As Gaia finished her speech, the Earth began to expand. The sight was surreal beyond words, and millions of people gathered at the edges of cities to witness the impossible firsthand. At first, however, nothing dramatic seemed to happen, which somehow made the situation even more unsettling.
The world did not shake violently, nor did the skies split apart, yet every instinct in the human body screamed that something was terribly wrong.
No one needed signs or warnings to know where the safe zone ended.
The moment people approached the edge of the cities, their entire bodies reacted with primal terror.
Their hearts raced, their skin crawled, and their minds warned them that taking even one more step would result in a gruesome death.
Because of that, most people wisely kept at least a hundred meters away from the border.
Only from that distance could they calmly observe the expanding Earth.
If one looked closely, they could see forests slowly drifting farther away as though the land itself was stretching.
Roads cracked apart in eerie silence while abandoned houses tilted and collapsed into widening gaps in the terrain.
The sight was beautiful in the same way a tsunami or wildfire could be beautiful—terrifying, yet impossible to ignore.
Videos of the phenomenon flooded the internet almost instantly.
Some people cried openly while others laughed nervously, unable to comprehend what they were witnessing.
Religious groups fell to their knees in prayer while conspiracy theorists somehow still blamed governments for the situation.
Meanwhile, exhausted office workers simply brought lawn chairs and snacks to watch the apocalypse in peace.
Deep inside the Sonneberg forest, however, the atmosphere felt entirely different.
Arin sat cross-legged beneath an ancient tree while calmly meditating, seemingly unaffected by the chaos spreading across the globe.
Mana flowed around him in smooth currents, entering and leaving his body with every controlled breath he took.
Ever since the System arrived, meditation had become essential for cultivation and strengthening the body.
The moment the Earth began to expand, the forest changed.
Before today the woods had always felt alive yet restrained, as though sleeping beneath invisible chains.
The energy in the land moved slowly and peacefully, subdued by centuries of civilization and careful management by the Sonneberg family.
Now it felt like the entire forest had awakened from a deep slumber.
Mana erupted everywhere.
The air became so dense with energy that even ordinary humans would have noticed something changing.
The trees swayed despite the lack of wind while the roots beneath the soil pulsed with faint emerald light.
To Arin, the forest no longer felt tame—it felt ancient.
Notifications rang endlessly inside his mind.
[You have leveled up.]
Without hesitation, Arin dismissed every notification and continued meditating.
Interrupting meditation during a mana surge would be idiotic.
Mana flooded through his body like a river breaking through a dam, strengthening his muscles, senses, and mind simultaneously.
His hearing sharpened while his breathing became lighter and more refined with every passing second.
Time itself seemed to blur while he remained immersed in cultivation.
Nearly two hours passed before the surge finally stabilized.
By then, Arin's body had become saturated with mana, making further meditation temporarily ineffective.
He slowly opened his eyes and released a quiet breath while standing from the forest floor.
Even the world itself looked sharper than before.
"I should probably see what the family plans to do now," he muttered quietly.
Six months trapped inside the forest would create chaos if preparations were not handled properly.
The recruits were already exhausted from training before the expansion had even begun.
Winter alone would be enough to break most of them if nothing changed.
As Arin walked toward the villa, he soon spotted his younger sister Tilly walking beside their mother, Avela.
The moment Tilly noticed him, her entire face brightened like sunlight breaking through clouds.
Without hesitation, she sprinted toward him and practically launched herself into his arms.
"Arin! Did you hear? Six whole months trapped here!" she shouted excitedly.
Arin blinked in confusion.
"Yes… I heard," he replied slowly.
Knowing his sister, confinement should have been the worst possible punishment imaginable.
Tilly loved making friends, exploring new places, and causing trouble wherever she went.
"Silly brother, you still don't understand!" Tilly declared proudly.
"No school! The teachers can't come here anymore!"
She puffed out her chest triumphantly before continuing with even greater confidence.
"I even hid my backpack with all next year's homework inside it!"
For a moment, Arin almost admired the sheer dedication behind the plan.
Unfortunately for Tilly, she had forgotten one extremely important detail.
Their mother had been standing beside her the entire time.
Avela slowly turned toward her daughter with a dangerously calm smile.
"Oh? Is that so?" Avela asked softly.
"I was wondering why your teacher Lucy suddenly contacted me yesterday."
"I asked her to prepare two full years of curriculum material for you."
"Since you now have six free months, I expect you to finish all of it."
Tilly froze in horror.
"N-No! Mom please! It was just a prank!" she cried dramatically while grabbing Avela's sleeve.
"I was totally going to give the backpack back after a few days!"
Unfortunately, even Arin knew that was an obvious lie.
"Look me in the eyes and say that again," Avela replied calmly.
Tilly tried her absolute best to maintain eye contact.
She failed every single time and immediately looked away the moment she spoke.
Avela merely sighed before delivering the final blow.
"No desserts for the rest of the week."
The devastation on Tilly's face was unbelievable.
One would think civilization itself had collapsed specifically to ruin her life.
She spent the remainder of the walk silently trailing behind Arin and Avela like a condemned criminal marching toward execution.
Arin wisely pretended not to notice her pleading looks for help.
As they approached the villa, loud voices echoed through the halls.
The elders appeared to be in the middle of a heated argument regarding the recruits.
"We need better accommodations immediately!" one elder shouted.
"If we are trapped here for six months, they cannot survive winter sleeping outside!"
"Yes, but where exactly are we supposed to put six thousand recruits?" another elder snapped back.
"We are not cutting down half the forest to build apartments!"
"And tents will freeze them to death before winter ends!"
The discussion only became louder and more chaotic from there.
Arin stepped into the room and looked around with mild confusion.
The elders were practically arguing like merchants fighting over market prices.
Karl quickly noticed him and gestured him closer with visible relief.
"Arin, good timing. Do you have any ideas?" he asked.
Arin blinked once.
"Isn't the solution obvious?" he replied honestly.
The entire room immediately fell silent as dozens of eyes turned toward him.
Even the arguing stopped completely.
"Use the bunker diggers the army left behind," Arin explained simply.
"Expand underground space beneath the outer forest and create temporary housing there."
"It only needs to last six months, so it does not have to be perfect."
"After the expansion ends, we can just fill everything back in."
The room became completely silent.
Several elders stared at him blankly as though divine inspiration had descended from heaven itself.
"…Do we still have those machines?" Teun finally asked slowly.
"Yes," Arin replied. "They are stored in the bunker warehouse."
Karl suddenly slammed his hand against the table.
"That settles it. Teun, begin preparations immediately."
"We start excavation today."
The entire atmosphere in the room changed instantly.
Arguments vanished the moment an actual solution appeared.
Orders were rapidly distributed while elders began discussing heating systems, ventilation, and supply storage.
Within minutes the room resembled a military command center preparing for war.
Meanwhile, Arin simply watched the chaos quietly.
Adults truly had a remarkable talent for making simple problems unnecessarily complicated.