Reality Update
After spending seventeen years bedridden, when I finally breathed my last, my body had been transported to another dimension—and turned into that of a woman. Even now, hundreds of years later, the hands of the clock in my heart have always pointed to one place.
'I want to go back to Earth.'
That one burning desire had brought me all the way here.
Boom! A blood-red glow tore through space as a colossal black figure crashed down before me.
The Demon King. The scourge that ravaged the world and dragged it toward ruin.
I sheathed my trembling sword tip and let out a small sigh.
"Hoo..."
I'd shattered the cult that devoured kingdoms. Dragged an ancient tyrant from the depths of the ocean and slain it on dry land. Dismantled an army of the undead single-handedly. Invaded the demon realm itself, leading up to this moment.
All those who arrogantly proclaimed themselves the strongest had crumbled pointlessly at the edge of my blade. Before overwhelming power they could not resist, they were all too fragile.
I gazed down at the corpse before me with cold, dead eyes.
'Catch this guy, and I can go back to Earth, right?'
I turned my head, slowly taking in the surrounding landscape. Torn mountains and earth. Craters large and small pockmarking the ground everywhere. The desolate heart of a battlefield where the heat of combat was finally fading.
The unstable atmosphere began to settle. The wind died down, and my silver-white hair, spread wide, gathered neatly once more.
"So, what exactly am I looking for?"
I asked flatly into the empty air.
A voice answered in my head.
Search its body. You'll find the Orb.
"The Orb?"
A small, round sphere.
"Got it. Fingers crossed the Demon King was prepared enough to bring it along."
I extinguished my blazing red sword and approached the corpse with steady steps.
From the moment I left my unknown parents' hands and started living alone, this voice had helped me in countless ways.
'Without it, I'd have starved to death ages ago.'
Reminding myself of that inwardly, I crouched down and rummaged through the Demon King's pockets.
"Ah, here it is."
A clear, transparent sphere gripped in my hand. Unknown energy swirled slowly inside it, like the flow of life itself. On its surface flickered the reflection of a silver-haired girl with blood-red eyes.
This was me—Sertina. My appearance unchanged even after hundreds of years.
Ping.
I rolled the Orb around in my palm and asked the air again.
"So, what's next?"
We need to draw the ritual circle for the return trip. Don't worry—I've got the method.
I began sketching a complex magic circle on the ground as the voice instructed. Then, I placed materials acquired from this world—Pandela—one by one in their proper positions atop the completed circle.
Finally, I embedded the freshly obtained Orb in the dead center.
The instant I did—
Flash!
A blinding white light engulfed my vision, warping the space around me. A bizarre distortion beyond perception and spacetime twisted all my senses.
"I-is this right? Something feels off..."
Focus.
"Got it."
In a space where day and night coexisted, existence and nothingness intertwined, I squeezed my eyes shut and attuned my consciousness deeply to a distant blue planet beyond the dimensions.
A threadlike tether connected the planets. A colossal grinding roar like meshing gears shook the heavens, aligning polytopes in the invisible dimensional realm. Dark matter pathways opened, birthing a wormhole.
I shot through space like being sucked into a vacuum cleaner. Starlight stretched long as it approached lightspeed. Dimensional winds howled fiercely amid swirling nebulae.
I grimaced. A place I could never reach under normal circumstances. The hyperspatial barriers between macro-dimensions—I was breaking through them with my own power.
The mana shielding my soul eroded rapidly.
"Ngh!"
I clenched my fist tight. No giving up after coming this far. Recalling the gritted-teeth endurance of centuries past, I unified body and mind to resist mental collapse.
"Hraaaah!"
In that moment, the steady dimensional winds surged violently. My body shook wildly in tandem, like a toy in the hands of some transcendent being.
A massive vibration swallowed me whole.
'Please...!'
Breath caught in my throat. Consciousness tightened. But I endured. Focusing every nerve on my destination, I desperately shook off the grasping hands of foreign dimensions.
For an instant, the world brightened. Turbulence vanished.
A cloudless blue sky filled my eyes. Distorted senses stabilized; orderly gravity took hold.
"Haa..."
Strength drained from my limbs. They went limp, eyelids drooping. Surrendering to the sensation of falling somewhere, I quietly closed my eyes.
Fresh air stirred my mind awake. Opening my eyes, I saw the ceiling of an unfamiliar room. No signs of destruction. Of course not—I'd crossed dimensions, not space.
My whole body throbbed. It felt heavy as lead. Not a scrap of the mana accumulated over centuries in Pandela remained.
'Ugh... Haven't been mana-less in ages. Feels unfamiliar.'
I drew a deep breath, focusing my mind. Probing the power within my soul, I flexed my hand experimentally.
The empty vessel refused to fill with mana. No mana floated in the atmosphere either.
Which meant...
'I'm really on Earth.'
I pushed myself up from the bed and looked around. A sleek, orderly home. A spacious living room fit for the wealthy caught my eye.
'Finally back...'
I hurried to the window and flung open the curtains. Pure sunlight poured in, untainted by any sticky demonic energy.
"To think I'd see this world again."
A strange mix of emptiness and awe welled up. Bright light tickled my eyes.
"...?"
But upon confirming the world's appearance, I could only step back.
"Earth... right?"
Skyscrapers piercing the heavens. Sleek, streamlined cars crisscrossing roads. Holographic billboards. A hyper-advanced civilization.
This world's Earth was not the one I knew.
"..."
·····Well, a month later, I got it.
At first, I thought I'd botched the landing on some other planet. But this was unmistakably my Earth.
Just... a lot of time had passed.
'Only fifty years? That's nothing...'
The changes in those fifty years were beyond description. I'd only ventured outside once in that month. Unfamiliar with the civilization, even strolling the streets was daunting.
'Can't even ask that voice.'
The voice had gone silent right after my return to Earth. In its place, one new memory had imprinted in my brain: how to use a smartphone.
'Well, at least I know this much.'
Tapping my small fingers nimbly, I scoured information from all directions. Essential for adapting to this alien civilization.
And what was I doing now?
"Everyone! The massive update you've all been waiting for is landing on the Astria continent!"
...Watching the live stream for a game update celebration.
Man, this is flashy! They're even shooting off real fireworks in the real world?
All my wealth from Pandela had converted to Earth's currency. With treasures galore, I had financial leeway aplenty. So why not enjoy it a bit?
The virtual reality game was wildly popular worldwide, so the event's scale matched. I had zero interest in VR myself, but it made for decent eye candy while unwinding.
Astria Online. Topping global market share by a mile, the event in a massive stadium more than lived up to the hype.
And as the highlight—the update itself—drew near, the crowd waving glowsticks thrust their hands skyward, chanting at the giant screen.
Ten...!
Nine...!
Eight...!
·····
Three...!
Two...!
One...!
The very moment the countdown hit zero—
"...!"
A flash pierced my skull like lightning, my vision exploding in white. For a split second, the world doubled over itself.
"Ugh!"
I clutched my head on instinct. Trembling pupils. What was this?
This dissonance. It felt real, yet not real. My body weighed me down. My heartbeat thrummed clearly. The smartphone slipped from my hand to the floor.
That moment stretched endlessly. Space faded, a piercing beep rang in my ears, sounds receded, the world detached. Everything blurred.
But ignoring it all—
We invite you to the world of Astria Online!
With that window as the last thing I saw, the world flickered out.