[Unknown Dimension Detected]
[Wadata connection lost]
[Current Location: Unknown Dimension]
[Dimension's flow of time and space differs from Wadata]
[The Dimension's laws are suppressing you]
[Level has been forcibly reset to 1]
[All abilities have been sealed temporarily]
[All stats have dropped to the minimum value: 10]
[Your new status is as follows]
[Name: Alexandre Eswald
Age: 60
Level: 1 (4)
Strength: 10 (700)
Agility: 10 (700)
Stamina: 10 (700)
Defense: 10 (700)
Mana Points: 3 (90)
Harem: Lilia Eswald, Annaline Maxwell, Amelia Eswald, Freya Drazen;
Abilities: Soul Linkage, Smoke sovereign;
Soul Points: 3750]
"Huh?"
That was the only sound that came from Alex as he took in the seemingly endless flood of notifications and the news they brought.
Forcing himself to calm down, he went through them one by one, and the revelations and information he gathered were, quite frankly, mind-numbing.
Starting from the most shocking, but now that he thought about it, should have been obvious, he was no longer on Wadata. Instead, he was in an unknown dimension and had apparently lost all connection with his world.
He wasn't new to the concept of dimensions and pockets of space existing, but Alex still found it hard to believe that he was inside one, especially considering the weird way he had come to enter this dimension.
More surprising on the list of notifications, aside from the fact that he was away from his world, was the revelation that time and space here apparently didn't follow the same laws as they did in his original world. What exactly that implied, he had no idea, but he could tell that this dimension was anything but ordinary.
He had an inkling of what this meant, but nothing had been confirmed. However, he was pretty much certain that it was because of the shift in the laws of space and time that he had felt so nauseous when he came here.
Ironically, perhaps the least shocking of all the other notifications was the one about him being suppressed and being forcefully reverted to level 1.
Make no mistake, this was actually shocking news in itself. It was just that Alex had felt the changes before the system acknowledged the fact, so it merely confirmed what he already knew.
However, Alex did find it hard to believe that you could suppress someone even to the point of them reverting to level 1. It was just temporary, and if he found a way out of here, he would certainly regain his original strength, but it was still shocking to know that something like that was possible... or was it? It was clear that this was a peculiarity of this dimension.
Last but not least, he noted that his abilities had been sealed. He could, for example, still feel that he had them, but when he tried to summon the ball of smoke within him, nothing happened.
'All in all, I'm in some kind of fucked up place with even more fucked up rules,' he summarized.
He still had a few questions for the system, though.
'You mentioned that the laws of time and space are different in this place. What exactly did you mean by that?'
He wasn't sure the system would answer this question, though. After having spent so much time with it, trying to figure out what it could and couldn't do, he had come to realize that if something had no direct effect on him, whether positive or negative, the system wouldn't, or rather couldn't, answer it.
But to his surprise, he received an answer this time.
[Time flows faster in this dimension, while the laws governing space differ from those of the outside world. The interior of this dimension exists independently of its exterior and is vastly larger than its physical boundaries.]
'Well, that's obvious enough,' Alex nodded. 'Just how much faster does time flow here?'
[Time flows ten times faster than on Wadata.]
Alex froze the moment he heard that.
Doing a quick calculation in his head, he couldn't help but frown.
'That means that for every hour that passes on Wadata, ten hours pass here.'
He didn't know how much time he had already spent in this dimension. Considering that he had been trapped in that vast nothingness for quite a while, he had no real point of reference. Still, if he had to guess, not even a day had passed outside.
'That might actually be either good news or bad news,' he summarized.
It could be a good thing that time flowed faster in this dimension, as it meant that if he managed to get out, not much time would have passed back on Wadata. However, it could also mean that if escaping this place proved difficult, he might end up spending years, decades, or even centuries trapped here while only a fraction of that time passed in his own world. The thought alone was enough to send a chill down his spine.
As for how long he would remain trapped here, he theorized that it would depend on two things.
The first was the very nature of this place.
If this dimension existed solely to act as a prison and prevent him from leaving, then he might actually be royally fucked.
There was still a chance that he could escape it somehow, but he doubted that would be easy.
When he thought about it, he actually felt that it was a good thing time flowed faster here.
The second factor that might influence how long he stayed was just how much this dimension restricted him, and by extension, his system.
'Can I increase my stats using soul points?' he inquired.
The response came almost instantly, and although it was exactly what he had expected, it also made the situation far more troublesome.
[Your body and physical capabilities are currently under complete suppression by this dimension. Due to these restrictions, the system is unable to execute any function that would alter, strengthen, or otherwise modify your physical condition. All body-enhancing functions have been temporarily disabled until the suppression is removed.]
All of that was just a more sophisticated way for the system to tell him that, as far as helping him become stronger was concerned, it was useless in this dimension, Alex concluded.
On a side note, this was actually one of the reasons why he had never wanted to rely too heavily on the system's assistance.
Of course, Alex understood that his inability to increase his stats through the system wasn't due to the system's incompetence or anything like that. The system had made it perfectly clear that the one being suppressed and restricted was him, not it. It was because this dimension prevented him from becoming stronger or accessing his own power that the system couldn't do anything about it.
In the end, everything was his fault. If he had dealt properly with the one who had sent him to this dimension, none of thi-
Alex shook his head.
'Reminiscing about what I could have done better or blaming myself won't help me leave this place.'
The only thing he should be thinking about right now was how to leave, because Alex had no fucking intention of staying here.
Just as his resolve to leave this place grew stronger, a string of words suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[First Objective: Cross the Plains to Proceed to the Next Stage.]
Alex blinked, confusion appearing in his eyes. It wasn't because of what the message said, though, but because of the message itself.
One might think it was his system addressing him, but Alex knew for certain that wasn't the case. First of all, the usual translucent blue screen hadn't appeared, and secondly, after spending so much time with the system, he had come to understand it well enough that there was no way he could mistake its messages for those of something else.
'That means it comes from this dimension,' Alex thought, a faint smile appearing on his face.
He was glad because he now knew that this place, this dimension, had a purpose. It wasn't just some immense prison meant to keep him locked away for eternity.
Well, it still could be, but Alex doubted that was the case.
So, without further hesitation, Alex cautiously took a step forward. Whatever awaited him beyond this plain, standing still wasn't going to help him find a way out.
As soon as he took that step, Alex felt himself pass through some kind of invisible barrier.
He had barely taken a single step beyond it before his earlier assumption that this place wasn't trying to imprison him was proven right.
This dimension wasn't trying to imprison him...
It was trying to fucking kill him!!!