"Next Dungeon World: Fate/Grand Order"
"Dungeon activation time: 24:00."
After parting ways with Thor and Kanna, Li Mo saw this notification.
The countdown had begun.
His plans would have to be put on hold. As for the Western Restaurant Nekoya, he would have to wait until his next return to observe it further.
At least the shop would remain there. It wouldn't suddenly vanish—unlike the dungeon.
Fate/Grand Order, huh?
So now he had to dive into a mobile game? Was this the 1.0 era or the 2.0 era? A Singularity, or a Lostbelt?
Adjusting his goals, Li Mo hurried home. This world also contained the various works of the Type-Moon universe. Naturally, as part of its money-making scheme, the notoriously unbalanced FGO existed here as well.
However, though the timeline had already entered the Lostbelt era, the progress wasn't that far yet. There was still enough time for Li Mo to gather information.
What if he ended up in the 1.0 era, facing the seven Singularities? The final enemy would be Goetia, the "Beast." Was he a match for it?
Li Mo wasn't sure.
So, he needed to go back and think things through carefully.
Memories from the past surfaced in his mind. On the way back, he remained silent, and without any deliberate effort on his part, his presence diminished significantly. He became just another forgettable face in the crowd—the kind you'd glance at and immediately dismiss.
By the time he got home, he had already prepared quite a few contingency plans. But then again, Fujimaru Ritsuka's journey was a long one. He didn't know which timeline he'd be entering. Still, he doubted he'd end up in the worldline of "Gudako."
Comedy series never played by the rules. Take, for example, *The Evil God and Yurine*. The former's "immortality" was incomprehensible. Even if Li Mo combined all the "pseudo-immortality" he had seen, it still wouldn't hold a candle to the Evil God. And the latter… if things got serious, how many rounds could he last against her?
"I hope it's not a comedy manga."
Li Mo clasped his hands behind his back and returned home.
Some details had grown fuzzy in his memory, but the internet could help him recall them. Strangely enough, revisiting the familiar plotlines brought back memories of playing the game in the past.
As the past resurfaced, he couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy—a realization of how things had changed while he remained the same. He understood, to some extent, the struggles of long-lived beings. When everything around you gradually shifts, and one day you stop to find nothing recognizable, it's only natural to feel lost.
He could faintly grasp the erosion faced by the Archons of Teyvat. Then again, did the Magic Gods of the *A Certain Magical Index* world also suffer from "erosion"?
When their original wishes faded, did they become nothing more than empty husks, adrift without purpose?
"Why am I worrying about this?"
Staring at the glow of the TV screen, Li Mo shook his head.
The Magic Gods of *A Certain Magical Index* were all monsters. Why should he concern himself with them? Did he even have the right?
Kamijou Touma could afford to pay attention to them because he was the "God's Right Seat Cleaner," the "hero." But Li Mo was not.
Time passed idly. Searching for information online was hardest at the start—sifting through countless sources to find the most relevant, accurate, and useful ones. Once he had a lead, he could follow the trail to gather more valuable data.
In the information age, storing knowledge had become so cheap that the internet was flooded with useless junk. It took effort to filter through it all. Fortunately, Li Mo was an experienced netizen.
By the time he finished gathering intel, he had several contingency plans in mind—mostly for worst-case scenarios. Like what to do if he ended up in the Temple of Time facing Solomon. Or if he dropped straight into Tiamat's domain. Or if he got lost in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers.
These were all emergency measures. Ideally, he wouldn't need them. Dealing with those situations would be… troublesome.
—Just troublesome. The Type-Moon world wasn't as threatening as *A Certain Magical Index*. Sure, the upper-tier beings in Type-Moon were numerous—like the Buddha. But the existence of countless parallel worlds diluted the chances of encountering such entities.
In the FGO world, the most dangerous threats were Chaos from the Atlantic Lostbelt, the slumbering spider of the South American Lostbelt, and, of course, Goetia and the like.
Still, Li Mo acknowledged his own weaknesses. At the very least, he could ensure his own survival.
Closing his eyes, he let himself sink into emptiness. Thor's knowledge had given him his first glimpse of what lay beyond the world. According to her, the world's exterior was a void. Simply being able to perceive worlds as "bubbles" was a rare talent. Most beings, when crossing between worlds, retained no memory of the journey.
For the vast majority—even the strongest—unless they had the right innate ability, traveling from one world to another was nothing more than the blink of an eye.
Thor had perfectly answered Li Mo's doubts.
Crossing worlds didn't require raw power. It required a specific trait, a certain talent. Remembering the space between worlds was the same.
Li Mo's understanding was that the true nature of the world's exterior was something those within couldn't observe or retain—like how humans couldn't hear ultrasonic waves.
Even among dragons, an inherently powerful race, not all possessed this ability. Though, as Thor explained, dragons could forcibly learn this talent once they reached a certain level of strength.
That was their natural advantage.
Li Mo had discussed this at length with Thor.
He suspected that, with the help of his "Pseudo-Simulated Astral Chart: Mystery Foundation," he might be able to simulate a similar mystery if he stayed by Thor's side. At the very least, he could replicate the ability to record things beyond the world.
It made him think about his system's world-hopping. Perhaps, throughout his long journey, he had failed to record many things.
If he couldn't even see something, how could he decipher or imitate it? Even the blind men feeling the elephant had to be able to remember what they touched.
Time passed quickly. Another late night came to an end. As dawn approached, Li Mo pondered what to eat for breakfast—ramen, or something else?
Three meals a day were still necessary.
Unexpectedly, a LINE message arrived in the early hours. It was from Yukinoshita Yukino:
"Are you awake?"
Perhaps noticing he had read it, she sent another message.
Yukinoshita: "You stayed up again?"
Yukinoshita: "You definitely stayed up again."
Li Mo fell silent, then quietly replied to Yukinoshita's questions.
In this city, there was at least one person who cared about him.
Truly, he needed to master the ability to traverse worlds as soon as possible.
Li Mo thought to himself.