novelraw Chapter 345
Chapter 345
[Firmament Style — First Form: Origin]
He couldn’t activate it.
The first form of his personal style was fundamentally a body-tempering technique that worked in conjunction with Origin Magic.
And right now—
He couldn’t use magic at all.
That meant the First Form was completely unusable.
Starting from scratch... and already blocked at the very beginning.
Rei Kanzaki had no intention of becoming some supreme powerhouse in this world.
He just wanted to temporarily improve this fragile body of his.
Right now, he wasn’t even equivalent to a Level 1 warrior.
There was no way he could train anything significant.
"Haa... haa—"
So tired...
It felt like his lungs were about to burst.
For the first time in a long while, running felt this exhausting.
Still—
He pushed forward, alternating between sprinting and jogging at full effort.
Eventually—
He got far enough away from the airport.
At one point during his escape, he had checked his phone.
The time displayed was a little past 2 PM.
And the moment he had originally been transported...
Should also have been around this time.
By all logic—
The airport should have already exploded.
But...
Standing on a distant street, Rei Kanzaki looked back toward the airport.
Nothing.
No explosion.
Everything remained intact.
So he waited.
And as he waited, he continued moving farther away.
But even as the sun began to set—
There was no blast.
No disturbance.
Nothing at all.
In the end, Rei Kanzaki sat down on a patch of grass.
He looked up.
The night sky stretched vast and endless.
Not the suffocating darkness of the abyssal sea—
But the familiar stars he once knew.
August 26th, 2025.
This was indeed the day he should have been transported.
And yet—
This time, nothing had happened.
As the tension drained from his body, a hollow emptiness slowly took its place.
Ring—ring—ring—
Suddenly, his phone rang.
A familiar ringtone.
A WeChat call.
Rei Kanzaki took out his phone again.
Aside from briefly checking the time earlier, he hadn’t touched it at all.
His thoughts had been consumed entirely by—
Earth’s anomalies.
The mystery of the Deep Ground.
The distinction between Real and Void.
Luluwi’s sea of consciousness.
Now that he had stopped—
He looked around.
This was Earth.
Children ran nearby.
An old man strolled leisurely.
Couples leaned against each other, whispering soft, intimate words.
A fountain reflected colorful lights beneath the glow of streetlamps.
Everything felt peaceful.
Calm.
Normal.
"Mom"
The caller ID showed only a single word.
Yet it made his heart jolt.
Rei Kanzaki answered.
"Son, have you gotten off the plane yet?"
On the other end of the video call—
Was a familiar face.
His mother.
A little older than he remembered.
"...Yeah."
His nose stung.
He tried to speak—
But his voice wouldn’t come out steady.
"What’s wrong? Son?"
"You’re not still on the plane, are you?"
Mom... I can see you again.
Rei Kanzaki forced his emotions down.
Thankfully, his spirituality remained intact.
Otherwise, even as an adult, he wouldn’t have been able to control himself.
But she still noticed something off.
"Son... did something happen over there?"
He took a deep breath.
Finally, he managed to speak.
"No, Mom. I’m fine... I just suddenly realized I forgot something important, so I went back to get it."
"I missed this flight."
"Oh, I see."
"Why didn’t you tell us earlier? Your dad and I are waiting at the airport to pick you up."
Rei Kanzaki forced a smile.
"Haha... sorry, Mom."
"I got busy and completely forgot to mention it."
"I’ll book another ticket right away."
"That’s such a waste of money..."
"Haha, Mom, it’s really important. If I don’t bring it back, your son’s going to lose a lot of money."
"...Son, are you really okay?"
Even after his explanation—
She still asked again.
Rei Kanzaki paused.
"...I’m really fine."
"If something is wrong, you have to tell us. Your dad and I will help you figure it out."
"...Right. Mom, is Dad there too?"
"Let me talk to him for a bit."
"He is, he is! He’s been grumbling beside me ever since he heard you didn’t come back!"
Rei Kanzaki let out a quiet laugh.
It had been so long...
So long since he had seen them.
He couldn’t bear to end the call after just a few words.
Even if this was an illusion—
Even if it was just a dream—
At least let him see them again.
That night, he spent longer on a video call with his parents than ever before.
He said many things.
But not a single word about the other world.
Telling them would change nothing.
They were ordinary people.
In the face of that world’s overwhelming, transcendent power—
They were powerless.
Even he, who had once stood at the peak, had been unable to change anything.
The call finally ended sometime after 9 PM.
Their phone battery had died.
His portable charger was also completely drained.
Rei Kanzaki stood up again.
The city felt both familiar... and distant.
"Ansu. You’ve seen enough, haven’t you?"
His voice turned cold.
"Heh... interesting."
"Tell me—how do I leave this place?"
From that brief glimpse into Ansu’s thoughts earlier, he had already learned quite a bit about the Deep Ground.
It was a mysterious world.
And every person who entered it saw something different.
"Leave?"
"Why would you want to leave? You seem pretty happy here."
Rei Kanzaki replied calmly,
"If it isn’t real... then it isn’t real."
Ansu let out a cold laugh.
"Not real?"
"What if I told you... this is the real world?"
"...Ansu. Do you enjoy speaking in riddles that much?"
"Don’t forget our contract."
Ansu sneered.
"With your current strength... do you really think you can still restrain me?"
"You can’t even perceive where I am right now, can you?"
After that—
Silence.
His presence faded, as though he had never existed in this world at all.
No matter how Rei Kanzaki called out—
There was no response.
Rei Kanzaki sat alone on the grass.
...Whatever.
Once tomorrow came, a new day would begin.
His Future Deduction would reset—
And he would return to before the simulation.
So once you entered this place... you couldn’t leave.
Luluwi’s sea of consciousness...
Was far more dangerous than he had imagined.
After a moment’s thought, Rei Kanzaki hailed a taxi and headed back toward the airport.
He bought a ticket for a flight departing the next day—
And sent his parents a message, telling them he’d be returning tomorrow.
...
He checked into a hotel near the airport.
An overwhelming exhaustion washed over him.
The moment he lay down on the bed—
He fell asleep.
In his dreams, he saw glimpses of the other world—
Its wonders, its vastness, its countless miracles...
When he woke—
He was still in the hotel bed.
A strange sense of dissonance lingered.
Rei Kanzaki went back near the airport to take a look.
But he couldn’t find the ritual array he had seen before.
This Earth...
Was not the same as the one he had witnessed in reality.
...
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