A Mars observation and research base somewhere.

Dormitory building.

Mark lay on his dormitory bed, his left hand swollen and wrapped in white gauze.

He is a researcher currently working as an intern at this observation base, with a training period of just six months.

This place, known publicly as an astronomical observation base, is a significant project of this country, focusing on research and missions related to Earth's neighbor, Mars.

They observe Mars through telescopes here and receive data and samples from Mars probes.

All these efforts are aimed at further exploration and even future missions to land on Mars.

As for Mark's injury, it's a bit frustrating.

A few days ago, a Mars rover sent back some items collected from Mars to Earth.

Mark received this batch of items with his mentor and leader, Dr. Harper.

Everything was going smoothly until Mark accidentally got bitten by a spider that somehow sneaked in from somewhere.

Technically, there shouldn't be such creatures at the research institute.

So the researchers believed that Mark must have brought the spider from the outside desert and considered it a self-inflicted mistake.

Not only that, due to the bite, Mark accidentally broke the precious soil sample from Mars.

As a consequence, Dr. Harper was furious and put him in confinement for a full two weeks.

Of course, considering his current condition, he also needed some time to recover.

"I wonder how the research on the returned items is going." Mark sighed, opened the computer on the desk, plugged in the hard drive, and decided to watch a pre-downloaded movie to pass the time.

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." he read with a curious face, immediately drawn to the movie, perhaps because he had just been bitten by a spider himself.

Then, he double-clicked to open the video and started watching.

Click—

The screen suddenly flickered.

"Hmm?" Mark reached out and tapped the computer screen, feeling puzzled.

He had recently bought this laptop and it shouldn't have broken so quickly, right?

The magical "tap it" trick seemed to work as the screen returned to normal, displaying the beginning of the movie.

Mark settled back into his chair.

Click—

This time, the computer screen flickered again.

And this time, it seemed more severe than before.

The entire screen was covered in colorful spots and distortions.

"What's going on?" Mark extended his hand, ready to perform the "tap it" technique again, but hesitated when his hand was about to touch the screen.

"The fuck?"

Immediately, a hint of fear appeared on his face.

In his line of sight, it wasn't just the screen's image that was distorted but the entire computer itself!

As if the entire space had become chaotic!

Facing this eerie scene, Mark quickly stood up, trying to distance himself from it.

However, just then, a tremendous force of suction came from the chaotic spatial black hole, pulling him forward repeatedly.

"Fuck!"

Mark let out a scream of terror as he was pulled into the spatial black hole.

°°°

°°°

°°°

"Where am I?"

Mark rubbed his slightly dazed head and slowly got up from the ground.

He surveyed the surroundings and quickly realized that he wasn't in the observation base. The scene around him resembled the architecture New York and etcetera.

But it felt somewhat different.

"In the blink of an eye, I've ended up from the base to here? What kind of joke is this? Some kind of advanced or bullshit technology? Or did I just witness a cosmic phenomenon?"

As a scientific researcher, although his practice was relatively short and not yet mature, Mark never lacked such leaps of thought and imagination.

After experiencing initial panic, he regained some composure and began to assess his surroundings.

Even if he had mysteriously been transported to another place due to some bullshit reason, as long as he could find the some embassy, he could still get back to the base without much problem.

Then after getting back, he would probably not get any severe punishments. And being detained was out of the question.

Although their observation base was a forward outpost for observing and researching Mars, it hadn't made much progress due to limitations in scientific technology.

In other words, they were just burning funds.

According to higher-ups, it was likely that their generation and even the next few generations were just preparing for the future.

Furthermore, as an intern researcher, it was impossible for him to know any deep secrets.

In other words, he had some value, but it wasn't significant.

So his situation was delicate but not dangerous.

Compared to those unimportant matters, Mark was actually more interested in the seemingly existing "quantum phenomenon."

It was well known that if a physical quantity had a minimum indivisible unit, it was considered quantized, and the smallest unit was called a quantum.

The basic concept was that all tangible properties could be "quantized."

"Quantization" meant that the numerical value of the physical quantity would be specific rather than arbitrary.

In other words, the quantum itself was already a fundamental unit in the microscopic physical world, and theoretically, it wouldn't become smaller.

But now, he encountered a phenomenon that completely overturned the previous understanding of physics.

If he could truly decipher its mysteries, perhaps he could become a great figure like Einstein, Newton, and others!

The thought excited Mark, and he eagerly looked around.

Just then—

Buzz—

A strange "sound" suddenly echoed in his mind, causing his entire body's hairs to involuntarily stand on end.

Was there danger?

In Mark's mind, a string had been stretched to its limit.

"Hey, buddy, I think you've encountered the same thing as me." A voice came from above his head.

Mark looked up with confusion and saw a figure almost completely shrouded in darkness. It was hanging upside down from the high roof eaves, looking down at him.

'How did this guy manage to do that?' Mark widened his eyes, greatly astonished by this scene.

"Who are you?" Mark asked loudly.

"Buddy, I think you don't need to be so nervous because you also have the spider-sense, right? I believe we are of the same kind," the person replied with a light laugh, making a move that left Mark in awe.

He actually jumped down from the roof eaves that were over ten meters high.