Rose awoke with a start, her heart pounding. For a moment, she was disoriented, the remnants of her old life blending with her new reality. Blinking, she looked around, the familiar surroundings of her childhood bedroom feeling alien after years of absence.
Sunlight streamed through the curtains, painting the room in a warm glow. She glanced at her phone: 7:30 AM. There was still plenty of time until the portal would appear. A message from Ethan displayed on the screen—he'd managed to book a flight, but it wouldn't arrive until late that afternoon.
She could only hope that by then, she would have returned from the realm safe and sound, with a few treasures to show for it. If she got her hands on a crystal core, she'd keep it for Ethan. It was crucial to equip him with an ability as soon as possible. This way, they'd both be safer and could venture into realms together.
That was the conclusion Rose had finally reached. Even though it was not without its risks, she had decided to face everything alongside Ethan. She wanted no secrets between them, and she knew he wouldn't let her venture out alone anyway. It was best if they had each other's backs.
Just this one realm run, she would have to do alone.
Rose tentatively stretched, expecting pain but feeling only a slight twinge in her back. Carefully, she repeated the movement with the same result. Examining her bare arms and legs, she found all the scrapes and cuts had vanished—not merely scabbed over, but completely gone.
Swinging her legs out of bed, she hurried to the bathroom. Standing before the mirror, she gently rolled up her shirt and loosened the bandage wrapped around her torso. What should have been a gashing red wound was instead a faint scar.
Rose stared at her reflection, tracing the barely visible line where the deep gash had been. This rapid healing was unexpected. In her previous life, wounds had taken days to fully close and weeks for scars to fade. This accelerated recovery could only mean one thing: she had received a body recovery buff.
The phenomenon itself wasn't unknown to her. It described the advanced recovery and healing capabilities some ability users had developed. Further research had shown that only ability users whose powers somehow influenced their physique would experience this advantageous effect.
Yet, she had never experienced this benefit herself.
Whoever had categorized abilities had apparently decided that turning invisible didn't qualify as body-enhancing. As a result, she had only heard about the self-healing effects, never experiencing them firsthand. Now, she could finally enjoy this buff. Perhaps the speed ability wasn't so bad after all.
Grinning and in high spirits, she jogged to the kitchen and set water to boil.
The enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee and pancakes soon filled the house. Rose couldn't recall the last time she'd enjoyed such a delicious breakfast, and she was determined to savor every bite.
Balancing everything on a wooden tray, she made her way to the living room and settled on the couch. She decided to use this time to check the news reports about the portals, comparing them to her previous experiences to spot any discrepancies.
She didn't have to search for long, as any halfway serious channel would now show reports on the portals. Rose flipped through the channels, her eyes scanning the familiar headlines and scrolling tickers. The reports were eerily similar to what she remembered—speculation about the origins of the portals, warnings about the dangers of entering them, and debates about their impact on society.
Nothing differed from her memories.
Munching on her syrup-laden pancakes, she continued watching anyway. As she recalled, the government had subtly adjusted the news content. No mention was made of the newly emerged ability-wielders. Not fully understanding the phenomenon, they kept it under wraps to discourage more people from entering the realms in search of power.
Not that it helped much. They might have some influence over news channels, but the internet would soo be buzzing with messages painting a different picture. Stories of people turning into superheroes, able to fly or control the elements. Who wouldn't be tempted by that? Especially hot-headed youths eager to prove themselves?
She grabbed her phone and opened the news page. Skipping the main report, she dove straight into the discussion forum where, as expected, things were heated. One thread in particular caught Rose's eye—'Portal Location App'. What? This was new. Or had she simply missed it in her past life, too busy running and surviving?
She tapped on it, scrolling through its content, a greedy smile spreading across her face. Nerds truly were the most productive. In the mere hours since the phenomenon began, someone had already set up an app where users could input portal locations and appearance times. The developer's intent wasn't clear, but there were two ways to employ it: to avoid portals, or to seek them out.
Rose now firmly belonged to the second group. Though it might make retrieving the crystal cores from the realms a little harder with other people vying for the same int the coming months, it sure made the task of searching for portals much easier. Without wasting a second she pressed the download button and watched over her hot coffee the app installing on her phone.
So far, the day was off to a promising start. Rose could only hope her streak of good fortune would persist.