Fellow players or "Shadow existers"

William slowly opened his eyes.The Quantum Phase Tube was gone.All around him was unfamiliar.

The floor was made of neatly stacked stone.The walls were clay, not concrete.Not a single piece of modern equipment in sight.

“Where... am I?” he wondered.

“You're finally awake, huh?”An old man's voice echoed through the room.

William turned toward the sound.An elderly man with a long beard stood nearby.

“Who are you?” William asked.

“Name’s Dion Franklin. One of the players in Beyond of Astrall,” the old man explained calmly.

“You're a player?” William blinked in disbelief.“I’ve never seen an old guy playing this game before.”

“Then tell me—what year were you born?” Dion asked.

“October 12th, 2983,” William replied.

“Oh, and your name?”

“William Harvey.”

Dion flinched inwardly.The person who had caused the tragedy… was the very same one he had just saved.But there was no undoing it—Dadang had brought him here, and Dion owed him.

“I’m only two years older than you,” Dion said.

“Hah, you’ve got to be kidding me!” William raised an eyebrow.“Then what’s the name of the lab that made the Quantum Phase Tube?”

That question struck Dion with bitter irony.

He wanted to laugh, but his heart tightened instead.

That name brought back memories.Memories of the day everything changed.

He had been attacked by a monster.He had prayed the device would work.

And it did.

Just not the way he hoped.

He didn’t wake up back home.Instead, he woke up in this world.A place he’d thought was just a game.

And then he realized the truth—The Quantum Phase Tube wasn’t a game device.It was a branching machine, one that forcibly cracked open the fabric of reality.

And the worst part?The person who caused all of this... didn’t even know.

“I don’t know whether to laugh or scream!” Dion snapped.“The lab was QTE, in collaboration with a massive game corporation called Fure Fantastic!”

William paused.That name... it was real.So this old man really was a player.

“Then... why do you look this old?” William asked.

“I hate the one who dragged me into this world,” Dion answered coldly.“Even though time passes the same as in our original world… the location—and even how we arrive—is all based on probability.”

“I get what you’re saying about the location being random,” William nodded.“But you said it’s not just the location?”

“That’s right,” Dion continued.“Our physical appearance can be altered too. Completely different from how we looked back home.”

“You mean... some players might not even appear as humans here?” William asked.

“Exactly.”

“I hope they’re okay,” William said, quietly.

“Hah,” Dion sneered.“The cause of the tragedy is wishing for others’ safety? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Wait… cause of the tragedy?” William tilted his head.

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Dion barked, eyes sharp.“If you hadn’t promoted that damn game and the device, none of us—especially me—would be stuck here!”

“Hey, look,” William argued.“I’m a victim here too!”

“I’m only forgiving you because of my condition,” Dion growled.

“You mean... you wouldn’t forgive me otherwise?”

Dion didn’t answer.

He simply summoned a glowing magic circle beneath his feet—blue and gold, with three stars arranged in a ring—and began walking toward the door.

“Random spread of the nest.”

And then—He vanished.

William had heard the incantation.He had seen the magical environment that Dion activated.

A dangerous curiosity sparked in his mind.He wanted to copy it.

But he didn’t know…That magic in this world worked like encryption—Highly unstable, with more than 8 googol possible outcomes.

And copying someone’s magic... could create chaos.

Unaware of this, William raised his hand and imitated Dion’s sigil.

“Random spread of the nest,” he whispered.

The air responded.

A dark mist coiled before him.From it emerged a staff—its head shaped like a dragon’s skull.

“…Huh? That’s not right,” William tilted his head.

He stood up and reached for the staff.

“Sondro kolo willadun sang hyang Sudro,” the staff spoke aloud.“Lang dedemit Sangko wijo LAN rupo Yo mati, LAN loro Yo mati engkang ngesor demit Somo.”

A massive magic circle exploded into being, darker and far more complex than anything before.It pulsed with black and violet light.

A thunderbolt shot down from the sky.

The Lindru Temple—obliterated in an instant.

Everyone inside lost consciousness.Only Shadow Existers remained standing.

Even Dadang, far from the temple, was struck by the backlash.

“No... way...” he muttered from a distance.“The seal of Sidran Gasra... it’s broken...”

Pain wracked his body.Even his breath escaped from places it shouldn't have.

Back at the ruins—Dion had returned, and he saw everything.

His whole body trembled in fear.His lungs refused to breathe.

“W-William… did you do this?” he stammered.

William, still shaking, nodded slowly.

“You absolute idiot!” Dion snapped.“You tried to copy my magic, didn’t you?!”

Unable to speak, William nodded again.

“First you cause the tragedy back home,” Dion cursed, “and now you’re starting one here?!”

He glared at the staff floating in the air.

He recognized it.He feared it.

That staff was one of the Eight Dark Artifacts:Sidran Gasra—the weapon of a tyrant king.

Sealing it had been nearly impossible.

Though Dion wasn’t the one who sealed it,He once encountered a fragment of its power—Just one-millionth of the original’s might—And it nearly killed him a second time.

He was only saved by someone stronger…Even then, it was a miracle.

“Listen to me, William!” Dion shouted.“Don’t ever copy my magic again—not mine, not anyone’s!”

William nodded again.

“Oh, done talking already?”The staff spoke up, voice filled with sarcasm.“If I weren’t an artifact, I’d have fallen asleep from boredom.”

Dion glared.A new magic circle ignited beneath him—Blue and glowing with vibrant orange threads.

“Trying to fight me?” the staff laughed.“Hilarious. You weaklings think you can win?”

“Dimensional Barrier of the Eclipse Antidemon!” Dion roared.

“Pathetic,” the staff mocked.“Go look in a mirror, you fool. You’re not even worth breaking a sweat over.”

The light around the staff vanished—As if the staff itself had consumed the spell.

If it were human, it would’ve spat on the ground.

“Too weak~” the staff jeered.“If you wanna attack me, at least bring something decent.”

Dion’s magic circle shattered.In its place, a new one formed—belonging to the staff.

It was far more complex.Six colors spiraled within it—while human mages could only handle three, and Shadow Existers up to five.

“Sang Durga Adi mumpuk eng Segoro,” the staff chanted.“Tresno dadi loro arep panjer murka Dunya eng LAN jagat Sidro kala.”

The staff floated upward—

And then vanished without a trace.