A Brand-New World

For his first journey across planes, Taylor was extremely cautious. He wrapped up matters with the few acquaintances he had left and told them he would not be showing himself for quite some time, as he needed to conduct experiments and study. He also accepted the task of feeding the Stitched Beast, improving the diet of the three-headed lion he was familiar with.

He also exchanged all his remaining points for some supplementary potions. Some treated external wounds, some replenished mental power, and some healed mental injuries. In any case, he spent every last point this time.

Only after feeding all the laboratory rats to the Six-Eyed Owl did Taylor turn around, seal off his laboratory, and begin his first planar journey.

After activating his ability, a mass of dark-blue energy appeared out of thin air before Taylor. The energy slowly spun and expanded, eventually turning into a dark-blue mirror.

Taylor instinctively knew that the mirror would only last for one minute. He checked his canvas bag, potion bag, and countless other items one last time. Once everything was in order, he stepped through it.

After Taylor vanished, the dark-blue mirror in the laboratory slowly dispersed as well. Everything seemed as though it had never happened, leaving the room quiet and lonely.

What kind of world was this? It was filled with beauty, "eternity," loneliness, and sorrow.

This had once been a prosperous plane. Although no exceptionally powerful individuals existed here, its productivity was advanced. The people of this world had long connected magical elements with production. Using their own wisdom, they created one production machine after another powered by magical elements, advancing civilization and improving productivity.

Perhaps due to the plane's inherent limitations, even those living here who had mastered magical elements to an extremely high level found it difficult to become warriors capable of facing a hundred enemies alone. Their mental power seemed unable to control magic power, and casting spells required certain necessary tools.

Setting aside such limitations and flaws, the humans of this plane lived happy, wonderful lives. No other races competed with them for resources, and through their own gradual development, they steadily increased the overall strength of the plane. Perhaps a thousand years from now, this plane would advance further and become a world of a higher order.

But one day, this world underwent a horrifying change. Everyone gradually turned into walking corpses and lost all sense of self.

Their bodies began to rot, becoming like zombies. They likewise lost themselves and their memories, forever wandering the land like walking corpses, not knowing where they were going, what they needed, or where they belonged.

Taylor had arrived in just such a world.

After crossing through the dark-blue mirror and arriving in this plane, the first thing Taylor saw was a lush forest, a stream, and blue skies and white clouds in the distance.

Several fish chased one another through the stream, their beautiful scales reflecting the sunlight. It gave Taylor the feeling that this world possessed a poetic charm, something he had not seen in a long time.

Sunlight filtered through layers upon layers of leaves, casting beautiful patches of light. As Taylor walked through the forest, listening to birdsong and the roars of some animal not far away, he felt that everything was utterly natural.

The only thing that felt somewhat different was that the magical elements of this plane seemed unusually active. The Spider's Eye hanging from his chest kept darting about wildly, while the Flame Medal tucked into his inner pocket gave off a faint warmth.

Taylor looked up at the sky. For someone traveling to another world for the first time, determining direction seemed rather difficult. He followed the river upstream.

"Snort, snort, snort~~~~"

He had not walked far when he spotted a group of wild boars drinking water. They had seven or eight tusks each, tangled together in a chaotic, complicated mess. Unlike ordinary wild boars, whose bristles were brown, theirs were white. Their eyes were bright and lively, and one look was enough to tell that they were magical beasts with magic cores inside them.

There were four or five large boars in the group, with two smaller ones squeezed between them. Through observation, Taylor discovered that these boars were not particularly powerful, roughly as strong as a One-Eyed Spider.

Taylor was not surprised by the appearance of magical beasts. The magical elements in this world were simply too active. It would have been strange if magical beasts were scarce. He just did not know whether humans still existed in this world.

The boars drinking at the river also noticed Taylor in the distance. The leading boar's eyes actually held a trace of avoidance and panic. It stepped forward, shielding all the other boars as it slowly retreated.

Taylor noticed the emotion in the large boar's eyes. It seemed the creature had seen humans like him before, or perhaps beings similar to humans.

He did not attack. Instead, he watched as the boars slowly left the area.

Continuing onward, feeling the breeze brush against his face and listening to the cheerful song of the flowing water, Taylor found himself in an excellent mood.

Along the way, Taylor saw some native beasts and other magical beasts. A two-headed vulture even swooped down from the sky, intending to seize him and eat him. Not wanting to ruin his excitement and exhilaration at arriving in a new world, Taylor casually tossed out a spiderweb, wrapped up the two-headed vulture, and dragged it along the ground, intending to deal with it later.

His good mood lasted until he reached the upper reaches of the river and discovered a small wooden cabin. Then it came to an abrupt end.

What was that?

A human?

When Taylor reached the upper reaches of the river, he saw a small wooden cabin and a "person" beside it, dressed in a plaid shirt and jeans.

The other party's clothes were already tattered, even showing signs of decay. Its flesh had completely rotted away, with insects crawling through it. It had brown hair and a brown beard, while its eyes, nose, mouth, and ears had decayed to varying degrees. Its nose was even reduced to nothing more than a protrusion on its face.

It looked vaguely humanoid, yet was extraordinarily strange. It wandered aimlessly around the wooden cabin, while no beasts or magical beasts appeared nearby.

That was highly abnormal.

Taylor thought this because, based on what he had encountered along the way, some magical beasts were gentle, some feared him, and some had even tried to eat him.

In Taylor's perception, this thing was weaker than even an ordinary person. Yet this humanoid creature kept wandering around here, at the river's upper reaches. There were surely many beasts and magical beasts nearby, but it remained completely unharmed.

Judging from how decayed and tattered its clothes were, it had been in this state for quite some time. Taylor absolutely did not believe that the nearby beasts and magical beasts were unaware of a creature like this.

There were only two possibilities. Either its flesh was unpalatable or it was poisonous, making beasts and magical beasts unwilling to approach it, or its luck was truly incredible, and no creature had noticed it despite its presence in these upper reaches teeming with beasts and magical beasts.

Taylor thought it was probably not the second possibility.