As Bionic Tear transformed into Sterl's form, he felt something was off again.
Earlier, when he was protecting Teresa and the others, why hadn't he used Bionic Tear?
Now, to validate his suspicions, Sterl flew toward the source of the cracking sounds.
He focused all his attention on Bionic Tear; at a critical moment, he could unleash the power of Fission. The combination of an Iridescent-Level Silent Domain and Fission power would be enough to clear the battlefield of all Devourers of All Things in one go.
So...
How had Teresa and the others died?
Why had he just been helplessly guarding outside the cave?
Sterl felt that the images in his memory completely defied logic.
The current situation was also chaotic!
Those Devourers of All Things, to put it bluntly, he could easily obliterate them. Unless Sterl had deliberately chosen not to act, wanting to get Teresa and the others killed, otherwise...
Everything he remembered shouldn't have happened at all.
"Damn it, I must have fallen under some illusion."
"Holy Spirit Bloodline! Activate!"
Using the power of the upper realms, he sensed an instant surge of countless golden threads impacting the entire world!
Sterl didn't need to fly to where the crashing sounds were coming from.
His confusion was resolved.
The entire world was disintegrating into nothingness, shattered by the threads created by the Holy Spirit Bloodline.
Sterl stood at the edge of the void, feeling memories surge within him.
"It really is an illusion..."
"Right, I'm participating in the Inquire Within instance!"
"So everything before my eyes is merely a trial."
Sterl contemplated.
As the whole world turned into countless drifting fragments, everything had come to an end!
Sterl found himself once again standing in the void, this time without any spirit entities coming to speak to him.
A prompt slowly appeared before him.
[Congratulations, you have completed the second stage of the Inquire Within trial.]
[Task Evaluation: [Data Error]]
"Huh?"
Sterl was taken aback.
He looked at the broken world and recalled the scenes he had just witnessed, gradually realizing something. The second stage of this instance's trial corresponded to his own fears.
Sterl's greatest fear in the face of calamity was his own lack of strength, which prevented him from protecting those around him, especially...
Linna and Rayna.
He had once had nightmares where, during a great disaster, he lost his only two family members because...
Sterl wasn't strong enough!
The content of this trial was designed to force Sterl to break through his fears.
However, the earlier feeling of "regret" had been constructed based on Sterl's memories, making it a nearly flawless reenactment of past events.
But now, the scenes projected by the Inquire Within instance depicted a normal scenario, showcasing what a third-class player might achieve in the future.
The instance had already overestimated Sterl as much as possible; a third-class player had advanced to Supreme!
Such a rapid improvement was almost unreasonable.
Yet it still failed to simulate Sterl's true combat power.
Just as Sterl had considered in the illusion, even if he hadn't improved at all and had simply reached the Supreme level—adding just a few attribute points—the time spent each day gaining insights from the Holy Spirit Bloodline was enough for him to master multiple forms of divine authority!
Combined with his existing abilities, Sterl could unleash a radiant-level Silent Domain that perfectly countered the Devourers of All Things!
"The class bell has already rung; aren't you heading over?"
Sterl snapped back to reality as a boy with brown curly hair, wearing a t-shirt and smiling brightly in the sunlight, approached him.
"Let's go! Let's go! Didn't you say you wanted to aim for more A+ grades? You could trick your way into getting some extra pocket money."
Oh, right!
Sterl suddenly realized.
The person approaching was his good friend!
What was he doing just standing there? It was time for class!
As for the extra pocket money, Sterl recalled that he wasn't like other classmates who had girlfriends, but he had spent quite a bit on games, often running short on cash.
This semester, Sterl had vowed to get good grades so his parents would give him more money.
Now... he needed to hurry to class!
If he offended the teacher, he would lose all his participation points!
As for just now, what had he been doing standing there?
Sterl felt as if he had just woken from a strange dream, one that involved concepts like transmigration, game worlds, and gods—a jumble of nonsensical ideas.
Clearly, those things couldn't possibly exist.
Without hesitation, he sprinted forward, surrounded by the beauty of the campus.
The tall trees let sunlight filter through their leaves, casting dappled golden light that fell on Sterl's face.
Everything appeared tranquil and serene.
From there, Sterl followed a routine: attending classes, completing group assignments, returning to his dorm, playing games, ordering takeout, finishing meals, continuing to game, attending afternoon lectures, and finally going to sleep.
The next day, he would wake up for class.
Back to the dorm, gaming...
Time passed day by day, yet Sterl felt as if something within his body was slowly slipping away.
But...
He decisively went to the hospital, and the results showed everything was normal.
He was in excellent health.
Sterl felt relieved.
Was he really going to doubt the doctor and trust his own unfounded imaginings?
Thus, Sterl continued this repetitive cycle of life day after day.
...
Sitting in the cafeteria, Sterl said, "Sometimes I feel like my life has fallen into some kind of loop, where I always see the same predictable scenes."
Behind him, many people clinked their trays as they walked by.
Sterl poked at his pizza with a knife and fork, then took a hearty gulp of cola, letting out a long sigh.
"Is that so?"
His friend, the brown-haired boy from earlier, didn't seem to care much and focused on demolishing the chicken leg on his tray.
"Are you a transmigrator, a superpower user, or an alien?"
The brown-haired boy mumbled casually.
Sterl just chuckled lightly, ending that topic.
He felt a bit restless.
He was clearly already tired of his monotonous life, yet he saw no way to escape it.
Perhaps this was his future—gradually graduating, methodically finding a job, and then getting married and having kids.
Sterl felt he could see the future unfolding before him.
And indeed, that was how things went.
Before long, he graduated.