For someone who hadn't interacted with another rational being for over a month, Nova felt like he was talking to someone else. What if the screen was being controlled by a higher being? Maybe he was about to receive a powerful system like the ones that appear in web novels?
"Where do I want to go? Well, obviously, home."
No matter how strange this was, it felt more normal than it should have. Nova was aware of how odd the situation was, but he wanted to get to the bottom of it.
First, there were the voices when he arrived in this world. Then the field of flowers. After that, obtaining the Spectrum of Anticipation. And now this. If something strange weren't happening, events wouldn't be unfolding like this.
Then, once again, the words glitched. This time, the information Nova wanted appeared.
[
❖Name: ____
❖Age: ____
❖Rank: ____
❖Spectrums: Serenity, Anticipation.
❖ Spectrum Skills:
—Attenuate.
—Spectrum Enhancement.
—Serenity Fluctuation.
—Danger Omen.
❖ Energy Control:
—Low control of Calem Energy.
—Medium manipulation of the Plantae Realm.
—Low resistance to Status Effects.
❖ Personal Skills:
Martial Arts (Basic)
Knowledge of Botany (Advanced)
Survivor (Basic)
]
"My name isn't here… Neither my age nor my rank. What does this mean?"
He glanced toward the tunnel entrances along the walls, as if someone might be watching him, but in the end, he found nothing. Trying to connect this strange situation to something external only gave him more questions.
'Anticipation is already listed here. Danger Omen? I see… That's why every vision hurt so much; it's different from Future Vision.'
Danger Omen was the ability Miyu had unconsciously used the moment Nova was thrown into the portal. It was a basic Anticipation ability that caused significant damage in exchange for a detailed vision of imminent danger. That was why it activated every time Nova was close to dying.
'Does this have something to do with the earlier questions? More importantly—why the hell would my own mind ask me two questions and then erase my own name?'
At that moment, he opened his eye, realizing something.
The first question had been: "Who do you think you are?" Since Nova didn't answer, by process of elimination, the screen removed the user's identity—that was why neither his age nor his rank appeared anymore, not to mention his name.
But it still didn't make sense.
Nova spent the next few hours thinking about what the hell had just happened. As minutes passed, pacing in circles impatiently, he tried to connect all the strange things he had experienced.
Once again, his questions went unanswered.
'I'm tired of this. I feel like an idiot thinking about something I don't understand.'
So, before entering the portal, Nova took one more night to rest. Because the place was extremely cold, he used all the fabric he had managed to gather from the ruined city to cover himself and get some sleep.
From time to time, he would wake up and look at the serpent's corpse. Deep down, he hoped it wouldn't move or do anything strange. Then he went back to sleep, repeating the cycle every hour.
After another eight or nine hours, Nova climbed the tree. He stood before the portal, armed with his sword and shield, carrying as many supplies as possible in his improvised backpack.
'I never thought I'd become some kind of wilderness survivor.'
So far, luck had been on his side—but how much longer would that precious luck last?
'But this is all I have now. If I want to go home, then I'll keep being a survivor.'
He clenched his fist, gripped the hilt of his sword, and stepped forward.
"Here I go."
He took a step into the portal and was swallowed by a darkness that brushed against his skin. A deep, faint purple light covered his single eye. In the next instant, the darkness transformed into a vast, brilliant star-filled sky. Massive mountain ranges rose before him and behind him, accompanied by dry, twisted trees—bent like skeletal hands clawing at the ground.
He looked at his feet. The ground was barren—dry and lifeless—just like the leafless trees and the dull mountains rising like sleeping titans.
Nova had a bad feeling about this place.
'This doesn't look like anywhere in my world,' he thought—glancing behind him, then at the sky, and finally at the portal. 'But it looks better than the desert.'
He walked a few steps away from the portal to get a better look, but there was nothing—no signs of energy, no signs of life.
'This place feels like a dead zone. I don't sense anything. Is that why no one crossed the portal?'
If that was the case, then his luck was something else entirely. Nova was on quite the streak.
As he ventured deeper into the mountains, he brushed the dry trees with his fingertips. One of the branches snapped with the slightest touch. There was no doubt now—this world had been dead from the very beginning.
'Dry, brittle trees. Dead land. Energy deficiency. No signs of wildlife.'
At first glance, it didn't seem like a world that would wither away on its own. This kind of dead land bore the mark of foreign hands.
'Are there people in this place?'
And if so, what kind of people? There was no way to find out other than exploring.
'If there are rational beings, I could ask for help, but…'
The problem was just how rational they might be. Before considering contact with other species, Nova focused on the path ahead.
'First, I need to know if this world also has an asteroid.'
Just like in the desert world, he concentrated. Immediately, he felt a deep, faint pulse of energy behind him. He looked in that direction and frowned.
'There is an asteroid, but I can barely feel its energy.'
Unafraid, he moved forward. He narrowed his eye to see better through the dim darkness, faintly illuminated by distant starlight.
'It doesn't matter. As long as I don't run into any Aberrations, I can keep moving. Even if the next portal doesn't take me home, I'll keep trying.'
He found himself running toward the source of the energy. His body had barely recovered, yet he was pushing himself to the limit once again. His eye shone with the golden light of Serenity. Every muscle in his body surged with strength, and he advanced as fast as he could.
This time, he wouldn't allow himself to waste time. Beyond the threshold—whatever awaited him no longer mattered.
That's how it should have been. But sooner rather than later, he came upon a landscape completely unlike anything he had ever seen.
He opened his eye wide in shock. Beyond the mountains, the dead trees, and the lifeless zone, an immense metallic monster rose from the ground, splashed with neon lights…
Massive buildings threatening to tear open the sky emerged from the depths of that monster, which turned out to be a mysterious, radiant city.