"Urgh..."
As the morning light filtered through the curtains, a young man slowly opened his eyes.
Confusion clouded his mind as he tried to piece together the events of the previous night.
He held his head, letting out a sigh. "Did I drink too much last night?"
His memories were hazy and fragmented, but he was certain that it was only because of a hangover.
"Huh, wait? Wasn't it wednesday?" he wondered, rubbing his forehead.
He was a teacher who taught college students. Moreover, his shift was early in the morning. He never drank the night before work.
That was his one rule that he never broke, so he didn't understand why he felt this headache? Did he really drink?
Pushing himself up on the unfamiliar bed, Eren looked around the room noticing that the walls looked strange, and the furniture had a worn, antique charm.
It dawned on him that he was not in his room. Panic set in as he realized he was in a place he did not recognize, surrounded by unfamiliar sights and sounds.
"Don't tell me I broke inside someone else's house when I was drunk?"
Rubbing his temples, Eren struggled to recall how he ended up in this room with ancient architecture.
Had he wandered off in a drunken state?Questions filled his mind, but there were no answers.
As he gathered the courage to get up, the creaking floorboards beneath his feet echoed.
A faint scent of incense lingered in the air, heightening the sense of disorientation.
"I need to get home, dress up and then go to college. I can't lose my perfect record." Still not in his perfect state, he walked towards the door.
He opened the door and stepped out of the room.
"Huh?" As soon as he stepped out of the room, his expressions twisted as he felt that there was no ground beneath them.
"Aaaaahhhh!" A frightened scream escaped his lips as he started falling down.
While falling, he noticed that the room where he was staying... It was right at the edge of the cliff with the exit facing a deep chasm.
His eyes were filled in disbelief. He didn't know what to even think? How could he have walked up a cliff when he was drunk? Let alone climbing the cliff, how could he even enter the room where the only exit was blocked by the vast chasm outside?
As he continued to plummet down towards the seemingly endless abyss, his mind was filled with confusion and fear.
Just as panic started to set in, a sudden rush of wind enveloped him. He felt as if he gently fell on something, but it didn't hurt.
Frowning, he looked down.
"Haa? Haaaaa?!" His disbelief and fear only increased as he found out that he still wasn't on the ground.
Instead, he was standing on the back of a bird that was as large as a football field! The entire body of this bird was burning but the flames didn't hurt him.
"This isn't real! This can't be real! That's right, I'm dreaming! Yes, it must be a dream!" Eren started repeating after himself.
Nothing about this place made sense after all. There was no way such a giant bird could exist on earth without being discovered.
He pinched his waist, trying to wake up from this bizarre dream.
"Arghh!" He groaned in pain, feeling the brunt of his pinch. But he still didn't wake up.
Meanwhile, the Giant Phoenix kept flying through the air, as if it was the lord of the sky.
The Phoenix soared gracefully through the sky, its fiery wings casting a warm glow around Eren.
Despite his disbelief and confusion, Eren couldn't deny the breathtaking sight unfolding before his eyes. The landscape below shifted rapidly as they flew over mountains, rivers, and lush forests.
As the wind whipped through his hair, Eren's initial fear began to give way to a sense of wonder and curiosity. He marveled at the beauty of this surreal world, wondering how such a place could exist beyond the realms of reality.
It was nothing like he had ever seen before. It was a scene that was impossible for him to even dream about.
The Giant Phoenix's feathers shimmered like embers in the sunlight, radiating a sense of power and majesty. Eren couldn't help but feel a strange connection to this mythical creature that carried him through the sky with ease.
As they glided through the clouds, Eren's mind raced with questions and possibilities. Was this truly a dream?
As he thought about it, his head started hurting even more. He grabbed his head, dropping to his knees.
Some of the haze around his mind started clearing and he started remembering some things.
He remembered that last night, he had safely returned home. He definitely hadn't drank anything and wasn't near any cliff.
After preparing the lecture for tomorrow, he walked back to the bed. But since he couldn't sleep, he started checking his phone.
While he was scrolling through his social media feed, he came across an ad that intrigued his curiosity. It was an ad about a web novel whose synopsis managed to intrigue him.
Since he had time to waste, he clicked on the ad and decided to check the novel.
Following the link, he was taken to a website that he had never even heard about before.
On the front page itself, he was greeted with a welcoming message.
[Welcome to the Celestial Novels]
[Would you like to enter the Celestial World?]
[Yes] [No]
[Warning... Consent can't be removed]
"What an amusing way to invite people to read a novel." Eren let out a laugh, not thinking much about it. He clicked on yes, entering the website.
He was taken to the main page, where strangely enough, there was only one novel present.
"They made a website for only one novel?"
He wondered as he clicked on the novel, only to get surprised at the realization that all the chapters of this novel showed that they were updated merely a few seconds ago.