Aeren stood before the enormous door, surveying his surroundings where the dead monsters' bodies lay upon the ground, blood still seeping from their wounds. The forest began concealing their corpses, consuming both blood and flesh. Aeren observed this phenomenon—the green nature of reality operating beyond normal existence. Interestingly, this forest wasn't simply existential following natural laws, but something far more cruel. Rather than merely being consumed by nature, the bodies were absorbed by the earth itself, completing an endless cycle. Wherever beings ventured in this realm, they would inevitably face the same fate.
Aeren paused before the gate, contemplating the circle of reality and illusion playing out before him.
Reality illusion—a reality where people are born and die, living their entire existence pursuing something, only for their final destination to be dissolution into the world of illusion. Throughout their lives, they believe that seeking meaning is a joke, something useless and worthless. Yet when death approaches and they finally perceive their end clearly, they remember that this world has given them nothing, and they have gained nothing in return. They realize they lived without meaning, merely chasing illusions they mistook for substance. Death becomes their only reality, and they accept it with contented faces. But illusion refuses to release them without permission—it steals their memories and sends their essence back into illusory life once again, laughing at their eternal captivity.
"Being illusion, witnessing their illusions, dying within illusion, experiencing reality, calling reality itself illusion—it's far too beautiful," Aeren whispered, describing his newfound understanding of nature's essence to the world itself.
He turned back toward the massive doors, placing both hands upon their surface and slowly, steadily pushing them open as he walked forward.
Creak...
The twin doors began parting, and as they opened, he could see the widening gap between them—enough space for him to enter this new world of monsters. Though it had appeared to be a small village from a distance, Aeren could now perceive that this might be an entirely different realm for humans like himself, where everything would be massive. Humans wouldn't be exactly ant-sized here, but perhaps one-tenth their normal scale.
Aeren stepped forward through the gate with a final whisper: "May this grant me entertainment." He smiled and entered without glancing back.
The gate sealed shut behind him as he crossed the threshold.
***
Meanwhile, Fredric, Sophia, and Nina found themselves trapped within the forest. As they advanced toward the Monster Village, navigating through the woodland, more trees continually shifted to block their path toward the monster settlement. They had already destroyed numerous trees as they progressed.
"What's with these bizarre tree monsters? They have no combat ability, yet they all obstruct our way forward. It's infuriating," Fredric spoke with frustration evident on his features as he regarded the trees. While slashing through another trunk and conversing with his companions, they continued hacking through obstacles, drawing closer and closer to their destination.
"Damn it! If we arrive late, what will happen to our reward?" Sophia's nervousness was audible in her voice and visible on her face as she contemplated Aeren's fate. She refused to lose her golden opportunity to some filthy monsters. She had worked too hard to reach this proximity to the village. Her imagination began conjuring images of Aeren's corpse lying before her, followed immediately by visions of her own execution ordered by the royal family.
"WATER WAVE!" Nina swept away all surrounding trees with an enormous magical surge. "There's absolutely no way we'll be late! We're heroes who will rescue the prince at his most desperate moment and earn all his admiration! Hahahahaha!" As she spoke to her companions with hope and enthusiasm, she added her own imaginative vision—a scene where Aeren begged for help, she leaped heroically from nowhere to protect him, and he proclaimed, 'Oh, my marvelous savior, you're so incredible! It's an honor to be protected by you... sob...' Lost in this fantasy, she grinned outwardly without realizing it.
Finally, they arrived at the location where Aeren had vanished through the doorway—the village gate they had been seeking. However, they couldn't perceive the enormous gate through which Aeren had disappeared, remaining unaware that he had already entered. They could see two dead monster bodies, but their size had shrunk to human proportions, or perhaps they simply couldn't penetrate the illusion magic created by the monsters. They still perceived everything as normal and couldn't detect any abnormality in the scene before them, only able to speculate about what might have transpired.
"Where's Aeren?" Fredric was bewildered by the situation. He could see the village gate surrounded by circular wooden fencing and noticed that the entrance was closed. The monsters hadn't appeared particularly threatening, and they had eliminated them without significant effort. "Did he enter the village without us?" Fredric spoke aloud while examining the monster corpse. He surmised that Aeren might have grown overconfident after killing these creatures and entered the village without considering potential dangers.
Sophia observed the scene and felt relieved that Aeren wasn't dead. They still had an opportunity to protect him and secure their wealth and fame for safeguarding the Prince of the Vorthis Empire. As she turned toward Nina, she noticed the gleam in her companion's eyes, as though she were imagining scenarios and formulating plans based on her fantasies. Watching Nina, Sophia sighed, feeling grateful she wasn't the only one who viewed Aeren as an enormous stepping stone toward discovering their true worth.
"Yes, that's the only reasonable assumption about Aeren. He must have entered through the gate to eliminate all the monsters inside," Sophia responded to Fredric's uncertainty. While he contemplated the scene behind them, she confidently analyzed the situation based on what could be observed and studied, arriving at her final conclusion from the evidence before them.
Fredric examined the monsters. Though they appeared weak, he doubted whether defeating them alone as a novice would be straightforward. "Do you genuinely believe he could have killed two monsters by himself?" he questioned while studying the monster corpse whose head had been obliterated, noting that the blood appeared somewhat dried.
Sophia regarded him with confusion, and she too noticed how the monster's head had been destroyed as though someone had struck it with tremendous force. His question even snapped Nina out of her pleasant daydream.
"What do you mean?" Nina's confusion showed on her face as she examined the monster's dead body. She began sensing a threat to the dream she had been nurturing. Though slightly stunned by the situation, she couldn't abandon her aspirations and wouldn't leave Aeren behind. He represented her dream of luxury—something she had desired since childhood. The world had granted her this opportunity, and she would seize and embrace it regardless of obstacles.
Fredric turned toward Nina, observing her reaction and recognizing that she was losing her grip on reality. "I mean, perhaps someone assisted him, and—"
Before he could complete his sentence: "NO, NO... NO... THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" She began shouting, her rage intensifying with each passing second. Then her gaze fixed upon the small door, though she couldn't see beyond it.
"Water Wave!" Nina launched her spell at the door, the surge rushing toward the entrance. "I'm going to save you!" As she spoke, a smile emerged on her face while she watched her water magic collide with the door.
Swoosh...
"What have you done, Nina? You're alerting our enemies to our presence! They're on their own territory, and we're like prey to them!" Fredric felt anger rising as he observed her actions, regretting having told them about Aeren's true identity.
She glanced at him but dismissed his concern, waiting for her water spell to dissipate. When they finally saw the door clearly, they were shocked by the result.
"What the hell? There isn't even a scratch! How is this possible?" Nina was stunned by the door's durability and stared at it with confusion, refusing to accept this reality. Still shocked, she began casting additional spells at the door, yet no scratches appeared whatsoever. She fired every variety of water spell she knew, depleting her magical reserves completely until she was barely conscious.
As she regarded the door with her final hope flickering, she ultimately lost consciousness. Both Sophia and Fredric witnessed her helplessness and shared her disbelief—they had been attempting to destroy this door for hours, yet couldn't leave even the faintest mark upon it. For the first time in their lives, they experienced something entirely foreign to them: genuine defeat and loss.