Chapter: 139. A New Era
“Yue Jian Zou is missing? What on earth is going on?”
Adam, who had rushed back from the front lines, questioned the nearby secretary in a cold tone.
“It seems that Yue Jian Zou possesses the ability of spatial teleportation, allowing him to appear directly beside Xing Gong Na Yin,” the secretary explained while sweating profusely. “He had a direct confrontation with the ability user who went to protect Xing Gong Na Yin and forcefully took her away.”
“Direct confrontation?”
“Yes, there is no doubt that Yue Jian Zou has betrayed the SEMA Special Ring—”
Before the secretary could finish, Adam interrupted him with an uncompromising tone.
“We must find Yue Jian Zou immediately! Undoubtedly, he is the new protagonist. If the fantasy monsters learn that he has left the protection of the SEMA Special Ring and the three major academies…”
If you were to ask whether Adam had considered the possibility that Zou would refuse to cooperate with the SEMA Special Ring and insist on leaving its protection, the answer would be yes. The SEMA Special Ring even prepared a series of adequate countermeasures for this.
But from Adam’s perspective, Zou’s love interest, “Yue Jian Xue Nuo,” was still at Ark Academy, under the protection of the SEMA Special Ring, so he did not anticipate his current escape action.
However, if this was due to an error in deciphering the Book of the Future, and the true female lead was Xing Gong Na Yin, then clearly they had entered the most unfavorable situation.
Not only had the identity of the protagonist been exposed, but he was also escaping with the female lead, while fantasy monsters were secretly watching them, and the SEMA Special Ring and the three major academies were unable to provide timely support.
This was the new protagonist that the SEMA Special Ring had finally found with great difficulty. If the fantasy monsters caught this flaw—
“Mr. Adam, we have just received the latest report from headquarters.” An ACE-level ability user beside him interrupted Adam’s thoughts.
As the other party handed over a paper report, Adam’s phone rang—it was a call from the board of directors of the SEMA Special Ring.
“It’s me.”
Adam answered the call and waved his hand, signaling the remaining unrelated personnel in the office to leave temporarily.
“Adam, have you seen the latest report?” The voice on the other end of the phone sounded somewhat shaken.
This surprised Adam because, in his memory, these old-timers had not shown such emotional fluctuations in a long time.
“I just received the report.”
While he responded, he picked up the paper report in his hand. However, before he could carefully read it, the voice on the other end of the phone directly got to the point:
“Just now, reports from multiple global monitoring stations indicated that the fantasy monsters we have been monitoring have all disappeared.”
“What?” For the first time, Adam displayed a surprised expression upon hearing this.
“Yes, just recently, within those 6 hours you were unable to contact us, all known fantasy monsters of this era… have vanished,” the voice on the other end became even more unsteady. “Based on the information you just reported to headquarters, it can be confirmed that the fantasy monsters that invaded Infinite Academy were all of this era.”
“Currently, both Japan and the monitoring stations in other countries cannot capture any magical fluctuations of fantasy monsters… the only reasonable explanation is—just now, all fantasy monsters of this era were completely wiped out.”
“Fantasy monsters… all wiped out?” Adam furrowed his brow, finding it hard to believe.
He finally understood why the board’s voice sounded so shaken.
“The method to make fantasy monsters disappear simultaneously, according to headquarters’ discussions, is only explained by— all fantasy monsters of this era formed a contract with a certain human, and the contractor’s death causes them to dissipate along with it.”
“But in your report, Adam, there is no indication of this. Answer me, what exactly happened in the domain of Infinite Academy just now?”
“No, the extraordinary disaster that occurred in Infinite Academy… at most only had threat levels above 10, while the rest of the army of fantasy monsters barely qualifies as high-ranking ones, let alone the appearance of any contractor…” Adam recalled all the details of the extraordinary disaster that had just occurred with a serious expression.
However, from any perspective, it did not align with the SEMA Special Ring’s assumptions.
Since the SEMA Special Ring deduced based on results and objective facts, the problem may very likely lie with him, the party involved—was everything that had just happened in front of him really the entirety of this invasion?
(“Something’s off. They are stalling for time…”)
The words of Nian Guang flashed through Adam’s mind.
“….. Yue Jian Zou, is he truly the target of the fantasy monsters… Is he really the protagonist?” Adam couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
“What? Adam, what did you discover?”
If we say that the invasion of fantasy monsters this time utilized all the combat power of this era, and everything that happened at Infinite Academy was merely a feint… then their true goal must be—
“Verify the alibis of everyone who was present at Infinite Academy just now, and find out who was truly out of others’ line of sight at that time!” Adam nearly shouted towards the people outside the door.
“Adam, what exactly did you discover!?”
“Dear directors, perhaps we have always trusted the Elemental Sovereign too much and made a big mistake.” Adam lowered his tone and spoke to the board on the other end of the phone.
“If the true protagonist is someone else—”
At this moment, Adam’s attention was drawn to the light coming from outside the window.
When he looked up in the direction of the light source, what entered his sight was a magnificent and beautiful meteor shower.
Countless stars traced brilliant arcs as they fell from the night sky.
At the same time, Adam’s phone and the warning from the other end of the call sounded.
“Warning: Japan’s N91 monitoring station detected magical fluctuations above level 9.”
“Warning: Japan’s S21 monitoring station detected magical fluctuations above level 10.”
…
“They are coming, new fantasy monsters—”
“A new era is about to begin—”
…
…
In the *Star Pull* series worldview, stars represent souls; they are the most fundamental existence.
When all fantasy monsters retreat from this era, the stars representing them will fall from the sky—
But the number of stars in the night sky will not decrease because of this.
The curtain call of an era’s fantasy monsters signifies that new fantasy monsters will descend, taking their place in the night sky.
From a gaming perspective, this is a typical “patch.” The new fantasy monsters will possess even stronger powers and more innovative mechanics to contend with the players’ growing strength; each meteor shower represents the beginning of a new game cycle—
Due to Na Yin’s reasons, this era has entered a multiple game cycle ahead of the original work.
“Is that… a meteor shower?”
Zou and Na Yin were currently sitting in a car driven by Xiao Chun, leaving the coastal city.
The shooting stars outside the car window first caught Zou’s attention. Accompanied by his exclamation, Xiao Chun and Na Yin also turned their gaze to the sky.
After handing over the colorful blade to Zou, Tian Yu returned to the Infinite Academy to avoid being noticed by the SEMA Special Ring and entrusted Xiao Chun to drive the two out of the big city as quickly as possible.
In less than 12 hours, just before dawn, Zou and Na Yin had to leave the monitoring range of the SEMA Special Ring, escaping to those remote and backward small villages along the mountain roads.
Along the way, Zou held Na Yin’s hand tightly.
But when the meteor shower appeared, Zou felt Na Yin suddenly tense her grip.
“Xiao Na…?” Zou turned his head in confusion.
However, he only saw Na Yin with an excited smile.
“It really is a meteor shower… so beautiful~” Na Yin replied with a smile.
As a hardcore player of the original *Star Pull*, she naturally understood what this meteor shower represented.
But she didn’t know just how many cycles of the new era of fantasy monsters would exist due to her intervention…
“And now you can’t call me Xiao Na. To avoid revealing our identities, you should call me Xiao Ying from now on!” Na Yin said, forcing a smile as she reprimanded him.
“Ah, I’m sorry, Xiao Na… no, Xiao Ying.”
“Well, by the way, it seems that making a wish upon a meteor could come true, so hurry up and make a wish too, Zou-kun~” Na Yin urged with a smile, then clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
Seeing this, Zou also mimicked Na Yin and closed his eyes.
————————————-
“You… who are you? Why are you looking for me?”
At Infinite Academy.
Mana stared warily at the suddenly appearing black-haired man before her.
She was troubled searching for Zou and Na Yin, so she did not show the man any friendliness.
“Though I don’t know the reason, a new era has arrived…” Ji Guang turned his back to the starry sky and the meteor shower, speaking softly. “According to my memories, I need your help, Yang Xiang Mana.”
“My help?”
“Yes, if we are to oppose the new fantasy monsters, your power is indispensable, ‘the true protagonist,’ Yang Xiang Mana.”
