Chapter 700: The Main Character Is Real? (2)
When Melissa vanished into the pod, Alex Prime, Irene the First, and Sammy the First all turned to the scientist with slight worry etched on their faces.
"Will she be okay?" Alex asked, his white features tense as he stared at the now-dark pod.
Irene the First crossed her arms, her silver skin catching the lab’s soft light as she frowned.
"She’s strong, but... this is the first time we’ve traveled like this...," she said quietly. "How long is the traversal supposed to take?"
Sammy the First remained silent, his obsidian skin and crimson veins pulsing faintly as he watched the pod with a heavy gaze.
The scientist smiled wryly, her eyes calm but carrying a hint of uncertainty.
"While the traversal itself shall be safe," she said, "I have no idea if she will be okay. But we will learn in about thirty seconds."
The three of them exchanged uneasy glances, the weight of the moment pressing down on the laboratory as they waited for the outcome of the first phase.
----
When you considered the strength and freedom the Reader’s faction possessed, it was staggering.
They were, in a sense, an entire civilization of main characters, each extraordinary in their own right.
Yet despite all that power, they operated under a single restriction—one that, in the grand scheme of things, barely mattered, as they eventually found a loophole anyway.
They couldn’t simply step through the exit of the Source of Expansion to reach the Lower Existence.
No, the only normal route was through an Anchor, like Minx, who had once been tied to the Treasury.
But after Minx had vanished nearly four hundred cycles ago, they had no desire to rely on that method again.
Instead, they turned to the pod—an artifact designed precisely for situations like this, capable of carrying them anywhere they wished in their complete forms.
And, as it happened, the pod held another function—one perhaps even safer.
----
[30 Seconds Remaining]
The moment Melissa reappeared; she was standing in the remains of the Primordial Expanse.
The once-vast, majestic realm that had existed since the dawn of creation was now nothing more than pure whiteness.
An endless, featureless expanse of blank white stretched in every direction.
As usual per the Ineffable way, they left it with no ground, no sky, no structures — only absolute, pristine emptiness.
The Father’s side of devouring black and the Mother’s side of radiant white had both been reduced to this single, uniform void.
Her purple flames flared wildly along her wings and hair, crackling and dancing with unrestrained intensity as if they were filled with her emotions.
Her breath caught sharply in her throat, her chest rising and falling faster as she stared at the endless white void stretching in every direction.
Her hands trembled at her sides, fingers curling and uncurling as a wide, almost manic smile slowly spread across her face.
"He’s... real..." she whispered, her voice shaking with raw awe and reverence.
The words came out like a prayer, trembling with disbelief and overwhelming validation.
Her purple eyes glistened as she took a shaky step forward, scanning the blank expanse as if searching for any trace of the one who had done this.
Though her emotions stemmed from anything but prayers or worship, the Primedivas were far from fanatics—if anything, they were quite the opposite.
In that moment, it wasn’t about giving praise or adoration.
They had a Main Character—one who was real. No longer just a myth or some distant idea.
And more than that, it proved they were truly living inside a story of their own.
"Okay... now that Anchor, where are you...."
She muttered as a wide, exhilarated smile spread across her face as she looked around the blank void, searching for the Second Anchor that was said to exist beneath all of existence and nonexistence.
She saw nothing but an endless expanse of white stretching in every direction.
It was as if the world had been swallowed by a boundless, colorless void.
Before she could take another step, the scenery around her began to waver and distort, the edges of reality blurring as though she were slipping into another realm entirely.
In the blink of an eye, she found herself back inside the pod, the door sliding open with a soft hiss.
----
Alex Prime, Irene the First, and Sammy the First were standing there, watching her with a mix of worry and patience.
The scientist smiled calmly.
"Welcome back," she said. "Phase one is complete."
Alex Prime stepped forward first, his white features tense with anticipation.
"How was it?" he asked, his voice low. "What did you see?"
Melissa stepped out of the pod, her purple flames flickering wildly along her wings and hair, crackling with barely contained excitement.
Her eyes were wide, almost feverish, as she looked at the group, her breath coming in short, exhilarated bursts.
"He’s real," she whispered, her voice trembling with awe and reverence. "The Main Character is real."
A deep, heavy silence filled the laboratory.
The air grew thick and charged as Alex, Irene, and Sammy stared at her.
Their expressions shifted from worry to something far more intense — a fanatical hunger burning in their eyes.
Once again though... it was not for their own Main Character, but at the thought of finally conquering their own novel by stealing the power layout of the sacred one.
The scientist broke the silence, her tone steady and measured.
"What about the state of the lower existence? And the Second Anchor?"
Melissa shook her head, still caught up in the rush of her discovery, her voice tinged with awe.
"The Primordial Expanse is gone," she murmured. "Wiped away completely. There’s nothing left but endless white. The anchor wasn’t there—not even a trace. I looked in the time I could... but there was nothing."
The scientist nodded slowly, her expression thoughtful.
"If the lower existence has been destroyed to this extent," she said, "then the Main Character must be the one behind it."
She turned back to the pod, gesturing toward it with a calm hand.
"It’s time for phase two. This traversal will last for a full cycle for us who are within the Source of Expansion, but only a decade for you outside.
By the time you return, the festival will just be starting."
Irene the First stepped forward, her silver skin catching the lab’s soft light as she asked,
"What is the second phase?"
The scientist smiled.
"It’s to find Minx... and to gain intel on the Main Character. Since his existence is now confirmed, the second function should work great."
She paused, then explained further.
"This time, your consciousness will be sent into a random person in which the Main Character values."
The group fell into a heavy, contemplative silence, the weight of the mission settling over them as they prepared for the next step.