The robber and that officer… they must be players as well, right?
Nawa pondered deeply about the incident at the bank. Their powers and abilities reminded him greatly of what he had once encountered in the Himmapan Forest.
These were not powers born of machines, robots, or any form of technology, but rather abilities that resembled magic emanating from living beings themselves.
In today's world, such powers were known simply as skills.
Though those two—the robber and the officer—seemed to possess superhuman strength, for someone like Nawa, who had survived the Himmapan Forest, their abilities were nothing to marvel at.
If only he had not lost his power, a mere flick of his hand could have reduced that buffalo golem to rubble with ease. But now… those powers were gone.
Even his telekinesis, once strong enough to control the smallest objects, had deserted him. Nawa suspected it had something to do with that moment he stepped through the dimensional gate to return home.
Before Nawa used the portal, his companion—who had risked his life alongside him in the Himmapan Forest—was the first to step through. His name was Jack.
Jack was no ordinary human. In fact, he was hardly human at all. Half werewolf and half vampire, Jack had stumbled into the Himmapan Forest much the same way Nawa had.
Jack volunteered to try the gate first. Physically, his body was many times tougher and more resilient than Nawa's.
Coupled with his unbelievable regenerative abilities, inherited from both vampire and werewolf blood, his lineage was said to be among the closest things to immortality itself.
If anything were to go wrong, Jack had the greatest chance of survival.
And indeed—something did go wrong.
The moment Jack stepped into the center of the empty archway, the portal activated. Nawa saw it glow with a strange light as some kind of energy was pulled from Jack's body, feeding the gate.
In the next instant, a blinding flash consumed everything. When it faded, Jack was gone.
Nawa felt both joy and sorrow at once. He was overjoyed that the gate worked—that he would finally have a way home. But grief pierced his heart at the thought that this could be his last farewell to a dear friend.
Still, he walked into the gate as Jack had done. At first, nothing happened. But when Nawa focused his thoughts on returning home, the portal stirred.
Just as he suspected, the gate operated like a machine, responding to his mind's commands. And like any machine—it required fuel. The gate began drawing power from his body.
What Nawa did not anticipate was that his energy was insufficient.
Though his physique was nowhere near Jack's, his mana was far greater. Yet even that was not enough. The portal kept draining him, beyond mana, until it began to sap his very life force.
His skin started to wither, his body shriveling like a corpse drained of vitality. If it continued, he would soon become nothing more than a dry husk.
In that instant, between life and death, a white serpent suddenly shot forward and coiled itself tightly around him before burrowing into his body.
The portal flared with brilliant white light—the same glow that had brought him to the Himmapan Forest in the first place.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the human world.
But his powers—everything—were gone.
At first, Nawa believed his strength would eventually return. Back in the forest, he had often pushed himself past his limits, depleting his mana completely.
Each time, meditation techniques he learned from the sorcerer Alfor had allowed him to recover, drawing mana from the natural world until he was restored.
But this time was different. Days passed, and still—nothing. Not even a flicker of mana could he sense within himself.
Even so, Nawa did not dwell on it. Losing his powers was nothing compared to what he had gained. He was finally back.
Finally, he would see his family—his parents and younger brother—whom he had missed so dearly.
"Thank you," Nawa said to the taxi driver after paying nearly all the money he had.
He stepped out and walked down the familiar road. Five years had passed, yet the place looked almost the same as he remembered.
His eyes fell on a modest single-story house—typical of Bangkok's suburbs. Though small for a family of four with grown children, it radiated a warmth that filled his chest with joy just to behold.
He stopped before the house, staring at the front door only a few dozen feet away. It was nothing more than a plain wooden door with rough paint, lacking beauty by any standard. But to Nawa, it shone more splendidly than any palace gate in the world.
During all his years trapped in the Himmapan Forest, he had dreamed of this moment—the moment he would come home.
Taking a deep breath, calming himself as if to confirm this was no dream, he stepped toward the gate. Just as he reached to ring the bell, the door opened.
Standing there was not his family—but a middle-aged woman he did not know.
Ever since learning that five years had passed, Nawa had known, deep down, that things would not be the same. Yet he had clung to the hope that his parents still lived here, waiting. Reality struck harder than he imagined.
He asked the woman where his parents had gone.
But the answer only deepened his despair.She had purchased the house three years ago. She had no idea where his parents had moved.
These days, there were no phone booths anymore. Nawa borrowed her mobile phone to try calling them, only to find the world had changed. People no longer used phones the way he remembered.
Now, they wore small devices fitted snugly to the ear. With advanced AI and revolutionary technology, these devices replaced smartphones entirely.
Movies, music—even the internet itself—could be streamed directly into the mind. To contact someone, one only needed to think of them. No one remembered phone numbers anymore.
Nawa, who had faced tigers, man-eating tribes, and even the mythical Naga, had never felt despair as crushing as he did now. He wandered aimlessly through the streets until he found himself standing before his old high school.
Seeing it brought him a small comfort. The sight of the school gave him strength. Renewed, he resolved to begin searching for his parents the old-fashioned way—by asking people, one by one.
He walked for hours, stomach growling, until hunger forced him to seek food. Just then, something caught his eye.
Across the street, atop a row of shophouses, was a massive advertisement board. But it was unlike any he had ever seen—not even a giant TV screen.
The image projected from the board looked real, as though a living person was floating in the air—only many times larger than life.
It was a hyper-realistic hologram.
"The world is now entering a new era. More and more S-Rank players have been emerging. And today, we are honored to be joined by Adam White, a player from the United States—the first S-Rank player in history—who will speak about the current situation of players."
A female news anchor read the report on the holographic screen.
"S-Rank… huh?" Nawa muttered.
Players were ranked by their basic stats, from E all the way up to S.
The bank robber he had once encountered was only Rank D. That made it hard for Nawa to even imagine just how powerful an S-Rank player must be. Could one be even stronger than him back when he roamed the Himmapan Forest?
With nothing urgent to do, Nawa simply kept watching the hologram, which mostly showed news about players and stories related to The Oneness.
"The 39th Unique Artifact has now appeared. The guild that secured it was Manliver Guild from England. Blah blah…"
"Elder-grade Stewed Mammoth Meat in Chinese Herbs—50% off! Served with Professional-grade Ent Salad, at a special price until…"
Though the names sounded strange, the holographic images of the food looked so delicious that Nawa suddenly felt hungry. He had 1,500 baht on him—not much, but enough for a meal.
He stepped into a medium-sized shopping mall beneath a glowing advertisement board. But once inside, he realized it wasn't a mall at all—it was a massive restaurant.
"Excuse me, do you have a reservation?" asked a smiling waitress. Only upon closer inspection could one tell she was just an AI-generated hologram.
"N-No… I'm here for the first time," Nawa stammered. He had only been thinking of getting a simple meal, not dining at some grand restaurant.
"Oh, then you made the right choice! Our restaurant uses top-quality ingredients from The Oneness, prepared with our exceptional culinary skill. I guarantee that your basic stats will increase more than usual after eating. Many famous high-rank players are regulars here."
The waitress advertised smoothly, leaving no space for refusal.
But Nawa didn't stop her—because what she said intrigued him. This place used monster meat to prepare food, and each type of meat enhanced the body differently: some boosted speed, others defense.
These effects only applied to players, but even ordinary people came here, since monster meat tasted far better than the world's most expensive cuts.
"Well… since I finally made it back to the world, I might as well treat myself to something good."
Curious whether monster meat here would taste like what he had eaten in the Himmapan Forest, and since he still had some money left from the bank, Nawa decided to stay.
He didn't bother checking the menu and simply ordered a basic dish—rice topped with stir-fried basil. Soon, the food arrived… along with the bill.
When Nawa saw the amount, his eyes froze. His face went pale. Five years ago, a street dish like this cost only 50 baht.
Even at a restaurant, it shouldn't have exceeded 300. But the bill in front of him showed over 5,000 baht.
Panicked, Nawa quickly checked the menu—and his heart sank even further. Prices ranged from thousands to tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands. If he wasn't hallucinating, some dishes even reached into the millions.
At a loss for words, he realized it was his own fault for not checking before ordering.
If he had known the prices, he would've walked right out. In the end, he tried to return the dish. The restaurant agreed, but still charged him over 3,000 baht for wasted ingredients—far more than he could afford.
After a long scolding, the matter was settled: Nawa would work at the restaurant for one week to pay off the debt.
"Alright, change into uniform and start immediately. We happen to be short on dishwashers," the manager told him.
Behind the restaurant, the kitchen looked more like a factory. Staff wore protective outfits that covered their faces like lab technicians.
The kitchen equipment resembled industrial machines—necessary, since monster meat was far tougher than ordinary meat, requiring machinery to process.
Nawa worked until late evening. Dishwashing wasn't a job that required much strength, but he felt even more exhausted than after three days of hunting monsters in the Himmapan Forest.
"What's… happening to my body?" he gasped, collapsing to the floor.
His mana was gone, yes—but now he felt weaker than an ordinary human. If this continued…
As he pondered, a gentle voice called out behind him.
"Young man, are you alright? Do you need help?"
It sounded like an old woman. To anyone else, it was ordinary. But to Nawa, it was more divine than the combined voices of all the gods of Olympus.
His heart pounded. He turned toward the voice—and tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Mother!"
Nawa cried out, forgetting himself. All his exhaustion vanished in an instant.
For Pim, it was like her soul left her body. The son she had thought dead suddenly stood before her. It was beyond any dream—she went numb, unable to speak, only able to cry. Nawa too.
Their emotions were beyond words. Even the wealthiest person alive could not buy such happiness.
After a long embrace, Nawa asked about his father.
"Your father…" Pim started, then fell silent.
"Why won't you answer? Don't tell me he's…" Nawa froze when his mother put a finger to his lips.
"Don't say that. Your father's fine. After work, I'll take you to him," she said.
Nawa returned to dishwashing, overflowing with joy. At last, he had his mother back, and soon he would see his father too. The meal he couldn't afford and the humiliation he endured now seemed like the best decision of his life.
When his shift ended, Pim also finished work.
"Where's Dad?" Nawa asked eagerly.
"Not far from here," Pim replied, her brows furrowed with worry.
She led him past the school and across the street. The direction made Nawa uneasy.
"Is Dad in the hospital?" he asked.
"Yes. He's still there," she answered.
"What happened to him?"
"He's not sick. You'll understand when we get there. But first—tell me, where have you been?" she asked, gently stroking his hair like he was still her little boy.
Nawa didn't tell her the truth.
She already carried too much burden. She didn't need to know about the Himmapan Forest. Instead, he said he had been in a plane crash the day he disappeared, and after waking up in the forest, amnesia kept him away for five years. Only now had he remembered enough to return home.
Pim didn't press. Just having him back was more than enough. Many times, she pinched herself, half-expecting it to be a dream.
"You've survived a disaster, my son. Just coming back is the greatest joy of my life," Pim said through tears.
At the hospital, Nawa finally understood. His father was not ill, nor injured—he was simply asleep. But he had been sleeping for years, in a state known as "Sleeping Beauty Syndrome."
The condition affected one in a hundred thousand, first appearing five years ago after teleportation gates were built. Experts concluded it was connected to The Oneness.
So far, no cure existed.
"Someday, your father will wake up," Pim whispered.
Nawa stared at his father's still form, eyes heavy with resolve. He silently swore to find a cure.
He then asked about his younger brother, who should now be around 17 or 18.
"Thosana? He's probably home already," Pim answered wearily.
When they reached home, Nawa understood her tone. Thos was pushing a cart full of neatly sorted garbage—items collected for resale. It was a pitiful sight, unfitting for a bright young man who should have been enjoying youth.
"Brother?" Thos cried, as if seeing a ghost, before rushing forward to hug Nawa tightly, like a child. Nawa hugged him back, and soon the three of them were locked in tears of reunion.
"I'm home, Thos. I'm really home," Nawa repeated again and again. At last, he truly felt like he had returned. His own frailty no longer mattered.
Their "home" was a tiny rental room with no bedroom, just a cramped kitchen and bathroom. Smaller than the dorm Nawa had lived in during university. Too small for three people. The room was also filled with scraps Thos had collected.
"Don't worry, Mother. I'm back now. I've graduated too. I'll work hard and earn enough so you won't have to suffer anymore," Nawa promised.
"I'm not suffering. Old people need something to do, so we won't be lonely," Pim said, trying to ease his heart.
"Thos, you'll go back to school. Tomorrow, I'll find a job with my engineering degree. Soon I'll earn enough to support your studies," Nawa added, patting his brother's head.
"Aw, it's just a hobby, Brother. You know I love building things out of scraps," Thos replied, smiling.
For the first time in years, Nawa truly felt at home. But then, everything faded to black, as if someone had switched him off.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself floating above his own unconscious body. Below, his mother and brother sat at his side.
"Mother… will Brother end up like Father?" Thos asked, worry in his voice.
"No, he's just exhausted. Don't say such things," Pim scolded gently, though her eyes betrayed her fear.
Nawa desperately tried to re-enter his body, but nothing worked. Soon, the scene vanished, replaced by the image of a colossal black serpent swimming in the void. He recognized it instantly—it was the Naga guarding the Rainbow Cave.
Then, an old man handed him a massive egg, as big as an ostrich egg. He devoured it hungrily. The old man stroked his head with kindness. Nawa knew that face—it was Alfor, the wizard who had once saved his life in the Himmapan Forest.
The vision shifted again. Now he saw a colossal golden city, gleaming like paradise. But instead of peace, it was engulfed in flames, collapsing as if in the midst of an apocalyptic war.
Lightning storms, firestorms, hurricanes—the battlefield stretched endlessly. Countless monsters clashed with radiant warriors whose bodies glowed with terrifying auras. Both sides wielded godlike power.
And strangest of all—it wasn't just a vision. Nawa was part of it. No, he was the enormous white serpent wreaking havoc. With a single movement, mountains crumbled. With a single bite, mighty warriors perished by the hundreds.
Suddenly, a colossal thunderbird descended from the heavens to fight him. Nawa knew it—the divine form of Zeus, whom he had once seen in the Himmapan Forest.
Their battle unleashed destruction across everything in sight.
As the serpent, Nawa opened his jaws, unleashing what seemed like a miniature sun. At the same time, the thunderbird spread its wings wide, summoning tens of thousands of lightning bolts that fused into a sphere of thunder capable of obliterating the world.
The two ultimate attacks collided. A blinding light consumed everything—then silence.
When Nawa awoke, he saw his mother and brother asleep beside him, clearly exhausted from watching over him all night.
Was it a dream? No—it felt like a memory. But he told himself to stop overthinking.
The only reality he needed to focus on was right here: his mother and brother. With renewed determination, he gazed at them, silently vowing to protect his family.