CHAPTER 30: FALL FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER

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The orb flickered.

Not once.

Not twice.

But three violent, irregular pulses—then Elira’s voice shattered the quiet.

"Please... someone—anyone, help me. The village—"

Static.

The orb dimmed.

I stared at it like it had just whispered my worst nightmare into reality.

Sora wasn’t here. She’d gone home to cool off. I didn’t blame her—we’d all been at a breaking point lately. But I wasn’t going to drag her back into this until I knew exactly what we were walking into.

So that left me... Ayame, Run, Akane, and Mei.

No warriors.

No plan.

Just four idiots standing in a living room... and one dying signal from another world.

"I—I’ll start in the west wing," Ayame said, already rushing toward the hallway lined with shelves. "If there’s a book on interrealm travel, it’ll be over there."

Akane didn’t speak. She just moved—sharp, fast, pulling tomes from the top shelf like she’d done this before.

Mei hovered behind me, uncertain. "Ren... you don’t have to go."

I gave her a look. "We all know I’m going."

We tore that library apart.

Hours passed. Maybe more. Dust choked the air. Books formed walls around us—some enchanted, some screaming when opened, others just full of useless theory. No clues. No spells. No entry point.

Until Akane slammed a book down on the table.

"I found it."

The title was faded in gold: Veins Between Worlds.

We circled it like it might explode. She opened it carefully, flipping to a page marked with a folded petal. A diagram sprawled across it—dense, ancient, but unmistakably... a door. A way in.

"But there’s a catch," Akane muttered, fingers tracing the runes. "You can’t enter the Elf Realm unless someone from within invites you."

"So unless Elira suddenly picks up the orb again," I muttered, "we’re stuck."

Ayame’s eyes lit up. "The orb."

"What about it?"

"She gave it to us, didn’t she? Maybe we can... twist the intent. Use her magic already inside it."

We didn’t wait.

Ayame held the orb. Akane channeled her flame magic in pulses. I added a touch of whatever this cursed system had laced into my body, and Mei... she whispered something under her breath that felt older than time.

Then it happened.

The orb floated. Glowed. Warped.

And with a sound like tearing silk, a ripple opened in the center of the room.

A doorway.

Dark. Flickering. Unstable.

"Are we seriously doing this?" Rin whispered.

"I don’t know where it leads," I said.

"But I know what happens if we don’t."

We armed ourselves. Light packs. Protection charms. Nothing fancy.

Just instinct.

Ayame gripped my sleeve. "If we don’t come back..."

"We’ll come back," I said.

We stepped in.

One by one.

Into the unknown.

Into Elira’s world.

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I don’t know what I expected when a glowing portal cracked open in the center of my living room.

But it sure as hell wasn’t this.

One second, we stepped through the makeshift gate—the next, we were free-falling through a sky too blue to be real. Clouds spun past us like ribbons, and the wind slapped me so hard I forgot how to scream.

"We’re going to die!" I shouted, flailing like a man trying to punch gravity.

Ayame shrieked beside me. Akane clutched Mei’s arm. The books and supplies we packed were scattered midair like confetti. I was too stunned to do anything except spiral helplessly downward and mentally list out all the things I never got to do:

I never learned to surf.

Never finished that one manga I kept putting off.

Never kissed anyone in the rain.

Never not had a cursed system.

And somehow, even with a harem, I never felt like I’d had a "real" girlfriend. Not once. Not someone I chose... just someone who chose me because of a bug in the universe.

So yeah. This felt like a cruel way to go out.

But just as I was about to pass out from sheer terror, the fall... stopped.

We floated.

My body jerked midair and slowed like we were feathers instead of people. A warm, glowing force surrounded us like invisible hands catching us gently.

"Don’t scream," Akane’s voice echoed, a little breathless. "I’m using floatation magic. It’s unstable but... it’ll hold for now."

We all looked at her in awe. Even Ayame blinked with mild respect.

"You learned that?" I said.

"A month ago," she said, her cheeks pink. "I wasn’t sure I’d ever use it."

"Remind me to bake you a cake when we survive this."

Her lips twitched. "You owe me two. I just saved your life and your cursed harem."

As we drifted downward like awkward sky fairies, the world of the elf realm unfolded below us.

It was breathtaking.

Emerald-green forests stretched as far as the eye could see, woven with streams that glowed golden like liquid moonlight. Gigantic trees formed spiral bridges that connected floating islands. Birds with rainbow plumage zipped across the skies, leaving trails of glittery mist behind them.

We passed a herd of... llama-deer? No. They looked like deer but with soft, bouncy wool and horns that hummed like wind chimes.

Everything sparkled. Everything shimmered. It was like falling through a fairy tale.

Even Ayame, usually unimpressed by everything, whispered, "It’s... beautiful."

We had a moment of awe. Just one.

Then Akane’s voice cracked.

"Guys... I can’t hold it anymore."

"What?!"

"I used too much mana lifting all four of us! The spell’s unraveling!"

Panic hit instantly.

Mei grabbed my arm. Ayame clutched her sword tighter like she could stab the air. Akane’s nose was bleeding, her body shaking as the magic faltered.

And then—snap.

The floating aura shattered.

We dropped again.

This time there was no slow-motion grace.

Just chaos.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH—!"

We plummeted toward the forest canopy like screaming meteors. The only thing louder than the wind was my internal voice, shouting this is it.

And still, through the blur of green and panic, one thought ran through my head:

Elira, wherever you are, this better be worth it.

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