The Author's POV

'It's bright.'

Squinting, Melissa covered her face with her hand to block the light coming from above. It was really bright. Bright enough to make her eyes feel sore.

"Ugh."

Her mind was rather groggy at the moment and she wanted nothing more than to sleep at the moment.

She felt tired. Extremely so.

But…

"The fuck!?"

With a sharp snap of her eyelids, Melissa stirred out of her slumber.

After her mind sobered up a bit and she recalled the events leading up to her finding herself in this state, she immediately felt uneasy.

"Shit, where are my glasses?"

In search of her glasses, Melissa tapped the ground with her hands.

It was difficult for Melissa to see anything without her glasses, as everything around her was extremely blurry.

"Where are they?"

Touching around her and only feeling what felt like thick hard grass, Melissa's brows knit tightly.

"I knew it."

Melissa muttered to herself as her face twisted in displeasure.

"…I knew that I shouldn't have agreed with Ren's deal. Whenever I do something with him, I'm always hit with the worst of luck. Now I probably lost my glasses and will never find them ag—"

Right at that moment, Melissa felt something in her hand. Carefully touching it and recognizing its shape, she grabbed the item and put them on her face.

"Nevermind."

She mumbled to herself as she got up and took a look at her surroundings.

"Still doesn't change what I previo—huh?"

Melissa's jaw grew slack as gazed into the distance.

She was left in awe by what she saw as she struggled to comprehend the scene in front of her at that moment..

"…Where in the world am I?"

The scenery…

It looked like nothing like she had ever seen before.

A majestic forest of thick canopy trees bent at different angles covered the northwest part of the landscape. A vivid palette of rose, amber, and violet feathers shaped leaved replaced the regular looking ones to create a breathtaking spectacle.

The air was thin and easy to breathe as Melissa had no trouble breathing.

But…

"This is not earth."

Melissa was quick to guess that something was wrong with this place. It had no semblance of the earth she knew.

"How is this possible?"

Rather than being flustered, Melissa's eyes twinkled with an uncommon excitement.

"It can't be right?"

By tapping her bracelet, she took a tiny device out of her dimensional space and pressed the small button that sat atop of it.

Beep—! Beep—!

A beeping sound echoed out.

"61% nitrogen, and 30%% oxygen…"

surprise as she read the measurements displayed on the machine. Her excitement soon

shit. I'm really on

of nitrogen to exygen was around 78% to 21%. On rare occasions would it differ, but it was only by a small percentage. Compared to this place, the air was a

levels were the same as back when earth was in its infancy

filled with enormous bugs, and

"Shit."

thought made Melissa cringe. If there was one thing she despised the most, it was bugs...and the idea of possibly

was still

for her research, it

"Wait a second..."

last

planet, but how exactly am I

first place. In fact, she was extremely confused as to

minding her own business in her lab when suddenly, out

was

"Hmm…"

her. She pinched the middle of her brows in annoyance as she quietly mumbled to

"I'm fucked, aren't I?"

***

away from Melissa,

"What's that?"

Amanda peered through the thick canopy of trees and glanced to the distance where she saw a

pyramid in the distance, her heart tightened as she felt a sense of existential doom. There was this suffocating feeling rising from the pyramid in the distance that

a bright purple light also shot into the sky

the sky darkened

"This phenomenon..."

legs and leapt up as she took her

larger tree. As she once again leaped toward the top of another branch, she eventually reached the top of the tree and was then able

structure in the distance,

"A mana compressor."

wasn't quite sure what the pyramid was, but now that she could see

was a mana

scaled

to convert

into the distance, Amanda knew one thing for sure; the mana compressor in the distance wasn't just any mana compressor.

that point on she was able to

"I'm not on earth."

event that a mana compressor of this size had been built on earth, humanity or other races would've discovered it long ago. It was simply impossible

unfamiliar environment, as Amanda marvelled at the various plants and vegetation that she

look to be far bigger than anything I've

to snap out of her thoughts as her attention was

"...How did this happen?"

that she had no idea how she found herself in such

of where she was. Little did

...At least until now.

***

"I can finally move."

the help of the rocky wall beside me, I

wall. I

"Is this moss?"

the texture of the lump on my hand, I brought it closer to my nose

"It smells like it…"

that I knew how

on the ground, I

It was dark.

around, I saw

"Huuuu..."

deep breath, I placed both hands on the wall and slowly began to move my legs in a sideways motion. At the moment, I was trying to figure

corner of the room, I

and twelve steps

neither too big nor too small. Just about the size

'I'm thirsty.'

dry lops together, I moved toward the area where the liquid was dripping. The closer I got,

Drip— Drip—

Gulp.

a mouthful

of now, I had been here over a day and was

lips together once more, I extended my hand

'Wait.'