"Hey, wake up quickly! How long are you going to keep sleeping like this! Get up!"
A girl's loud voice shattered the silence, accompanied by rough shaking that forced Nova Aldridge to slowly open his eyes. His vision was still blurry, but he could feel someone shaking his body impatiently.
*A woman's voice? Who is that?* Nova finally opened his eyes.
"Finally awake," said the girl with a tone of relief mixed with annoyance.
Nova blinked several times, trying to focus his vision. In front of him stood a girl with black hair wearing the same school uniform as his.
"Mm... who are you?" Nova asked while rubbing his still sleepy eyes.
"I'm Ena Selvan from SMMA class 11-A. Don't you know that?" the girl replied with a slightly offended tone.
"Ena Selvan?"
Nova furrowed his brow, trying to remember. "Sorry, but I don't know you even though we go to the same school." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Eh, wait. You said you're from class 11, right?"
"Do I need to repeat it again?" Ena looked increasingly annoyed with Nova's questions.
"But... how can you be in class 12? I clearly fell asleep at my own desk in class 12-A earlier," Nova began to get confused.
SMMA school had a systematic floor division system. The first floor was used for the cafeteria, multipurpose room, and student gathering places. The second floor was specifically for class 11 which contained 17-year-old students. While the third floor was the territory of class 12 for 18-year-old students like Nova. This system had been in place for a long time to maintain order and facilitate supervision.
"Hey, can't you see the situation around us now?" Ena said while pointing in various directions.
"The situation around us? What's wrong—" Nova looked left and right, then his eyes widened. "Eh?! Wait... where is this?!"
What he saw were not the familiar classroom walls or the school corridors he usually passed through. Instead, they were surrounded by tall towering trees, as if they were both inside an unfamiliar forest.
"I clearly fell asleep in class earlier because the teacher hadn't arrived yet. How could I suddenly be in a forest like this?" Nova asked with a flat expression.
"How would I know! That's why I woke you up!" Ena replied with a frustrated tone.
Nova stood up and looked up at the sky. At that moment, he was slightly surprised by what he saw up there. "Hah?! What is that?
"Is that an island?"
"An island? Do you mean what's up there?" Unfortunately, Ena couldn't see as clearly as Nova.
Far above their heads, a large landmass could be seen floating in the air. The island appeared to have one very large house on it.
"This is very strange. Do we have islands that can float in the sky like that in our world?" Nova murmured while continuing to stare upward.
"Wow, you seem to have sharp eyes, don't you?" Ena said, seeing Nova who could see clearly up in the sky.
Suddenly, Nova felt something strange. Like there were subtle vibrations from underground that were getting stronger.
"Hah? This..." Nova's face instantly became serious. Without thinking twice, he immediately grabbed Ena's right hand and pulled her away from where she was standing.
"What are you doing—"
Before Ena could finish her sentence, suddenly the ground where she had been standing exploded. From below emerged a figure that made Ena freeze in fear.
"Hah... what is that?" Ena said with a trembling voice.
A giant snake emerged from underground with an extraordinarily large body. Its length exceeded that of a regular school bus, while its circumference was as big as a small car. Its skin was dark greenish. Its red eyes stared sharply at both of them.
"Hey ugly-faced snake, can you understand our language? If you can understand our language, please listen to us," Nova said with a flat expression.
"Hey! What do you mean by ugly-faced? Don't you know, that might make it angry, but its face is indeed ugly though." "Eh, this isn't the time for jokes! What should we do?"
The giant snake let out a loud hissing sound. Then,
The ground around the snake suddenly lifted into the air, transforming into sharp pointed spears. The earth spears shot quickly toward both of them.
Nova moved with amazing reflexes. He jumped to the side while pulling Ena, successfully avoiding most of the attacks. However, several earth spears were still heading toward them. With quick movements, Nova destroyed those spears with his bare hands.
"Hey, your hands are bleeding!" Ena noticed Nova's hands bleeding from destroying the hard earth spears.
"It seems my body has become..." Nova stared at his bleeding hands, then raised his head to look at the giant snake with a drastically changed gaze. "Hah, it seems you really want to fight me. Alright then, don't blame me."
Ena could feel the murderous aura emanating from Nova's eyes. His gaze, which had been ordinary before, now turned sharp and cold.