Chapter 1 The Last Room on Earth
It was a little past eleven at night, and the city showed no sign of quieting down.
High-rises blazed with light. Crowds packed the streets and alleys. Every corner seemed to shout how prosperous this place was.
But everything had another side.
In one forgotten corner of the city, the buildings were low, the lights were few, and the night was almost pitch-black.
This was the city’s slum. Most people here used very little electricity. Some homes did not even have wiring.
In one of those homes, the front door had not even been locked.
Like the buildings around it, the place was low, shabby, and swallowed by darkness.
A drainage ditch outside gave off a sharp, rotten stink.
Inside the room, there was almost nothing.
A cabinet had collapsed because one of its legs had rotted through. Other than that, there was only a bed made from mismatched steel pipes.
Clara Everhart lay on that bed in a blue-and-white hospital gown, staring at the blinking red aircraft warning light on top of a tower far outside the window.
She wondered what it would feel like to stand up there, looking down at everything below.
It had to be beautiful.
It had to feel good.
She raised a hand and brushed back the greasy strands of hair stuck to her forehead. Her cracked lips curved into a mocking smile.
For a moment, it was almost as if she really were standing on top of that building.
Clara Everhart was twenty years old.
Five years ago, she had still had a warm family. They were not rich, but they had lived comfortably enough.
Then a car accident killed her parents and left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Everything changed after that.
The driver who hit their car was a drunk rich kid. After paying compensation, he vanished from her life completely.
Her grandmother and uncle’s family, the people she had once trusted, took care of her for five years. Once they had her trust, they tricked her out of her parents’ inheritance and most of the settlement money, then disappeared.
Three days ago, her caregiver and attending physician worked together to drain what was left of her compensation.
Then they dumped her in this slum and left her here to die.
According to the caregiver, this was an abandoned house in the slums. Even if someone died here, nobody would find the body for a year.
For three days, Clara had eaten nothing.
She had drunk nothing.
At this point, she was basically waiting to die.
“You got what you wanted.”
Her voice was hoarse and painfully weak.
After forcing out those words, Clara slowly closed her eyes and waited for death.
That was when she heard two men talking outside.
“You sure this is the place? The door isn’t even locked.”
“Yeah. A few days ago, I saw a man and a woman in nice clothes come out of here. They must’ve stashed something good inside.”
“Then let’s check it out. If there’s nothing here, you’re gonna regret wasting my time.”
The two of them pushed the door open and walked in.
Clara saw one tall man and one short man.
The tall one was thin, with shifty eyes and a sleazy look. The short one had a scar across his face and looked like the type who had done more than just talk tough.
In short, neither of them looked like good people.
“This is the good stuff you were talking about?”
Smack.
After seeing what was actually inside the room, the short scar-faced man jumped up and slapped the tall man across the face.
“I mean, it kind of is. She could still be worth a little money.”
The tall man tried to defend himself.
“Bullshit. Look at her clothes. She’s from a hospital. If she got dumped here, she’s already halfway dead. Federal Hospitals pull this kind of thing every year. Let’s go. This is bad luck.”
The scar-faced man glanced at Clara, who was staring at him from the bed.
He spat in disgust, then turned to leave.
Clara did not care about being looked down on.
She closed her eyes again and quietly waited for death to come.
[Following negotiations between the World Will of Karime and the World Will of Earth, all humans on Earth between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five will now be forcibly transported to the Karime Continent. This action will increase Karime’s population and reduce Earth’s burden.]
“What the hell is going on?!”
A cold, emotionless mechanical voice rang out beside Clara’s ear, followed almost immediately by the scar-faced man’s shout.
Then her whole body went light.
A moment later, she landed on something soft.
The fresh, gentle scent of wood filled her nose.
Clara slowly opened her eyes.
The pitch-black ceiling she had been staring at was gone, replaced by warm yellow light and smooth wooden boards.
Curious, she turned her head and looked around.
The room was about twenty square meters in size, with walls that curved slightly inward.
Dark green patterns decorated the walls, ceiling, and floor.
She was lying on a bed made of straw. Beside it stood a low table about half a meter tall.
On the wall above the table hung an old-fashioned lantern, glowing softly.
Inside the lantern, tiny yellow fireflies drifted in circles like scattered sparks.
Other than that, the room held only a round glass window and a tightly shut door.
So this was the Karime Continent that voice mentioned?
Other than being a bit brighter, it was not much different from the slum.
Might as well keep waiting to die.
After looking around, Clara gave her verdict and closed her eyes again.
She had gone three days without food or water. She did not have the energy to think about anything else.
[Welcome to the Karime Continent.]
[The Karime Continent is home to monsters, magical turbulence, mana tides, and unstable climates. It is a dangerous world where even the air is thick with mana.]
[If you wish to survive in this dangerous world, remember the following rules.]
[1. A shelter with a protective magic barrier is the only safe place. Upgrade your shelter as soon as possible. The higher its level, the stronger its protection.]
[2. Everything depends on your own effort, struggle, and will to survive.]
[3. Your shelter’s Magic Desk has many functions. Use it well. It will greatly reduce the pressure of survival.]
[4. The next seven days will be a protection period. Powerful beasts and monsters will not actively attack you. You may safely go out and gather supplies.]
[5. Supply chests will randomly appear anywhere on Karime. They may contain food, water, and all kinds of survival or daily necessities. Do not rely on them too much.]
[6. Night on the Karime Continent is extremely dangerous. Return to your shelter before dark, or bear the consequences yourself.]
[7. Only the person who activates a shelter may enter it. Unless you invite someone in, you do not need to worry about anyone breaking into your home.]
[8. To help you live in this world, and according to the agreement with Earth’s World Will, Karime’s World Will will provide each of you with one starter spell, one Talent Awakening, and one E-rank tool of your choice.]
[Finally, the distance between shelters may be as short as ten meters or as far as ten kilometers. Resources must be fought for. Do your best to survive.]
The mechanical voice fell silent.
Magic?
A Talent Awakening?
She could live.
If she awakened some powerful talent, then even with paralyzed legs, she might still have a chance.
Magic was supposed to be mysterious.
Maybe it could work.
At that thought, Clara’s eyes snapped open.
Her gaze burned as she stared at the low table she had ignored earlier.
No.
Not a table.
The Magic Desk.
