Chapter Twenty-Two: A New World (Please Recommend and Add to Favorites!)

In the morning, the academy’s teleportation array was unusually lively. Normally, the array was reserved for use by the faculty, but on rare occasions like this—missions to explore new worlds—students were granted temporary access. After all, even the most barren of new worlds was a precious resource.

Lando donned his self-forged armor and greatsword. It was worth noting that he had spent nearly all his accumulated credits to acquire a special alloy for the armor—lightweight, yet remarkably tough and with good resistance to magic. On his wrist was a brand-new storage bracelet. He had left Little White, despite its storage capabilities, back in his dormitory; Lando had his share of secrets and preferred to avoid unnecessary trouble. Fortunately, this was allowed—after all, once you had your own intelligent core, the academy-issued one had to be surrendered. Having one’s own secrets was not a bad thing for an arcanist.

Aside from Lando and a supervising teacher, four others were present: two young women—one with short hair and large, lively eyes, the other with long, straight black hair and an icy demeanor. The two clearly knew each other, whispering quietly together, and every now and then the short-haired girl would burst into clear, ringing laughter. The other two were young men, both under twenty, each trying to outdo the other in coolness. If not for their furtive glances at the girls, one might have thought them solitary types.

As Lando considered greeting the young man nearest him, that very person seemed to notice and deliberately stepped away, leaving Lando awkwardly standing in place.

Fortunately, the supervising teacher stepped forward at that moment and said, “So, you five are the ones assigned to this exploration mission? I won’t repeat the general instructions. I’ll just say this: because the world node hasn’t been locked, your teleportation will be entirely random. We can only guarantee that you’ll arrive somewhere on the surface of the new world—the exact location depends on luck.”

He looked at the five, and, seeing their nods, continued, “You have one month for your exploration. Wear these bracelets at all times. Don’t worry, they only monitor your health and allow for emergency recall. If you encounter irresistible danger, you can activate the bracelet to return instantly to the academy. But be warned: if you activate the return within the month, for any reason, the mission is considered a failure. You’ll receive no reward and will have credits deducted from your supply for the coming year. These bracelets are costly to make, after all.”

In reality, crafting such world-jumping bracelets cost far more than just resources. In some lesser schools, these were reserved as life-saving tools for core disciples. Only a school like Silver Tower could afford to issue one to every student on a mission.

Of course, to prevent reckless use, penalties were necessary.

“Someone will retrieve you in a month. Any questions?”

The short-haired girl’s eyes flashed as she raised her hand: “Sir, if teleportation is so dangerous, why not just send us over by spaceship? That would at least avoid the initial uncertainty, wouldn’t it?”

The teacher glanced at her and replied blandly, “Good question, but I won’t answer it. Figure it out yourself.”

The girl was so exasperated by his dismissive tone that she was nearly in tears, then shot a fierce glare at Lando, who had let slip a quiet laugh. Lando, caught in the crossfire, could only rub his nose in embarrassment, unable to withstand the force of her gaze.

“All right, if there are no further questions, prepare to depart,” the teacher said. At his gesture, the five stepped into the teleportation array. The two girls gripped each other's hands tightly, as if that would ensure they arrived together. If not for the short-haired girl's fierce glare, Lando might have tried the same.

A flash of light, and the five vanished. Lando’s vision went black, and he knew nothing more.

The supervising teacher stared suspiciously at the array. “The coordinates are correct, so why is the teleportation fluctuation like that? The energy expenditure even exceeded the threshold. Strange…”

...

Let us turn back the clock… three months earlier.

In the void, a silver streak flashed by—a reconnaissance timespace shuttle, marked with the emblem of Silver Tower, signifying it as an explorer on a mission for the Silver Tower school.

Inside, the explorer was… playing a virtual game. After all, void exploration was mind-numbingly dull, and the standard-issue shuttle could handle most routine tasks.

Suddenly, the shuttle shuddered, jolting the explorer from his gaming reverie. Checking the data, he realized he had stumbled upon a new world. Although some of the data seemed off, he was eager to return to his game and didn’t pay much attention. The specifics of exploration would be handled by others anyway. He simply transmitted the coordinates to Silver Tower and turned his focus back to the game.

A month later, five exploration teams were successively teleported to this newly discovered world. Energy density, power system structure, historical changes, a rough map—after running through the standard procedures, the teams returned, each marking their report with “minimal value.”

Another month passed, and the repeat exploration mission was added to the Silver Tower Academy task board. It was then that a handsome, valiant youth—Lando—accepted the mission.

...

In the new world, above a forest, a black vortex suddenly opened and Lando was hurled violently out, crashing to the ground.

Dazed and dizzy, he struggled to his feet, letting out a long sigh of relief. If not for the protective effect of the teleportation, he would have been in real trouble at his current strength.

“Teleporting without a locked world node is too unreliable,” he muttered, still attributing the mishap to the lack of a fixed coordinate in this new world.

He stretched, making sure he wasn’t injured, then retrieved a metal box from his bracelet. The top half was clear glass, the lower half fitted with five shuttle-shaped devices. In short, it was a drone reconnaissance device—just a little more advanced than those of his previous life.

Upon activation, the five explorer drones shot off, and a crisp three-dimensional image appeared on the screen. Lando took out his map and began to compare his position.

After a while, he put the map away, expressionless, making up his mind to file a complaint at the first opportunity against those lazy, overpaid explorers.

Surveying the now fully mapped area, he sighed and could only pick a random direction to begin his journey.