Seducing the Guideverse With My System — Raising an Anomaly [BL]

Hours.

Ambrose had been patiently waltzing through the endless desert sands for hours now.

Two to be exact.

During this time, he’s patiently followed the guidance of the black mask in finding the black key. There was no psychic map or radar, like he had first thought.

Just a faint tug in his chest that only got stronger the more he moved in a certain direction. Anytime he strayed even a little from this path, the tug would fade away like it was never there to begin with.

So he was careful not to stray.

[Someone looks deathly dehydrated.]

"Oh, wow." he could barely push out those words, panting as he wiped sweat off his forehead. "I would’ve never guessed. Thanks for the heads-up, Miss Obvious."

He placed a hand over his eyes, holding back from whimpering. "Fucking fuck. Isn’t there nighttime in this hell pit?"

[Interesting. The celestial mechanics of this world are... unconventional. Based on my observations, its twin suns provide near-continuous daylight across most of the planet.]

"It would’ve been really helpful," he bit out, "if you could channel those scanning skills into helping with my search. Don’t you think?"

[Sure. Let me just...] Aura flashed a screen in front of his face.

For a second, Ambrose’s eyes lit up with expectation.

Until the screen’s loading bar glitched. Then a huge red ’ERROR’ sign flashed in his face, making him smile bitterly.

[In case I haven’t been deathly clear, sweetness, my scanning—]

"Yeah, yeah. Can’t help in finding the black key because of dimensional interference or whatever." Ambrose rolled his eyes, his gaze trailing to the dunes ahead again. "Whatever. I have a feeling I’m getting close anyway."

He kept on moving.

Even when the winds blew more harshly, sending sharp swirls of sand at his face, he bore through it—pushing forward with one thought only.

Every step he took meant he was getting closer to finding his way back home.

Another twenty minutes or so must’ve passed. He didn’t know if it was delirium beginning to wear on him, but he noticed something far ahead.

"What the..." Ambrose paused, raising his head as he took in the colossal structure.

A massive black monolith in the middle of the desert, stretching tens of literal kilometres into the cloudless sky. The land around it was devoid of the usual sand, instead covered in ash and volcanic ash.

[That’s odd.]

’What?’ Ambrose was still in awe, his chest rising and falling.

He felt so... tiny before the mega structure, even though he was still hundreds of meters away.

[It doesn’t appear to be a volcano despite the ash surrounding it. Yet I’m detecting seismic activity beneath the structure that would normally be associated with one.]

Ambrose’s eyes narrowed.

He’d just taken a step forward to continue moving when suddenly, the mask flared on his face.

"Argh." He doubled over, clutching its searing hot surface. "W-What’s happening?"

His eyelids fluttered erratically.

That’s when realisation struck him.

The tug at his chest ached almost painfully. Like there was a rope connected between it and something he desperately needed to get.

It was too fucking good to be true.

"T-The black key." Excitement washed through him, so raw that he almost dropped to his knees. "It’s here."

★★★★★

Inside the Purple Rift.

As hidden and secure as the elves’ pocket dimension was, Trinity and the other Hunters couldn’t sit around and watch while their world was threatened.

That’s why the air around the side of the purple Rift within the dungeon rippled. Several figures appeared before the fissure in space-time.

The silver light surrounding them slowly dissipated, revealing Trinity, the Hunters and a few elves, including the elven princess.

"She did it." The captain shuddered with pure relief, brushing two hands to the back of her hair. "She teleported us back to the Rift."

The elven princess walked over to her side, adjusting her bow. "I believe this is for the best." A small smile played at the corner of her lips. "You’ll have the time to see your loved ones again. Before the Devourer makes a move."

An apologetic light flashed in her eyes. "Once again, I’m sorry your friend wasn’t able to get here with you for this."

A few of the Hunters still held a lot of resentment toward the elves for Mason’s death.

Yet at the same time, most of them, like Trinity, finally understood why they were so feral at the beginning. These people had lost almost everything.

They were only fighting to protect the scraps they had left.

"Uhm," the Earth Esper rubbed the back of his neck. "Does anyone else know why the Rift is purple now, though? It wasn’t like this when we—"

"Tch. Who fucking cares?" Corbin brushed past the man before he could finish, his grin stretching from ear to ear as he drew closer. "When we get to the other side we can find out all about—"

The second he made contact with the Rift’s membranous energy, all hell broke loose. A ravenous force clenched around his body like a monster’s claw.

He gasped, stiffening. Then came the pain. Agony, unlike anything he’s ever felt in his life, shot through his body from the inside out.

"AHH—!" A choked scream that had no business coming out of his vocal cords was all he managed to let out.

Then the ravenous force pulled, ripping off his skin, then his flesh and then his bones, organs and everything else down to the last atom.

Crimson sprayed into the air in a matter of two seconds. By the time it was over, no one in the group could even point out what happened.

That’s how fast it was.

One second, Corbin was all smiles, about to cross the Rift. The next there was nothing but little droplets of blood in his place, blowing into the cruel wind.

Trinity’s knees buckled.

Even the Elven Princess’ mouth was parted, refusing to close for a few seconds.

"What," the stocky Earth Esper was the first to find his voice, "the fuck just happened?"

★★★★★

Ambrose practically sprinted the remaining distance.

The tug inside his chest had stopped feeling like guidance now. It had become anticipation.

Each step over the blackened earth sent tiny clouds of ash swirling around his boots as the colossal monolith towered over him, casting a shadow so immense that the scorching heat finally lessened.

It had to be here.

The closer he got, the more violently the mask reacted, humming softly against his face until the vibration travelled through his skull.

Then... He saw it.

He actually saw it!

Nestled at the foot of the monolith rested the black key, still in the same way he remembered it.

Ambrose forgot how to breathe. "Found you."

For a brief, beautiful second, the nightmare was over.

He broke into a run without thinking twice.

However, just when he got ten meters away from reaching the key—

BOOOOOOM!

The ground convulsed beneath him with enough force to throw him sideways.

"What the—?!"

A deafening crack ripped through the landscape as the earth split open directly beneath the monolith.

The key tipped into the widening ravine.

Without thinking, Ambrose lunged. "No!"

His body left the ground as he threw himself across the opening. Fingertips barely grazed the falling artefact before his entire hand wrapped around it.

"Got you!" The momentum almost carried him into the abyss alongside it.

His free hand slammed against the crumbling edge while every muscle in his body screamed.

With a guttural yell, he hauled himself back onto solid ground.

He lay there for several long seconds, chest heaving as black ash drifted gently around him.

Slowly, a chuckle left his mouth before becoming full-blown hysterical laughter.

"I actually..." he gasped between breaths. "I actually bloody found it."

The smooth black key rested safely in his palm, warm to the touch as though it possessed its own heartbeat.

Several blue windows immediately burst into existence.

[HiddenMissionCompleted: Locate the Black Key.]

[REWARD: 3,000 EP.]

[Host’sTotalEP: 35,000.]

Ambrose stared blankly. "Three thousand?"

Silence.

"...THREE THOUSAND?!" He looked up at the sky. "I crossed dimensions! Nearly died of dehydration! Got chased by the Void Entity. And this is all I get?!"

Aura coughed awkwardly.

[Every little point helps. Right?]

He pinched the bridge of his nose before letting out one exhausted sigh. "Fine." His shoulders relaxed. "I suppose thirty-five thousand gets me closer to evolving."

He finally stood, gripping the key tightly before extending it into the empty air. Symbols covering its surface ignited.

Space folded.

A perfectly black doorway slowly unfolded before him, revealing nothing beyond except swirling darkness.

His heart leapt. "Home..." The word had barely escaped his lips when every instinct in his body froze.

The air changed.

Something impossibly vast was approaching. Ambrose turned just enough to look over his shoulder.

Far across the ash plains, the Void Entity floated toward him.

It was moving faster than he’d ever seen before, the endless darkness surrounding its body distorting the very landscape in its wake.

Its attention wasn’t on him or the key... but on the door he’d just opened.

"Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!"

Without another second’s hesitation, Ambrose shoved the Black Key into his pocket and threw himself through the portal.

The doorway snapped shut behind him.

He stumbled several steps before catching himself.

"E-Earth?"

Silence answered him.

Slowly, Ambrose raised his head.

Ruined buildings stretched as far as the eyes could see.

Broken towers pierced the horizon.

A crimson sky hung overhead, dominated by a blazing blood-red sun that bathed the abandoned city in an eerie scarlet glow.

"...Well," he muttered weakly. "This is definitely not Earth."

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