Return to Earth

Three days passed quickly, and the [Z-Drive] finally finished charging. We bid farewell to Gu Yang and embarked on another time-space journey, soon landing amidst birdsong and fragrant flowers. ★💔 ♙☮

The scenery here is similar to that of Wind Travel Island, and the surrounding atmosphere is still spiritual, but much richer.

Are we still on Earth? And in a much more ancient era?

I suddenly felt a little panicked. If I couldn't even reach the timeline I wanted to travel to within one world before, wouldn't traveling between two worlds be even more impossible?

Just as I was at a loss, a scholar-like man slowly approached from not far ahead, and I quickly went to meet him:

"Hey buddy, wait a minute. I'd like to ask you something, is that alright?"

"Please speak, I will answer to the best of my knowledge." The scholar didn't seem surprised by our appearance, which made me rather curious.

My companion and I are lost. Where are we? How do we get to the nearest town?

"This is Bizhou. This mountain is called Cangbing Mountain. The town is quite far away. You can go to Huaiyou Village nearby and ask the villagers there for directions to the town..."

After the scholar finished speaking, he pointed to the location of Huaiyou Village, but my mind wasn't on it, because I had never heard of any of the places he mentioned.

"Um... could you please elaborate? Where does Bizhou belong?"

The scholar was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Judging from your appearance, you must be from Hedi. No wonder you know nothing. Bizhou is one of the eight prefectures of Kundi, surrounded by mountains and with poor transportation, hence the name Bizhou."

"Oh, I see. Thank you!"

"You're welcome. It's our duty as disciples of the Shumen to be kind to others."

After the scholar finished speaking, he continued walking slowly, as if admiring the beautiful scenery, but my smile froze on my face.

Seeing this, Ekko asked me, "Is this still the world you used to live in?"

"No, I don't know anything about the places that scholar mentioned, like Hedi, Kundi, Bizhou, and Cangbing Mountain."

So we've arrived in the third world?

"Although I hate to say it, it's true. We've arrived in Runeterra, a world beyond Earth..."

"Let's teleport again in a few days. For now, let's go check out the village that person mentioned. Judging from his tone, the people there shouldn't be dangerous."

"It seems this is the only way."

Ekko wasn't flustered; he'd probably traversed this route many times before and was used to it.

We stumbled and struggled quite a bit before finally finding Huaiyou Village. The people there weren't as knowledgeable as the scholars; they all gathered around when they saw unfamiliar faces.

However, they meant no harm. When they learned that we were from Hedi, they dispersed. Some of them even offered to take us in for a few days after hearing that we were lost.

I was happy to accept their offer, as I was just looking for a place to eat and stay anyway. Since someone was willing to take me in, I decided not to go to town.

The family we stayed with was one of the wealthier families in the area. The head of the household was named Lu Changsheng, and I learned a lot about the world from him.

This place is called the Wuji Continent, and in clockwise order, it consists of Kundi, Zhendi, Lidi, Zedi, Gandi, Yundi, Hedi, Liangdi, each with its own unique customs and traditions.

The eight regions have been divided and united since ancient times, frequently waging war against each other, sometimes even resulting in multi-regional conflicts. However, the Hedi and the Kundi have never had any friction, so we received relatively good hospitality here.

In this era, Kundi is at war with its eastern neighbor Zhendi, Bizhou is affected, with bandits rising up everywhere, making life difficult for the people.

Honestly, I really wanted to help them get rid of the thieves in the area, but as a time traveler, it's best to refrain from interfering in other worlds' affairs.

We stayed at the Lu family's house for eight days before the [Z-Drive] was fully charged. When we left, Lu Changsheng's grandson, Lu Ming, cried a lot because Ekko had made him very happy these past few days.

I plucked a button from my clothes and gave it to the little one. It was inlaid with a tiny, Primal Crystal, about the size of a grain of rice, and it was very beautiful.

Finally, after his grandfather's persuasion, Lu Ming stopped crying and waved goodbye to us...

After getting out of sight of people, Ekko and I entered the time tunnel to head to our next location.

We completed the crossing in a very short time the previous times, but this time we haven't been able to land yet!

This was the first time Ekko had encountered such a situation, and he seemed a little flustered. Soon after, the [Z-Drive] suddenly cracked and broke down!

"Oh no! The [Z-Drive] is probably overloaded from being used too frequently!"

"What can we do? Can you fix it?"

Before Ekko could respond, we were suddenly separated by a force, followed by a dazzling white light, and the teleportation ended.

I opened my eyes. It was noisy all around, and the dizziness hadn't subsided. For a moment, I couldn't make out what people were shouting.

Soon I slowly regained consciousness, and the shouts around me gradually became clearer: Egypt is awesome!

Egypt is amazing? Isn't Egypt a North African country? Has some unknown civilization been discovered there again?

While I was still in a daze, someone suddenly punched me in the face.

"How can you be so calm, Zhao Xin? LPL won the championship! IG is awesome!"

Looking at Little C dancing around me, I suddenly realized I was back!

Back to Earth! Back to the familiar internet cafe!

Scenes from the past flashed through my mind. I was certain it wasn't a dream; dreams aren't that real, nor are they that long.

But... I am indeed no longer Ezreal. All traces of the past have vanished, forcing me to question the reality of those experiences...

I don't remember how the day ended. Anyway, after returning to the dorm with Xiao C, I was still thinking about these things, and then I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the sky, and Little C looked at me with a worried expression:

"What's wrong, Zhao Xin? You've been acting strangely lately, like you've lost your mind. Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, I was just too tired yesterday for some reason, but I'm fine now."

"Haha, that's great! IG won the championship yesterday, so they get to play at the internet cafe for three days straight. Let's hurry up, or we won't be able to get a seat!"

"Walk!"

We rushed to the internet cafe, and that's when we realized that IG had won the S8 championship!

I clearly remember that I was transported to Runeterra in Season 7, but now it's Season 8, a year later!

That's right, I wasn't dreaming. A year of my time simply vanished into thin air!

"Little C, I have a question for you."

"What is it, Zhao Xin? Just say what you need. Are you short of money?"

"No, I... has anything strange happened in the past year?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? We just play LOL every day, what could be so strange? If I had to say... your skills have improved pretty quickly, haha."

"No, I don't mean that. I mean, have I been anywhere?"

"What exactly are you trying to say? Aside from spending a few days at home for Chinese New Year, you spend the rest of your time in internet cafes, don't you?"

"Oh, it's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Damn it, are you possessed by something? I'll get someone to take a look at you."

"You're the one who's possessed! Hurry up and get your items ready, let's begin!"

Life returned to its previous state, as if nothing had happened, leaving me alone with a sense of loss.

More than a month passed without me realizing it. One evening, while Little C was browsing the forum, she suddenly called me:

"Hey Zhao Xin, look at this Riven cosplay! It's a perfect recreation of her!"

"You just like watching these kinds of things. Why don't you use your free time to look at some guides and improve your skills? Stop ruining my game!"

"Really, look!"

Where?

I took C's phone and looked at it. I found that it wasn't a specially taken photo, but a street shot. The Riven in the photo looked exactly like the one I saw in Runeterra!

This isn't cosplay, it's her!

"Hey Little C, send me the forum address!"

What are you doing?!

"Hurry! I need to know where the photos were taken!"

"Are you crazy? What's with all the excitement? You were distracted when I called you just now, what's wrong with you now?"

"This isn't cosplay, this is Riven, trust me, Little C!"

"Okay, okay, I believe you. This is the first time I've seen you interested in women, and I fully support you!"

It was clear that Little C didn't believe me, but of course, that's not his fault; nobody would believe that.

But it's okay, I'll prove him wrong!