...Aarav just sighed. "Infinitely," he grumbled.
Suddenly, the familiar booming voice of the System echoed across the plains.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: TRIAL 2 CONCLUDED]
[OBJECTIVE: PANTHER LINK ESTABLISHED - ACHIEVED]
[GLOBAL RANKING: PHASE 1 (UPDATED)]
The massive sky screen reappeared.
[PLANET EARTH: RANK 890 (UP FROM 898)]
[NOTE: INCREASED RANKING DUE TO HIGH PANTHER LINK COMPLETION RATE.]
"We went up!" Rohan gasped, excited. "Panthers saved us!"
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: BREAK PERIOD INITIATING]
[DURATION: 24 EARTH HOURS]
[ALL SURVIVING PLAYERS WILL BE TEMPORARILY RETURNED TO THEIR HOME PLANETS.]
[COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER PLAYERS IS RESTRICTED TO YOUR LINKED PANTHER AND OTHER EARTH PLAYERS WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY.]
[ENJOY YOUR TIME. THE CRUCIBLE AWAITS.]
A collective gasp swept through the crowd. Return to Earth?!
Aarav stared at the message. His parents. Food. His bed. This was actually happening.
"Wait, so we're just... teleporting home?" Maya asked, eyes wide. "Cool! But what about..." She gestured vaguely at the desolate alien landscape.
Before anyone could fully process it, a gentle, shimmering light enveloped Aarav. He felt a familiar, dizzying pull, like being stretched through a cosmic straw. The reddish plains, the other players, Sarah's exasperated face – all blurred.
When the light faded, he was standing in his small, comfortable room. The familiar scent of home, the faint smell of his mother's cooking from downstairs, filled his nose. His old gaming PC sat silently in the corner. He glanced at his wrist; his watch confirmed the date and time. It was real.
He took a deep, shaky breath, then exhaled slowly. He was home.
"Hey!" A voice cut through the silence.
Aarav flinched. He looked towards his window, which was slightly ajar. Standing right outside on the narrow ledge, looking incredibly awkward and slightly annoyed, was Sarah Anderson. Her practical clothes seemed out of place against the backdrop of his quiet residential street.
"What are you doing here?!" Aarav exclaimed, completely bewildered.
Sarah sighed, trying to keep her balance on the ledge. "The Panther Link isn't just for show, Sharma. When the System teleported us back, it put linked partners in close proximity. And lucky you, looks like 'close proximity' for us means 'next-door neighbor'." She gestured vaguely between his house and the one next door, a small smirk on her face. "And yeah, my UI's got a little tracker for my Panther. It just pointed me to your window." She jumped down into his room, landing lightly.
"Oh. So you're just going to randomly appear in my room now?" Aarav asked, still trying to grasp the new reality.
Sarah shrugged. "It's a two-way street, Sharma. You could appear in mine. Don't worry, I won't. Unless it's an emergency. Or I need your 'Adaptation' for something." She walked towards his bookshelf, scanning the titles. "You read a lot of fantasy, huh? Makes sense. Big imagination for all that... adapting."
Aarav narrowed his eyes. She was certainly comfortable.