One piece: Without a system, I have to survive!

A wave of black energy swallowed everything.

I felt my body being pulled into the darkness—weightless, drifting, lost. My breath caught in my throat as whispers slithered through the void, speaking in a language I couldn't understand.

No—

Not that I couldn't understand.

I had forgotten.

"Remember…"

The voice was distant, yet unbearably close. It coiled around my mind, urging me to grasp something just beyond my reach.

Then—

Light.

It started as a flicker, then erupted like a sun breaking through a storm.

And suddenly, I wasn't falling anymore.

I was somewhere else.

A Vision from the Past

The darkness melted away, replaced by a grand city bathed in golden light. Towers of intricate stonework stretched toward the sky, their peaks adorned with strange, glowing symbols. The streets were alive with people—figures dressed in flowing robes, their faces filled with purpose, their voices chanting words I couldn't quite understand.

It was beautiful.

It was ancient.

And somehow—

It was familiar.

I stood in the middle of it all, my body feeling lighter, as if I belonged here. The buildings, the air, the very ground beneath me...

This wasn't just a vision.

This was Asmora.

"Do you understand now?"

I spun around.

The shadowy figure from before was standing behind me, its void-like eyes watching me closely. But this time, something was different.

The whispers weren't filled with menace.

They were filled with regret.

"You were never meant to return."

The words sent a shiver through me.

Return?

"Who am I?" I demanded.

The figure lifted a hand, pointing toward a massive temple at the heart of the city.

"Find the truth… before it finds you."

Then—

The world shattered.

Back to Reality

I gasped as my body was yanked back into the present.

The ruins, the jungle, the mist—they all came rushing back. My knees hit the cold stone floor, my breath ragged.

shira was next to me, shaking my shoulders.

"Ardan! What the hell just happened?!"

I looked up, my mind still reeling from what I had seen.

"I… I think I just saw the past." My voice was hoarse. "The Lost Kingdom of Asmora. It was real."

Smoker's eyes narrowed. "Asmora? That name hasn't existed for centuries."

I clenched my fists.

The whispers. The vision. The feeling of familiarity.

Asmora wasn't just some forgotten legend.

It was a part of me.

And whatever secret it held—

Someone didn't want me to remember it.