Shared Destiny

“You’re really strange, you know that?”

“You clearly have no magic power, yet you managed to defeat a Tier Two low-level monster—the Giant Wolf Spider… are you even human?”

On the way back, Lulu kept looking Ye Yousheng up and down, unable to hide her curiosity.

His body looked no different from that of an ordinary person.

And yet—

He had taken down what was known as a “newbie killer.”

And not just one.

Three of them in one go.

The Giant Wolf Spider was often the first large monster new adventurers encountered.

It possessed immense strength, sharp vision, and the ability to spit silk to restrain its prey.

It could swing multiple limbs at once.

Most beginners either failed to dodge its attacks or were overwhelmed by the sheer force of its massive body.

This was where technique became crucial.

That was why many adventurers, after reaching Tier Two and shedding their “rookie” status, would begin honing their combat techniques against large monsters—

Refining them into actual “skills.”

At the same time, they would form teams to improve their survival chances.

But Ye Yousheng had done the exact opposite.

Not only did he face those large monsters alone—

He actually won.

And judging from his condition, he hadn’t even been injured.

The blood on him was blue and green.

None of it was his own.

A person with zero magic power fighting three Giant Wolf Spiders at once—

And coming out completely unharmed?

To Lulu, it was the most absurd thing she had ever seen.

She pinched her chin, repeatedly glancing back at him while muttering to herself.

“Could it be that you can actually use magic?”

“No… there’s still no magical fluctuation around you…”

“There’s not even a trace of elemental presence nearby…”

“Are you… being rejected by the elements?”

“Why do they avoid you so much?”

Ye Yousheng had long grown used to such astonished looks.

He didn’t feel awkward at all.

But when Lulu mentioned “Tier Two,” he asked casually,

“Tier Two… monsters have ranks too?”

Earlier, when he checked his status panel, he had noticed the words “Second Tier” in parentheses next to his level.

It seemed to be a different way of classifying strength—

More like a broader stage than a precise level.

“Yeah, monsters are ranked just like the power system of the Mysterious Continent—from Tier One to Tier Ten.”

“But I’ve never seen anything above Tier Six.”

“Maybe those terrifying monsters exist deep inside certain dungeons…”

“Tier One to Tier Ten…”

Then at over Level 20, he was in the Second Tier.

Would Level 100 correspond to Tier Ten?

That didn’t quite add up…

Would Levels 1–10 be Tier Zero then?

But Lulu clearly said there was no such thing as Tier Zero.

He still couldn’t determine how many levels made up a tier.

To figure it out—

He needed a reference.

And conveniently, there was one right in front of him.

Ye Yousheng stared fixedly at Lulu’s small figure like a suspicious old man plotting something.

<Skill [Observe] has leveled up. Current level: Lv2>

During the earlier battle, he had used Observe on six goblins and three Giant Wolf Spiders—a total of nine times.

This was the tenth.

The skill had reached its experience cap and leveled up.

Like character levels, skill levels were easy to increase at first, but would become harder later.

Right now, ten uses were enough.

Later, it might take dozens—or even hundreds.

Name: Lulu Inbas

Class: Archmage

Gender: Female

Race: Hobbit

Age: 349

Level: Lv88 (Fifth Tier)

HP: 1450/1450

MP: 52100/53000

After leveling up, the skill revealed more detailed information.

Not just HP—

But MP as well.

Her HP was about six times his.

Her MP, however, was shocking—

Over fifty thousand.

And most importantly—

Her level.

Eighty-eight.

Incredibly high.

Yet even so, she was only in the Fifth Tier—

Not the Eighth.

Thinking this through, Ye Yousheng unconsciously muttered,

“Level 88 is only Fifth Tier… so roughly 20 levels per tier…”

“Then Tier Six would be above Level 100…”

“Hm? What?”

“How do you know I’m Fifth Tier?”

Lulu’s sharp hearing didn’t miss a single word.

She turned around and questioned him.

There was no need to hide it.

“Using the skill ‘Observe.’”

“It lets me see certain information about a target.”

“For example, I can even see that you’re 349 years old.”

“Whoa, so that’s your goddess-given talent skill?”

“Basically a free ‘Appraisal’ skill you can use anytime, huh? Pretty convenient.”

“But honestly, not that useful.”

“Skills that can protect your life are way more important.”

“You can just use Appraisal to get enemy info anyway.”

“Oh right—if I use Appraisal on you, I might be able to figure out why you have no magic.”

“I didn’t bring any appraisal scrolls, but I should still have some at home.”

Lulu seemed to have mistaken [Observe] for a divine talent skill.

Which, to be fair, wasn’t entirely wrong.

Ye Yousheng himself hadn’t realized that [Observe] was actually tied to his unique ability—”Game Life.”

“Appraisal? What kind of skill is that?”

“It’s similar to your talent.”

“It lets you obtain certain information about a target.”

“Stuff like HP and MP only became widely known because of this skill.”

“Almost all adventurers use Appraisal now.”

“But it requires an appraisal scroll, and you have to physically touch the target.”

“So it’s useless in combat.”

“Oh, and this magic was invented by Travelers like you.”

“You people from other worlds really come up with the wildest ideas.”

“I see.”

That explained it.

Terms like HP, MP, and skills—

Things that felt straight out of a game—

Existed because of Appraisal.

And that skill had been created by other Travelers.

Probably someone who loved games, saw this fantasy world, and couldn’t resist recreating those systems.

But Lulu’s next sentence completely shattered his calm.

“And they even brought the concept of ‘science’—something completely different from magic.”

“S-Science?!”

Ye Yousheng never imagined he would hear that word in another world.

But then again—

There were a thousand Travelers.

Even if just one of them was a scientist, it would be enough to drastically change the world.

“Yeah, although it couldn’t start from scratch, so it merged with magic and became magitech.”

“Thanks to you people, we even have strategic weapons like magic railguns now.”

Lulu spoke with clear sarcasm and disdain.

“It’s because of you all that the royal capital turned into such a mess.”

“That’s why I left the magic academy.”

“I’m… sorry.”

Thinking that people like him had disrupted this world—

Ye Yousheng felt a sense of guilt.

He hated the idea of disturbing someone else’s world for personal desires.

“Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault.”

“It’s those greedy people’s fault.”

“And besides, thanks to your knowledge, we now have things like teleportation arrays and projection crystal orbs.”

“There’ve also been major breakthroughs in space and time magic—fields that were once taboo.”

“So it’s not all bad.”

He understood she was trying to comfort him.

So he shook off the gloom and smiled.

“Thanks, Lulu.”

“…”

For some reason, Lulu’s heartbeat suddenly sped up at his smile.

To hide her embarrassment, she quickly took something out of her pocket and handed it to him, turning her head away.

“Oh, right—this is yours, isn’t it? Here.”

“This is…”

“I found it next to you.”

“I think it’s called a ‘phone,’ right?”

“Yeah… it’s my phone.”

Ye Yousheng took the smartphone, his heart filled with emotion.

Before coming to this world—

He had answered a strange call.

And now, somehow, this phone had crossed over with him.

Perhaps—

It was the only thing left that connected him to his past.

“The one I saw before could be flipped open, and it had weird raised symbols on it.”

“Yours is much prettier.”

“The surface looks like crystal.”

“You’ve seen a phone before?”

From her description, it sounded like an old flip phone.

Which meant—

Travelers came from different eras.

“Yeah, a friend showed it to me once.”

“Oh… where is that friend now?”

If he could meet another Traveler, maybe he could learn more about this world.

Right now, he was still completely clueless.

But Lulu’s answer caught him off guard.

“She’s dead.”

“…What?”

“That was during the last Heaven-Mending War.”

“There can only be one victor.”

“Out of a thousand Travelers, only one survives.”

“She… didn’t make it.”

Lulu lowered her head, her bangs covering her eyes.

“I see…”

Only one.

Even if he refused to participate—

He would still be dragged into it eventually.

Until the last one remained.

The sole victor.

This—

Was the fate shared by all one thousand Travelers.

To fight for their wishes—

Until only one was left alive.