After confirming no one else chose to withdraw, the leading Eighth Level Wizard in the air nodded slightly.

"Good."

He said no more, simply raising his hand and gently waving toward the void behind him.

In an instant, the simulated sky above everyone parted to the sides like a curtain, revealing the deep and boundless starry sky outside.

In the backdrop of that starry sky, a massive, dark, edge-twisting, ominously suction-emanating circular space rift silently hovered there, like a giant beast’s eye staring at all the wizards who were ready to depart.

"Go!"

The Eighth Level Wizard’s voice was like a grand bell, resonating throughout the Ship Plane:

"Depart!"

...

...

"Jeming, get up and eat! If you don’t get up, you’ll be late for school!!"

The familiar female voice, hastily penetrating through the door, forcibly dragged Jeming out of his chaotic slumber.

He sat up somewhat dazed, rubbed his eyes, the sunlight outside the window was somewhat dazzling.

His brain felt like it was enveloped in a thin veil, his thoughts sticky and sluggish.

He instinctively grabbed the clothes beside the bed—a seemingly ordinary teen casual outfit, mechanically put them on, then wobbled to open the bedroom door and walked into the living room.

The air was filled with the aroma of food.

His mother, wearing an apron, was bringing the last plate of stir-fried greens to the table.

His father, as usual, sat in his designated chair, eyes focused on the ultra-thin TV screen mounted on the wall, where the news anchor’s precise and round voice was coming from:

"...The military spokesperson confirmed yesterday that the Seventh Mixed Fleet successfully captured the third jump node on the outer rim of the ’Charon’ star system, dealing a serious blow to the alien creatures... Next is our station’s news feed, City Hall calls on citizens to actively participate in the ’Clean Beach’ volunteer activity, registration opens today..."

Fleet battle... Clean Beach?

The mixture of two completely different pieces of information made Jeming’s head feel even dizzier.

He shook his head and walked toward the bathroom.

The icy water splashing on his face brought a momentary clarity, but that eerie sense of discord still lingered.

The scene before his eyes, his mother’s voice, the news content... everything carried an indescribable familiarity yet seemed unclear as though seen through frosted glass.

He always felt like he had forgotten something very important.

"Hurry up, Jeming! The soy milk will get cold!" His mother’s voice came again.

Jeming wiped his face with a towel and sat at the dining table.

Before him lay a typical homemade breakfast: golden fried dough sticks, milky white soy milk, and two plates of emerald green stir-fried vegetables.

"Eat more, today is your first day of university reporting, be spirited." His mother chattered, picking up a dough stick for him.

His father finally shifted his gaze from the news, glanced at Jeming, and spoke plainly: "Listen to your mother, don’t be late."

Jeming mumbled in response, lowered his head, and began chewing the food.

The taste was quite normal, just like the family often had.

The family chatted casually at the table, topics ranged from neighborly relationships, the weather, news, and reminders about his university life.

Jeming subconsciously echoed them, as though all this had been repeated countless times.

After the meal, Jeming returned to his room, began packing his school bag.

Brand new textbooks, stationery... everything seemed orderly.

Just then, the doorbell "ding-dong" rang.

Followed by his mother’s footsteps, the sound of the door opening, and then her surprised voice: "Ah, it’s Little Ai and Little Vi! Come in, come in!"

She turned her head to shout inside: "Jeming! Hurry up, Little Ai and Little Vi have come to take you to school!"

Outside came two young voices.

A clear female voice greeted with a laugh.

The other male voice corrected with a bit of helpless seriousness: "Aunt, my name is Victor, not Vi."

Jeming was still immersed in the eerie feeling of having seemingly forgotten something, he lifted his school bag, ambled out of the room, told his parents "I’m leaving", and then headed to the door.

At the doorway stood a boy and a girl.

The girl’s smile was radiant, it was Amy.

The boy’s expression was slightly solemn, it was Victor.

"Ha! Jeming! So slow!" Amy said with a laugh.

Jeming looked at them, almost instinctively, as he had countless times in the past, greeted them:

"Good morning, Amy, Victor."

The two naturally responded to him.

However, the moment this greeting fell...

Boom!

Jeming felt as though his brain was struck by an invisible hammer hard!

All the chaos and stickiness shattered in an instant!

He froze on the spot, pupils constricting sharply, as though witnessing the most incredible scene in the world, stared hard at the two people in front of him!

Amy?! Victor?!

They... weren’t they already... dead?!!

Why were they standing here alive?

And became his classmates?

Come to take him to university?!

No!!!

Even more wrong is himself!!!

Why did he blend into this scene so naturally?!

Like a real ordinary student waking up, eating, getting ready for school?!

He even thought for a moment just now that all of this was normal!

He wasn’t a university student! He was Jeming! A wizard!

A Third Level Wizard from Star Ring Federation Nolun Academy, here to participate in the Plane War!

He possessed cultivation of the Nascent Soul Realm, he had Purgatory Sulfur Plane, he had a Black Giant Legion!

As the memory surged, Jeming immediately understood what happened:

He was hit!

When exactly?!

Was it the moment he crossed that space rift? Or even earlier?

A chill charged from his spine straight to the top of his head, making every hair on his body stand.

This world, beneath its calm and peaceful surface, hides a suffocating terror capable of silently engulfing a million wizards.

He struggled to maintain a calm expression, though the turmoil inside almost overwhelmed him.

He quickly introspected, sensed the Dantian—his Nascent Soul was still there, but seemed to be enveloped by an invisible membrane, his Spiritual Power flowed darkly, almost stagnant.

He immediately focused on his left wrist, which was empty, the Talisman Witchcraft he equipped before entering this Plane was gone.

He could feel deep in his knowledge sea, the Lifebound Magical Treasure [Five Elements Rainbow Transformation Mirror] still existed.

Jeming felt Protective Treasure Profound Gang Red Dust Barrier, essentially it was still operating normally, no fluctuation, no alert, even liquid refined gold had not been consumed.

It didn’t react... is it because this isn’t an illusion? 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Impossible, how can this not be an illusion?!

Jeming’s back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

He looked at Amy and Victor whose smiles remained unchanged, looked at the "mother" busy in the kitchen, looked at the "father" who returned his attention to the news in the living room.

He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down.

Now is not the time to panic.

He must figure out what is really going on.

"Come on, if we don’t hurry, we’ll really be late." Amy urged with a smile, her smile was just as Jeming remembered, showing no signs of disguise.

Jeming nodded, trying to squeeze out a smile no different from usual.

"Alright, let’s go."

He stepped forward, following his two "deceased" companions, walked out of this seemingly warm yet extremely eerie "home", stepping into this unknown world.