"Welcome to Alterra," a woman's voice echoed in the darkness.
Before Keal clicked the spawn option, he sat in his room with the controller strapped to his wrist like a watch. The moment he pressed it, the lights went out, plunging the room into darkness. A voice echoed through the blackness.
In the darkness, only the device's screen glowed. Keal glanced at it—a six-hour cooldown had begun.
05:59:48… 05:59:47… 05:59:46…
"What is this—some kind of timer? Only six hours of play a day, or something else? Whatever. It doesn't matter in this darkness. Maybe I should open the window or switch on the power supply… No. Sometimes pure darkness feels better."
He lay on the ground, watching the cooldown. "What a coincidence—just when I pressed the button, the lights went out. Or… maybe the lights didn't go out at all. Maybe I teleported into another realm, or into a horror game, and I've got six hours to survive. Or perhaps the world itself will end and return after six hours. So stupid. Haha... How could I even imagine such things at my age?"
"I think I need to turn on the power supply." He stood up. Keal knew every corner of his house—of course he did; this was his home. He moved to the side and started forward. After only two steps, his foot caught on something and he stumbled. Before he hit the ground completely, the door swung open on its own. A flash of light poured in. His upper body was outside the room, on the road, while his lower body remained inside."
When his vision cleared after the sudden flash, he was shocked. It was a completely different world from his own. In front of him stood a tall building with a wooden frame, covered with pipes and coils running across its surface. Narrow balconies clung to the sides, and windows appeared in odd places—some dark, some shining in the light. Most of the buildings in this place had a similar structure.
"What the hell is this place?" Keal muttered in shock. "Don't tell me those stupid jokes actually came true. No, no… of course not. I'm just dreaming. Yeah, that's it. When I wake up, I'll be back in my room."
He sat on the ground, both hands touching the rough floor. One of his legs was still inside the room, which kept the door from closing. The room itself belongs to those strange buildings.
Inside the room, Keal's eyes swept over a cluttered scene—tiny screwdrivers, soldering irons, pliers, and coils of copper wire tangled like vines. Twisted metal and half-finished devices lay scattered, their circuit boards exposed like dissected machines. Strange, unrecognizable parts covered the floor, turning the place into something less like a room and more like a junkyard.
And then he noticed the writing. Posters were plastered everywhere, each covered with strange words and symbols. But it wasn't just the posters—the entire room was marked. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling carried scribbles and scrawled messages, as if someone had tried to drown the place in words.
Don't stay outside too long.
Everyone is going to die.
I know it's hard to choose, but I have no other choice.
If you fall into their trap, remember—that is their fate.
Please forgive me… I can't stay on both sides.
This is not real.
I had to become a monster.
Don't talk to outsiders.
Danger, danger, danger—everything is dangerous.
I'm a coward. I can't do this.
Do it fast, or the monsters will kill everyone.
Don't stay here more than six hours.
I can't choose just one.
Sometimes, becoming a monster is the great choice.
It's all an illusion.
Whatever they say, don't trust them.
Do your job and return as fast as you can.
Don't judge yourself.
You can't stay on both sides.
I'm not a monster.
Don't stay there too long, or you'll be lost forever—just as I did.
Keal looked at his hand and noticed a small scar. "Ah… I don't think people can feel pain in dreams. If this isn't a dream, then what the hell is this? And how am I supposed to get out of here?"
Keal Ardent stood up. The door closed slowly, and all the letters gradually disappeared. He brushed the dust off his clothes. "Looks like someone really lives there…if does? That person must have some serious mental issues."
He looked beyond the strange buildings and spotted a road running along the top of the massive wall. Large holes punctured the wall at intervals, shaped like looming entrances. Behind it all rose immense towers—sleek, silver and blue structures that stretched into the sky, their sharp peaks and smooth surfaces gleaming faintly in the light.
He continued down the quiet road toward the massive wall, each step echoing softly in the stillness. The silence pressed in on him, unsettling. "I don't see anyone… Is this place abandoned? Or haunted? Yeah… it definitely feels haunted—especially that room."
"Should I knock on the door?" Keal wondered, hesitating. If someone came out to check, it would prove the place wasn't abandoned. But if no one answered, then he'd know for sure—it really was deserted.
"If this place isn't abandoned, if people really live in those buildings, then why haven't I seen a single soul?" Keal muttered, scanning the empty road with a growing frown. "Maybe it's a lockdown… everyone staying inside their homes. But why? What could make an entire city hide?" His mind flickered back to the words scrawled on that cluttered room's walls. A chill crept down his spine. "Could there really be… something out here? Monsters? Zombies?"
He lifted his hand to knock but froze mid-motion. He knew nothing about this place—what kind of people lived here? Why wasn't anyone outside? What if someone was inside, saw him as a threat, and came out with a gun? Worse, what if they thought he was some kind of monster… or a zombie?
He finally gathered the courage and knocked on the door. "Hey! I'm Keal Ardent. I need help! Anyone in there?" Silence. No response. He tried again, louder this time, but the door stayed quiet. Clicking his tongue in frustration, he moved to the next door and knocked. "Hello? Anyone home? I'm Keal Ardent—I need help!" Still nothing. Door after door, he repeated the same words, his knuckles starting to ache, but every door remained silent. Not a single voice answered.
"Why not check inside?" he muttered to himself. Stepping closer, he studied the strange door, searching for a handle, a keyhole—anything. Nothing. It was smooth and seamless, like part of the wall itself.
Frowning, he pressed his palms against it and tried to slide it open, but it didn't budge. He pushed harder, gritting his teeth, but it was like trying to move a solid wall.
Keal's mind churned with questions. What was this place? Why did it feel so empty, so lifeless? But one thought pressed harder than the rest—how had he even ended up here? And, more importantly, how was he supposed to leave?
His gaze fell to the peculiar device on his wrist. "I'm pretty sure this thing is the reason I'm here. If it brought me here, then it's also my key to getting out.
He paused, staring at the left button on the device. "Last time, I pressed this and ended up here." So this time, he pressed the right one and shut his eyes. Seconds ticked by. When he opened them, nothing had changed—only a faint cooldown timer blinked on the screen.
"What…? Maybe the left button?" He closed his eyes again and pressed it, but nothing happened. Frustration welled up inside him. He started pressing both buttons, one after the other, but the device remained stubbornly silent, the cooldown timer ticking down—its numbers growing smaller and smaller.
"Of course nothing's happening," he muttered with a humorless laugh. "I'm probably dreaming. How could a VR controller teleport me to another world?" He tried to convince himself it was only a dream, but deep down he already knew—it was real.
He started walking again, but something caught his eye—a faint marking etched along the side of the device, almost hidden, GOA2.0. Curiosity stirred. He slipped the device off his wrist and turned it over in his hands, studying every line and edge. That's when he noticed it—another button, small and nearly invisible, on the top edge.
Without thinking, he pressed it. The cooldown vanished, and the screen shifted, revealing two options again: [Return] and [Transmigration]. "Return?" he muttered. "I'm certain the last time there was a Spawn option instead of Return."
He pressed the left button again, this time with hesitation, and shut his eyes as if bracing for impact. When he opened them, nothing had changed—only the cooldown timer flashed across the screen once more. A quiet realization settled over him, once the timer ended, he would be able to return home.
He pressed the hidden button again, and the screen shifted back to the option labeled, [Transmigration]. He stared at it, his thoughts racing. "Transmigration? Does that mean I can enter someone else's mind?" The idea sent a chill of curiosity through him. Before he could second-guess himself, he pressed the right button.
Immediately, a sharp warning voice rang out: "Warning. Once transmigration is complete, you will never be able to return to your original body again." The voice continued, its tone mechanical and cold.
Two options appeared on the screen: [Confirm] and [Cancel].
Keal's expression tightened. He quickly pressed the right button, canceling the mind transfer.
"I don't want any more trouble… but what am I supposed to do here? It's only been fifteen minutes." He glanced around, taking in the quiet surroundings. A thought crossed his mind. "Why not walk around? Maybe I'll see someone—and at least time will pass."
He kept walking, but the street remained unnervingly quiet, its silence almost alive with a strange, eerie weight. Not a single soul in sight—the place felt utterly abandoned. A stray thought crossed his mind: If Robert were here, his face would be priceless.
A flurry of thoughts raced through his mind. Have I really stepped into some kind of video game? Maybe that's why there's no one around—perhaps it's still in development, and they haven't even added the NPCs yet. He let out a short, self-mocking laugh. What kind of game would this even be? Ugh… I'm really an idiot, haha. But even my stupid imagination can't compare to what's in front of me.
At last, he reached the massive wall and noticed cars moving along its top. Behind the wall, a flying road spiraled around the towering silver-and-blue skyscrapers that pierced the sky. Vehicles moved along the road, but that wasn't all—he saw others in the air, hovering and flying like cars defying gravity.
These skyscrapers didn't look like ordinary buildings. Their designs were completely different from anything in Keal's world. They looked futuristic, as if they were visions of how Earth might appear a hundred or two hundred years from now.
"Wow… it doesn't look scary—it's amazing. It feels like I've come to the future. Look at those huge buildings—they really touch the sky! And those things flying… are they cars?"
Keal noticed some people approaching through large openings in the wall. "Finally, I see someone! It's not abandoned anymore… but will they understand my language?" He remembered the strange room. "Of course they will."