The remaining four raptors no longer hesitated. The moment their leader collapsed, their red eyes sharpened and locked onto James with pure killing intent.
The air around them seemed to grow hotter as they released loud, aggressive roars.
Their voices overlapped, sharp and violent, and echoing across the burning grassland. It sounded like communication… or like a shared declaration to kill him.
The message was clear.
The four raptors now fully acknowledged James as the threat they had to take down. Their bodies lowered, claws digging into the scorched earth as they prepared to attack together.
James tightened his grip on the Aqua Spear.
"Alright…" he muttered under his breath.
He could feel their hostility pressing down on him. But instead of stepping back he stepped forward.
He moved first.
To James, his biggest advantage right now was obvious. His speed and strength.
That was what surprised the raptors the most. That was what allowed him to kill their leader in a single strike.
So he had to keep moving before they could adapt.
Without hesitation, James dashed to the side.
The ground cracked slightly under his sudden burst of speed as he shot across the field like a blue streak.
But the raptors were ready this time. Kinda.
One of them reacted instantly.
It opened its mouth wide, heat gathering deep inside its throat before exploding outward.
A blazing firebolt shot toward James at high speed.
James's eyes widened slightly. "Fast!"
But his buff-enhanced reflexes reacted immediately.
He twisted his body in the middle of his dash and dodged.
The firebolt flew past his head, barely missing him. The intense heat brushed against the side of his hair, instantly singeing the tips.
James felt the heat scorch his skin a little but he ignored it.
He could feel the cool blue aura of water surrounding his body, protecting him from the worst of the flames.
He had to keep moving! he told himself.
With gritted teeth, James continued dashing forward instead of retreating.
The distance closed in an instant.
The raptor screeched and raised both of its clawed arms, trying to block the incoming attack.
But James was too fast. And too strong.
With all the momentum from his dash, he thrust the Aqua Spear forward.
The glowing blue spear pierced through the raptor's defensive claws like they were paper.
The claws broke apart under the impact.
The spear continued forward without slowing.
It drove straight into the raptor's chest.
A sharp hissing sound erupted again.
White steam exploded from the wound as water energy violently clashed with the fire element inside the creature's body.
The raptor let out a distorted screech.
Then it collapsed instantly.
Dead.
James didn't stop.
The moment the raptor fell, he pulled the spear out and immediately dashed toward the next one.
His body moved almost automatically.
He felt light. Fast. He felt alive.
A strange thrill spread through his chest.
His mind was clear, empty of hesitation, filled only with one instinct to fight and kill.
He never knew something like this could feel so intense.
He was just a nobody before.
A regular person who spent his time searching for novelty in games, comics, and random internet content.
He chased novelty because real life was boring.
Because real life never gave him moments like this.
But now… he was living inside the adventure.
His hands gripped a magical spear glowing with blue energy.
He was fighting fire-spitting dinosaurs from billions of years ago.
And at the same time, he was streaming this life-or-death battle to hundreds of thousands of viewers watching him in real time.
His heart pounded with excitement.
"Yes…" he thought.
This was life.
A real, burning, dangerous, thrilling life.
A good life.
When he finally stopped moving, the battlefield had fallen silent.
The remaining raptors lay dead around him.
Each one of them pierced with deep stab wounds that still released faint hissing sounds. Blue mist continued to rise from their bodies as water energy seeped into their fire-infused flesh, clashing and coalescing violently inside them.
The scorched grass crackled softly under the drifting smoke.
James stood in the middle of the battlefield, breathing heavily.
Then he slowly lifted his head and looked at the sky.
The foreign sky stretched endlessly above him, painted with strange clouds and distant flying shapes.
It was beautiful.
More beautiful than he expected.
James let out a long breath. "Haah…"
He didn't know why, but seeing the foreign sky after surviving that fight made him feel strangely peaceful.
Then his gaze shifted to the left side of his vision.
The chat was going crazy.
Messages rolled endlessly, flooding the screen faster than he could read.
Viewers were screaming, cheering, spamming reactions and emotes nonstop.
They were just as thrilled as he was.
James grinned widely.
He lifted the spear slightly and looked at the floating camera.
"Chat," he said with a bright, excited smile. "Isn't this great?"
He pointed behind him at the fallen raptors.
"I just killed five fire-spitting raptors!"
The chat exploded even harder.
HOLY SHIT YOU DID!!!
THAT WAS INSANE!!!
BRO IS A MONSTER NOW
THIS IS THE BEST STREAM EVER
GOAT STREAMER!!!
Suddenly, new notifications began appearing rapidly in front of his vision.
[Donation Received…]
[Donation Received…]
[Donation Received…]
[Donation Received…]
Bright system messages flooded the air.
Small glowing boxes materialized one after another.
[Fire Resistance Cloak (Low Grade) Received]
[Energy Bar x10 Received]
More and more items kept appearing.
The viewers were sending supplies as if they wanted to help him survive as long as possible.
James stared at the incoming donations with wide eyes.
"Whoa…" He laughed softly.
The more exciting his stream was, the more support he received.
James looked at the floating camera again, still smiling widely.
"Thanks, chat," he said sincerely. "We're going to survive this world together! You and me!"
—
Inside an inconspicuous building situated in the middle of City J, a commotion was breaking out.
The alarm was blaring nonstop across every floor of the building.
Red warning lights flashed repeatedly along the corridors, reflecting off the white walls and glass panels. The once quiet office building had turned into a chaotic scene in the middle of the night.
People were running.
Staff members hurried through hallways with documents and tablets in their hands. Security personnel rushed toward the control rooms. Engineers and analysts were being called in one after another.
The night was already late, but phones kept ringing endlessly.
Personnel who had already gone home were being urgently contacted and ordered to return ASAP.
Something big was happening.
Very big.
—
A man in his fifties walked quickly through the corridor.
His graying hair was neatly combed back, his broad shoulders still straight and firm despite his age. His steps were steady and powerful, echoing against the polished floor.
Beside him walked his assistant.
A young woman with long black hair tied neatly behind her head and thin spectacles resting on her nose. She carried a tablet in her hand, her fingers constantly scrolling through incoming reports.
Both of them moved at a fast pace.
Both of them had tense expressions.
The alarm continued to blare around them.
The man frowned slightly as he walked.
"This kind of event hasn't happened in decades," he said in a low voice.
His tone was calm, but there was a clear edge of concern behind it.
"What caused it now?"
It sounded like he was asking his assistant, but in reality, he was asking himself.
The assistant adjusted her glasses slightly and quickly scanned the data on her tablet.
"I think… the barrier is weakening again, sir," she said carefully.
The man immediately clicked his tongue.
"Yes. Of course it's weakening again," he snapped in irritation. His footsteps became slightly heavier. "But what caused it?"
His sharp eyes narrowed.
"And it's never been this severe before."
The assistant swallowed slightly but continued reading the data.
"Energy fluctuation has exceeded the normal threshold by 340 percent," she reported. "Spatial distortion detected in single regions. Unknown signal interference is also appearing."
The man's expression darkened.
"So we might expect something to cross over," he said quietly.
The assistant did not answer.
She didn't need to.
Both of them already understood what that meant.
If the barrier weakened to this degree…
Something from the other side could enter their world.
And that possibility alone was enough to make the entire organization mobilize in the middle of the night.
They kept walking.
The alarm still hadn't stopped.
Staff members moved aside as they saw the man approaching, giving him space immediately.
Everyone in this building knew him.
And everyone knew that if he personally came at this hour, then the situation was already beyond normal emergency level.
"This is bad," the man muttered.
Very bad.
Because in the past, whenever the barrier weakened, disasters followed.
Monsters. Spatial tears. Unexplainable phenomena. Sometimes that causes deaths.
And this time, the scale was far bigger than anything recorded in decades.
They arrived in front of a meeting room.
The assistant opened the door.
The man stepped inside.
The medium-sized meeting room was already filled with people.
Leaders of various departments were seated around the long rectangular table. Their assistants stood behind them or sat quietly near the wall, all holding tablets or documents.
No one was relaxed. Every face was tense. Some were pale.
While others looked exhausted, clearly dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night.
On the large screen at the front of the room, multiple data graphs and maps were displayed. Showing energy spikes and spatial wave charts.
Red warning zones blinking in a single region.
The alarm sound from outside could still be faintly heard through the walls.
The man walked to the head of the table and stopped.
Everyone in the room stood up immediately.
"Director."
"Sir."
"Good evening, Director."
He raised his hand slightly.
"Sit."
They obeyed immediately.
The room fell silent.
The man slowly placed both hands on the table and looked at the large screen filled with red warning indicators.
His expression turned grim.
"Report," he said.
One of the department leaders stood up immediately.
"Barrier stability has dropped to 62 percent," the man reported.
"Energy fluctuation is still rising."
"We have detected a major anomaly source."
The director narrowed his eyes.
"Location?"
The leader hesitated slightly.
Then he answered.
"City J residential district."
The assistant's fingers froze on her tablet.
The director slowly turned his head.
"Residential district?" he repeated.
"Yes, sir."
The leader swallowed.
"Sir, this is not like the usual dimension breach," one of the leaders said with a difficult expression.
"What you mean?"
"There is… there is a livestream from the other side. Now broadcasting to the whole world to see."
—