A Journey...

  What do you think is the most important part of a journey? The destination, perhaps? Or maybe the company? Or even the path we take?

  Right now, I don’t have the answer to that question that haunts me from time to time. But guess what? I’m pretty sure thinking about it is pointless if you pn on enjoying the journey.

  As my eyes got lost in the scenery stretching out through the window, a sudden pain snapped me out of my daydream.

  I was getting punched.

  "Reel!!! You bastard! I was talking, the least you could do is listen!"

  Someone yelled right into my ears.

  It was Ken, as expected.

  That handsome guy who looks like a K-pop star is one of my closest friends. Don’t let his refined and calm appearance fool you—he’s one of the strongest people I know, and on top of that, he’s tireless.

  "Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts again," I said, apologizing even though I was the victim.

  "Next time, listen better!" he compined.

  "Hahahaha!"

  That guy who looks like a depressed teacher? That’s Louis.

  Don’t let his mustache and his street-fighter afro-American look fool you either. He’s a high schooler like me and Ken. Shorter than average, this guy’s brain is packed with all kinds of useless trivia.

  "Alright, instead of making fun of me, we should take advantage of the teacher’s absence to talk about the game Ken wanted to show us st time," I said, getting up.

  While we were happily chatting around a desk about the test manga and anime releases, the school bell rang, signaling the break.

  "Ah… Break time at st. I’ve been waiting for this. You guys coming? There’s a career fair happening at school, I wanna check it out."

  "I think I’ll go with Reel. Apparently, there’s a biologist speaking—sounds interesting. You coming, Ken?"

  "You're such a perv, Louis, you're only going for the biologist."

  "Hey, that’s not fair. Not everyone has clear goals like you, Reel."

  As Louis finished his sentence, the mood suddenly grew heavier—perhaps because our time in high school was limited, and soon we’d have to face the adult world.

  Who knows if we’ll still see each other or stay in touch.

  "At first I didn’t feel like going. Science stuff isn’t my thing, but I can’t just let you guys go alone."

  "You’re such a tsundere, Ken. Just admit you wanna spend time with your buddies, right Louis?"

  "He’s right, Ken. Come with us and stop being a tsundere."

  No sooner had we started teasing him than we each got a punch to the face.

  "Who’s the tsundere now?"

  After recovering from our injuries, we headed to the room set aside for the conference. As we chatted along the way, we quickly noticed a huge crowd ahead—turns out we were the st to arrive. The room was already packed, so we’d have to stand.

  "Man, I shouldn’t have come—there are like fifty people in here," Ken compined.

  And honestly, he wasn’t wrong. There were all kinds of people—high schoolers like us, middle schoolers, teachers, and of course, the speakers.

  "It’s gonna be lively. Let’s go find a seat," said the guy who didn’t even want to come in the first pce, cheerfully waving at all his other friends.

  "Hard to admit, Louis, but this perv is more social than we are."

  "Even I’m surprised."

  We had barely sat down when an older woman with a short haircut and fierce vibes took the floor.

  "Hello everyone, my name is Laura. I’ll be sort of the host for this conference. I’m a physicist, a university lecturer, and a researcher."

  "I’m here with my colleagues—an engineer, a doctor, a biologist, and an entrepreneur."

  "Today, I want to show you the beauty of physics that lies in mystery."

  "I’m not here to give fancy speeches or tell you to become physicists like me. On the contrary, I want to tell you that there’s nothing harder than this field."

  As the entire room sat in silence before her charisma and presence, everyone wore the same look of confusion—why was she here if she was just going to scare people away from her field?

  "Still, even though I’m not here to sell you dreams, I can promise you that as long as you put in the effort, you’ll be able to overcome anything and succeed. And as a researcher, I can show you just how fascinating science can be—it’s not nearly as boring as you think."

  She then turned on the projector and dispyed photos of strange cracks floating in space near Mars, Venus, and the Moon.

  While everyone was wondering if this was some sort of prank…

  "Anyone know what these are? I’m pretty sure no one does. These ‘cracks’ appeared just days ago near those pnets, without any expnation. No one knows how or why they appeared, but one thing is certain—they're real."

  "The beauty of science lies in solving these mysteries, expining them, and using them to move humanity forward."

  As she spoke with passion, what really captured people’s attention wasn’t the mysterious “cracks” or her expnations—it was her once expressionless face lighting up as she talked about science.

  "People are more beautiful when they’re passionate. I envy that," Louis said with a mencholic tone.

  Then a sound echoed through the room.

  “Crack.”

  "Huh? What was that?"

  Someone in the room asked.

  A crack was forming in midair in the center of the room, and before anyone could react, it spread across the whole cssroom and shattered.

  "AHHHH!!!!!"

  As the sound echoed, everything turned bck.

  My strength began to fade as I felt like I was being compressed, stretched, and torn apart all at once.

  The pain nearly drove me insane, but I fought to stay conscious—and that’s when I briefly saw a shower of shooting stars rushing past my eyes.

  And in that instant, I clearly saw… space.

  It was breathtaking.

  Seeing real pnets made me understand just how small I was compared to the vastness of the universe.

  As silence reigned, I noticed—just for a brief moment—two silhouettes floating in that vastness, facing each other, both wearing futuristic suits.

  Then I saw a massive explosion.

  Not even a second had passed before I was dragged back into the pain and finally lost consciousness.

  When I woke up, I found myself in a vast jungle with trees as tall as skyscrapers.

  "What the hell is going on?"

  I couldn’t hide my shock at this unnatural jungle—but I wasn’t done being surprised.

  As soon as I stood up, a sharp headache hit me, making it hard to even get to my feet.

  And then I saw it—

  As I looked up at the sky, I saw a massive futuristic tower floating in the air.

  "Where the fuck are we?" I said, stunned.

  That’s when I noticed the people who had been with me in the conference room were lying unconscious around me.