Toruous rolled his shoulders. Then, with a light creak, he stretched his legs and hopped lightly on his feet. I hung back, watching carefully. The moment he stepped onto the stairs, King’s dominance fell upon his shoulders. The pressure of helis tried to pin him down, but a thin layer of helis shimmered out of his frame, calm and composed.And I watched the old turtle climbing up as if it was child’s play, just like he used to swim up and down through that reverse stream of the basin. Within a blink of an eye, he was already at the middle stairs. The pressure doubled up, and the machine guns levelled their heads at the stairs.Toruous giggled out loud.“Hahahaha! That’s a nice trap. Pin the opponent down with helis pressure and shoot to your heart’s content.”The rain of helis bullets charged at him at tremendous speed as the rotary barrels spun loudly. Toruous dove forward in a lucid motion. It looked like he was dancing amid the particles of shooting helis. Every sway of his palm wa

The moment Toruous stepped onto the stone path, a small cubical tile beneath his foot sank into the ground with a faint click. His smile vanished, freezing the old turtle in his steps.“What is this...?”For the first time since entering the habitat, genuine shock slipped into his voice. A ripple spread through the air around him––everything distorted. The space around his body twisted inward like a whirlpool swallowing water. His outline stretched unnaturally. The lava pit warped into spiralling streaks of orange and red. Even the moonlight bent around him.Toruous tried to move, but nothing happened. His muscles refused to move against his will. The sensation made his pupils shrink.“Impossible...”The distortion intensified. His voice became distant, dragged apart by the collapsing space around him.“A dimensional prison...?”And then he vanished. Not a single trace remained on the stone path. Silence returned to the habitat. I stood at the edge of the forest with my hands folded b

Thirty hunters stepped out of the teleportation gate of Bearda one after another. The familiar sensation of space twisting around their bodies faded as their boots met solid ground. Behind them, the green glow of the portal slowly dimmed.And then—silence.Not a single hunter spoke. A few of them drew sharp breaths. At last, one warrior muttered what everyone else was thinking.“...Is this really Corned?”The words slipped out like a whisper. Every gaze swept across the settlement ahead, filled with disbelief. The Corned they remembered was gone. The quiet village at the edge of the forest had vanished without a trace.In its place stood a fortified town before them.High stone walls surrounded the entire settlement. Guard posts rose at regular intervals along the ramparts, where archers and soldiers patrolled with practiced vigilance. Massive wooden gates stood wide open, allowing a steady stream of traffic to pass through––humans and monsters alike.Both moved freely through the ent

The moon hung high above Corned.The noises of the town had long faded into silence. Mana lanterns cast a soft glow through the streets as the residents rested after another exhausting day of work.Ruria sat cross-legged on her bed.A book rested in her hands.The dim lantern beside her bed illuminated the pages while the rest of the room remained swallowed by shadows. Every now and then, she turned a page while enjoying the rare peace. The room was quiet.A faint rustling sound drifted in from the balcony. Her eyes paused on the page. The sound disappeared. Ruria lowered the book slightly. But only silence lingered in the air. Only the distant chirping of insects lingered beyond the balcony.A long breath escaped her lips. Perhaps it was only the wind. She returned her attention to the book.Rustle!The sound came again, this time louder. The book snapped shut. Ruria slowly stood from the bed. The thin sleeping gown swayed around her legs as her eyes fixed on the balcony. The white c

Three days had passed since the werewolf incident.By then, Corned no longer felt like a free city to the hunters. The laughter had thinned first. Then the boasting. By the third evening, even the dining hall had changed. Hunters ate faster, spoke lower, and glanced toward the windows whenever the wind moved too sharply outside.The three parties continued their assigned missions, but the results were far from what was expected.Party A kept throwing itself at the staircase of the dungeon and losing. Every morning, they entered the forest with their weapons ready and their pride intact. Every evening, they returned with dirt on their clothes, bruises on their arms, and silence hanging between them.The highest they had reached was still the middle section.Once the vanishing steps were activated, everything broke apart. Formations collapsed. Frontliners lost sight of their rear guards. Mages wasted spells on empty air. Scouts shouted directions that no longer made sense because the st