The gorge

As soon as Nick landed, he discarded his parachute to keep the wind from dragging him into the lake, then opened the sealed waterproof bag.

There were only two things inside: a government-issue Marathon general-purpose mechanical military watch commonly found among US military gear, and a specially made topographic map without any markings.

Comparing the surrounding terrain with the map, Nick located the small lake where he had landed, then found his destination. After calculating the distance using the scale, he breathed a great sigh of relief. He had not drifted far off course; he only had to travel another forty-two kilometers north.

So far, he still had no idea what the organization that had hired him-or rather, the badass sniper Rivi-actually wanted to do, but for now, he had ruled out assassinating a target.

That was because the primary weapon they had prepared for him in the equipment bag was merely an M4A1 carbine fitted with a four-power scope.

Besides, he did not think killing a particular target could determine whether a world was destroyed. After all, even the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Franz Ferdinand had only triggered a world war.

Of course, it would be another matter if this world suddenly changed genres and someone like Thanos appeared.

It had been just after noon when Nick landed. He traveled nearly twenty-five kilometers, then found himself a cave to spend the night before darkness fell completely.

Although he was surrounded by mountains, judging by the air pressure, the elevation was not particularly high, probably below three thousand meters.

It was only September 12, yet the vegetation in the mountain forest was already beginning to yellow. The trees were mainly cold-resistant conifers such as spruce, so he estimated that he was somewhere between forty and fifty degrees north latitude.

Nick was reasonably lucky. He encountered neither rain nor snow, and no predators such as bears, wolves, tigers, or leopards disturbed him while he spent the night in the cave.

At first light the next morning, he packed up his sleeping bag, ate an energy bar, and set out again, because judging by the contour lines on the map, the latter half of the journey would clearly be rather difficult.

Nick's assessment was accurate. The last ten kilometers consisted almost entirely of climbing mountains, and some places even required him to scale cliffs without climbing equipment. Even an old Marine with iron feet like him found the going somewhat strenuous.

After crossing the final ridgeline, Nick found a gorge shrouded in thick fog before him.

The gorge stretched from south to north, between four and five hundred meters wide and no more than ten kilometers long in total. Mountain peaks blocked both ends, yet, strangely enough, no barrier lake had formed. He did not know whether there was an underground river below.

When he saw the tower-like bunkers standing on either side of the gorge, each forty or fifty meters tall, Nick realized that he had probably reached his destination.

Recalling that the old woman had said the secret mission would last a year, he could not help wondering, Could this so-called secret mission just mean staying in this godforsaken place for a year?

For some reason, Nick thought of the "fire lookout" jobs he had seen online in his previous life, supposedly the ideal occupation for people with social anxiety: an annual salary of two hundred thousand, spending ten months each year in an isolated watchtower, that sort of thing. This seemed rather similar.

But whatever he would be doing was clearly not working as a "fire lookout." Just as he was staring blankly at the gorge, a loud voice, slightly excited, rang out from a nearby slope.

"Welcome, my prince! You're quite remarkable, arriving a full two hours early."

The excessively effusive greeting gave Nick goosebumps. Turning around, he saw a curly-haired Black man walking down the slope with his arms spread in welcome.

The man introduced himself in quite authentic British English. "I'm Jasper D. Drake, Royal Marines. You can just call me JD."

JD, like the shopping site, huh? Nick had no intention of hugging him. Instead, he extended his right hand and gave his identity in this world. "Levi Kane, former scout sniper, United States Marine Corps."

JD took Nick's right hand and shook it vigorously, then raised an eyebrow, evidently noticing Nick's use of the past tense. "So, now you're...?"

"A mercenary working for a private military contractor," Nick said frankly.

"So, do you know what they sent you here to do?" Still smiling brightly, JD took the lead.

"Not a clue. They gave me a map without any markings, and I was forced to sleep through the entire flight. I don't even know what country this is."

Nick followed him, and the two walked toward the concrete watchtower.

JD laughed heartily, seeming a little too exuberant. "I've been here an entire year, and I don't know either. But don't let little things like that bother you. Dwell on those questions, and you won't sleep at night.

"But in any case, God knows how happy I am to see you."

This guy doesn't look like a born chatterbox, Nick thought. He's probably just pent up after a year without seeing another living soul.

Sure enough, JD continued, "You're the first living person I've been able to talk to face-to-face in this entire year."

Nick glanced at the identical watchtower across the gorge and asked casually, "So you're the only person here?"

JD gave an affirmative "Mm-hmm." "That's right, and next it'll be your turn, because my assignment officially ends at midnight tonight. Why don't we head up for a drink first? I'll explain everything in detail."

As they spoke, they had already reached the foot of the towering watchtower. JD's expression shifted from joy and excitement to a kind of wistfulness. "This will be your home for the next year: the West Watchtower.

"It runs on solar power and has a backup diesel generator and a rainwater collection system. There's plenty of wildlife around, and a vegetable patch beside it. You could say it has everything, enough for you to be self-sufficient on your own."

Nick looked up at the top of the tower. Although the structure tapered upward from a broad base, the bunker at the top was still quite large, probably a hundred square meters or so.

He glanced again at the watchtower of the same design on the opposite side and asked, "You said you were the only person here, so what's the story over there?"

JD followed his gaze, his tone turning somewhat strange. "That's the East Watchtower. According to the rules, we're strictly forbidden from making any kind of contact with that side.

"But as you can see, suspended mines and fully automated close-in weapon systems are deployed along the entire gorge, from north to south. So that rule is pretty much redundant, because no one can get across. At this distance, you couldn't even shout to each other."

By then, the two had entered the watchtower. Before them stood a rust-covered old elevator, barely big enough to squeeze two people inside.

JD pulled open the oiled iron gate and gestured for Nick to enter. "This old thing might be older than the two of us put together, but it's absolutely reliable. I inspect and service it every three months."