A/N: Note that I am using AI to modify the lines. I didn't edit much. But I will do so later. For now, I don't have enough time. The plot and the conversation are all written by me. A little adjustment from AI. Nothing much. Hope you enjoy it.
When I finally edit the chapter, I will remove the 'A/N'
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The forest hummed with an otherworldly glow as Jin wandered beneath the crystal-laden trees. Their branches sagged under the weight of gem-like growths—some jagged as lightning bolts, others smooth as teardrops, each pulsing with a faint inner light that painted the air in prismatic whispers. The ground beneath his feet was spongy with moss that sparkled like crushed quartz, and the very air tasted metallic, charged with an energy that made his skin tingle.
"Well, this is new," Jin mused, plucking a cerulean crystal from a low-hanging branch.
The moment his fingers closed around it, the crystal melted, transforming into a viscous, shimmering liquid that pooled in his palm. A scent like caramelized starlight hit his nose—sweet, smoky, and utterly alien.
"…Okay, that's definitely not normal."
He licked it.
Flavor exploded across his tongue—honeyed fire, then winter mint, then something indescribable that made his nerves sing. A laugh bubbled out of him. "I haven't eaten in centuries, and this is what I start with?"
He ate another. And another.
Soon, he was giggling to himself.
Earlier, he had stumbled upon the shattered remains of his old quarters—half-swallowed by the forest, buried beneath vines and time. Somehow, impossibly, a few withered coffee beans had survived in a sealed container, shriveled but intact. He'd cradled them like sacred relics, whispering something half-scientific, half-spiritual as he channeled his power into them—reviving them not to perfection, but to something close enough.
The taste wasn't quite right—flat in places, too bitter in others—but what could he expect? He didn't exactly have a gene-editing lab anymore.
Still. It was his.
He coaxed water to heat, crafted a mug from light and memory, and brewed the coffee like a ritual. Then he added the liquefied forest crystals, swirling them in like a mad alchemist chasing lost flavors.
The mixture fizzed, shimmered, then settled into a glossy, iridescent sheen.
He took a sip, closed his eyes, and sighed.
"Finally tastes like coffee… and sweets," he declared, smiling faintly at the taste, and the thousand memories buried in it.
The air around him shimmered as he opened the dimensional pocket—one he and his other parts had built together. Carefully, reverently, he placed the restored mug inside, alongside the salvaged relics of a life left behind.
As the fold sealed shut with a soft ripple, the world tilted slightly beneath his feet. A slow pulse throbbed behind his eyes—not quite pain, but pressure, like his brain was stretching around something new.
The aftertaste of the crystal-laced brew still clung to his tongue: sweet, sharp, and oddly invigorating. He could feel something subtle shifting under his skin—threads of energy aligning, tuning. Every time he drank it, the sensation grew stronger. Clearer.
Addictive, a part of him whispered. Useful, said another.
Ryu's voice echoed in his mind, tinged with exasperation, "You're drinking alien crystal sludge mixed with undead coffee beans. The fact that you only have a small hangover is honestly the most disturbing part."
Shi's cooler tone followed, "Statistically, there's a 78.4% chance this should have incapacitated you. Instead… your neural patterns are stabilizing. You're getting stronger."
Jin waved a hand dismissively. "Worth it."
The buzz faded quickly—his altered biology metabolizing the strangeness—but not before he stuffed an absurd number of crystals into his personal dimensional pocket. The pocket realm he, Ryu, and Shi had crafted hummed in approval, its physics cheerfully ignoring the laws of conservation.
As Jin wiped crystal residue from his lips, Ryu's voice grew serious. "Alright, genius. Shi and I are going under."
"Under?" Jin blinked.
"Meditative stasis," Shi clarified. "Our Primal Energy, the energy we use to modify and create laws, its reserves are uneven. While you explore, we'll focus on attuning to the source and try to increase our Primal Energy reserves. It's inefficient to have all three of us active when only one body moves anyway."
Jin frowned. "How long?"
"Time is irrelevant where we're going," Shi said. "But don't do anything catastrophic while we're gone."
Ryu snorted. "Yeah, like that'll happen."
Their presence dimmed in Jin's mind, like embers cooling to ash. A strange loneliness settled over him—not unpleasant, but noticeable.
"Well," Jin said to the empty air, "guess it's just me and the magic forest."
Leaving the crystal grove, Jin trekked through the surreal wilderness. A six-legged fox with opaline fur hissed at him before fleeing, its tail flickering like a dying neon sign. A swarm of butterfly-like creatures—their wings edged in razor-sharp crystal—scattered as he passed, leaving behind a trail of iridescent dust that smelled of burnt sugar.
Then the light changed.
The forest's ambient glow dimmed suddenly, shadows thickening like spilled ink. Jin's own silhouette stretched unnaturally long before -
Pain.
Something bit him.
Jin glanced down to find a squirrel the size of a bulldog materializing from the darkened patch at his feet, its obsidian fur swallowing light. The creature's teeth couldn't pierce his enhanced skin, but the surprise attack had succeeded. With a chuckle, he flicked its forehead with a spark of primal energy.
"Bad rodent."
The creature released him with an offended screech, its beady eyes flashing violet before melting back into the shadows. For half a heartbeat, Jin saw its silhouette dart between darkened patches of moss like a fish through water, the chittering echoes it left behind containing what sounded like very specific - and anatomically creative - insults.
"Huh," he mused, flexing his hand. His body was changing—strength settling into his muscles like a second skin, his bones humming with latent energy. He punched a nearby boulder for fun. It shattered into gravel, the fragments hovering midair for a second before obeying gravity.
"Neat."
After a while, The forest fell deathly silent. Even the whispering crystal leaves stilled. Then—
Roar
The soundwave hit Jin like a physical blow, splintering trees into matchsticks. Birds of molten glass took flight, shattering against branches in glittering explosions, their fragments tinkling like wind chimes as they fell.
Through the raining debris, something moved.
Jin turned just in time to see the forest part—not from impact, but in anticipation—as a bear the size of a small house emerged. Its fur was armored with jagged crystals that pulsed from tranquil blue to violent red with each thunderous heartbeat. The ground blackened where its claws touched earth.
"Oh," Jin said, tilting his head. "Hello—"
The bear's maw unhinged like a broken drawbridge, revealing a throat full of swirling crimson energy. Jin had just enough time to think That's not biologically possible before the laser struck.
He sidestepped—barely. The beam vaporized a thousand-year-old crystal oak behind him, leaving only floating embers that smelled of lightning and scorched sugar.
"Okay," Jin brushed glowing ash from his sleeve. "Rude."
The bear moved faster than anything that massive should. One moment it was twenty paces away; the next, Jin felt hot breath on his neck. He leapt upward as claws ripped through the space he'd occupied, twisting midair to drive his fist into the base of the creature's skull.
The impact made the world stutter.
A shockwave flattened the surrounding trees. The bear's head detonated in a spray of sapphire-tinted gore, painting the forest in surrealist strokes. Jin landed lightly on a floating chunk of debris.
"Well," he began—
—just as the headless corpse twitched.
Tendons of violet fire stitched flesh back together. Bones reassembled with audible clicks. The regenerated bear now burned with amethyst flames, its crystal spines vibrating at frequencies that made Jin's teeth ache. When it fired again, the laser left afterimages that lingered, burning phantom pain into reality itself.
Jin exhaled through his nose. "Fine." He snapped his fingers. "No more playtime."
A portal yawned beneath the bear, revealing the lightless hell of an ocean trench. The creature had just enough time to lock eyes with Jin—its gaze almost knowing—before vanishing into the abyss. A distant crunch-pop echoed upward.
Then Jin collapsed, gasping. His vision swam; his ribs ached as if he'd run a marathon.
"Ugh… stupid… laws of physics," he wheezed. Rewriting reality was easy when all three fragments agreed. Alone? It was like threading a needle while riding a tornado. Through a minefield. Especially when he didn't fully understand the laws he was bending.
As his breathing steadied, Jin eyed the lingering purple afterimages still scorched into reality. Regenerating wildlife, self-repairing ecosystems... either this forest is someone's lab experiment, or evolution here plays by different rules. The thought should have worried him more. Instead, he found himself grinning through the pain. That's because he will have more laws to understand to bend them without any side effects just like right now.
After a few minutes, he staggered upright—just in time to spot an orange portal shimmering between two trees. It pulsed invitingly, the edges fraying like torn silk. Strange symbols flickered along its rim, too fast to decipher.
Jin's grin widened as the portal pulsed before him, its orange edges fraying like burning parchment. A random dimensional gateway in a forest of regenerating monsters? This was either the best or worst idea he'd had since drinking those crystal brews.
With a flick of his fingers, he sent a pulse of energy through the gateway—just enough to test its stability. No immediate disintegration, no screaming void, no temporal distortions (well, no new ones).
"Adventure calls," he declared, adjusting an imaginary tie. "And when it does, you answer—after checking for eldritch horrors."
Without hesitation—but with just enough dramatic flair—Jin stepped through. After centuries in primordial space and an afternoon fighting immortal wildlife, what was one more cosmic gamble?