Transcendent Gene-Chapter 303: New World [3]

The first thing Gio did was make his way out of the facility and back to the surface.

His friends were still nearby in the town they’d occupied, and though he knew the scenario would end soon, he wanted to reach them before the terraformed world returned to its original state.

’I don’t know if areas will be separated or if the shift will displace us. It’s better to be close to everyone before it ends.’

He couldn’t prevent it. He already completed the scenario. Merely, the scenario didn’t realize it was cleared yet.

Vita’s hijacking stole all of its energy. For those who didn’t experience the sudden encroachment of the black space, it was like nothing happened at all.

But the six who were inside understood well that their time was up.

Especially Gio.

’All of the scenario’s energy was given to me. Essentially, what was used to create the clues, the hologram systems, rewards, and anything else to that effect was absorbed into either my body or Hekat’s.’

He could feel the snake’s new weight, and it made him grin in anticipation. He couldn’t wait to see how much it had grown after such a feast.

He also couldn’t wait to see what his new trait was. He had a feeling about what it could be after seeing how his bloodline responded to foreign energy after his rank-up, but he wasn’t completely sure yet.

’If it has anything to do with eating energy, it’ll be great for me.’

When Gio got to the village, he was surprised to see all three of his comrades outside.

They were spread apart and training in their own ways, but all of them were covered in residual auras of battle spirit, indicating that they’d sparred not long ago.

"Gio!"

Shiro was the first one to notice his presence.

"Where have you been? We searched everywhere for you," he said as he ran up and greeted him.

Gio shook his head casually.

"Nowhere, really. I was just scouting the area and lost track of time. It hasn’t been that long, has it?"

"I mean, I guess not, but an entire night passed. ’Some’ of us were starting to get worried."

He grinned as he glanced over at Serene, who shot him an instant hateful glare.

"It was a bit concerning. We don’t know what’s around, and there’s a chance of encountering serious dangers in the wild. The worry wasn’t unwarranted at all."

The one who spoke wasn’t Serene, but Neriah instead. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"As Shiro said, we searched for you, but there were no clues indicating where you could have gone."

Gio caught the subtle implication behind her words.

’Her pathfinding skill couldn’t find me. I guess I was fully physically transported to another place.’

Naturally, he couldn’t tell her about it. Not yet, at least. He merely shrugged and made an excuse to cover his back.

"I move quiet. Maybe you just weren’t searching in the right direction. Putting that aside..."

He looked over the three of them and nodded.

"I guess you guys haven’t been slacking at all. I was worried when you didn’t come out of your rooms for two days."

Now, it had been three since their stay in the village began, and all three of them looked like entirely new people.

It wasn’t a stretch to call them all proper Sequencers now. Gio even felt a little bit proud of his contributions to the change.

He conversed with the three of them for a bit, telling them about the Verita’s Nest facility underground but not about the event it led to.

"...there isn’t anything really of importance, but there are some interesting landmarks. If we have a chance to come back this way after delivering the plaques to the allied force, we can explore them."

Gio remembered their original goal. The journey was meaningless now, but he wasn’t supposed to know about what would take place only a few minutes later.

[When one world vanished, another took its place. When history was erased, history eventually began again. The cycle of the universe...is endless.]

[All clues discovered.]

[Assert your conclusion...]

[There was once a world that existed in Earth’s place. This is the world’s second life; however, its past self did not completely separate from its current form.]

[Clear Condition Achieved...]

The notifications popped up one after another, all leading to a single conclusion.

[The Scenario will now shut down.]

As he led his team into the forest on the way back to Astarune, they heard the sound of an ancient bell in the distance.

HONG!

They looked back with frowns but kept moving, assuming it had nothing to do with them.

That was only until the first energy wave flew over their heads.

VOOOOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, they understood what was happening.

It was just like when the scenario first started.

"High ground! Now!"

Neriah shouted, but everyone was already moving.

The forest didn’t provide them with much high ground outside the tree canopy, but they rushed through its brush until they found a large pile of boulders in a clearing and climbed to the top.

VOOOOOOOOOOM!

Another wave passed by them, crushing the forest into the ground. In place of every tree and plant that was destroyed, a new one grew, changing the environment from a forest back into a tropical jungle.

Mountains rose in the distance, bringing back pieces of the mountain range that had been completely erased by cities and other structures.

Any signs of proper human civilization evaporated into nothingness, leaving only the makeshift shelters and villages of the bandits and djinns who occupied this area.

The suppression that Gio only started feeling several minutes ago lifted off of his shoulders, and all four of them saw the same window at the same time.

[The Scenario has been cleared!]

All of their eyes widened except Gio’s.

[Congratulations to all participants! Clear rewards for top contributors will be distributed shortly.]

[The Scenario will now shut down.]

"What the hell?! Someone cleared it? What about us, then?!" Shiro exclaimed in annoyance.

"Maybe we didn’t have a chance. We have to remember that we’re the weakest people in this entire mountain range right now," Serene replied logically, though she couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice.

"Guys, there’s no reason to get caught up in it."

Gio was the only one who knew that none of the top contributors would be receiving their rewards either. He felt the need to comfort his teammates.

"What we stole from the Old Duke is probably worth more than most of the clear rewards. The only ones who eat more than us are the ones who got the main reward, but does that matter anymore...?"

He grinned and held his hand up, showing them his ring as his clothes and hair were wildly thrown around by another wave of energy.

"There’s enough in here to last months, at the very least."

Now that he’d reached Origin Level 1-5, he didn’t need many of the resources they found. The more he gave up, the more they received, and he truly believed they were receiving more than enough to be satisfied with.

’There’s no way to know what the main reward would have been, but anything other than the main prize would at most be at the same level as what we took.’

It would have been nice to clear it the right way, but nothing could be done about Vita’s intervention.

They had to move past it.

The scenario itself was telling them something similar as it broke down in front of their eyes.

The trees grew taller than the boulders before the boulders disappeared completely.

The confused howls and roars of beasts filled the turbulent air. They’d been displaced already. Even though they were back in their home environment, most of them were far from their original ecosystems.

"We should get going," Gio said as he watched an energy wave fade into the distance.

"It won’t be long before we become meat. The Godspark Mountain Range really isn’t a place where we should be."

With the suppression effects dispersing more with every passing second...

"...yeah, I don’t think I want to be here either," Shiro agreed with a wry smile.

The beasts’ confusion was good for them in this chaotic environment. Their holowatches finally worked again, so triangulating their position was easy.

They were only twenty kilometers away from the edge of the jungle where the roads were.

Not only were they far enough away from the center to be a distance from any truly dangerous beast, but they were also close enough to the roads to avoid any inconveniences along the way.

They stopped to fight no more than three times, with each of the three beasts being weak enough to handle as a group.

Eventually, they reached dirt paths that led them back to the main road.

And on the main road, they found company.

They weren’t the only ones who saw the message about the scenario ending.

Everyone who wanted to leave the Godspark Mountain Range was making their way to the exit at this very moment. Some of them arrived even before Gio’s team.

"Oh! Look who it is!"

Gio’s eyes narrowed.

The lack of immediate hostility in his gaze ruled out the possibility of it being the voice of an enemy.

However, just because he was from the allied forces didn’t mean he could be trusted.

Especially when he was one of the heads of the council and decided to call out to them so casually.

Gio’s eyes met with slits that looked like they belonged to a snake.

’Now, what the hell does this guy want?’