Lord of The Red Planet

Knock… knock… knock…

"Come in."

Hearing that, Asuka pushed the door in front of her and stepped inside. She walked to the front of a large wooden desk, where Emma was visibly working on a stack of documents. She lifted her gaze.

"What is it? It's not like you to come to the Ninth Floor," Emma asked in a calm tone.

"I bring good news for Avanheim and Lord Arthur," Asuka replied, her face beaming.

"Oh? Tell me." Emma stopped what she was doing and looked at Asuka with interest.

"Lord Arthur's order from three months ago… about making it so Avanheim can use the land in this world to grow plants… has borne fruit." Asuka said happily, then took out a unique-looking tree seed. The seed emitted a soft, rainbow-colored light. She offered it to Emma. "This is a seed from a wheat plant."

Hearing that, Emma cut Asuka off. "This doesn't look like a wheat seed."

"Correct. Because I modified it using my Druid magic. I've performed hundreds of experiments to achieve this effect." Asuka sighed, remembering her hard work over the last three months. "The environment outside is even worse than the Abyss. At least the Abyss still has an atmosphere and oxygen. Here, it's a complete vacuum. So, I thought about creating a plant that could live in an environment like this."

"Asuka, you can take that chair," Emma said with a nod. Although their relationship could be quite heated when discussing who would be Lord Arthur's wife, when it was time to be serious, the situation was different.

Asuka took the chair beside her and sat down, then continued. She took the wheat seed and let it float above her palm. "I designed this wheat to be able to be planted in the vacuum environment outside Avanheim. I've already tried it by accelerating its growth with magic, and the taste… it's really not as good as regular wheat."

"So you're saying it's a failed product?" Emma narrowed her eyes.

"Secretary-General, what do you expect from wheat grown in a desert environment, a vacuum, and full of deadly radiation? Not to mention there's no water. The fact that it can be planted and grown at all is a miracle in itself," Asuka retorted sharply.

"Lord Arthur ordered you to be able to make food for Avanheim, not garbage like this!" Emma slammed her fist on the desk.

Hearing that, Asuka's expression immediately turned to anger. "Garbage, you say! Lord Arthur himself said he didn't expect the results to be too good! Besides, Lord Arthur only told me to develop a plant that could be grown in the outside environment! And you, who just sits here all day, what do you know?! It's obviously impossible to produce a plant as good as one grown in a normal environment, even with Druid magic! There are things that can and cannot be done!"

Emma's face flushed with anger, and she stood up. "You…!"

"What?!" Asuka challenged without fear.

"I sit here all day handling administration, not lazing around!" Emma exclaimed.

"Well, so do I!" Asuka shot back.

Emma sat back down and held her forehead. "Alright… you're right. I underestimated this wheat."

Hearing that, Asuka was a little surprised, and her angry expression softened. "I apologize for my disrespectful attitude. Actually… if you and Lord Arthur want the wheat and plants to grow normally, I suggest changing a small part of the space outside to be like it is in Avanheim. You could have Merlin create a small space that mimics the fertile environment of the World of Monia. He should be able to do it if it's only on a small scale."

"I will keep this idea in mind and convey it to Lord Arthur. And also, in the future, Avanheim will have fertile land to cultivate," Emma said.

"The place you're referring to… is Earth?" Asuka asked doubtfully. She had heard the name of that place from Belial.

"Correct," Emma nodded.

"So… what about that world?" Asuka asked curiously, leaning back in her chair.

"Why don't you see it with your own eyes?" Emma said with a smile.

Hearing that, Asuka immediately sat up straight and leaned forward over the desk. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. Why not?" Emma said gently. "I will ask Lord Arthur's permission for you to go there. Consider it my apology for what I said earlier."

Hearing that, for some reason, Asuka felt an awkward atmosphere.

"Alright, thank you."

…

Arthur got out of his car and parked it in the park's parking area. He got out, not forgetting to take his laptop with him. After locking the car, he walked into the park in front of him and looked for an empty bench. He sat down, then opened his laptop.

"A nice park…" he murmured. He looked at the park, which was beginning to be covered in white snow. Sitting alone in the middle of this expanse of snow… felt peaceful.

"I never thought I'd be able to set foot in this country. Even though it's not as beautiful as I once imagined, at least this country is better than my own." He shook his head. "What am I thinking? I'm not even human anymore. Why should I care if this country is better or not? Now, there's no difference. They are all essentially human countries."

Arthur clenched his fist, then opened it again. He pointed his index finger at a dry, snow-covered cherry blossom tree in front of him.

He looked left and right. Making sure there were no cameras in this park, he decided to use a little magic.

"Second-Sequence Magic: Wind Ball."

A small, grayish-white magic circle appeared in front of his index finger. A wind ball the size of a baseball shot quickly toward the cherry tree's trunk.

BOOM!

A sound like a small explosion was heard as the wind ball hit the tree. Instantly, the snow on the tree scattered, creating a beautiful puff of snow dust.

"It seems… elemental magic can still be used on Earth." Seeing the effect of the wind spell, Arthur nodded in understanding.

"In that case, next… let's find out if there's any existence of Avalon players in this world's history. Whether this is just a normal modern world or not." Although Arthur could wait for Belial's report on this, searching for it himself felt better.

He quickly typed three keywords into the search bar: "MMORPG Game Avalon," "Future Star Company," and "major historical events related to the supernatural."

…

His fingers moved across the keyboard, his eyes quickly scanning the search results that appeared on his laptop screen.

First search: "MMORPG Game Avalon." The result was hundreds of links, but not a single one referred to the game he knew. There were only a few indie games with the same title, some fantasy books, and a medieval-themed bar in England. There was no trace of a popular game called Avalon. No news of an MMORPG release in 2010.

Second search: "Future Star Company." The result was just as disappointing. The screen only displayed a few small, irrelevant companies. There was no giant of the game industry based in the United States. It was as if the company and all its employees had never existed.

Third search: "major historical events related to the supernatural." This was his last hope. He scrolled through various history sites, conspiracy forums, and digital archives. He found many things: myths about Jesus Christ, stories of gods in Greek and Mesopotamian mythology, and miracles in the Islamic holy book. But all were presented as normal history, exactly as he knew it in his previous life.

Human history from 5,000 years ago to the modern era. The Industrial Revolution, World War I and II, the Cold War—all were as he knew them. There was not a single anomaly, not a single indication that an Avalon player had ever appeared and changed the course of history. No evidence of the existence of magic or supernatural powers, other than what was written in religious texts and individual claims that were dismissed as hoaxes.

Even the most recent world events he remembered from his previous life were still the same, like the war between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, the Israeli genocide in Palestine in 2023, and even Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 US election.

Arthur stared at his laptop screen, which now displayed a timeline of world history.

The history is exactly the same as I knew it… The only difference is… the absence of the Game Avalon.

The thought made him pause. A hypothesis began to form in his mind. He was reminded of a fantasy novel he had once read. About a DMMO-RPG called Yggdrasil whose server was shut down, and a Player who was thrown into a new world.

Could it be… that Avanheim and I are the first Avalon players to be sent to this world? According to the cycle in that novel, a player from Yggdrasil would usually come to the new world every hundred years. So, in my case, am I the first Avalon player, and in a hundred years, another player will follow?

He stared blankly at his laptop screen. The questions swirled in his mind, without a single certain answer.

If that's true, then the possibility of meeting them is very high.

"Although the game doesn't specify how long a Fallen Angel can live, Angels usually live for thousands of years… or are even immortal, right?" he muttered, thinking.

If this is true, then Avanheim's future is in danger…

"I hope the one who comes in 100 years isn't a major Guild like the Holy Alliance."

Thinking of that Guild made his cold headache turn hot.

"It seems Avanheim needs to take control of Japan soon…" Arthur stood up from his seat and put his laptop in his inventory.