On the Goblin Continent, the border patrols were the first to notice the change.
In a border watchtower, two goblins on duty were sitting at the top, chatting and joking around, when the ground suddenly shook. Startled, they hurriedly scanned their surroundings.
"Was that... an earthquake?" One goblin stood up, bracing himself against the wall.
"No." The other ran to the window and looked out. "Look east!"
On the eastern horizon, what had been a gray-green expanse of void had now been replaced by a gray-brown continent.
The edge of the continent still undulated slightly, like mud that had just been patted flat.
Several enormous savage beasts stood at the continent's edge, craning their heads to look toward the Goblin Continent.
"The worlds have merged!" one of the goblins on duty shouted, grabbing the communicator.
"Headquarters, headquarters, a new continent has appeared on the eastern border! Repeat, a new continent has appeared on the eastern border!"
A reply came through the communicator. "Received and confirmed. The Supreme God has merged a new world with ours. All border forces are to go on alert and prevent giant beasts from the other world from crossing the border."
The two goblins in the watchtower exchanged a glance and grinned.
"A new continent," one said. "Such a huge stretch of land connected to our Goblin Continent. Looks like it'll all be ours someday."
"Keep dreaming," the other said. "It belongs to the Supreme God. We're just helping the Supreme God develop it."
"Hey, it's better than nothing. Our Goblin World used to be tiny. Now we've got another continent, and our descendants will have somewhere to live."
"I reckon His Majesty will start pushing hard for policies encouraging births. After all, the more of our people there are, the more faith we can generate