THE STRATEGIST: Monster of the game

Twenty years.That was how long it had been since I left Earth and was dragged into this world.The battlefield stretched for kilometers, a ruin of shattered mountains and collapsed plains. Entire ridgelines had been carved flat by brute force, the earth gouged so deeply that molten rock bled through the cracks like open wounds.At the center of it all, it stood.The Great Monster.Its body towered higher than a city gate, a grotesque fusion of flesh, obsidian armor, and jagged bone. Six massive limbs supported its hulking frame, each claw long enough to tear through fortresses. Its head was crowned with twisted horns that coiled backward like blackened roots, and its eyes vast, burning orbs—glowed with ancient contempt.Every breath it took distorted the air.Every step crushed the land.Around me, magic crackled wildly. The remains of spells hung suspended like dying stars, flickering and breaking apart under the monster’s pressure alone.Today was the day.The final day.A blinding

Hot water poured down over his body the moment he turned the handle.Soren froze for a split second, then laughed under his breath.No waiting.No rust-colored trickle.No boiling uncertainty.Just clean, endless heat cascading over his shoulders and down his back.Steam filled the bathroom as he tilted his head back, eyes half-lidded, letting the water wash away sweat that no longer smelled like blood or rot. His body this new body was solid. Muscular. Strong in a different way. Not forged through endless combat alone, but well-fed, intact.He stared at his hands as they might vanish.“I’m really… back.”When he stepped out, a towel draped over his head, he pressed a button on the wall.Whoosh.Cool air flooded the room instantly.Soren inhaled sharply.Air that didn’t stink of ash or decay. Air that didn’t scrape his lungs raw.He walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside.A clear blue sky stretched endlessly above towering buildings. Cars moved in neat lines far below. Peop

Soren sat in the waiting hall of the Hunter Association, chewing slowly on a piece of convenience-store candy like he was attending a dentist appointment rather than a government-sponsored power evaluation.The room was enormous. Too clean. Too quiet.Walls of reinforced glass rose on all sides, displaying floating holographic statistics: threat indexes, erosion activity maps, guild influence rankings. Everything was categorized. Everything was monitored.Everything was controlled.And that bothered him.He leaned back in the chair, hands behind his head, eyes half-lidded.“So this is what you turned it into,” he murmured.In that other world, warriors were blades. Here, they were assets.Not much of a difference.Across the hall, dozens of applicants whispered nervously. Some checked their equipment. Some meditated. Some stared at him when they thought he wasn’t looking.He had already made a mistake.He had stood out.And standing out meant attention.That was bad.Very bad.A door

Soren didn’t speak after Kaelith left.Not because he was intimidated.Because he was calculating.Lyra stood beside him, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the holographic globe still rotating in the air. The red fractures pulsed faintly, some growing brighter.“You didn’t have to antagonize her,” Lyra said quietly.“Yes,” he replied. “I did.”She looked at him.“You just rejected one of the most powerful political entities on the planet.”“Good.”“That wasn’t sarcasm.”“I know.”She exhaled sharply.“You don’t understand what you’ve done.”“No,” he said. “I understand exactly what I’ve done.”He reached out and tapped one of the red fractures.A new one blinked into existence.“…What?” Lyra whispered.Then another.Then two more.She stared.“That’s impossible,” she said. “New erosion points don’t appear without precursor destabilization—”“I didn’t create them,” he said. “I revealed them.”She turned to him slowly.“You’re saying these were hidden?”“Yes.”“By what?”“By who,” he correcte

Soren felt it before he understood it.Not fear.Not danger.Attention.It pressed against his skin like humidity, invisible but heavy, seeping into every pore of reality around him. The street no longer felt like a place—it felt like a stage.People were staring.Not the frantic, confused stares from moments ago.These were… different.Careful. Measuring. Afraid.Mina’s hand tightened around his.“Are you going to disappear too?” she asked.That sentence hit harder than any monster.Soren crouched in front of her, bringing his eyes level with hers.“No,” he said.And for the first time since returning to Earth, he meant it.Sirens grew louder.Drones hummed above the skyline.Windows lit up with recording lights.Someone shouted, “It’s him! The anomaly!”Another voice: “Don’t provoke him!”Another: “Are we supposed to evacuate or…?”Soren exhaled slowly.So this is what being visible feels like.In the other world, he had been watched.Here, he was being judged.Lyra’s voice came thr