Morning came quietly over the campsite.

Sunlight filtered softly through the trees, painting the forest in warm shades of gold and green, as if nothing terrible had happened the previous night.

Nobody stood near the tents stretching both arms lazily. "Ahh...." His shoulders cracked slightly. "My whole body feels like a truck ran over me. He rotated his neck. "Actually no... a bear ran over me. THell nah. That sounds even worse."

Behind him, Rabbi walked over holding a bottle of water,"We’re heading to the forest office," he said. "You coming?"

Nobody nodded slowly. "Yeah."

Akib grabbed a small backpack from near the tent. "Let’s go check on Toma."

Nobody quietly followed them.

The three walked through the forest trail together. Unlike yesterday, nobody was joking loudly now. The atmosphere still carried traces of fear from last night. Even the forest itself felt quieter.

Rabbi suddenly spoke while walking. "You know... I genuinely thought we were dead yesterday."

Akib nodded immediately,"That roar still gives me chills."

Nobody awkwardly laughed,"Yeah haha... same here."

Inside his mind...."Bro I literally fought the thing with bunny gloves."

Rabbi glanced toward Nobody,"But seriously... you reacted pretty fast."

Nobody froze for half a second,"Hm? What you mean?"

"When Toma disappeared." Rabbi said.

Akib added, "Yeah. We didn’t even realize she was missing immediately."

Nobody scratched his cheek casually,"I just happened to notice." Inside his mind," Dude, because my danger sense and plot armor were screaming at me.

Rabbi sighed,"Still... thanks, man."

Nobody blinked,"For what?"

"Thanks for going back." Rabbi smiled faintly. "I don’t know if I could’ve done it alone."

Nobody said to him ,"...It’s fine."

The forest office finally became visible through the trees. A small wooden building surrounded by fences and tall pines.

As they entered....

The atmosphere inside felt far calmer than before. Toma was sitting up on the bed holding a glass of orange juice. Her arm was bandaged neatly. Her hair looked slightly messy from sleep, but she seemed stable now.

The moment the door opened....

Her eyes instantly found one person. "Nobody!"

Nobody stopped walking.

For a moment she simply stared at him silently. Then her expression softened. "You... you saved me."

Aiden stood nearby with folded arms. The moment he heard her say that his expression tightened slightly. But he remained silent.

Nobody scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I just did what was right." Then he coughed lightly. "Honestly though... the bunny deserves more credit than me."

Everyone looked at him.

"The bunny?" Jiniya repeated.

Nobody nodded seriously. "Yeah. It distracted the bear." Inside his mind,"Technically not a lie, right guys?"

Toma stared at him for another second before smiling faintly. "...Yeah. I guess."

Aiden finally spoke. "You were lucky."

Nobody met his eyes briefly. "Yeah. Really lucky." He laughed nervously. "If luck didn’t save me I would’ve become bear breakfast."

Rabbi laughed loudly. "Bear breakfast HAHAHA!"

Even Akib chuckled.

The tense mood finally loosened slightly.

Jiniya clapped her hands together. "Okay enough gloomy atmosphere. Let’s eat breakfast first."

Nobody was excited because all of that fighting last night made him very hungry. He was starving for food. "YES PLEASE."

Farjana laughed, "You got excited way too fast."

Nobody shamelessly replied, "Give every food you made."

Toma quietly smiled seeing him act normal again.

Nobody immediately started moving toward the table. "Yummy food, here I come...."

As soon he was about to move to have breakfast, scene shifts.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[system window] A gentle reminder (✿◡‿◡)

[Reminder]

User’s scene has shifted. (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Huh...?"Nobody blinked. Then his expression slowly twisted in horror.

"Fu***"

"FUUUUU********!!"

He stood inside Alkon City Park. Children were running around. People jogged peacefully along the sidewalks. A couple walked past eating ice cream. Birds chirped happily.

Meanwhile, Nobody looked like a man whose soul had just been ripped out. "AAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

He grabbed his own head dramatically. "I WAS ABOUT TO EAT!"

A mother walking nearby pulled her child slightly away from him.

Nobody pointed angrily toward the sky. "OI HIGHER DIMENSIONAL READER BEING GUY!"

"WHY IS YOUR TIMING ALWAYS TRASH?! I WANTED TO ENJOY THE ROAD TRIP! And breakfast! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIGHT A BEAR WITHOUT FOOD?!"

A random jogger slowly changed direction to avoid him.

Nobody sighed heavily,"This world definitely thinks I’m mentally unstable."

A light breeze passed through the trees. Then he noticed someone. A figure stood not far away. The body was wrapped in a veil-like covering, hiding most features. But the eyes were visible. The left eye was blue and the right eye was pink.

Nobody approached him. "...Who the hell are you?"

"You may not recognize me in this form."

Nobody frowning said," Wait... your voice.. It does sound kinda familiar.

Wait...! Mr.Guide! Is that you?"

The figure nodded once. "Yes, Nobody."

Nobody let out a long breath. "Oh thank God. I thought another cosmic horror came to traumatize me again."

Mr. Guide remained silent.

Nobody walked around him curiously. "So this is your new look?"

"This form is optimized for interaction within your dimensional layer."

Nobody blinked twice. "...You always talk like a broken science textbook?"

"No comments."

Nobody snorted,"You really said ’no comments’ like you’re some celebrity getting interviewed."

Nobody rubbed his forehead. "Alright. Why are you here?"

Mr. Guide looked directly at him. "I came to ask you something."

Nobody crossed his arms. "What?"

"What genre of story do you prefer?"

A moment of silence....

"...That’s it?"

"Yes."

Nobody stared at him. "You appear out of nowhere just to ask that?"

The guide answered positively," Yes, that’s the purpose of mine for visiting you today.

"Sigh....Nobody sighed deeply. "Fine. Firstly... I like awakening-type stories."

Mr. Guide listened quietly.

"You know... worlds with awakened people like Hunters, Summoners, Assassins, Mages. People levelling up while fighting monsters." His eyes slowly lit up while talking. "Dungeons opening, magic skills, legendary weapons, boss raids, system windows, people becoming stronger from nothing." He pointed proudly at himself."Basically cool stuff."

Mr. Guide nodded once. "Continue."

Nobody suddenly became more passionate,"And cultivation stories too. Those are awesome. People meditating for like three hundred years just to punch mountains apart, ancient sects, dragons, demonic cultivators, forbidden techniques. Guys floating with swords. Old masters saying mysterious nonsense before disappearing."

Mr. Guide quietly observed him.

Nobody kept ranting enthusiastically now. "And those scenes where someone weak suddenly becomes overpowered and everyone regrets underestimating him. Peak fiction, right? Oh and tournament arcs too. Tournament arcs are ALWAYS good."

Mr. Guide nodded again. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Noted."

Nobody frowned. "Why does that matter?"

No answer came.

"Hey ... explain properly, Mr.Guide. Why your asking such weird questions?"

But the space around Mr. Guide already began to distort.

"Wait....Mr.Guide! At least answer the question..."

"I will contact you again." And then he vanished.

Nobody stood still.

"...What the hell."