Um… alright…
Although she accepted the senior's invitation, Komini wasn't sure what exactly the senior intended to do with her.
Just like now—the two of them were standing outside the G-01-05 Anomaly containment room.
"Senior… is Senior Yulia really okay with this?"
Komini glanced uneasily at the monitor that had been following them and voiced her concern.
After all, she had just walked out of the Control Department's central control room, and she could still clearly remember Senior Yulia's gaze—six parts confusion and four parts suspicion.
It was obvious that this Control Department elite was extremely puzzled by the request of two Training Department employees wanting to work together on G-01-05.
Although regulations didn't forbid multiple people from working on the same Anomaly, this was something Komini had genuinely never seen before.
After all, what normal person wouldn't keep a respectful distance from these bizarre Abnormalities? Even a senior wouldn't normally risk their life for a junior who had nothing to do with them.
So even though Senior Arthur had barely convinced Senior Yulia using "guiding a new employee in Anomaly work" as an excuse, it was clear she was still keeping a close eye on them.
Komini couldn't help feeling uneasy.
"It doesn't matter. She won't really care about this," Arthur said as he skillfully stepped into the entrance and waved at Komini behind him. "She looks serious on the surface, but she's actually very lenient with employees…"
"Hey, I can still hear you!" Yulia's dissatisfied voice came through the broadcast.
"Yes, yes, I know you're listening," Arthur replied casually as he quickly pressed the second safety button, grabbed Komini's hand, and led her inside the Guide's oak house.
There were no monitors here.
[Work started. Work panel opened.]
[Workers: Arthur, Komini]
[Work Object: Anomaly G-01-05]
[PE-BOX Energy Collected: 0/12]
"Wow…"
Come to think of it, this was Komini's first time working on an Anomaly outside her department. Seeing the oak house in front of her—with no visible signs of containment—her astonishment was unmistakable.
Pure wooden architecture was extremely rare in the City… and here, there wasn't even a containment chamber.
"Is that… him?"
A gentle voice came from not far away, and Komini turned toward it.
It was a human male—far more pleasant to look at than the Fairy Feast.
Able to communicate.
Humanoid.
"Senior… is he really the Anomaly here?" Komini whispered instinctively, leaning closer to Arthur.
She couldn't sense even the slightest hint of danger from him.
But before she could finish speaking, she realized Arthur had already walked forward as if this were completely natural.
"Senior?!"
This scene—one that blatantly violated every rule in the Training Department's employee handbook—left Komini utterly shocked.
She hurried over, tugging on Arthur's sleeve to stop him, but Arthur ignored her entirely.
"Yes, that's him," Arthur nodded at the Guide before calmly pulling a box out from under the wooden bed. "Do you have any spare pickaxes and Magic Mirrors? I'll need a few."
"…."
Seeing the Anomaly fall silent, Komini mistakenly thought Arthur's outrageous behavior had rendered him speechless.
"Senior… Senior… it's an Anomaly! Think about the employee handbook—please be careful…"
She didn't realize that the Anomaly's careful gaze was focused entirely on her.
After observing for a while, the Guide's expression subtly changed. In the end, he let out a quiet, almost imperceptible sigh.
"Arthur," he said softly, "your journey should begin."
He said nothing more. Instead, he walked to the door of the oak house and opened it for them.
At that moment, Arthur finished gathering the supplies from the box, ignoring Komini's frantic tugging.
"Let's go."
He placed a Copper Pickaxe directly into Komini's hands, then stepped through the doorway himself.
In a daze, Komini followed.
"Ah… sorry—excuse me…"
Out of habit, she bowed politely to the Guide as she passed.
She didn't even realize why she was apologizing to an Anomaly.
"It's alright."
The Guide nodded back just as politely.
Their interaction was strangely harmonious. As Komini crossed the threshold into Terraria, the oak door closed quietly behind them.
"…?"
"Se-Senior—Senior, what's going on?!"
"Are we in the Outskirts?!"
Opening her eyes to the pleasant weather, Komini's worldview shattered once again.
Two seconds ago, she had been in W-0001 Branch.
One second ago, inside the oak house.
And now—after stepping through a single door—she stood in a place that looked like the suburbs.
This was far too unreal.
Although she'd heard of the Outskirts countless times, Komini had never actually seen them herself—only stories of monsters and danger beyond the Nests.
"It's similar to the Outskirts," Arthur said, swapping a Copper Shortsword from his inventory and handing it to her. "More accurately, the Anomaly of G-01-05 is this world."
"Senior, that's incredible! How did such a long sword appear out of nowhere?!"
Komini stared in amazement, clapping her hands instinctively.
"Singularity technology. Interdimensional storage," Arthur replied smoothly.
After all, he couldn't exactly explain the existence of a system—and the City was full of absurd technologies anyway.
Out of the 26 Wings of the World, who knew how many had already fallen?
When a Wing fell, its Singularity technology was reclaimed by the Head. Once the patent expired, it became usable by others.
"Oh… oh…"
Komini nodded, easily convinced.
"Alright. No more questions?" Arthur said. "Then let's begin."
And only then did Komini realize—
She had boarded something far more dangerous than a pirate ship.
The world around them was bright and peaceful—flowers, trees, sunflowers, birds chirping, and rabbits hopping through the grass.
But under Arthur's guidance, she soon descended underground.
And the tunnels ahead—
Were clearly not paths meant for humans.