"An angel originating from Earth!"
Lyxander couldn't stop himself from being shocked.
After all, Earth was his home planet. He had never imagined that a clue leading him back would appear so suddenly.
*Ting!...*
From within the abyss, an elevator rose up, stopping right in front of Simon and Lyxander. As the metal cabin halted, the safety rail surrounding it slowly opened.
Lyxander turned around, looking at Simon with a confused expression.
Simon merely gave a small smile.
"Get in. I hope we'll meet again."
Those words made Lyxander realize something.
A chill crept up the back of his neck. Yet compared to fear, his longing to return home burned far stronger.
Before Lyxander stepped inside, Simon pulled out a bag of potato chips from inside his coat and handed it to him.
Lyxander accepted it without a word and entered the elevator.
Just before the doors closed, Lyxander and Simon's gazes met. Though they had known each other for less than a day, it felt like a sorrowful farewell.
"If I don't come back," Lyxander shouted before the doors fully shut, "please convey my apology to my parents."
In Lyxander's memories, before he died after being hit by a truck, there was one regret he never managed to voice—an apology to his parents for always being a burden.
Now, he spoke it on behalf of the original Lyxander.
Simon, hearing this, could only smile and raise his hand in agreement.
The elevator doors closed tightly.
The cabin began to descend. But soon, its direction shifted—right, then left, even upward at times. Lyxander's body swayed violently, his fear slowly transforming into nausea.
Several minutes later, the elevator stopped.
*Ting!...*
The doors slowly opened, revealing a long corridor illuminated by dim white lights.
Stepping out, Lyxander left the elevator behind.
Under the faint glow, he walked toward a massive steel door. Behind him, the lights shut off one by one, as if swallowing his footsteps whole.
The door opened.
A handsome man stood inside—
Nine white wings spread from his back. His golden eyes slowly opened, fixing their gaze upon Lyxander. Long silver hair fluttered gently as his wings moved, parting the white robe he wore.
He was Orochi—an angel who originated from Earth.
"Good morning, senior," Lyxander greeted.
"Oh?" Orochi smiled faintly. "It seems you're a transmigrator."
Before allowing him to enter, Orochi posed a small test.
"Name your favorite movie."
"Breaking Bad."
"Are you sure that's a movie?"
"Come on, I only watched *Breaking Bad*. What else am I supposed to answer?"
"Very well. Then—anime?"
"Hunter x Hunter."
"At least you're correct this time. Please, have a seat."
Before Orochi stood a long table with a single chair. Lyxander sat down, then took out the snack from his coat and pushed it forward.
Orochi accepted it, opened the package, and began eating leisurely.
"Alright, let us begin. Please ask your three questions."
"How can I return home?"
Lyxander asked without hesitation. No matter what, that was the only thing he truly wanted to know.
"Hm." Orochi leaned back. "It wouldn't be interesting if I told you the answer outright. So listen carefully to my explanation."
*Ugh… he's the type I hate most—people who love to ramble,* Lyxander complained internally.
"You're familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, aren't you?" Orochi asked.
"Adam and Eve? Of course I know it. What does that have to do with anything?" Lyxander frowned.
Orochi smiled and continued.
"Just like that story—Adam and Eve were expelled from heaven for eating the forbidden fruit. Why do you think they had to be cast out just for eating a single fruit?"
Lyxander knitted his brows.
*It's literally called the forbidden fruit,* he thought, though he didn't dare say it aloud.
"Wasn't it because they disobeyed God's command?"
"Hm, that is correct," Orochi agreed.
*Then what's the point?* Lyxander was starting to get irritated.
"But do you know why God forbade it in the first place?" Orochi asked again.
"I don't know. I really don't," Lyxander replied flatly. Hearing *'Hm, that is correct'* one more time might actually make him snap.
"The reason," Orochi said calmly, "is because that fruit contained a virus known as Entity."
"The Entity virus came from Heaven?!"
Lyxander's eyes widened.
Instead of confirming, Orochi continued.
"After being exiled to Earth, Adam and Eve—now contaminated by the Entity virus—began to reproduce, unknowingly spreading the virus through their descendants."
"Each time a descendant of Adam died, the virus transferred to another living host. As a result, it began reproducing not only through human lineage, but also through animals and plants. When its numbers exceeded the planet's limit, humanity migrated into space aboard ships—an event later known as the Great Flood."
"One of those colonies eventually landed on the planet you now inhabit."
Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information, Lyxander felt as though the mysteries of the world were finally falling into place.
*So that's why Simon said there was already an Entity virus inside my body.*
*No wonder when I searched for historical keywords in Lyxander's memories, the first thing that surfaced was the story of the Great Flood—not Adam and Eve.*
*Senior… I misjudged you. You're actually my favorite kind of person—the type who gives information for free.*
"Then, senior," Lyxander asked, "what does all this have to do with my question?"
Orochi's smile faded, replaced by a solemn expression.
"Do you know this?" Orochi continued. "The Entity virus is extremely destructive. It has only one purpose—to destroy worlds."
*Destroy worlds…*
A sense of dread crept into Lyxander's chest.
"By nature, the Entity virus is passive. It only becomes active to protect itself—such as transferring to nearby objects, or allowing its host to access its power."
Orochi continued his explanation.
"Some human colonies drifting through space eventually returned to Earth by chance, discovering that the Entity virus had frozen in Antarctica."
"Over time, humanity in the year 2070 mistakenly identified the Entity virus as a new energy source."
"In the end, they reawakened the virus that had hibernated beneath Antarctic ice for thousands of years—bringing destruction to Earth."
Bringing destruction to Earth.
Bringing destruction to Earth.
Bringing destruction to Earth.
The phrase echoed endlessly in Lyxander's mind.
A single sentence that shattered him completely.
Earth is destroyed… th-then… I… I can't go home?
Conflicting emotions surged within him. The ray of hope he had glimpsed turned out to be nothing more than a path leading to bitter truth.
Hope was merely a sweet illusion.
Reality was a bland, merciless bitterness.
And now, that bitterness had drained all flavor from Lyxander's hope.
Unable to accept it, he looked up at Orochi.
As if confirming Lyxander's thoughts, Orochi spoke.
"You cannot return home."
This time, Lyxander didn't cry—not because he wasn't sad, but because in his previous life, he had already learned how cruel reality could be.
In that life, reality had forced him to grow up, teaching him how to regain his composure even in despair.
He looked back at Orochi.
Orochi met his gaze.
With a bitter smile, he said,
"Please—your second question."