< World Tree : Yggdrasil >
< Status : Growing >
< Rank : Divine >
< Ability : Nurture Life, Stabilize World Core, Generate Primordial Energy, Unknown >
< Synchronization with World : 12% >
Kyle stared at the screen for a while after naming the World Tree.
Yggdrasil.
"...Sounds cool enough."
The world beneath it had become far more alive than before.
Green lands stretched endlessly, rivers flowed quietly, and the massive World Tree stood at the center like the pillar supporting the entire world.
Kyle didn't really mind the unknown ability or the synchronization being only at 12%. To him, good things simply took time.
"Well… I should probably do something about the fucking darkness in this world."
Thinking of this, Kyle opened the store within the app and carefully searched for something that could bring light into the world.
After scrolling for a while, he finally found what he needed.
< The Sun & The Moon : 20,000 Demios >
Kyle raised an eyebrow slightly.
"...That cheap?"
Compared to the World Tree and the strange fish, the price almost felt suspiciously low.
But Kyle purchased it anyway.
The moment he bought it, another notification suddenly popped up.
< The World of Asteria is evolving >
< Estimated Time Remaining : 2 Hours 30 Minutes >
"Oh yeah, of course it would have a fucking waiting period."
Kyle let out an annoyed grunt and lay down on the couch.
But after a moment of silence, his expression slowly changed.
He began thinking about the strange series of events that had happened ever since the app appeared on his phone.
And just like he had confirmed earlier—
His phone was no longer functioning the way it was supposed to.
Nothing worked anymore except this app.
The only thing visible on the screen now was the countdown for Asteria's evolution.
To Kyle… none of this still made any sense.
Kyle suddenly felt as if he had become part of some strange story, with a far greater force moving things behind the scenes.
Thinking about it sent an indescribable unease through his body.
And then—
An uncomfortable thought surfaced in his mind.
What if the world he was creating for fun was actually—
"...No."
Kyle immediately shook his head.
"Let's not think about that."
He couldn't even bring himself to finish the thought.
"...I seriously need a new phone after this."
Kyle took out his laptop and quickly sent a message to the house butler, asking for someone to deliver him a new phone.
After sending the message, he waited for around fifteen minutes before a knock finally came from the door.
A servant from the Mercer household entered respectfully and handed him the latest smartphone model, already prepared and set up for use.
"Anything else you need, sir?" the servant asked respectfully.
"Nothing. You may go now."
Kyle replied casually, and the servant quietly left the room.
Now alone in the room once again, Kyle walked toward the table where he had left his old smartphone.
But to his astonishment—
The phone was gone.
"...What?"
Kyle frowned immediately.
"I'm sure I left it here."
He quickly looked beneath the table, checking to see if the phone had somehow fallen down.
He searched the room carefully but couldn't find the phone anywhere.
But the very next moment—
Kyle suddenly felt something in his left hand.
He clearly remembered that the new smartphone was in his right hand.
Slowly, he lowered his gaze.
And to his astonishment—
There it was.
His old smartphone.
The countdown was still running on the screen.
"...Woah."
If Kyle had still held doubts about hallucinating before, then they were completely gone now.
A sudden idea appeared in his mind.
He immediately placed the old phone back onto the table before stepping around a meter away from it.
The moment he did—
The phone disappeared.
"...Now that's some crazy shit. What the hell is actually happening here?"
Thinking of another possibility, Kyle focused on the phone once again before quickly checking his pockets.
And just as he suspected—
The old smartphone had somehow appeared inside his pocket on its own.
To confirm his suspicions, Kyle ran a few more tests.
....
For a brief moment, Kyle stared silently at the old phone resting in his hand.
No matter where he placed it—
It somehow returned to him.
Kyle finally understood one thing.
The phone was somehow connected to him.
Whenever he moved more than a meter away from it, the phone would instantly disappear from its place.
And somehow, whenever he thought about it—
It would return directly to him.
But what Kyle couldn't understand was where exactly the phone disappeared whenever he moved far away from it.
Did it enter some kind of different dimension?
Or was it something else entirely?
Whatever the answer was, Kyle still wasn't ready to fully accept the reality of it.
"...Now I guess some really magical shit is happening to me."
Kyle let out a long sigh before sitting back down on the couch, trying to calm himself.
He quickly transferred his SIM card into the new phone.
Surprisingly, despite how overheated the old phone had become earlier, the SIM card was completely fine.
Nothing had happened to it at all.
Kyle then placed the new smartphone aside before picking up the old one once again—the phone he now knew was definitely not normal anymore.
The countdown had already gone much lower than before.
Only three minutes remained.
To his surprise, all the testing and organizing his thoughts had taken far longer than he initially realized.
The only thing Kyle could do now was stare at the countdown continuing on the screen.
2:14
1:42
1:03
After waiting for a few more minutes...
The countdown finally reached zero.
The moment it did—
The screen suddenly began flickering violently.
A bright light burst out from the phone, similar to when the app had first appeared—though slightly weaker compared to before.
Kyle instinctively raised his arm to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness.
After a few seconds, the light slowly began fading away.
Kyle cautiously lowered his hand and looked back toward the screen.
And what appeared before his eyes was beyond anything he could comprehend.
"WOOOAAHHHH—"