Jatin slowly opened his eyes, blinking against the harsh sunlight. The first thing he saw was a blonde-haired, cute elf with vibrant ruby-red eyes looking at him with curiosity.
The air smelled faintly of ripe fruit and dew-damp wood. Most of the fruits looked familiar—apples, oranges, maybe even melons—though a few had unusual colors or shapes that hinted this wasn't quite our world.
"What…?" he muttered, still groggy.
Rudransh, who had been carrying him, gently lowered him to the ground.
"Finally awake," Rudransh said with a grin. "You've been out for a while."
Jatin rubbed his head. "What happened? What's going on?"
"You don't remember?" Ayush asked.
Jatin shook his head.
Ayush looked at the others, then turned back to him. "You kinda... lost control. Went berserk. You don't remember anything?"
Jatin looked shocked. "No, nothing."
Ayush took a breath and started explaining everything that had happened—how Jatin had transformed, fought the monster, destroyed the ground beneath them, and collapsed after the fight. As he spoke, Jatin's eyes widened in disbelief.
Once Ayush finished, Rizu looked around and said, "Are we teleported back to the ancient period or something?"
"But this wasn't in our history at all," he added.
"Guys..." he suddenly said, patting his pockets. "I don't have my phone. It's gone."
Everyone froze.
Ayush checked himself. "Wait, what—mine's missing too."
Jatin searched his pockets quickly. "You're kidding me?"
Rudransh cursed under his breath. "Great. We can't contact anyone now."
Rizu shrugged. "Do you really think we'd even get signal if we had them?"
Ayush looked around. "What in the hell is this place even? Why are we here?"
Rudransh's voice dropped, uneasy. "Don't tell me... we're stuck here forever."
Shon folded his arms. "It's clear that it's a different world. The setting is like our ancient world, but there are a lot of things that are different here."
The elf girl watched us with growing confusion.
"What are you all talking about?" she asked.
She stepped forward with a warm smile. "My name is Riri. And hey, can you all form an alliance with me? I was looking for some people who are strong enough and are worthy to take part in the Glutz."
"Glutz?" Shon asked. "What's that?"
"You don't know?" Riri's eyes widened. "Everyone knows that the one team who will win this competition will be allowed to go to the Forest of Darkness to fight with the Black Serpent."
Ritvik's body shivered for a moment just hearing the word serpent.
Ayush scratched his head. "Now I'm getting more confused. Now who's this Black Serpent?"
Riri looked surprised, then said, "It's the brother of Sylvie."
Rizu frowned. "It's getting even more complicated. Now who's this Sylvie?"
Riri's face turned serious.
"Sylvie is the goddess worshipped by the people of Northern Pangea," she explained. "It is believed that she was among the few who were present when this world was created. She played a major role in shaping it."
She looked up at the sky.
"She was loved by her parents more than anyone. But this created jealousy in her brother, Scar. He hated that their parents gave more love to his big sister. He felt unloved... and unnoticed."
Riri's voice dropped a little.
"One day, he left his family and created a place for himself. It's called Hell. He became the ruler of that place and loathed his sister and family for eternity."
We exchanged glances, unsure if we were dreaming or if this was really happening.
"Sylvie was made the ruler of Heaven, where all pure souls go after death. But all evil and bad souls—those with anger, guilt, or regrets—started going to Hell. Those souls began to channel Scar's hatred even more."
Her voice grew darker.
"After several years, Scar manifested his avatar into this planet and started living in the Forest of Darkness, which lies in Southern Pangea. All people of the south now worship him."
"Whoever visited that forest never came back."
Riri paused for a second, her tone shifting again.
"Then some rumors started. They said that if they don't worship Scar, their souls would be trapped in Hell forever. Out of fear, people began worshipping him. And not just that... anyone from Northern Pangea is strictly prohibited from entering the southern region."
"Because we worship Sylvie."
She looked straight at us.
"The people there believe that if someone from the north enters the southern region, it will make Scar angrier. They fear that his avatar will emerge from the Forest of Darkness and start destruction everywhere."
She crossed her arms.
"Whichever team wins this competition—the Glutz—will be secretly allowed to enter the southern region in disguise, with the help of our kingdom's rulers."
"The main goal is to kill that avatar... and show his body to the people of the south, to prove he's mortal. That way, we can improve our relationship with them."
Riri smirked slightly. "And not just that. One member of the team will be allowed to marry the king's daughter. She'll choose one from the team who accomplishes this mission."
Jatin blinked. "Okay... now that was a really long story—but it's interesting."
Rizu raised an eyebrow. "Everything was great—except that marriage part."
Shon looked around. "Is there any way to earn fast here? We don't even know how we entered this place, and we've got no place to live."
Riri narrowed her eyes. "You're not from the southern region?"
We shook our heads.
"I thought you were," she said. "But then again, most of Southern Pangea's people are scared of us. So why would they even come here?"
She added, "You can earn money by doing hunter jobs."
Rizu leaned forward, intrigued. "That looks interesting."
"You have to register yourself as a bounty hunter in the Hunter's Registration Section," Riri explained. "Then you can get money depending on the type of monster you hunt. You'll also need to bring back proof that shows you killed it—like a horn, eye, or any body part."
"I can help you with the registration," she offered. "And I can also provide you a place to live. But... you have to form an alliance with me for the competition."
Jatin frowned. "I don't think it's a good idea. We don't know if luck will be on our side again in that competition. It's really dangerous."
Rudransh looked at him seriously. "But we don't have a choice."
"Yeah," Shon said. "We need a place to live, and money to survive in this weird world."
My thoughts were spinning.
What the hell am I stuck in?
A fantasy world... gods... serpents...
Even if we win this impossible competition, we'll have to fight a serpent?
My spine shivered again at the very idea.
I want to go home.
I don't want this.