Yuzen swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. He forced his lips into a smile, though his chest felt tight.
"I…I'm just a civilian."
The silver-haired woman, Hani as the comments had called her, lowered her sword but her gaze stayed sharp. Her expression gave nothing away.
To Yuzen it felt like she was weighing every word he spoke.
"I was running away from those dogs when I found him. He was already hurt, so I tried to shield him. That's all."
"That doesn't make sense. How could you fight those things if you're not awakened?"
Yuzen's thoughts tangled inside his head. He forced another smile, trying to sound casual.
"I threw rocks at them before the big guy came and scared them away."
The woman's expression grew colder. Her stare was so intense it felt like she was trying to see right through him, and for a moment, he thought she would cut him down.
It sounds insane, I know. But what else am I supposed to say?!
Her silence made the air feel heavy, and he had to fight the urge to look away. He held the smile in place.
Behind him, Jaein stirred. A groan escaped his throat as he tried to push himself up.
The woman was at his side instantly, slipping one arm under his shoulders and lifting him carefully but he slapped her hand away. Jaein ignored the woman completely, pushing himself forward a few staggering steps. His gaze flicked back to Yuzen.
"Bring him to the Dome."
Hani's head jerked toward him.
"What?"
Jaein had already limped a few paces down the ruined street. He didn't look back.
"W-Wait! Where are you going?"
"None of your business."
He turned the corner without another word. The sound of his boots faded down the road. Yuzen blinked, uneasy. Hani stood still for a second, watching him disappear. Then she snapped back toward Yuzen.
Without warning, a small vial appeared in Hani's open palm and she flicked her wrist, sending it flying toward him.
Yuzen reached out clumsily with his left hand and caught the vial. He stared at the potion in his palm, the world narrowed to the vial in front of him.
He had seen this kind of potion used in the livestreams of others in AnWorld, always poured straight onto the wound.
Am I even a person of this world? Do their rules apply to me? What if I use this and it does nothing because I don't belong here, and then she kills me for being suspicious?
He caress the vial with his fingertip while the cut on his right arm pulsed with pain.
The pain proved something.
The wound was real.
But was anything else real?
Had he died and transmigrated, or was this a dream that felt like punishment because of his guilt?
If he had transmigrated, why could he still use his watch and read the comments?
If he hadn't died and had only been transported here, how would he ever get back?
Thoughts circled and made him dizzy. He stood frozen and stared at the potion without moving.
Hani snatched the vial back out of his hand, then grabbed his right arm with a hard grip. She uncorked the bottle in one motion and tipped the liquid straight onto the open cut. The potion hissed when it hit his skin and a thin smoke rose for a beat.
He sucked in a sharp breath as the skin knitted together from the outside in with sickening speed. The bleeding stopped and the hot stab of pain dulled enough that he could breathe without gasping, but the hollow feeling inside stayed the same.
"Let's go."
Yuzen nodded quickly.
"R-Right."
*****
The Dome stood before them, a twenty-story office tower of polished glass and steel. Its walls gleamed, and sunlight scattered across its flawless windows. The street around it was clear, with cars lined neatly along the curb.
Guards in uniform stood at the entrance. They watched the people who passed in and out of the building.
Yuzen slowed his steps, staring up at the tower. His brows pulled together in confusion.
This is the Dome? This looks like… just an office building. Where's the dome shape? Am I missing something here?
His thoughts must have shown on his face. Hani's eyes lingered on him for a second before she looked away just as quickly.
"It's called the Dome because a user inside shields this place every day with his skill. Dome."
He shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket.
"I-I see! Got it."
Hani took two more steps before stopping on her tracks. Her watch beeped soft and urgent against her wrist.
Her face changed in an instant, the calm hardening into something sharp.
"Go in. I have something else to do."
She didn't wait for Yuzen to answer.
The movement was so fast it was just a woosh of air, she had been there one moment and gone the next.
Yuzen blinked, his balance shifting for a second.
He felt like a kid left in a supermarket aisle after his parents walked out of sight.
For a long, stupid moment he just stood, his chest felt tight and his bones tired from the fight that had come before.
He turned his wrist and looked down at the little screen. The screen lit up, and a projection appeared in the air when he flicked it upward.
The livestream banner was still there.
[Channel: #WORLD7613 — Live — 7,012,432 watching]
The comments scrolled nonstop across the projection. The stream hadn't ended. He opened the call menu and tried to call someone back home.
The attempt failed. A single line of text flashed on the screen.
[No connection]
His chest tightened.
What do you mean no connection?! Didn't I just watch the livestream?!
He had just survived a group of monsters he never thought he would see outside of a screen. He had seen those things a thousand times on other channels. But seeing them with his own eyes was something else entirely.
He looked at the strange street and the unfamiliar people passing by, and a disoriented feeling washed over him. He was alone in a world that wasn't his.
Will I… get back if I die here? Or will I die for real?
Another buzz jolted his wrist. A new notification lit up in the air before him.
[Notification to Channel Owner: Your MC is in danger! Use Loens to change his fate. Remember, if your MC dies, your channel ends too!]
His head dropped back with a groan.
God, can't this guy stop dying for one second?!
A hot feeling spread through his stomach right after the thought.
He was the one who had twisted this world into chaos.
He was the one who had changed things that were never meant to change.
How dare he think like that?
Yuzen closed his eyes and pulled a long breath into his chest. He held it for a moment, then let it out slowly.
No matter what, his priority now was to survive. That meant making sure the MC survived too. The end of the MC's life was the end of the channel.
And if the channel ended while he was still trapped inside it, what would happen to him then?