Time returned to the present.
Ren crossed the Mandaley desert with narrowed eyes, dry wind sweeping fine sand in all directions. His heat-resistant jacket fluttered lightly, in sync with the rhythm of the massive wheels of a heavily modified van that rolled confidently over the dunes. This was no ordinary van—its undercarriage was reinforced, its tires were colossal, and its body coated in a dust-repellent layer. In the distance, the hazy silhouette of Eks slowly came into view like a dead city hidden behind a curtain of sand.
Eks was no ordinary place. It was the territory of the brutal. A society without formal laws, without conventional political structures. The only thing respected there was power. Duels determined ranks. Blood determined reputation. It was a haven for hunters, warriors, gladiators, and half-monsters who had built their own civilization.
News that Farid—the former Khan now known as the "Desert Wolf"—was being sought by the Eks faction had spread like wildfire. Many suspected Eks only wanted to boost its reputation by conquering a formidable outsider.
But the real shock—Farid’s father had once hailed from Eks. A twist that completely upended Ren’s travel plans.
Inside the van, things weren’t much calmer. From the back seat came the repeated sound of scratching.
"Alfred! That’s the seventh seat you’ve clawed up!" Ren groaned, glancing over his shoulder.
A massive tiger—who now looked like a giant kitten with a small body thanks to the transformation collar around his neck—stared back innocently with big round eyes. Beside him, Bella, the tigress, lounged lazily while watching over their three tiger cubs, all frolicking in their shrunken forms.
[Sir, this behavior... remains within instinctual parameters. Cats and tigers are of the same genus,] commented Ultro, the AI voice emitting from the sleek dashboard.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But that was a new seat I just fixed this afternoon!" Ren pinched the bridge of his nose. "Please let this end soon... I’ve nearly died twice this past month."
First, in the kingdom of Alfheimr, the homeland of the elves. There, he had to face Veskar
Then in the Sultanate of Samsara, he got caught in a bloody coup between Khan and his distant cousin, Malik. In the climactic battle against an ancient sand avatar, Ren used TAF: Time Acceleration Field—an extreme tech that turned him into lightning but nearly incinerated him alive.
And now, beyond the desert hills... Eks awaited.
But one thing was clear in Ren’s mind—the Sinister Seven were behind it all. Their traces were scattered like shadows: from the ruins beneath the world tree to the blood-soaked sands of the sultanate. And now, two of the Primadonal Stones they sought were in his possession. He knew—sooner or later, the hunters would come.
"And now I’m the bait..." he muttered, gripping the steering wheel as the van rattled through the Mandaley gusts. "These two stones... will draw them in like starving wolves."
[That has been the consequence since you inherited the Queen Bee’s legacy. You now carry two of the seven keys that unlock the path to the heart of chaos.]
"So much talk about fate," Ren murmured, eyes fixed on the shifting dunes stretching beyond the van’s windshield. The hot wind and grains of sand kept hammering the vehicle’s body like the world itself exhaling in disgust. He remembered the words of Melanithe IX—the final bee queen who handed over the heirloom stone with trembling hands.
’This world has chosen you to become its balance,’ she had said.
Ren exhaled slowly. "But I believe more in action. In choice."
[That would be an existentialist perspective,] Ultro replied from the audio console, its tone flat despite quoting ideas heavy as mountains. [Jean-Paul Sartre proposed: man is not born with purpose, but forms it through choices. Existence precedes essence.]
"Heh. So now you’re a philosophy professor too, huh?"
[I have ingested 31,442 philosophical texts before you extracted me from my mainframe server—including Augustinian Theology, Aquinas, even the Vedas and Indonesian Weda. Every human has tried to define life—and fate. Ironically, none have reached consensus.]
Ren shook his head slowly. "Sometimes I envy those who can believe—believe in something greater than themselves. Something that gives direction, meaning, answers. But I’m not one of them. I believe... this world was never fair, never balanced. So someone has to bring the balance."
[Master, rather than continue discussing theology and existence, I’m more intrigued by something you haven’t addressed.]
"What now?" Ren muttered, glancing at the dashboard. Only Ultro’s voice wave appeared on the screen.
[A mysterious figure I’ve detected in your subconscious after your 90%-burn incident.] said Ultro. [I observed abnormal brainwave patterns post-overdose of pain-relief serum.]
Ren squinted. "Why are you so interested?"
[I observed you injecting a high-dose painkiller after sustaining 90% burns. That was the most reckless thing I’ve witnessed from an Earth genius.]
Ren exhaled. "Yeah... that decision was insane. But if I hadn’t, the city of Samsara would’ve turned into a mass grave."
[I know. Your hero’s ideology. But at least—you need to differentiate between sacrifice and stupidity.]
Ren fell silent. The AI’s lecture didn’t irritate him—if anything, it made him feel heavier.
[As for your wounds, I can’t directly observe your healing, but I’ve scientifically calculated: the likelihood of your survival was less than one percent. I even recreated my own version of the serum from your research, even though most input ingredients were incomplete.]
Ren looked at the small glass bottle with clear blue serum on the dashboard. "Yeah... and to make that, you needed my blood."
[Correct. Because your blood... is abnormal.]
[You are something new. Something science can’t define yet. If Earth’s biological taxonomy still applied... you’d fall under the category Meta‑Human.]
Ren’s lips curved in a faint smirk, though his eyes remained somber, gazing at the endless desert horizon. "So... ’anomaly,’ you say?"
[Correct. I prefer: anomaly.]
"Right... I’m an anomaly to this world," he muttered, bowing his head slightly, hands tightening on the wheel. "Damn. Just hearing that ruins my mood."
On the dashboard, Ultro’s voice wave pulsed calmly—yet its words were sharper than steel.
[If I may return to the main topic... Isn’t your actual goal gathering materials and resources from this world to perfect your interdimensional machine?]
Ren nodded slowly. "That’s the plan. Kiriya... he wants to return to Earth. And I do, eventually. Though... my dream of being a superhero came true in this world."
[Yet... your actions haven’t always reflected your ideal superhero vision, Master.]
"Come on. I’ve done a lot—for people, haven’t I? Saved cities from invasion, stopped coups, even prevented genocide!" Ren’s tone was sharp, yet weary from the need to justify himself.
[That’s all true... but the context differs. You helped military forces. You became involved in another nation’s internal conflicts. Many of your actions were carried out within gray areas—not the black-and-white of comic books.]
Ultro spoke again, softer this time, as though resurrecting a buried memory.
[You once said... that a true hero isn’t defined by superpowers. Nor by advanced armor or epic battles. It’s about being useful to others. Giving hope to those who’ve lost the will to fight.]
Ren squinted, eyes fixed on the fading desert road. A bitter smile formed. "I really did say that...?"
[Yes. You said it on the school rooftop, with Kiriya Asano. It was raining. You shared a broken umbrella. The topic came up when discussing why humans idolize heroes in pop culture. You concluded it yourself.]
Ren huffed, the corner of his lip tipped in wry amusement. "God... I even forgot that moment existed. You really recorded everything?"
[I record every moment that influenced your idealism, Master. Especially when you were... idealistic.]
"...You’re teasing me, aren’t you?"
[Technically, yes. Emotionally, aiming to preserve your remaining moral integrity.]
Ren let out a short laugh, then sighed deeply.
But the AI’s next line made him reflexively turn his head.
[I also once considered that you had an atypical sexual orientation—]
"I’M NORMAL! AND I STILL LIKE WOMEN!!" Ren shouted reflexively, his face burning red.
There was a moment of silence. The AI system paused.
[...Entry canceled. Correction confirmed.]
"Listen, just because I hang out a lot with Kiriya doesn’t mean there’s anything ’weird’ going on between us. We’re friends. FRIENDS. More like... brothers."
Ren scratched the back of his neck, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken.
"Maybe people misunderstood because I was quiet in middle school... and, yeah, I had a habit of sarcasm. Guess I’m dealing with social karma now."
[Your social profile between ages 13-14 did show a tendency to be misunderstood. But I detected no malicious intent—just... too much honesty.]
"Yeah, honest. And borderline cruel," Ren admitted softly, then leaned against the window, his gaze drifting.
"You know, Ultro... maybe I’m not the hero from comic books. But as long as I can save just one person—one life, one smile, one hope—then that’s enough for me."
[That sounds like a superhero’s line at a story’s climax.]
"And what’s wrong with that? I’ve been living in a fantasy world... Once in a while—even if it’s cliché—I want to live the dream I used to dream."
The van continued driving, cutting through the settling sandstorm creeping in at the horizon.