The moment Mize saw him, goosebumps broke out across her arms.

Some of his facial features... they looked eerily similar to hers. Not similar in the physical sense, but in the way how she could sense the familiar aura of creation even from here.

A divine awakener?

A god?

No, it can't be.

Her path should be extremely rare, and her path was tailored suit for her by the system.

She's different.

I am different.

She blinked, exhaled slowly.

Judging from the presence of that flashy entrance and the way his message appeared, it had that automatic dominion formatting only the uppermost ranks used, this guy wasn’t just a nobody.

"Huh? A suspected powerful person?"

"Then... Could he be?"

Her gut turned cold as her gaze darted to the ranking list.

Second.

He was ranked second.

Lord Elrivan, a celestial elf!

Her spine prickled. The number sat like a boulder on her chest.

The man had power just shy of a billion... No wonder the server shook when he spoke.

“A... a celestial elf?” she muttered, her voice dry. Even the name of that race sounded like trouble.

And the way his serene face held that distant calm, the too-perfect composure, it made her stomach twist.

It felt off, like something behind the mask was breathing heavily and waiting.

A new boundless level protagonist? Or a villain?

A chill ran down her back.

She wouldn't be able to stand another man's tossing with this body, no way. Liam alone is enough.

She quickly summoned a handkerchief, dabbing the invisible sweat clinging to the sides of her cheeks.

“Ahaaa… yeah, this might’ve been a mistake,” she murmured, glancing to the side like she was hoping someone would tell her it wasn’t that bad.

But it was.

Hoooh hooooh...

She exhaled again, mostly to calm herself rather than respond to the storm still raging in chat.

It didn’t stop there.

The others, the so-called future husbands and admirers, started flaring up, launching full-on verbal wars at the celestial elf.

Each more ridiculous than the last.

"You perverted elf! Now eyeing for this grand beautiful human race! Do you have no shame?! Do you think we won't remember what happened to the last person you had your eyes on. You destroyed her world!"

"Bastard perverted elf! Die die die. Don't you dare claim this one, not her! No way! You are just going to mistreat her! Her beauty is on par with those high ranking angels!"

"Shut up, I don't care. If you have something to say about it, then just you wait once our world converge to the main warp. I will declare war on all of you! This woman is mine from now on, anyone who dares to stand in my way, die!"

Lord Elrivan... urgh. Please shut up.

Shifting uncomfortably, Mize’s fingers flicked, and golden light blinked in her pupils.

She activated her all-seeing eyes, locking her divination toward Liam. There he was, right in the middle of one of the resource points in their territory.

His sleeves were rolled up, and he was barking orders at the shadow soldiers, directing them to reorganize the new sites.

He hadn’t seen the chat.

Yet.

She bit her lip. If she could help it, she didn’t want him to find out.

Didn’t want to be the one to tell him that a top-ranked, slightly unhinged, galaxy-sitting weirdo just declared he was going to claim her. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Another swallow. Her throat felt dry again.

“W-well, it’s not like it matters,” she said, trying to convince herself. “We’re in different worlds. There’s no way something that terrible could actually happen... right?”

But what followed next… felt like the warp wasn’t just reacting, it was targeting her.

Zoooommmm…

A deep, resonating horn tore through the sky. It wasn't just loud, it shook the air itself.

Down below, everything paused. Footsteps halted mid-stride, conversations died in throats, and silence blanketed the streets.

Billion of eyes across the world slowly tilted skyward.

Confusion bloomed in their gazes, brows furrowed, mouths slightly open.

No one understood what they were hearing.

Inside the Dungeon, the sound echoed just the same, muffled yet vast, like it came from the heavens and below the earth all at once.

The true lords darting through its depths faltered, their instincts sending danger signals all over their bodies.

And then, far from the chaos, inside a massive chamber lined with marble seats on both sides, something stirred.

At the front of the room stood a raised platform, and above it towered a veiled statue of a woman.

Her hand reached out, palm down, as if offering some invisible mercy.

Beneath it, Harapan knelt.

His head bowed as though in prayer.

And in that stillness, the same unearthly horn rippled through the air.

His eyes fluttered open.

Slowly, he turned, shifting his body to glance toward the stained glass behind the statue. His voice barely escaped his lips.

"...It’s the same sound as before."

He rose with grace, movements measured, and drew the scripture close to his chest.

His fingers tightened around the worn leather cover. He stood there a moment longer, as if waiting for something, confirmation, maybe.

“The last horn marked the beginning… the war against those monsters.”

His tone was quiet, as if afraid to speak too loud.

“Then this time… what’s coming for us now?”

He let the question hang in the air, unanswered. With a short breath, he shook his head. It was brief...

Turning away from the statue, Harapan began to walk, footsteps echoing faintly against the stone.

As he neared the exit, he murmured once more, soft and almost sorrowful.

“The time of chaos is approaching. If only… I were strong enough to protect them all from this world’s suffering.”

And with that, the heavy wooden doors creaked open, letting in a pale stream of light.

Back to where Mize was.

She was currently pondering just how loud the current horn sounded.

Somehow, during the early morning of the first global event… she’d slept through it.

Not stirred. Not twitched. Dead asleep.

She blinked at the ceiling, the echo of the horn still buzzing faintly in her ears like the aftershock of thunder.

Then, narrowing her eyes slightly, she mumbled under her breath, half in excuse, half in self-denial.

“Must be the Absolute Neutrality skill… yeah, that must be it.”

As if that made it better.

Outside, the world reacted to the blare.

Across cities, across wilderness, awakeners, nobles, lords, natives, everyone looked up at the sky in confusion or dread.

But in the quiet room, just as the echo faded, Liam appeared.

He didn’t say anything at first.

Just looked around the room briefly, then let his gaze settle on her small figure curled at the edge of the bed.

A few quiet steps.

Then he knelt down before her, one knee to the floor, leaning close.

His hand brushed gently against her cheek as he asked, soft and steady, “Are you okay?”

She stared.

For a good second, Mize just looked at him, not even blinking.

A faint twitch pulled at the corner of her mouth. Was he being serious right now?

She raised her hand and poked a finger at his chest.

“I-t-s-o-k-a-y.”

Liam blinked, but didn’t comment.

Instead, without missing a beat, he reached into his sleeve, of all places, and pulled out a tiny plush kitten.

Somehow, it had survived being tucked in there without looking crushed.

He placed it on her lap carefully, then looked up and met her eyes.

“To calm you down.”

Poke.

She stared at the plush.

Poke.

Then at Liam.

Poke!

Her finger jabbed at his chest a little more forcefully this time.

Her mouth twitched again, clearly fighting between a scoff and a laugh.

A curse almost slipped out.

Almost.

Instead, she forced a smile, sweet, too sweet, and tilted her head just a little to the side.

With a dramatic flair, she grabbed the plush, rubbed it slowly against her cheek, eyes half-squinted in mock satisfaction.

“Thank you,” she said in a sing-song tone. “I liked it very much.”

Even as her mind silently added: I’m throwing this thing out the window later.

Back to business.

Liam stood up with a smooth motion, raising a hand. A translucent screen materialized mid-air, glowing with system-blue light.

Mize’s eyes darted to it almost immediately.

No rankings. No fancy introduction.

Just a massive, glaring title that made her brows furrow.

[Event]

[Survive the Rift Lurkers!]

[Time remaining: until one side is completely eliminated]

“…Huh.”

“Survive the Rift Lurkers?” she echoed, tilting her head slightly.

Her gaze shifted sideways, only to find Liam’s face right there, watching her.

“…Huh?”

“What?” she said flatly. “Why are you staring at me instead of the panel? This... this sounds like a pain.”

“Mhm.” Liam nodded, still with that relaxed air around him, like the event was background noise. “It’s a cleansing event.”

Mize blinked. “Cleansing event?”

She tried digging through her memory, bits and pieces from the game that mirrored this world.

But nothing came up. No mention of this.

Her brows pulled together.

“…We have to survive?”

“Indeed,” Liam said with a quiet smile. Completely unfazed.

Like survival was just a small task, and she was the only thing that really mattered right now.

Mize narrowed her eyes, watching him closely now.

“…You’re acting weird,” she mumbled.

But not in a way that really bothered her.

Mize leaned back in her seat, arms crossed lightly, eyes narrowed as she stare

d at the system interface that had just finished updating with the name of the next global event.

Her expression twisted, not out of confusion, but out of quiet disbelief.

“Seriously?” she muttered, her brows pulling together. “Who even comes up with these names...?”