There was no ground beneath Nexar's feet.
No wind.
No sound.
No sense of direction.
Only darkness.
For fifteen years, he had dreamed about this moment.
Sometimes while lying beneath the branches of the ancient forest.
Sometimes beside the Dragon Lake.
Sometimes after waking from nightmares with his hand already reaching for a weapon.
Earth.
Home.
His memories of it were fragmented now.
A small house.
His mother's voice.
His father's hands.
School corridors.
Rain against a window.
A world where the greatest danger he had known was getting lost on his way home.
Then Sector 0 had taken everything away.
Nexar opened his eyes.
Something was wrong.
The darkness around him wasn't empty.
Thin lines of light stretched through it.
Not stars.
Not nebulae.
They looked like cracks.
As though something enormous had shattered the space around him.
Nexar's Third Eye Chakra reacted instinctively.
Violet light appeared between his eyebrows.
He looked closer.
The cracks weren't random.
They formed patterns.
Symbols.
Some were familiar.
Others weren't.
Nexar reached toward one.
The moment his fingers touched it—
PAIN.
A sharp pulse shot through his skull.
He pulled his hand back.
For a fraction of a second, something appeared inside the darkness.
A city.
Earth.
Then it vanished.
Nexar frowned.
"That wasn't part of the portal."
A familiar sound interrupted him.
Beep.
The translucent status panel appeared.
Spatial Transit
Destination: Earth
Stability: 63%
Nexar stared at the final number.
"Sixty-three?"
The portal had already consumed the Apex Calamity's core.
It should have been stable.
Before he could investigate further, another message appeared.
Warning
Unknown Energy Signature Detected
Nexar's expression hardened.
The same message.
The same energy he had detected before leaving Sector 0.
Except now—
it was stronger.
Much stronger.
The darkness trembled.
Something moved beyond the cracks.
Nexar immediately raised his guard.
For the first time since entering the portal, he felt the instinct he had developed during his fifteen years on the island.
Something was watching him.
He focused his Third Eye.
Nothing.
The presence disappeared.
Nexar slowly lowered his hand.
"Interesting."
The space ahead suddenly collapsed.
A violent force seized his body.
Then—
everything went white.
Rain.
That was the first thing Nexar noticed.
Cold rain struck his face.
He opened his eyes.
He was lying on wet concrete.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
He listened.
Water hitting the ground.
A distant vehicle.
Electricity humming somewhere nearby.
A dog barking.
Human voices.
Nexar slowly pushed himself upright.
His breathing stopped.
Buildings surrounded him.
Tall buildings.
Roads.
Streetlights.
Cars.
People carrying umbrellas.
Earth.
He was home.
Nexar stared at the city.
He had imagined this moment countless times.
He had imagined running through the streets.
Finding his house.
Seeing his parents.
Hearing familiar voices.
But standing there now—
he felt nothing.
Not happiness.
Not relief.
Just silence.
Fifteen years was a long time.
Too long.
Nexar looked down at himself.
His clothes were torn.
His skin was covered in scars.
His hair had grown far beyond the length he remembered.
He looked nothing like the boy who had disappeared.
A woman walking past suddenly stopped.
She stared at him.
Nexar looked back.
Her expression changed.
Fear.
She quickly walked away.
Nexar looked at his reflection in a dark shop window.
A stranger stared back.
He barely recognized himself.
Then something caught his attention.
A giant digital screen hung above the street.
News footage played across it.
Nexar looked up.
A familiar language.
A familiar country.
But the date at the bottom of the screen made his body go still.
2029.
Nexar's eyes narrowed.
"No."
He stepped closer.
The screen changed to another report.
"...authorities have denied rumors surrounding the incident, stating that the footage circulating online has been heavily manipulated..."
A blurred video appeared.
A figure standing in the middle of a road.
The image was distorted.
The figure seemed to be surrounded by a faint glow.
Then the screen changed again.
Nexar barely noticed.
His attention was fixed on the date.
He had entered Sector 0 fifteen years ago.
It should have been—
He slowly exhaled.
At least that part made sense.
But something else didn't.
Nexar remembered Earth as it had been.
He looked around.
The city felt familiar.
Yet different.
The vehicles were more advanced.
The buildings were taller.
Digital advertisements covered entire walls.
People moved while staring at glowing devices in their hands.
Fifteen years.
The world had continued.
Without him.
Nexar lowered his gaze.
Then—
Beep.
His status panel appeared again.
But something had changed.
Name: Nexar Luke
Race: Human
Tier: Non-Tier
Gene Points: 0
Primary Energy:
Third Eye Chakra — 35%
Manipura Chakra — 100%
Nexar stared at the bottom.
A new line had appeared.
Not a warning.
Not an unknown signature.
Something else.
Location: Earth
He almost smiled.
Then the panel flickered.
For less than a second, another message appeared.
Nexar's smile disappeared.
Environmental Energy: 0.7%
He stared at it.
Sector 0 had been saturated with strange energy.
The entire island had felt alive with it.
Earth felt different.
Empty.
Almost completely empty.
Nexar closed his eyes.
He activated his Third Eye.
The world changed.
People became faint patterns of energy.
Buildings became structures of matter.
Electrical currents appeared inside walls.
Heat moved through the streets.
But beneath everything—
there was almost nothing.
Then Nexar saw it.
A thin golden thread.
Deep beneath the city.
It pulsed once.
Thump.
Nexar opened his eyes.
The thread vanished.
His heart began beating faster.
He had seen that energy before.
Not on Earth.
Not in the city.
Not anywhere humans had built.
He had seen it inside the shrine.
The same strange resonance that had awakened his Manipura Chakra.
Nexar looked toward the ground.
"What are you?"
A car horn suddenly blared.
HONK!
Nexar stepped back.
A taxi had stopped beside him.
The driver lowered his window.
"Are you okay, brother?"
Nexar looked at him.
For a moment, he didn't know how to answer.
Then he nodded.
"I'm fine."
The driver looked at his torn clothes and scars.
"You sure?"
Nexar gave a faint smile.
"I've had a long day."
The driver laughed awkwardly.
"Yeah. You look like it."
The car drove away.
Nexar watched it disappear into the rain.
For the first time in fifteen years, he heard someone speak to him without trying to kill him.
It felt strangely unfamiliar.
He turned toward the city.
Home.
Somewhere in this world was the house he remembered.
Somewhere were the people he had lost.
Nexar reached into his pocket.
Nothing.
No phone.
No identification.
No money.
Everything he had owned had disappeared fifteen years ago.
He had returned with nothing.
Except the person he had become.
Nexar started walking.
He didn't know where he was going yet.
But he knew one thing.
He needed answers.
Why had the portal taken him?
Why had the unknown energy followed him back?
And what had happened to Earth while he was gone?
Several kilometers away, inside a dark room, a monitor suddenly flickered.
A single red line appeared across the screen.
Then another.
A man sitting in front of the monitor slowly leaned forward.
The system had detected something.
He watched the data scroll across the screen.
For years, nothing had happened.
Then, tonight—
the signal returned.
The man stared at the screen.
His expression changed.
"Impossible."
A second monitor activated.
Coordinates appeared.
Then a name.
NEXAR LUKE
The man stood.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
Then he whispered—
"He's back."
Outside, thunder rolled across the city.
And somewhere beneath the streets—
something ancient pulsed once.
Thump.
Nexar stopped walking.
He turned toward the ground.
His Third Eye burned violet.
For the first time since returning to Earth—
he felt it.
The same presence.
The same recognition.
Whatever had been waiting for him in Sector 0...
had not stayed there.
It had followed him home.