The glowing card hovered before my eyes.
It was not an illusion.
No matter how many times I blinked, the blue panel of light remained suspended in the crimson air, casting faint reflections across the endless dunes.
My breathing slowed, but my heart was still hammering against my ribs.
A moment ago, I had been inside the desert ruins with Professor Viraj Mehra.
Now I stood beneath a blood-red sky in a world that did not belong to Earth.
And a voice—no, a system—was speaking inside my mind.
I clenched my fists.
"ARINA," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady, "where am I?"
The wind shifted across the dunes.
Then the same elegant voice answered.
"You are within the Crimson Desert Realm, the first stabilised fragment connected to your world."
I frowned.
"Another world?"
"Correct."
The glowing panel before me changed.
[World Identification Complete] Realm: Crimson Desert Realm Status: Unstable Threat Level: High World Balance: 32% Primary Cause: Betrayed Flame Goddess
My eyes narrowed.
World balance?
Threat level?
This was far beyond anything I had ever imagined.
"Where is my master?"
For the first time, ARINA remained silent for several seconds.
Then—
"Professor Viraj Mehra has crossed beyond the first threshold."
"His life signature persists."
"Further information locked until Mission Rank 1 is completed."
A sharp frustration surged inside me.
"You know where he is, don't you?"
"Complete the mission."
I gritted my teeth.
Even in another world, the first thing standing between me and answers was a task.
Fine.
Then I would complete it.
The floating summon card shimmered again.
Before I could touch it, another panel unfolded in front of me.
[First Main Mission Assigned] Mission Title: Save the Betrayed Flame Goddess Objective: Locate and rescue the Flame Goddess. Time Limit: 7 Days Reward: Skill Copy × 1 Reward: Favorability System Unlocked Reward: World Gate Clue × 1 Failure Penalty: Realm Collapse / Master Clue Delayed
Seven days.
I exhaled slowly.
"Where do I find her?"
A golden line of light appeared in the sky.
It extended toward the eastern dunes like a burning path.
"Follow the flame trail."
Simple enough.
I adjusted my stance and looked across the desert.
The heat here was strange.
The sand itself shimmered as if faint embers lived beneath it.
Each step released sparks of crimson light.
This world was not merely hot.
It was alive with fire.
I began walking.
The sky remained an endless red, with a silver moon hanging unnaturally large above the horizon.
There was no sign of civilisation.
No vegetation.
No sound except the wind.
Yet I could not shake the feeling that something was watching me.
After nearly an hour of walking, the golden path led me to the top of a massive dune.
I froze.
Below me stretched the ruins of an ancient city.
Half-buried towers.
Collapsed sandstone halls.
Broken pillars carved with flame-shaped symbols.
At the centre stood a gigantic temple crowned by a pillar of red fire that rose into the sky.
A temple.
That had to be the destination.
But before I could move, ARINA spoke again.
"Warning."
"Hostile presence detected."
My body reacted before my mind could.
I dropped low.
A sharp whistle sliced through the air.
Something struck the sand where my head had been moments earlier.
An arrow.
Black shaft.
Red feathers.
Poison-tipped.
I rolled behind a broken stone slab near the dune.
More arrows rained down.
Someone had been waiting.
I scanned the horizon.
Three figures in crimson cloaks stood on the opposite ridge.
Archers.
Not human, I realised immediately.
Their eyes glowed amber.
Their movements were too fluid.
Cultivators?
Guards?
Or enemies of the goddess?
No time to think.
One of them leapt down the slope with unnatural speed.
His curved blade flashed in the crimson light.
I stepped sideways instinctively.
The blade cut through the air where my neck had been.
Years of self-defence training under Professor Mehra had saved me.
I grabbed the attacker's wrist and twisted hard.
Bone cracked.
He hissed, eyes widening.
Not human.
His pupils had become slitted like a serpent's.
I drove my elbow into his ribs and pushed him backwards.
The other two rushed down the dune.
Three against one.
No weapon.
No cover.
Perfect.
My mind sharpened.
I had survived fifteen years in an orphanage by learning faster than anyone else.
Now survival depended on that instinct again.
The first attacker lunged.
I sidestepped.
Sand exploded beneath his feet.
I swept his leg.
He fell.
The second came from the left.
I grabbed the fallen arrow from the sand and drove it into his shoulder.
He screamed.
The third one stopped.
His glowing eyes narrowed.
Then he spoke.
"You are not from this realm."
His voice was rough and cold.
I remained silent.
"Then you belong to the temple."
Temple?
So outsiders were rare here.
That confirmed the goddess's location.
Before he could attack again, blue light flashed before my eyes.
[Combat Analysis Complete] Basic Combat Adaptation Skill Unlocked: Rank: Common
My breath hitched.
The system was learning from the fight.
Useful.
Very useful.
The third attacker charged.
This time, my movements felt sharper.
Faster.
I caught his blade arm.
Twisted.
Drove my knee into his stomach.
Then struck his throat.
He collapsed.
The others retreated.
One of them spat blood into the sand.
"The Flame Temple will be your grave."
Then they vanished into the dunes.
Silence returned.
I stared after them.
Enemies already.
This world wasted no time.
ARINA spoke.
"Combat proficiency increased."
Another panel appeared.
Level: 1 Combat Proficiency: 12% World Balance Contribution: +1%
I looked toward the temple.
A strange unease settled in my chest.
If the goddess was imprisoned there, then these people were likely her jailers.
Or worse—
The betrayers mentioned by ARINA.
I continued toward the ruins.
The deeper I went, the stronger the heat became.
The temple doors were enormous, carved from obsidian stone veined with crimson fire.
At the centre was the same symbol as the pendant.
A flame enclosed within a circle.
The moment I touched it, the doors groaned open.
A rush of hot air struck my face.
Inside, chains of fire hung from the ceiling like serpents.
At the centre of the vast chamber—
I stopped breathing.
A woman was suspended above a ring of blazing flames.
Long silver-white hair cascaded around her like moonlight.
Her wrists were bound by burning chains.
Her crimson eyes slowly opened.
They locked onto mine.
For a moment, the world stood still.
Then ARINA's voice echoed in my mind.
"Target identified."
Name: Lian Xueyi Title: Flame Goddess Favorability: -35. Mental State: Betrayed / Hostile Mission Phase 2 Initiated
The woman's gaze turned cold.
Her voice was like fire wrapped in frost.
"You…"
The chains rattled.
"…are one of them."
The flames around her surged violently.
I realised it instantly.
This was not a rescue.
This was going to be a battle.