A pulse of searing energy shot through Lucian's body.
He had stepped forward—into the swirling chaos of the rift between worlds.
And the world tore him apart.
Agony erupted through his nerves, raw and searing, as if his very being was being rewritten mid-transit. His thoughts shattered. His breath hitched. Was he even breathing?
Then—stillness. A moment where nothing existed. No sound. No air. No self.
The silence was worse than the pain.
The sensation of falling, rising, breaking apart—it all blurred together, too vast, too impossible. Was this what dying felt like?
Now—
His vision exploded into white.
His senses twisted, his mind struggling to comprehend the impossible forces surrounding him.
Time stretched. Collapsed. Expanded.
He felt like he was being compressed and pulled apart at the same time.
And then—
With a violent CRACK, reality snapped back into place.
Lucian stumbled forward, barely catching himself before collapsing onto the cold, hard ground.
His legs buckled, his balance swaying as his body nearly gave out under him.
A sharp, throbbing pain pulsed through his skull, and his vision swam, struggling to adjust.
The impact of world travel hit him like a car crash he wasn't even in—sudden, violent, and out of his control.
He gritted his teeth, forcing his shaking hands to press against the rough brick wall beside him for support.
His limbs weren't just heavy—they were lead, dragging him down like gravity had doubled.
Each breath clawed its way out of his chest, raw and uneven.
His fingers twitched, barely responding. His legs threatened to buckle again.
"Damn… this feels worse than dying."
His breathing came out ragged, chest rising and falling as he fought the overwhelming sensation of fatigue.
"Why… am I this tired?"
Even though he was C-Rank now, the weight of interdimensional travel still felt brutal.
It was only now that he fully understood what had happened the first time he touched the Cube.
"The moment I first grabbed it… I blacked out. And when I woke up, I was in that damn dungeon."
His fingers curled into a weak fist.
He had fought monsters that should have torn him apart. He had survived things no human should.
And yet—he was still this exhausted.
"If this is how bad it is after leveling up… how the hell did I survive it the first time?"
His body shuddered.
A cold, creeping realization settled deep in his chest.
Lucian exhaled, but the breath felt… wrong.
Like his lungs weren't used to this air.
His fingers curled, pressing against his skin. His pulse thrummed beneath them.
Too steady. Too even.
"Maybe I didn't survive. Not all of me."
————————
Lucian stood frozen, his chest rising and falling with each uneven breath.
The world around him buzzed with life, completely unaware of the chaos he had just endured.
The smell of gasoline and street food.
The distant hum of car engines.
The rhythmic blaring of car horns.
The towering skyscrapers with neon lights blinking in the night.
It was loud. Chaotic. Alive.
And yet—
Lucian felt detached from it all.
"I'm… back."
The words barely felt real, like an echo of something distant. He should have felt relieved. But instead?
All he felt was... wrong.
The distant chatter of pedestrians. Neon lights blinking in rhythm. The scent of grilled meat and gasoline mixing in the night air.
This was home.
And yet… it felt wrong.
Not dangerous. Not broken. Just… off.
Like walking into a dream that wasn't yours.
The words felt hollow on his tongue, as if he didn't quite believe them.
He let out a shaky breath, his eyes trailing over the familiar streets, the concrete sidewalks, the towering buildings he had walked past a thousand times before.
This was his world.
The world where he had been just another ordinary guy.
And yet—
It almost felt unreal.
Like a distant memory, warped and stretched by something larger than himself.
Lucian clenched his fists, his body still aching from exhaustion, but his mind racing.
Had he really just fought for his life in a dungeon filled with monsters beyond comprehension?
Had he really just spoken to an ancient dragon that had once burned the heavens?
Had he really obtained a legendary artifact that defied all logic?
Or…
"Was I really gone? Or was it all just some crazy hallucination?"
The question lingered, heavy and suffocating.
What if none of it was real?
What if the dungeon, the monsters, the Cube—everything—was just a fever dream, stitched together by a mind grasping for meaning?
What if he had just blacked out in this alley for a few hours?
What if he had never left?
Lucian's fingers twitched.
No.
He knew what hallucinations felt like.
This wasn't one.
The aching pain in his muscles was real.
The fabric of his Voidweave Attire brushing against his skin was real.
The Cube pulsing faintly in his Soule was real.
"No. It all happened. Every single second of it."
But what hit him the hardest—
What unsettled him the most—
Was that the world hadn't changed.
Not one bit.
The world moved.
People laughed, talked, scrolled through their phones. Music drifted from passing cars.
Above, the neon skyline flickered, swallowing the stars.
Nothing had changed.
Not a single thing.
As if he had never left.
As if he had never existed.
Lucian's fingers shook, his breath coming out in short, uneven bursts.
"I was fighting for my life… while this world just kept moving forward like I was never gone."
The thought unnerved him more than anything else.
He had faced death multiple times, pushed himself to the brink, fought against creatures that could level cities.
And yet, here, in his world—
It was just another normal night.
He swallowed hard.
This wasn't a dream.
But it was a disconnect.
A brutal, suffocating reminder that his world never stopped for him.
"Did I even belong here anymore?"
The thought sat heavy in his chest.
And for a brief moment—
Lucian felt like a stranger in his own world.
——————
Lucian's breath was still uneven, his body still recovering from the weight of his return—but his mind refused to rest.
"If everything that happened was real… then that means…"
His fingers twitched.
His abilities.
Could he still use them here?
Or were they limited to that other world?
Lucian closed his eyes, focusing inward.
A single thought echoed in his mind—
"Inventory."
[Ding!]
Spatial Inventory (EX) Activated.
The air shimmered, twisting like liquid glass.
A rift of darkness split reality itself, swirling like a portal to an infinite void.
Lucian's eyes widened.
Inside, neatly stored, were all his weapons, materials, and monster cores.
Everything was exactly where he had left it.
His heart pounded.
"I… still have my abilities? Even here?"
This changed everything.
His powers weren't just limited to that dungeon.
Whatever happened to him was permanent.
His mind reeled at the implications.
He needed more proof.
If his abilities still worked, then…
How much time had actually passed?
With a quick motion, Lucian reached into his Inventory and pulled out his phone.
The cool glass surface felt so normal—so mundane—compared to everything else he had touched recently.
For a moment, he stared at it.
Something as simple as his smartphone suddenly felt like an artifact from another life.
"This morning, I left home like it was any other day… And now, I can't tell if I'm even the same person anymore."
Pushing the thought aside, he pressed the power button.
The screen lit up.
His gaze snapped to the time.
[07:00 PM]
Lucian froze.
"No way…"
His breath caught in his throat.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
This couldn't be right.
He had spent hours—fighting for his life.
He had been thrown into an ancient dungeon, faced monstrous creatures, met an immortal dragon, discovered the secrets of the Universe Cube…
Yet only eight hours had passed.
Lucian's stomach twisted. His pulse roared in his ears.
A lifetime of struggle—boiled down to a lunch break?
His grip on his phone tightened until his knuckles turned white.
That was impossible.
He had lived through hell. Fought monsters that could rip apart buildings. Survived a dungeon where death lurked at every turn.
And here? Barely a work shift had passed.
"I left home this morning… and in just a few hours, I fought through hell itself."
The realization hit him like a tidal wave.
The flow of time between worlds was exactly the same.
There was no time dilation. No accelerated pacing.
He had been keeping track—eight hours. That's how long he had fought, bled, and survived in that dungeon.
His life here had continued normally while he had been struggling to survive in another reality.
Nothing changed here.
Everything changed for him.
Lucian let out a slow, shaky breath.
"So… no one even noticed I was gone."
A strange, conflicted feeling settled in his chest.
On one hand—he was relieved.
"I didn't miss months or years. My family won't think I disappeared."
On the other—something about it deeply unsettled him.
"If time moves the same… then what happens if I disappear again?"
What if one day, he didn't make it back?
Would his family ever know?
Would they think he just ran away?
Lucian swallowed hard.
For now, all that mattered was one thing.
He was back.
But for how long… before he vanished again?