Abandoned buildings, streets buried in sand, and the silent darkness of night—only the sound of the cold wind could be heard.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but the ruins left behind by an intelligent civilization.
At that moment, an entity emerged from one of the collapsed buildings. No matter how you looked at it, it was someone—someone humanoid.
He wore a suit that covered his entire body and a helmet that left not a single gap.
With a deep voice that revealed he was a man, he spoke.
"Hmm, this confirms with 100% certainty that all lifeforms on this planet have gone extinct, and that this extinction happened decades ago. But... this is strange... looks like I need to go there."
After saying that, he looked off into the distance and began walking toward what appeared to be a multi-story building. At its peak, a bright light shone, illuminating the road beneath his steps.
He walked slowly, almost as if savoring the atmosphere, even though there was nothing to enjoy in such an environment. Who knew what he was thinking beneath that helmet?
After some time, he finally arrived at the building.
He stopped right in front of it, bent both knees, and—
boom
—launched himself several meters into the air, leaving a cloud of dust where he had been standing. Using a few footholds, he leapt and swung himself upward toward the rooftop. Clearly, he was no ordinary being; his movements defied logic.
Upon reaching the rooftop, he scanned the area. Before him lay a humanoid skeleton.
The skeleton seemed to be clutching something—the very source of the mysterious light.
"Hmm? A human? So this planet was inhabited by humans as well... but this is truly odd."
The man was puzzled. Throughout his exploration of this planet, he had never found concrete evidence of what species once lived here. But now, seeing this skeleton, he knew humans were one of them.
What confused him was—why was this the only skeleton he had found?
He approached and began to examine it.
"With an environment like this, this person must have died one or two years ago. Could they have survived the extinction? Logically, that's impossible. And judging by the bone structure... they were barely in their teens. This makes no sense... what exactly happened on this planet?"
After examining the skeleton, he turned his attention to the light in its grasp. What he saw was blinding—pure radiance so intense he couldn't see the object at its core.
Without hesitation, he took it. Immediately, the light began to fade until it emitted no glow at all.
With the light gone, darkness once again enveloped the world, leaving only the star-filled sky above.
But he didn't enjoy the sight. Instead, he studied the object in his hands—a small sphere, like a marble, covered in strange abstract engravings.
Somehow, even in the darkness, he could see every detail.
After a moment, he tightened his grip, falling silent.
[ Initiating examination__ Material: Unknown__, Energy: Not Detected__, Information: Unrecorded ]
Lines of text appeared before his eyes—but only in his mind. No one else could have seen them.
"What is this thing? With light that bright earlier, there's no way no residual energy could be detected! What's going on with this planet?"
The analysis results only deepened his confusion.
"Haaah... the night is still long. I suppose I'll rest here until morning, then continue my investigation."
He looked around, found a suitable spot, and lay down.
Slowly, his body relaxed, signaling that he had fallen asleep.
<><><><><>
He dreamed—of a memory he could never forget.
A green garden adorned with beautiful flowers. In the middle of them stood a woman in a lab coat, watering them.
Her beauty surpassed even the flowers around her, her blonde hair shining like precious gold.
She turned to him and smiled, saying,
"These flowers are beautiful, aren't they?"
<><><><><>
He woke up and looked around. Sunlight now lit the same ruined scenery he had grown accustomed to.
"Haah~"
He pondered the dream he had just experienced. It wasn't the first time—he had dreamed it dozens, maybe hundreds, of times.
It was as if his deepest desire was shaping his dreams—the wish to return to the past... or rather, to see the woman from his dream again.
"Meeting her again is impossible, because she—no, everyone—is gone."
Suddenly, light shone from his hand. He looked down and realized it was coming from the strange object he had held all night.
In moments, the glow intensified, rapidly enveloping him.
"W-what!?"
Seconds later, the light vanished—taking him with it, leaving the ruined world behind.
<><><><><>
"Ugh."
He regained consciousness and looked around.
What he saw was the exact opposite of before—towering skyscrapers, clean streets free of sand, trees lining the corners, and the sight and sound of humans everywhere.
But what he sensed from these humans was... confusion, curiosity, and anxiety.
These emotions seemed to keep them from realizing that a man in strange attire had suddenly appeared among them.
"W-what is this?"
"What's with that weird pattern?"
"Some kind of performance?"
"Wait, could it be...?"
Those were the voices he heard. Then, he noticed what they were looking at.
Beneath his feet was a circular diagram with strange patterns and writings.
He saw that everyone else nearby had the same strange circle beneath them.
(What is this? They don't even seem to know what this pattern is! No... some do. So it's not common knowledge.)
As he pondered the situation, the circle beneath him suddenly began to glow. The sight gave him déjà vu.
The glow intensified, engulfing him.
"Not agaaain!!"
<><><><><>
After a moment, he regained his senses and looked around.
He was now among several others, standing in an open field surrounded by a group of knights clad in medieval armor.
One of the knights, whose armor was more ornate than the rest, stepped forward. He appeared to be their leader.
When he was only a few steps away, he spoke with a dramatic gesture:
"Oh, Heroes of Fate... Welcome to our world. Forgive my earlier discourtesy, but I beg you... Please help us!"