Chapter 303

Earth... where did these monsters come from?

Why... are monsters roaming the streets?

Where are the humans?

Boom—!

Kanzaki Rei crashed down onto the ground!

In an instant, he transformed into a streak of white light, descending upon a familiar street—

This was Wuyue Plaza...

Whenever it was open for business, it was always crowded with people.

But now—

There wasn’t a single person in sight.

Only monsters.

Large ones—over two meters tall—covered in thick fur. Judging by their aura, they were only Tier 1 or Tier 2.

Pathetically weak.

Rei didn’t strike them down.

Because a far more ominous premonition had already settled over his heart.

His gaze turned toward the direction of his home.

His perception swept into the house—inside and out—thoroughly scanning every inch.

But...

He found no trace of his parents.

No...

That wasn’t entirely true.

The photos were still there.

The arrangement of the house was exactly the same as in his memory.

At the very least, it matched how it had looked during last year’s Spring Festival, when he had returned home.

If this wasn’t his house—

Then nowhere else could be.

Every detail...

Proved that people had once lived here.

Even...

The family portrait still hung in its place.

Whoosh—!

His thoughts tangled into chaos, thousands of possibilities colliding in his mind.

A creeping dread took hold.

In the next instant—

Rei vanished from the plaza, becoming a streak of light as he appeared inside the familiar apartment.

Ruihe East City, Building 8, Unit 2, Room 901.

"I... I’m home."

His voice trembled.

But it was still that of a child—

Not the voice of a man who had already spent years navigating the workforce.

The house was silent.

Empty.

No one answered.

On the wall, the electronic calendar displayed:

April 1st, 2026.

Exactly the same date as when he had disappeared—

The day he transmigrated into this world.

No... what am I doing?

Now isn’t the time to drown in nostalgia.

The most important thing right now—

Is to find them.

Right.

My talent... it doesn’t just point to Earth.

It points to people.

His thoughts were in complete disarray.

Too chaotic to process.

From the moment he saw Earth to the instant he returned home—

Only a few seconds had passed.

Yet the information flooding into his mind detonated like explosives.

He couldn’t even figure out what he should do first.

I have to calm down!

Thump—

In an instant—

Everything froze.

Time stopped.

The world entered a state of absolute stillness.

Within this frozen world—

Rei finally had enough time to think.

The entire city had no humans.

But monsters roamed freely.

And yet, those monsters weren’t wantonly destroying buildings...

There were no human corpses on the streets either.

If monsters had slaughtered humanity—

The city should be drenched in blood.

It shouldn’t look this... intact.

At the very least, most buildings remained undamaged.

Humans weren’t massacred.

But then...

Where did they go?

One possibility—

There were never any humans on this Earth.

This wasn’t the Earth he knew.

It was a false Earth.

But if it were fake—

Then why would his talent point here?

Another possibility...

All humans on Earth...

Had turned into monsters.

The moment that thought surfaced—

Rei recalled what he had once witnessed in the Secret Sea.

A young merman—

Trying to transform himself into a monster.

So it was possible.

Humans becoming monsters...

That was something that could happen.

And this place—

Was still the Secret Sea.

Just within its Abyssal Depths.

His combat state still hadn’t been解除—

Which meant...

Something hostile toward him still existed.

Watching him.

Not through some complex detection—

But directly.

With naked eyes.

Like an enemy on a battlefield.

Even when [God-Tier · Unsolvable Enigma] was active—

They could still see him.

Because it wasn’t invisibility.

It was like a stealth fighter—

Invisible to radar.

But still visible to the naked eye.

Perhaps...

What it was watching wasn’t him—

But Kumironi.

Her constitution was special.

Monsters were naturally drawn to her.

And since he was with her—

He had become a target as well.

Could the state of Earth...

Also be connected to that entity?

The date on the calendar was April 1st, 2026.

Which meant—

If this really was Earth—

Everything had happened within just eight months.

From August to April.

After his transmigration.

Was this...

Connected to why he had been transmigrated?

There were too many truths to uncover.

But the top priority—

Was still finding his parents.

Buzz—

Time resumed.

Rei’s thoughts snapped back into motion.

His gaze instantly locked onto a direction—

His heart filled with unease.

Because...

[Hidden Origin]—

Could point to corpses.

His perception followed the direction indicated—

And what he saw—

Were two weak...

Monsters.

Monsters...

Rei’s heart tightened.

Two gelatinous slimes—

One blue.

One pink.

Slowly wriggling along the coastal road.

And the target of his talent—

Was these two monsters.

These... are my parents?

Within the vision of [Hidden Origin], the image of his parents shifted—

From the capable middle-aged man and graceful woman in his memory—

Into the forms of a blue slime and a pink slime.

[Hidden Origin] allowed him to see the target’s form—

But that form was constructed from the last memory associated with them.

Why...

Why did it turn out like this?

Rei clenched his fists tightly.

What exactly happened to Earth?

Whoosh—!

Like a gentle beam of light, Rei descended in front of the two slimes.

When they saw him—

They froze for a moment.

Then immediately bounced toward him—

Attacking.

That was their instinct.

Rei did not retaliate.

He allowed them to leap onto his body.

The moment they made contact—

Information flooded into his mind.

[God-Tier · Hidden Origin] activated.

[Water Slime][Monster Tier: Tier 1, 0 Evolutions][Original Human Form: Male, named Riku Masahiro][Creator: Lomo — Hidden Knowledge: A monster that gained sentience within the Nest of Aberration][Location — Abyssal Layer 1]

"Dad... it really is you..."

And the other—

The pink [Floral Slime]—

Was a human woman named Rika Yuka.

His mother.

While I was gone...

What the hell happened to this world?!

Whoosh—!

A streak of emerald light descended.

Kumironi landed beside him.

"Rei..."

She looked at the two slimes wrapped around his hands—

And felt the overwhelming, tangled emotions radiating from him.

It didn’t take much to understand.

"...Is this your home?"