Eclipse of the immortal

A soft breeze carried the scent of salt and warmth, the sound of waves crashing blending with the distant laughter of children.

Keon stood on the golden sands of a beach, barefoot, feeling the warm grains shift beneath his toes.

He wasn't alone.

Other kids ran past him, kicking up sand as they played and shouted, their voices filled with joy. He felt happy too, a strange sense of peace settling in his chest.

Not far from where he stood, two figures—a man and a woman—spoke to each other. He knew they were his parents. He could feel it.

Yet, when he tried to see their faces, they were... blurred.

The more he tried to focus, the less he could see.

An uneasy feeling crept up his spine.

"Why... can't I see them?"

He looked around—the other kids' faces were the same.

Blurred.

Faceless.

His heartbeat quickened.

Something was wrong.

Before he could make sense of it, a voice called out.

A voice—gentle, soft, yet eerily mysterious.

It was coming from the sea.

Keon's head snapped toward the ocean, and his breath caught in his throat.

The sky, once bright and clear, had turned pitch black—as if devoured by night itself.

The sea, once calm and shimmering, had become a roaring abyss, its waters twisting unnaturally.

A massive wave rose like a wall, towering over him, dark and endless, like the mouth of a beast about to swallow him whole.

Keon's body froze.

Then—

The wave came crashing down.

Keon screamed.

And in the next second—

—he woke up.

Reality

His heart pounded against his ribs as his eyes shot open.

He was still in the alley, still lying atop the garbage bags.

But now—

It was raining.

Cold droplets splattered against his skin, soaking through his cloak. The rhythmic drip-drip against the pavement made everything feel eerily quiet.

"A dream..." Keon muttered, still catching his breath.

No, more like a nightmare.

He wiped his damp forehead, annoyed. He had no idea what that dream meant, but something about it made his stomach churn.

Not that he had time to think about it.

Because the system panel appeared again—

[New Task: Use Rift Portal 20 Times a Day]

Reward: Void Gazer Mask

Failure: None

Keon's eye twitched.

"Again with this task?"

For a moment, he considered ignoring it, but the thought of staying in the rain, soaked and freezing, made his patience snap.

"Fine! I'll do it!" he growled, brushing off the rain from his face.

And as if the system could hear his frustration, it presented him with two options:

1. Open a Rift to the Previous Location (Dungeon World: Raeknor)

2. Random World Rift Leap

Keon stared at the first option.

"Raeknor..." He repeated the name, now knowing the world where he had met the Demonic Skeleton Dragon and nearly died.

There was no way in hell he was going back there.

So, without hesitation, he chose the second option.

The moment he did, something shifted.

Time. Space. Everything.

It felt as if existence itself blinked out, like he was aware of everything and nothing at the same time. The air turned heavy, and in front of him—

A rift tore open, swirling with dark and silver energy.

Then—

It pulled him in.

Keon's vision twisted, his stomach flipped, and suddenly—

Another World

Wind howled past his ears.

Keon was falling.

"Again!?" he yelled.

Below him, a vast ocean stretched endlessly, waves shimmering under the golden glow of a setting sun.

And he—

Was plummeting straight toward it.

"Damn it, system!!"

A second later—

SPLASH!

The cold ocean swallowed him whole, dragging him deep beneath its surface.

For a moment, there was only silence.

Then—Keon kicked upward, breaking through the water, gasping for air.

He wiped the salty water from his eyes and glared at nothing in particular, knowing exactly who to blame.

"I swear, I'm filing a complaint against whatever department you work for!" he muttered, half-joking, half-annoyed.

The system, as always, remained silent.

And Keon?

He was drifting in the middle of the ocean, with no idea where he had landed.

Keon's lungs burned, not from exhaustion, but from frustration.

The moment he broke the surface of the cold ocean, he did what any sane person in his position would do—

He immediately demanded the system to open another rift.

"System! Do another leap! Get me out of here!"

But instead of the expected swirling portal, a notification window popped up before his eyes.

[Error: Rift Leap Ability on Cooldown]

Time Remaining: 24 Hours

Keon's mind blanked.

"Wait... what?"

Then—

It hit him.

He was stuck.

His eye twitched as realization settled in.

Then, in the middle of the endless sea, Keon took a deep breath—

And screamed at the top of his lungs.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T LEA—RIFT—WHATEVER IT'S CALLED FOR 24 HOURS?!"

The system, in its usual fashion, ignored him.

Keon ranted, cursed, shouted every insult he could think of, but the cold, unfeeling panel refused to give him the satisfaction of a response.

Eventually, after wasting his breath, he just—

Floated.

Alone.

The First Sign of Something Strange

Time passed.

Keon didn't know how long he had been floating aimlessly.

Minutes? Hours? He had no idea.

But that's when he noticed—

He wasn't tired.

At first, he thought it was adrenaline, but the longer he stayed in the water, the stranger it felt.

Even with good stamina, floating in the ocean for so long should have drained his energy.

Yet—

His arms and legs felt fine.

He wasn't cold either.

No shivering, no numbness—nothing.

It was unnatural.

A deep unease settled in his chest.

That's when his mind flicked back to his first rift leap.

To the dungeon.

To the Skeleton Centipede that had attacked him—only for its claws to pass right through his body.

A shiver ran down his spine, but not from the cold.

The Dungeon Master had said something back then.

Something about Keon not being in a physical state.

"Am I... really human?"

His heart pounded against his ribs at the thought.

Or—

Did this "non-physical state" only apply when he was outside of his original world?

That made the most sense.

After all, back in his own world, when the authorities were chasing him, he felt exhaustion. He felt pain.

But here?

He could float in the ocean for hours, and his body wasn't even straining.

It was as if... he wasn't bound by normal physical limits.

Keon exhaled slowly.

"Whatever this is... I'll figure it out later."

For now—

He had one goal.

Find land.

And survive the next 24 hours.

Keon floated.

No exhaustion. No cold. No sense of time.

But most importantly—

No clue where he was.

With no better option, he decided to swim forward.

"If I keep swimming, I'll hit land eventually... right?"

It was complete nonsense. He had no sense of direction in this vast, endless ocean.

But he needed something to focus on.

Something to distract himself from the creeping existential dread clawing at the back of his mind.

So, Keon did what any normal person would do in his situation.

He started talking to himself.

Or, more accurately—

Started complaining to the system.

"You know, system... If you actually talked, I'd have a much easier time keeping sane right now."

Silence.

"Seriously. Just one word. Anything. Give me a sign you're even listening."

Nothing.

Keon sighed.

"At this point, I'd even take a sarcastic reply—"

Still nothing.

Keon clicked his tongue and kept swimming.

And he kept swimming.

And kept swimming.

Until three hours passed.

The First Sign of Hope

Keon was bored out of his mind.

His never-tiring body meant he couldn't even feel the burn of exhaustion to pass the time.

So, in his sheer stupidity and desperation, he thought—

"Maybe I should dive deeper to see if I can even suffocate."

But before he could act on that idiotic idea—

Something caught his eye.

A dark silhouette in the distance.

At first, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him.

But then—

The outline became clearer.

A ship.

"No way...!"

Keon's eyes widened in disbelief.

It wasn't modern—it looked ancient, made of wood—but at this point, Keon didn't care.

He screamed at the top of his lungs.

"HEY! OVER HERE!"

No response.

"I'M RIGHT HERE, DAMN IT!"

Still nothing.

But that wasn't what worried him.

It was the vibration in the water.

Like something big was moving.

Then—

SPLASH!

The ocean erupted.

And from the depths—

A monstrous creature leaped into the air.

It was massive, at least 20 meters long—maybe even more.

A serpent-like beast, but with the face of a lizard.

No arms. Just pure muscle and raw speed.

Its eyes locked onto Keon.

And just like that—

It changed direction mid-air.

And lunged straight at him.

Keon's soul nearly left his body.

His terrified scream was enough to wake the dead.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

He threw his arms up in a pitiful attempt to defend himself—

But—

The creature phased right through him.

Keon blinked.

Looked down.

He was completely unharmed.

He didn't waste time questioning it.

He swam.

But how could a human match the speed of an aquatic predator?

The system panel appeared before him.

---

[Creature Identified]

Name: Abyssal Sea Drake

Race: Aquatic Draconic Beast

Rank: C+

Size: 22.3 Meters

Abilities: Water Jet, Deep Dive, Predatory Instincts

---

"A DRAGON?!"

Keon didn't even finish reading before the Abyssal Sea Drake attacked again.

Over and over, it lunged—

And every time—

Its body phased right through him.

It was a terrifying experience, even if it couldn't actually touch him.

But then—

The final attack came.

The drake leaped out of the sea—

Only for a massive fireball to slam into its body.

BOOM!

The explosion lit up the night sky.

The drake's burnt corpse crashed back into the ocean, lifeless.

Keon, still in shock, turned his gaze.

The ship he had been screaming at was right next to him.

And at the deck—

People stood.

One of them waved at him.

Then—

A ladder was thrown down.

Keon climbed up, still breathing heavily from the ordeal.

His voice shook as he gasped—

"Th-Thank you for saving me."

And in return—

He got an answer.

A string of complete gibberish.

"Gabaru tak mu'zak! Vuro? Toga ne'bak!"

Keon blinked.

Silence.

Then—

"What?"