Ena's face still looked shocked by what she saw with her own eyes.
"How long are you going to keep making that face?" Nova asked.
"How could I not be shocked?!" Ena exclaimed. "You just killed that snake so easily! Like cutting vegetables, you know!"
Nova let out a long sigh and looked at the sky that was starting to become cloudy.
He turned to face Ena.
"Because at that time I was asleep in my classroom, so I had no idea how I ended up in this strange forest. You must know something, right? Try to tell me what really happened."
Ena nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll try to explain everything from the beginning. At that time, all the 11th grade students were relaxing in the classroom, including me."
"And at that moment, suddenly a very bright light appeared in the middle of our classroom. The light was so blinding that everyone couldn't open their eyes."
"And when I managed to open my eyes, I was already in the middle of this forest with you lying not far from me..."
[ I think this is another world, and it seems that light was what brought you two to exist in this world. ]
"Ah, is that Zero? If I'm not mistaken, I heard you calling Zero earlier," Ena asked while looking at the black orb.
"Ah, that's right, he is Zero," Nova answered. "He's kind of like a system."
Ena still stared at Zero with a suspicious expression. "System... You mean like a robot?"
[ You can call me whatever you want ]
"Okay, okay, let's forget about that for now. What's important now is, if it's true we're in another world, then where are your other classmates? Didn't you say all the 11th grade students were there when it happened?"
Ena shook her head with an anxious expression. "I don't know. When I came to, there were only you and me here. Maybe they were thrown to other places?"
[ I'm also not sure about that, but I think so too ]
"I see, that could happen, but why did that light appear in the classroom and bring us to this world? Did someone do that?"
"So what should we do now? Ah, by the way, I don't know your name yet. You're a 12th grade student, right?"
"Nova. You can call me Nova." He then looked at the increasingly dark sky. "And now our main priority is to find shelter and information about this world first."
"Zero, can you fly high and see if there are any settlements or cities around here?" Nova looked at the black orb floating in the air.
[ Command received. ]
Zero then floated up at high speed until his figure was almost invisible. Ena watched in amazement at how he could fly smoothly without wings or any assistance.
A few minutes later, Zero came back down in front of them.
[ Scanning complete. I successfully found a city to the east, estimated distance 15 kilometers from this location. ]
"A city, huh..." Nova thought for a moment while feeling the first drops of rain hit his face. "But it seems the weather won't support travel today."
Ena felt the same way.
The rumble of thunder echoed from the distance, followed by wind that began to blow strongly. The leaves swayed violently and the raindrops began to fall more heavily.
"Oh no! Heavy rain is going to fall!" Nova immediately looked for shelter. "Zero, is there a cave or shelter around here?"
[ Natural cave formation detected 200 meters to the west, near a flowing water source. ]
"Perfect! Show us the way, quickly!"
After that, both of them hurried to follow Zero's directions while running to avoid the rain that was now falling more heavily.
Upon reaching the cave in question, Nova and Ena immediately entered while catching their breath. The cave was quite spacious and dry, with the sound of a small river gurgling from outside.
"Phew... good thing we made it in time," Ena sat leaning against the cave wall while wringing out the end of her wet school uniform.
Nova nodded while carefully observing the cave's interior. "This place is safe enough to spend the night."
[ Environmental analysis shows this cave is safe from predators and has good air ventilation. Recommended for temporary base camp. ]
"Base camp?" Ena looked at Zero with confusion.
"Temporary headquarters," Nova explained while looking around the cave.
Outside the cave, rain continued to fall heavily accompanied by lightning strikes.
"It looks like there's a thunderstorm outside," Nova said while looking toward the cave entrance. The cave entrance resembled a large mouth with many sharp teeth made of stone.