Lyon smiled and spread his arms wide. "Welcome to the Ghadora Plains!"

Igris snapped out of his daze. Right. He was in the Ghadora Plains now.

He scanned his surroundings. They were in a giant, domed hall. Behind them was a circular arc door frame identical to the one on Earth, its whirlpool spinning slowly.

"Let’s head out," Lyon said, leading the way.

When they walked through the hall’s exit and stepped outside, Igris realized they had just emerged from the base of a towering structure.

"That’s the Force Tower," Lyon explained. "It sits in the middle of the city. The entire city’s mana and runic energy grid is supplied by that spire."

Igris tilted his head back. The tower was hundreds of meters tall, its entire structure made of alien steel, piercing into the clouds like a jagged spear. Countless glowing occult runes were carved into its surface. The plaza at its base was paved with unknown black rocks, also etched with runes that exuded a mysterious, heavy aura.

A vast, suffocating pressure pushed down on Igris from the sky, making him feel like he was standing beneath a sleeping leviathan. He couldn’t help but take a sharp breath.

"This is the product of the Ghadora Plains’s civilization. A little different from Earth, huh?" Lyon asked.

"It’s completely beyond anything I imagined," Igris breathed.

•••

The Ghadora Plains was the name of the primary continent in this Otherworld.

A vast, magnificent city was situated in the south of the continent. And at the very center of that city, inside an enormous, shadowed palace, a young man sat cross-legged in the middle of a grand hall.

Before him lay an ancient-style tortoiseshell, roughly the size of his palm. He knocked it slowly and gently. A clear, resonant chime echoed through the dark hall.

Stars shimmered in his eyes, as if an entire universe was hidden within them. Suddenly, the stars spun violently, and the vacant space around him started warping and retreating...

The next second, the young man abruptly snapped his eyes shut. Two lines of blood rolled down his cheeks, leaving long, gruesome trails. In a split second, his jet-black hair turned snow-white. It was as if all his vitality had been violently sucked out of him.

"What’s wrong with you?!" A stern, slightly agitated voice rang out from the shadows.

The young man waved his hand weakly. After a moment, he let out a raspy, self-deprecating laugh. "I’m already a man at the brink of death. What else can happen to me?"

"You..."

The man in the dark took a deep breath, forcing his voice back to its usual stern indifference. "What did you see? Tell me the truth!"

"I saw a back view."

"A back view? That’s all?"

"A back view. A sword that can kill immortals and devils, a blade that can cut the Milky Way, a fist that can destroy the sun..."

"Bullshit!"

"Hmph. You just don’t want to believe it. For our world... that person might be our last hope."

"How can he do it alone?"

"Let me give you a piece of sincere advice. Can you let me go?"

The person in the dark fell silent.

"Hmph. I’m about to die anyway. I can’t do anything anymore," the young man scoffed weakly.

"You’re still my younger brother. If you go outside, you won’t survive with your weak body. I can’t let you walk out to your death."

"I’m already no different from a corpse. It doesn’t matter if you let me leave or not. Why can’t you allow me to have one last look at the world before I die? It’s about to—"

"Enough!" the man in the dark shouted. Then, he sighed, the anger deflating. "Forget it. You can leave. You can come back anytime you want. This place will always be your home."

"As for that person... don’t have any interactions with him!" The young man dropped this final sentence and scooped up the tortoiseshell. He didn’t pack anything else. He staggered his way out of the grand hall...

He knew he wouldn’t be coming back.

•••

"Let’s move," Lyon said, standing at the base of the Force Tower.

They descended a massive staircase and passed through a colossal city gate. Instantly, a whole new world bombarded Igris’s senses. A bustling, prosperous street reeking of exotic spices and mana welcomed him to his new adventure.

This was a giant city forged of steel and stone. The architecture felt vaguely medieval, yet there were no steam engines. Instead, the buildings possessed a foreign, alien style, but with subtle hints of Earth architecture woven in. The integration of the two styles created a breathtakingly unique aesthetic.

The people on the streets dressed distinctively—in leathers, silks, and armors completely foreign to Earth. However, Igris did spot a few individuals walking around in modern tactical battle uniforms.

"Holy shit, that lady has..." Igris stuttered, his eyes nearly popping out of his head as a woman with long, floppy rabbit ears walked past them.

"She’s from the rabbit tribe of the demi-human race," Jin laughed, throwing an arm around Igris’s shoulder. "Looks like you’ve got good taste, my man. You noticed her right away."

"Brother, don’t lead the rookie astray," his sister, Yue, scolded, glaring at Jin.

"I’m not! I’m merely discussing the philosophical intricacies of life with him," Jin replied with a wicked grin.

Igris was speechless for a moment before asking, "There are demi-humans in the Ghadora Plains?"

"That’s right. This place is completely different from Earth. When we visit the Guild Association branch in this city, you’ll be able to learn all the basic lore," Lyon said, hopping into a parked, rune-powered dune buggy.

Once they were all crammed into the vehicle, the veteran members could tell Igris was practically bursting with questions. They took turns explaining the rules of this new world.

The Ghadora Plains was home to countless races—not just demi-humans, but dwarves, giants, merfolk, and many more. With so many races, naturally, there were thousands of languages. It was a linguistic nightmare.

Thankfully, a common tongue existed, universally adopted for trade and diplomacy.

Igris stuck his tongue out in astonishment. Dwarves? Giants?

"You must be shocked. It one thing to know they exist it’s another thing to see them exist," Lyra chuckled from the back seat.

"What if we can’t speak the local language?" Igris asked.

"Don’t worry about that. There’s a shortcut," Lyra said,

"I have another question," Igris continued. "Since we have a peaceful truce with the Ghadora Plains, why can we enter their world, but they can’t come to Earth?"

"That’s because the locals physically can’t pass through the dimensional rifts," Lyon explained, keeping his eyes on the road. "A powerful Level 30 warlord from this world once tried to force his way through a rift. He didn’t succeed. Instead, the dimensional backlash nearly erased him from existence."

"Why is that?" Igris frowned.

"That answer is way above our paygrade," Lyon gave a bitter smile.

"So, this is the reason why the two worlds haven’t gone to war?" Igris asked, feeling like a curious toddler.

"It’s not that simple. There are other factors at play," Lyon replied, his expression suddenly turning dark and guarded. He didn’t elaborate further.

Igris sighed internally and stopped probing. He rested his chin on his hand, gazing out the window.

The civilization of the Ghadora Plains seemed stuck in an Iron Age aesthetically, but the presence of mana and runes elevated their technology in bizarre ways. Rune-powered steel cars sped along the streets; massive Force airships drifted through the sky; and lifelike steel figurines moved freely through the crowds with mechanical clanking sounds.

The blend of exotic fantasy and hyper-advanced magic-tech was mind-boggling!

’Good god, is that a fox-woman? Her figure is insane...’ Igris thought, his neck craning as a scantily clad woman with nine fluffy tails strolled by.

Before he could burn the image into his retinas, the buggy screeched to a halt in front of a grand, fortress-like building bearing the insignia of the Guild Association.

They hopped out and walked inside. The main hall looked like a hybrid between a mercenary bar and a stock exchange. Guild Warriors were resting, drinking, accepting missions, or hawking their bloody spoils of war.

The arrival of the Tiger Vanguard team drew some attention.

"Hey, Lyon! Did you bring a newbie?"

"This kid looks young. Is he even a registered Player?"

"Let me guess, some rich young master slumming it for a thrill?"

Sneering voices came from all directions, laced with disdain and mockery. They didn’t care about Igris’s feelings at all.

"Don’t listen to them," Lyon said to Igris. Then, he turned and shouted at the hecklers, "Shut your traps! This a student df Marlin Academy! The school assigned him to our squad!"

"Whoa. Are you serious?"

"Marlin Academy’s student? He must have some crazy talent."

"Even if he’s a genius, he’s still green. Does he know what kind of place the Ghadora Plains is? One wrong step, and he’s monster chow. Babysitting a newbie is a death sentence."