, but the feeling that he himself was a combatant in this war.
No—he was a colossal white serpent, obliterating everything in his path. With a single movement of his body, entire mountains crumbled. With a single snap of his jaws, hundreds of humans, possessing strength like gods, were crushed to dust.
Before long, a giant lightning bird, no less formidable than the serpent, descended from the heavens to engage him in battle.
Nawa recognized this lightning bird; it was the transformation of the god Zeus, whom he had encountered in the Himmapan Forest.
The devastation from the clash between Nawa, in his serpent form, and the lightning bird expanded across the horizon. Everything within Nawa's sight was pulverized by the sheer force of their collision.
Nawa, in his serpent form, opened his maw wide; it felt as though a miniature sun was being prepared to be exhaled. Meanwhile, before him, the lightning bird spread its wings until they eclipsed the entire sky.
CRACK-BOOM!
Hundreds, perhaps thousands or tens of thousands of lightning bolts converged upon the bird, transforming it into a sphere of pure electricity capable of shattering the entire world.
That lightning orb streaked directly toward Nawa, who in turn unleashed the miniature sun to meet it head-on. A blinding white light erupted, and once again, everything dissolved into darkness.
Nawa opened his eyes again to find his mother and brother asleep by his side. From their appearance, it seemed they hadn't slept all night.
Was what I saw just a dream? No—it wasn't a dream.
It felt like a memory of something else entirely. Nawa told himself to stop being distracted. What was real, and what he needed to focus on most, was the situation right in front of him. He looked at his mother and brother with eyes full of unwavering determination.