"Ahem. The duration of your stay inside is four days," Hunter rasped, his voice creaking like a wind-worn hinge. "Before entering, ensure your teleportation crystals are secured. After four days—or if used manually—you'll be returned here instantly. Upon return, ring the bell by the door. I'll be in the next room. If I hear it, I'll open the door."
He bowed with the stiffness of age and gestured toward the rift—like a valet ushering guests into an abyss.
Yarrow checked his gear one last time. Teleportation crystal: secured. Blade: sheathed. Pack: tight.
Then he turned to Peach Fox, took her small hand.
"Ready?"
"Yes!" she said brightly, squeezing his hand.
Together, they stepped into the realm's fractured edge.
Far from the rift, in a house not threatened by unstable space-time…
Zen stood on tiptoe, stretching toward the top cupboard. She managed to yank down a bag of chips—only to spot the offensive yellow label.
"Lemon flavor?" Her nose scrunched up. "Disgusting."
She tossed the bag onto the floor like it had personally insulted her bloodline.
At that moment, Serena came downstairs.
"Serena!" Zen called out imperiously. "Are there any snacks in this house that don't taste like regret?"
"Huh?" Serena blinked. She hadn't expected Zen—the aloof silver dragon in human form—to talk to her at all, let alone ask for snacks.
"Um… let me check." Serena crossed into the living room, rummaged through the cabinet by the sofa, and emerged with a dusty bag of dried strawberries.
"This is all we have right now. If it's not enough, I can go into the city tomorrow and grab more."
Zen took the bag like she was receiving tribute. "Fine. But make sure next time you bring tomato-flavored chips. And dessert from that bakery on Lilac Street. Extra frosting on the gingerbread cookies. Not the dry ones."
She's impossible, Serena thought, but managed a polite smile.
Zen turned to leave, but Serena hesitated. Maybe this was a rare opening. If she could get on Zen's good side, she might get access to rare alchemical ingredients—the kind that only an ancient dragon could casually possess.
She took a chance.
"Zen, what've you been reading lately?"
"Detective novels," Zen replied without looking back.
"Oh?" Serena tilted her head. "Any good?"
Zen paused, then snorted. "Obviously. This Queen doesn't waste time on garbage. Humans in the stories scramble around like blind mice. But I only need half a book to expose the truth. Never missed once."
"Wow, Zen is amazing," Serena said, her tone walking the line between genuine and coaxing.
"Hmph. Of course. I am a dragon."
Zen lifted her chin and gave a dramatic hair flip.
"Anyway, talking to you won't elevate my intellect. This Queen is off to unravel mysteries that lesser minds can't comprehend."
She vanished into her room and slammed the door behind her.
Serena sighed. "She's harder to talk to than Yarrow."
Inside her room, Zen flopped onto the bed, dried strawberries on her stomach, and picked up a detective novel titled Detective Brute. Word on the street was that it had a mind-blowing twist ending.
As she snacked and flipped pages, the plot began to absorb her attention.
Then—on a fresh page—she saw it.
A single, smugly scrawled note in familiar handwriting:
"You're welcome. The old man is the murderer. I figured it out after a few chapters. How's that for skill, Little Detective Dragon King?"
Zen froze. Her golden eyes narrowed. Pupils contracted.
Upstairs, Serena was just tying on her apron to start dinner.
"Ji Xiaofei, help me collect the eggs—we're having omelets tonight!"
Then came the roar. A dragon's furious cry shattered the quiet.
"YARROW, YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Serena barely turned before the door burst open and Zen vaulted down the stairs, landing with a thud in front of her.
"WHERE IS THAT YARROW BASTARD?!"
"Yarrow, he… he and Peach Fox went to explore the secret realm," Serena stammered, staring at the furious silver dragon before her. "They won't be back for at least half a month. What happened?"
Zen held up a book, her golden eyes blazing.
"That bastard spoiled the ending of this Queen's detective novel!" she thundered. "He scrawled the name of the real murderer right in the middle of the story!"
She hurled the book to the ground like it had personally betrayed her. "Unforgivable! This Queen will tear him to shreds!"
With a roar, she stormed out the door and shot into the sky in a flash of silver.
A moment later, Ji Xiaofei came up the path, a basket of eggs cradled in her arms. She glanced up at the furious streak across the sky, then turned to Serena with a solemn expression.
"Is Yarrow… going to die?"
"Probably," Serena said with a sigh. "But to be fair, he kind of had it coming."
The swirling chaos of the rift finally cleared. The pressure eased, the dizziness faded, and Yarrow found himself standing on solid ground again.
That had gone smoother than expected. He'd braced for something like a teleportation anchor jump—getting flushed through space like a toilet and spat out in some disorienting location. Instead, it was… mildly uncomfortable.
They were standing on a high cliff. Below stretched a dense, emerald forest. But oddly, the geography made no sense. Jagged desert mountains loomed around them, yet interspersed were lush forests, and far in the distance, grassy plains shimmered in the sun.
Peach Fox peeked out from behind him, eyes wide. "So this is what it looks like inside a secret realm?"
"Not bad, right?" Yarrow said, releasing her small, sweaty hand. He pulled a pocket watch from his pack—an artifact from Lawrence that acted as a finder's compass. Outside the realm, it had been still, but now the needle swung sharply to the southeast.
"It's reacting. Let's follow it."
They turned toward the indicated direction, but Peach Fox suddenly gasped and pointed skyward.
"Yarrow! Look over there!"
He followed her gaze—and froze.
In the distance, an enormous floating structure hovered in the sky. It was so massive that its upper half disappeared into the clouds, possibly even breaching the atmosphere. It appeared tiered, like it was split into levels.
"Mount Creation? Aincrad? A crossover event?" Yarrow muttered to himself.
"At this point," he added, "I wouldn't even be surprised to see a red and blue semi-truck roll up and transform into a robot."
They made their way down the cliffside and into the forest, following a trail framed by ancient trees. The environment was eerily calm—no obvious monsters, just the chirping of birds and the rustle of leaves in the wind.
"It's not that different from the real world," Peach Fox remarked, floating beside him.
Then—rustle.
A sound from the underbrush snapped their attention to the side. A chubby yellow creature waddled out, its cheeks rosy and tail shaped like a lightning bolt.
"…Is that Pikachu?" Yarrow blinked.
"Pika~ pika~!" the yellow mouse chirped, tilting its head innocently.
"It really is," Yarrow murmured. "At least it doesn't have Ryan Reynolds' voice. That would've been too much."
Peach Fox's eyes sparkled. "Can I pet it?"
"As long as it doesn't run away."
She darted toward it eagerly.
But Yarrow's eyes suddenly widened. A line from the realm guidebook popped into his head:
Beware of all things yellow.
His face paled. "Peach Fox—STOP! Get away from it!"
Too late.
Pikachu's cheerful expression vanished. Sparks danced across its cheeks. Its red sacs flared with electricity.
"Pika—CHUUUUU!!"
A blinding bolt of lightning exploded from its body, crackling through the forest with a deafening roar.
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