Jade slept for what felt like an incredibly long time.
In the dark void where nothing existed, time had no meaning. There was no sun to measure the hours, no sound to mark the passing moments, and no movement to remind him that time was flowing. While Jade slept, his body drifted silently through the endless darkness as if he were floating through an ocean without waves.
His breathing was calm and steady.
His mind rested peacefully.
The exhaustion from the previous night had completely taken over his body, and for once, Jade slept deeply without interruption. It was the kind of sleep that came only after days of tension and stress, when the body finally gave up trying to stay alert.
How long he slept, he did not know.
It could have been minutes.
It could have been hours.
It might even have been days.
But eventually, something changed.
A faint sensation stirred in Jade's mind.
The stillness around him no longer felt the same.
Slowly, very slowly, Jade's consciousness began to return.
His fingers twitched slightly.
Then his eyes opened.
For a brief moment, his vision was blurry. His mind was still caught between sleep and wakefulness, trying to understand where he was.
But within seconds, Jade realized something important.
The void was gone.
He was no longer floating in darkness.
Instead, he was lying on solid ground.
The first thing Jade noticed was the sound.
Leaves rustling softly.
Distant echoes of movement.
And somewhere far away, a deep, thunderous roar that made the ground tremble faintly.
Jade's eyes widened immediately.
He pushed himself up from the ground and looked around.
What he saw made him freeze.
He was now standing inside a massive forest.
But this was no ordinary forest.
The place felt ancient.
Wild.
Dangerous.
Tall trees surrounded him in every direction. Their trunks were unbelievably thick, some of them so wide that five or six people holding hands might not have been able to encircle them completely.
Their bark was rough and dark, scarred by time and weather.
The trees stretched so high into the sky that Jade could barely see their tops. Their branches spread outward like enormous arms, forming a thick canopy far above the ground.
Because of that canopy, very little sunlight reached the forest floor.
Instead, the area was filled with dim green light filtering through countless layers of leaves.
The atmosphere felt heavy and humid.
Moist air clung to Jade's skin.
The ground beneath his feet was covered with fallen leaves, patches of moss, and tangled roots that rose from the soil like twisted veins.
In many places, thick vines hung down from the branches above.
Some vines were thin and delicate, swaying gently in the faint breeze.
Others were thick and heavy, coiled around tree trunks like giant serpents.
Some vines stretched from one tree to another, forming natural bridges high above the ground.
Jade slowly stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes.
"This place…" he murmured quietly.
He turned slowly in a circle, trying to understand where he had been brought.
The forest seemed endless.
In every direction he looked, he saw more trees, more vines, more shadows stretching between the trunks.
There were strange plants growing everywhere.
Large mushrooms sprouted from fallen logs.
Massive ferns spread their wide leaves along the forest floor.
Some plants had glowing blue veins running along their stems.
Others had enormous leaves large enough for a person to hide beneath.
The deeper Jade looked into the forest, the more mysterious it seemed.
But beauty was not the only thing present in this place.
Danger was everywhere.
And Jade realized that almost immediately.
Because when he looked farther into the distance, he saw movement.
Large movement.
His eyes focused carefully.
Then he saw them.
Monsters.
Several enormous creatures were scattered throughout the forest clearing ahead.
Some of them were unbelievably large.
One creature stood nearly five meters tall, its massive body towering over the humans fighting it. Its skin looked thick and gray, almost like rough stone. Its arms were incredibly long, and each time it swung them, entire branches snapped and flew through the air.
Another monster was slightly smaller, perhaps around three meters tall, but its body was covered with strange sharp protrusions that looked like bone spikes growing from its back and shoulders.
Even the smaller monsters were still huge compared to Jade.
They moved through the forest with terrifying strength, knocking over bushes and breaking tree branches as if they were nothing.
And the monsters were not alone.
Humans were there too.
A group of fighters had formed loose positions around the creatures.
Some wielded swords that flashed under the dim forest light.
Others carried spears and shields.
A few seemed to be using strange abilities that caused faint glows to appear around their hands.
The battle between humans and monsters was already underway.
Jade stood still, watching everything with wide eyes.
The scene was overwhelming.
Compared to the massive scale of the battlefield, Jade felt incredibly small.
Like a tiny insect standing in the middle of a storm.
"I feel like an ant…" Jade whispered quietly to himself.
The monsters were so large that their footsteps alone made the ground tremble faintly.
Every movement they made reminded Jade of just how dangerous this place was.
If one of those creatures accidentally stepped on him…
He would probably die instantly.
Jade swallowed slowly.
He suddenly felt a bit relieved that he had woken up.
"I'm glad I woke up when I did," he muttered.
If he had remained asleep while being transported…
He might have appeared in the middle of the battlefield without even realizing it.
A monster might have crushed him before he even had time to react.
Just imagining that possibility made his spine shiver.
Jade looked around again carefully.
The forest itself felt alive.
The vines hanging from the trees swayed slowly, almost like living things observing the battle below.
The wind moved gently through the leaves, creating whispering sounds that blended with the distant roars of monsters.
Bird-like creatures with strange shapes occasionally flew between the branches high above.
But strangely…
Despite the chaos of the battle, parts of the forest still looked calm.
Almost as if the forest had witnessed countless battles like this before.
Almost as if it simply did not care who won or lost.
Jade continued observing quietly.
He wanted to understand everything happening around him before making any decisions.
But then—
Something terrible happened.
A sudden scream cut through the noise of the battlefield.
"Help!"
Jade turned his head instantly.
His eyes quickly searched for the source of the voice.
Then he saw it.
A middle-aged man was struggling desperately not far away.
The man had been attacked by something unexpected.
One of the hanging vines had suddenly wrapped tightly around his body.
But this was no ordinary vine.
The thick green plant had coiled around him like a snake trapping its prey.
Sharp thorns covered its surface.
And one of those thorns had pierced deeply into the man's body.
It looked almost as if the vine itself had a life of its own.
The man screamed in pain.
"Someone help me!"
His voice echoed loudly through the forest.
He tried to pull the vine away with his hands, but the plant held him tightly.
Blood slowly spread across his clothes where the thorn had pierced him.
Jade felt his chest tighten as he watched the scene.
The man shouted again.
"Help!"
But something strange happened.
None of the other humans responded.
Not a single one.
They continued fighting the monsters as if they had not heard the man's desperate cries.
It was almost as if the man was completely invisible to them.
Jade frowned.
"That's strange…" he whispered.
The man continued struggling desperately.
His face was pale with pain and fear.
The vine tightened slowly around his body.
Its movements were disturbingly deliberate, like a predator patiently trapping its prey.
The forest around them remained silent except for the distant battle.
For a moment, Jade simply stood there, staring at the terrifying scene.
Then his expression slowly changed.
Without thinking too much—
Jade began running toward the man.