[The Real World]
"How… did I come back?"
A lean man stood beneath the vast desert sky, staring blankly upward.
For some reason… he had reappeared in the ruins.
And yet—
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded violently.
What had just happened… he needed to report it to Lady Aeltimys as soon as possible. He had found it—a perfect vessel. If he could obtain that person's skin…
It would be of immense benefit to Lady Aeltimys.
He tried to move.
He wanted to leave the ruins immediately—he had no desire to continue exploring.
But suddenly—
His legs felt as if they were filled with lead.
Heavy.
Immovable.
Wait… what's happening to my body?
He turned his awareness inward—
And what he saw made his mind go blank.
His internal organs… were dissolving.
Rotting.
Melting.
Everything beneath the outermost layer of skin was breaking down, corroding from within.
What… is this?
Why is my body dissolving?!
It made no sense.
Completely incomprehensible!
What do I do?!
What can I even do?!
Endless yellow الرمال stretched in all directions. Not a single person. Not even a monster.
No one to save him.
And… no time left.
He fumbled through his spatial bag.
Potions—quickly!
He pulled out several bottles and drank them in rapid succession.
Gulp—gulp—gulp—
But—
Nothing changed.
Even the most miraculous potions he had relied on before… now had no effect whatsoever.
Death…
Was approaching.
There was nothing he could do.
Regret.
Unwillingness.
Despair.
Confusion—
He couldn't understand.
Why was he dying?
He still had a bright future ahead of him—
Endless possibilities—
Thud.
He collapsed onto the sand.
His body softened.
Shriveled.
His organs liquefied like water, dissolving into nothing.
In the end—
All that remained on the sand…
Was an empty skin.
[Chaotic Mysterious Space]
Agemisa spoke again.
Naturally, everyone's attention returned to it.
"Everyone."
"Have you ever heard the term… hero?"
…What kind of question was that?
Who hadn't heard of the word "hero"?
"I wonder if you agree… that this world has reached its current state thanks to the great deeds of heroes…"
Kanzaki Rei frowned slightly.
What exactly was it trying to say?
He remained silent.
Rhine, however, chuckled and spoke up.
"Haha, are you referring to historical heroism?"
From within the gray mist, Agemisa responded:
"Hehe. Correct."
"But this time, no bonus points for you."
"I simply mean—this world's history has been shaped by countless individuals who saved it in times of crisis."
Within the mist, its hands interlocked.
"So—"
"Do you want to become heroes?"
Become heroes?
What a strange phrase.
If it came down to it… Rei and Iz had already saved Loren more than once. They had eradicated cults time and time again.
On the continent of Loren, he could probably be considered a hero.
At the very least, if you asked people on the street, they'd say so.
But from Agemisa's mouth—
What did "becoming a hero" actually mean?
"So," Agemisa continued, "in this phase, I intend for you to save something."
Rei swept his gaze across the crowd.
Among them… there was still a cultist. A follower of Agemisa—of the Chaos Church.
Honestly—
Agemisa itself was classified as part of a heretical faction.
And now it was asking them to become heroes?
What kind of twisted logic was this?
His spirituality stirred faintly.
Not danger.
But not reassurance either.
Just a subtle sense—
That something was about to happen.
Rei activated his Seer foresight.
He looked into the future.
But what he saw—
Was pure chaos.
Unstructured.
Unreadable.
Trying to predict the game of a God of Chaos with a Level 2 Seer…
Was simply too difficult.
A being defined by chaos was never something that could be easily foreseen.
—
Silently, Rei made a wish:
Let me return to the real world alive.
The wish was not fulfilled immediately.
Which confirmed—
This place was not the real world.
And more importantly—
His Future Simulation had not refreshed.
That meant…
April 1st hadn't ended yet.
…What a long day.
He had grown accustomed to daily simulations.
Without them—
Every moment felt uncertain.
Still, the danger level didn't seem high.
There was no need for anxiety.
Rhine asked again:
"Hero? How exactly do we do that?"
Agemisa chuckled.
"The kind of hero you become… will naturally correspond to the abilities you represent."
"As long as you successfully save that desperate scenario—"
"You will pass."
Rhine nodded. "Then how do you determine our abilities?"
A cold laugh echoed from the mist—thick with amusement.
"Hehe…"
"Based on your points."
"The higher your score, the stronger your assigned abilities—and the greater the hero you must become."
Rhine instinctively looked up.
Above his head—
0 points.
After being defeated, his score had been wiped.
Meanwhile—
Another participant, a successor of Narok named Rakuin, held 200 million points.
"As for those with zero points…"
"You'll have to rely on luck."
"After all, losers rarely get to choose."
What kind of logic is that?
No one told us points would be used like this.
Rei glanced upward.
3.2 billion points.
…Heh.
It really did feel like a setup.
Even after hiding himself—
He had still fallen into the trap.
Whether it was deliberate…
Or just coincidence—
He couldn't tell.
"Well then."
"I'll leave the next task… to all of you."
Whoosh—
A deep, pitch-black mist engulfed the entire arena.
From all directions—
Phantoms began to appear.
Faint.
Unreal.
Ansu saw the same thing within Rei's mindscape.
"These…"
"What are they?" Rei asked.
Ansu replied:
"Events that have already happened."
"You mean… history?"
"…Yes."
—
Fwoosh—
Through the gray haze, flames erupted—
A church burning.
The view pulled back—
An entire city consumed by fire.
Further—
An entire island, swallowed by molten lava.
A volcano.
An active one.
Its eruption had annihilated everything.
—
The scene shifted.
A man clad in full armor sat upon a golden throne, a massive black greatsword resting beside him.
Below—
Countless officials.
Before him—
A man bound to an execution frame, awaiting judgment.
—
Another shift.
A tide of monsters—
Millions of kilometers wide—
Sweeping across an entire continent like an unstoppable ocean.
—
Ansu spoke softly:
"The Ariane Holy Cathedral Incident."
"The Emperor's Slumber."
"The Great Migration…"
"All of them… infamous historical events."
"To think we'd witness them here again… each one capable of shaking the world."
Rei understood.
So—
Agemisa's objective…
Was for them to intervene in these simulated historical events—
And attempt to change their outcomes.