[....Assimilation rate: 100%....Adaptation: #$@%.....Archive Updated!]
[Examining Archive....4%...19%.....37%....61%.....83%.....!]
[Disturbance Detected!]
[D$st@r#nce Detected!]
[D!st#rb@nc* Detected!]
[1$ah&@#d!¥ Detected!]
[Calculating Risk.....Low...Calculating Potential.....Uncertain...Priority: 100%]
[Current Priority: Dealing with Disturbance]
...
[Troubleshooting.....#%& Detected!]
[Detecting Bugs....Failed!]
[Initializing Bug Fix.....Failed!]
[Initiating Isolation....Stopped...?]
[Data Corruption Prediction: 200%....Highly Unrecommended...]
[Rebooting...Failed.....Backup Not Found!]
...
[...Troubleshooting...]
[Foreign Object Detected!]
[Attempting Removal....]
***
???
As Jun opened his eyes, he found himself in an estranged place.
The world, now dyed in a shade of nothingness, no longer possessed any indication of life.
There was nothing to grab on. Nothing to sit on. Nothing to lean on. Nothing to get pulled to. Nothing to feel. Nothing to smell. Nothing to see. Nothing to hear. Nothing to breathe. Nothing to sense. Nothing!
Just nothing...
A completely blank slate.
'...'
In an illogical suspense state, Jun "floats" seamlessly through the endless space, appearing impervious to anything that would instantly obliterate a being out of existence.
'A confirmation, hm?'
To stay in another world for a lengthy period, the individual is required to register themselves with the World itself as a resident.
Unless the individual planned to live as a hermit isolated from all existence for the whole duration, failure to comply results in forcefully getting shoved out of the World Line.
As for the reason why, an unidentified visitor is like a sudden oddity appearing in the system. Most of the time, they contain complex, unexpected variables that are deemed potentially harmful by the collective unconscious of humanity.
To put it simply, they're aliens until they aren't. The kind that people don't tolerate.
In this case, most would get exiled back to wherever they came from. It is said most people who come from another world carry a distinctive "trace", which acts as a catalyst in this situation to "lead" the foreigner back to their world.
Though most wouldn't make such a mistake as to get into this situation either.
Except for Jun.
To be fair, he was still mulling over the possibilities before getting caught in that unexpected crisis, so he wasn't entirely at fault.
'Well, it already happened. No point complaining about it.'
Indeed, there was a way bigger question at play: Why was he sent "here" instead of his own world?
The first clue probably lied in whatever overloaded his mind before he found himself in the damp alleyway, but they were all gibberish by the time he sorted them out.
'Assuming they were messages….desperation?'
It was only a hunch, but he had a gut feeling that it was close to the truth. Other than that, there wasn't much he could take apart.
Hypothetically speaking, this can only happen either if there're no traces at all, or that the trace leads to…nowhere.
"Hmmm…"
Unfortunately, there were too few cases he knew of to base this turn of events on. After all, the number of individuals who can travel from one world to another can be counted on two hands, be it on their own accord or through rituals.
Assuming he was moved by a ritual, that meant somebody had managed to achieve the near-impossible, from removing his Anchor to managing a stable formation in a town with an unreasonable Ether instability rate, and then to even completely erasing his "trace" from the face of existence. The last one was something even he hadn't figured out yet.
'Nah, f*ck that. I should probably think of how to get out of here first.'
Anyhow, he decided it was too problematic to attempt to answer the question and scrapped it.
"How though?"
This was to be expected.
The space he was in was completely different in nature compared to anything even slightly dimension-related. If anything, it was more comparable to the void than most.
'How did I even get out back then anyway?'
Was he always this forgetful? He wasn't sure. He only had a habit of "discarding" unneeded memories over time as to not overflood his human mind.
Just as he hit another roadblock, a familiar voice popped up in his mind.
[Sir Jun? You there? Can you hear me?]
"Oh, right!"
[Finall-…E-Eh?]
As if realizing something, Jun slammed his fist into the palm of his hand much to the surprise of the voice.
"Thanks, Lain!"
[Eh?! Ah…Glad to be of help!]
Even though the voice only appeared as texts in his head, there was a serious tone to it like a confused junior getting a rare appreciation from their admired senior.
"Remain in place right now, Lain. I'm coming over."
[Y-Yes, Sir!]
While there are many factors that make up an "existence", relations can be considered one of the pillars of foundation.
It is said people have two deaths:
One when they died as a living.
Second when somebody last uttered their names.
In other words, the second death is considered the death of a unique existence which happens when the last relation of them with the world gets cut off.
In a similar fashion, a god's death - considered an existent death, only happened when his last followers fell, be it death or conversion.
Question: What is "trace"?
'Trace is an existence's relation with a certain world.'
For certain, it's created by one's relation with a "world", and usually only one TRUE ONE can exist at a time.
The moment Lain got in contact with Jun, a "trace" was re-established in place of the removed one. This happened because Lain is a resident of a "world", and the fact that she got in contact with and uttered Jun's name very much proves his existence.
There was only one thing Jun needed to do right now.
To grab onto the opportuned trace and go to that "World".
***
BLINK!
In a world dyed in simplistic shades, Jun found himself on an open grassland with no end in sight.
The sky was ocean blue, where clouds stride so slowly yet peacefully.
The grass was freshly green, excreting a sweet...grassy scent.
As the wind blew, the grass moved along in unison, creating a vibrant atmosphere.
The world was alive once again.
Feeling the fresh air soaking up his nose, Jun's soul naturally relaxed.
'What a breeze of fresh air.'
He was at peace.
"Sir Junnnnn!"
From afar, a sweet anxious voice sprang up. In an instant, a cockatoo clad in platinum feathers stood on his shoulder, its gesture suggesting relief and gladness.
"Lain."
Offering his finger, the bird gladly jumped up and chirped.
"I was so worried when I couldn't sense you!"
Shaking his head, Jun said in a low tone voice.
"Sorry to worry you like that. I'm not sure what exactly happened either."
For Jun, Lain was an important close confidant. Worrying Lain was not something he desired.
"It's good." The bird shook its head. "I'm relieved you're here now. Care to fill me in?"
***
"I see. That somebody is really impressive to even do that to Sir Jun!"
"Mhm." Jun nodded his head in agreement, having nothing more to comment after his recounting.
"But why did you not register yourself, Sir? Wouldn't that be a simple task for you?"
After a bit of thinking, Jun decided to give a somewhat truthful statement.
"I wasn't sure. It has been quite some time since I've been to Kartosh, so I wanted to sit down and look up things first."
"Gosh! Why are you always like this, Sir Jun? What if you're forever gone?" The bird let out a sigh, distressed by Jun's nonchalance. "I...I wouldn't know what to do then..."
"...Thanks, Lain, but I'm still good, see?"
They sighed again, helpless against their master's attitude.
This was a drawback of being one of his youngest, last confidants.
They only have fragments of his legacies, but not the full picture. They were all stories that had soon faded into the past, passed down to Lain through his vague memories.
Grasping Jun's nonchalance toward his life was hard, especially when he was as complex as he was simple.
Was he simply confident that he would never die?
Did he already accept the inevitability of death? That no matter what moment it'd come at, he'd be willing to accept it?
Or that he was too tired to even care?
Lain wasn't sure. There wasn't enough time to be sure.
When they contracted, he was already somebody who no longer cared about anything but his self-interest, possessing none of the semblances of his past.
He was already leading a full-on vacation mode life, making money his easy way and buying things that piqued his interest.
The only troubles he'd care for were ones that inconvenienced him, not ones that threatened his life or even his existence.
A man who values himself as much as he doesn't, that was Jun.
And so, Lain took to heart again that it was their responsibility to fill in the gaps.
"Hmph! You seriously should treasure your life more, Sir Jun." Lain mumbled
"What did you say?"
"Nothing..."
***
Back to the present,
"There was something I found really strange, Sir Jun."
"Hm?"
Showing a serious expression, Lain uttered a statement that surprised Jun.
"Up until your disappearance, my soul link told me you didn't really get "moved" at all."
"Huh?"
"In fact, it's as if you were in the same place up until then."
"That's odd. I went all the way from Melheim to Kartosh though?"
Lain shook their head, dismissing Jun's statement.
"I don't know how to explain it, but that's the exact reading I get." Lain then proceeded to input mana into the link, making it visible to the naked eye. "Unless someone messed with our link, I don't see why I'd obtain false information."
Jun scrutinized again and again, but the mystery was nowhere near being solved.
Assuming Lain's information is 100% true, that means the world itself moved, which actually bypassed the second loophole of his Anchor.
However, the problem was that it was an implausible equation he added for naught.
A "world" can't theoretically be moved, only destroyed or "pruned", for a better term. The moment a "World" gets detached from the Root it's attached to, it crumbles instantly, let alone getting moved.
In this case, Lain's info being false would be more believable. However, that meant his subconscious also believed that he didn't "move" at all, something he can't explain.
'Haaaa.' He sighed inwardly.
Just some time ago, he was cheerily awaiting academy life, and now here he was, stranded in his own world trying to figure his stuff out.
This was clearly not what he desired nor envisioned in his coming hours or even days.
"I give up."
This was all too troublesome for someone like him.