Evolution begins with an ant colony

Chapter 204: Enigmatic Encounter

Akun’s perception of time seemed to erode as he wandered the existence plane for years on end. His entire body was in pain from constantly trying his best to carefully navigate the existence plane without breaking a single string.

Akun’s breaths came out as ragged gasps, beads of sweat streamed down his face, and his entire body trembled; he didn’t look like he could endure any more.

"Damm it, I’m at my wit’s end," Akun mused as he gritted his teeth, gazing at the massive planet-sized orb in front of him. He thought further, "I had the system evolve my vision, so I could gaze at planets that were thousands of light years away from me, and it was a good choice.

It dispersed the initial assumption of the system that I would have to manually wander the existence plane in search of my world. After gazing at thousands of worlds with my dragon eyes and still no luck, I have come to the conclusion that if I want to speed up things, I need to be able to try and get a better look from the center.

Then I would only have to rotate my head from there and find my world. But getting here has been no easy task. The strings from all of existence become more concentrated the closer I get to the orb, and the energy it emits somehow makes me feel on edge."

Akun started to become curious about just how much time had passed since he entered the existence space. He proceeded to ask the system inwardly, and his voice echoed, "Hey, system, just how long has it been since I started this bizarre mission?"

The system’s voice echoed in his head, "[It has only been 34 years, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 13 seconds since the player entered the existence space.]"

Akun then exclaimed, "Seriously, it has already been 34 years? I expected it to have been shorter. I guess that explains why I’m so sore all over." His muscles tensed as he made sure to properly guide his body trough the strings, as he used his aspect power to hover closer towards the massive orb. He tilted his head to avoid a string, slightly moved his hand, and paid close attention to his legs.

He also utilized his aspect power to prevent his hair from touching anything.

But the mission started to become next to impossible; Akun no longer had any strength to go on. His mind started to feel like it was falling apart, and unconsciousness called as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

While trying to make his way through the massive collection of strings, he unfortunately lost control of his left leg due to overexertion, causing it to snap one of the strings. Time seemed to slow down as Akun overheard the snapping sound; he swiftly turned his head behind him and saw as both parts of the severed string drifted away from each other.

Upon seeing the severed part of the string, Akun’s eyes widened in disbelief as he mused inwardly, no, it can’t be.

Suddenly, the system’s voice echoed in his head, [Warning to the player!!]

[The player has to utilize their †Authority† to grab both parts of the severed string immediately. If the player fails to do so, all of existence is at stake!!]

Akun gritted his teeth as he knew he had to move swiftly and carefully. Turning around as fast and as careful as he could, his hands were covered with the dark purple hue of his †Authority†, his eyes shone brightly. He immediately grabbed both parts of the severed string.

He was then suddenly used as support for whatever weight the strings were carrying before. The sheer strength it demanded of him to hold the strings in place was too much, and he started to feel them slip. "Damm it, how the hell is this thing so strong, or should I say heavy?

If this was the kind of weight the strings are all supporting or holding in place, how come it just snapped like some twig as my leg fell on it? It doesn’t make any sense." Akun mutterd as beads of sweat streamed down his face, his muscles tensed with the effort.

Akun started to feel like the strings might rip him apart. He gritted his teeth as he muttered, "Damm it, I’m going to have to let go."

The system’s voice echoed in his head, [The moment the player does that, all of existence is doomed.]

[HOLD ON, PLAYER!!]

But Akun couldn’t do it anymore. Even if he didn’t want to, the strings were starting to slip out of his hands. The weight and pressure were becoming unbearable.

Akun got an idea and mused, "System, can’t we fix this if I freeze time with †Chronos Ruler†?" Stay updated with NovelBin.Côm

The system’s voice echoed in his head with a warning, [It would be pointless.]

[The concept of stopping time is actually slowing it down until it looks like everything is frozen.]

[In reality, time is not something that can be stopped.]

[The time in the existence plane is considerably faster than in the other planes. Even if the player decided to slow down time, it would be pointless because the point that time can be slowed down to won’t really change the speed of the events happening in the existence plane.]

Akun then scrutinized his right hand as he witnessed the string slipping away. Reflecting on the situation, he pondered, "So, you’re telling me this marks the demise of all existence, and there’s no solution?"

A bitter sense of defeat tugged at the corners of Akun’s mouth as he grimly acknowledged, "Looks like I’ve reached the final act, and I can’t see a way out of this. Regrettable to say the least. It seems I’ve let down my comrades when it mattered most."

"Don’t you think it’s too early to give up?" a voice echoed behind Akun. He turned around to find a humanoid cosmic being, its translucent skin adorned with stars and galaxies beneath the surface. The being in question didn’t seem to have a face, and it had some sort of ethereal silk hanging around its shoulders.

For some reason, its voice was calming and soothing.The cosmic being in question seemed to be able to pass right through the threads that held existence together. And it was slowly approaching Akun.

Before Akun could process what he was seeing, he noticed he was already somehow hovering directly in front of the cosmic entity.

The broken strings from earlier were frozen in place, almost as if time in that particular space was frozen. The cosmic entity approached the broken string and easily pulled both parts together, mending them with a massive burst of cosmic energy.

"Who... No, what is that thing, and why is it here?" Akun mused as he gazed at how the cosmic entity seemed to have instantly fixed the broken strings with a burst of the same kind of cosmic energy the massive planet-sized orb was emitting.

The cosmic entity’s voice seemed to echo from its very being as it spoke, "Honestly, that could have been catastrophic, so I would love to hear your explanation for why and how you came here, Akun."

The revelation that this cosmic entity somehow knew his name shocked Akun, prompting him to muse, "It knows my name? Is it some sort of god? How do I always keep running into them..."

Suddenly, the cosmic entity’s voice rang out as it said, "It’s rude to refer to another living being as an ’it.’ I would prefer it if you referred to me as a he or at least asked for my name." The cosmic entity suddenly reappeared directly in front of Akun, and as it leaned in, its presence seemed to send chills down Akun’s spine.

Akun then mused further, "Can it read my mind?"

The cosmic entity suddenly replied, "Yes, that and many more. But before we continue, let’s get somewhere more comfortable, shall we?"

The cosmic entity’s body seemed to emit cosmic energy as it hovered both itself and Akun toward the massive planet-sized orb. The orb opened up some sort of door to reveal a futuristic hallway. The cosmic entity hovered in, and the massive blue orb’s futuristic doors closed behind them.

As they hovered through the futuristic hall, Akun gritted his teeth, beads of sweat slowly streaming down his face. He mused, "Is it like some sort of guardian of the existence space? Does it want to punish me for trespassing?"

The cosmic entity turned around to face Akun, still hovering both itself and Akun through the futuristic hall. It raised one of its hands, pointing out a finger and waving it from side to side, dismissing Akun’s worries. It spoke, "You’re not in trouble, don’t worry. I genuinely just want to talk."

Finally arriving at some sort of grand throne room with blue crystal-like chandeliers on what seemed to be the ceiling and polished blue marble floor, the cosmic entity settled Akun on the floor. Hovering over to the blue crystal-like throne, it settled down as it spoke, "Now, time to get down to business." Its words made Akun be on guard.

The cosmic entity then spoke, "So, how do you like that system I gave you? I’m sure you must have found it handy. I can’t wait to hear about all the adventures you must have had."

Upon hearing those words from the cosmic entity, Akun mumbled, "You gave me what!?"