Otherworld

In the hazy dark space, a faint glimmer slowly rippled.

A familiar aura surrounded him, gradually calming Arthur's mind.

In the darkness, an instinct was magnified, transmitting a sliver of information into Arthur's mind.

In an instant, Arthur understood where this was.

He looked up, gazing ahead.

There, a faint white light flickered, hanging high in the sky of the dark space like a white sun.

As if sensing Arthur's gaze, the white sun before him gently pulsed, sending ripples through the surrounding space, and through some mysterious connection, transmitted information onto Arthur's soul.

"This is... a world's coordinate?"

In an instant, Arthur understood what this was.

Arriving here, he now grasped the full reason for everything.

His soul seemed to be special, able in some inscrutable way to draw in information from the void, capture the coordinates of certain worlds, and use those coordinates to establish a connection, allowing him to travel to other worlds under the right conditions.

In his past two lives, the reason Arthur, as an ordinary person, had been able to cross worlds twice in succession was precisely because of this ability of his—it was what allowed him to reincarnate into other worlds both times.

This Transmigration Ability had actually always existed within his soul, but it was only recently that it had been fully activated, bringing him to this dark space.

Thinking this, Arthur fell into contemplation.

He recalled the timing of those strange dreams, and a sharp intuition let him perceive the pattern within.

"Is it because the Life Seed was activated?"

This thought flashed through his mind, and then he saw the white sun before him blaze with bright light.

The light was gentle yet sharp—the radiance of a world, carrying no real heat.

Feeling this light, Arthur instinctively reached out his hand toward the white sun.

A crisp shattering sound rang out in this space that only held souls, and then a massive door materialized before Arthur's eyes, slowly opening, and directly sucked him in.

Before Arthur could react, he felt a tremendous force pulling at him from the other side, leaving him utterly powerless to resist as he was drawn straight into that door.

Beyond the door, a world slowly unfolded before him.

···········

Consciousness gradually returned, and light once again appeared before his eyes.

Arthur's eyes snapped open, a piercing sharpness flashing within them as he swept his gaze around.

The scenery he saw immediately stunned him.

Before him stood an ancient, tall building, eight or nine stories high, but very dilapidated, as if abandoned for a long time and eroded by the passage of ages.

Plants grew on the tall building, climbing along the old walls, and dense green moss covered the gray stone.

This familiar yet unfamiliar scene made Arthur pause, almost making him think he had returned to that peaceful world of his past.

But the next sight made him dismiss that thought.

In the distance, the black soil trembled, and from beneath it, a massive monster three or four meters long crawled out of the ground.

The monster had eight long legs, each with a hooked claw that looked very sharp. Its overall body structure resembled that of certain insects, but its size was many times larger, making it appear far more terrifying.

With his keen eyesight, Arthur could see the insectoid beast's form very clearly.

Instinctively, he sidestepped behind a building, using the structure to conceal his body.

Under normal circumstances, insects often had poor eyesight, but Arthur was certain this insectoid beast was not within the normal range—it might very well be able to spot him.

Having just arrived at this place, he had no desire to start a pointless battle with these monsters.

Watching the insectoid beast gradually move away, Arthur suddenly remembered something and quickly thought to himself: "Chip, begin monitoring mode. Monitor my surroundings."

"Check template activated!" As soon as he gave the command, the mechanical voice sounded in his mind, sounding incredibly welcome to Arthur at that moment.

"Good thing the Chip is still here." Arthur breathed a sigh of relief.

He carefully assessed his physical condition and found it no different from before.

The power and Life Seed within his body were still there, and the Chip's detection showed nothing unusual either, clearly indicating he was not in an illusion.

"It seems this time I didn't cross over as just a soul, but brought my entire physical body along."

This thought crossed Arthur's mind as he fell into contemplation.

With that in mind, Arthur quietly placed his right hand on his chest.

As his will stirred, a peculiar sensation transmitted to him from within his soul.

"Seven more days before I can go back?"

Instinctively, Arthur understood that feeling and muttered to himself.

Crossing over was not something done out of thin air. Even with this talent-like Transmigration Ability, using it required the expenditure of energy.

After this crossing, most of the power he had accumulated was consumed. To go back, he would have to wait for some time.

Thinking this, Arthur shook his head and looked ahead.

The world before him was somewhat similar to his first life, though the level of technology seemed far behind, and the situation didn't look good either.

He stood beside a tall building, with a street behind him that resembled something from a modern city.

After thinking for a moment, Arthur walked toward the city ahead.

He had come to this world alone, carrying only a sword and some gold coins, with no food or water—getting through seven days would be no easy task.

Compared to the wilderness, finding food in a city was generally easier.

Moreover, Arthur wanted to find some records in the city to understand the situation of this world.

The distant city wasn't far from Arthur; at his pace, he reached its interior in just a few minutes.

But once inside, a strange atmosphere made Arthur frown.

"Too quiet."

This thought crossed his mind as he looked at the long street before him.

The street appeared somewhat ancient. Though there were modern buildings, many wooden structures were scattered around, arranged haphazardly.

The technological level of this world didn't seem very high.

As Arthur passed a building, he spotted a photograph on the ground.

It was a black-and-white photo, crude in appearance, showing a couple and a little girl around four or five years old, smiling happily.

Beside the photo lay three mummified corpses, dead for who knows how long—two women and one man, two adults and one child.

One arm of the male corpse stretched out, pressing tightly against the photo; after so much time, it had fused with the picture.