The interplanetary scene was hauntingly beautiful. Shane knew it was an exceedingly detailed visual skybox, and yet it was as if it was real. Before Shane could consider the thought further, the lack of breathable air caused his diaphragm to spasm wildly. His body wanted him to breathe, but with nothing to intake, he simply floated in space and waited. Shane watched through massive discomfort as the beautiful, boundless earth below darkened from his failing vision.

His consciousness soon followed into the now-familiar, comforting darkness that was the respawning process. Shane was falling again, not toward the world he was thrown out of, but what could only be explained as a soundless, sightless void. As he fell, his consciousness slowly returned, as did the sensation of having a solid body. In just a few minutes, the stomach-churning orientation change that preceded him waking up occurred without fanfare.

Shane's body felt stiff as he stretched his limbs. He kept his eyes closed and touched the hard floor beneath him with his hands, but there was something soft too. A blanket? It was velvety like silky fur with just the right amount of padding. Shane opened his eyes and sat up.

He was where his bed was, or at least it should have been. All that remained beneath him was the soft animal fur comforter. The bed itself was all around him. Splintered pieces of wood, bent metal, and elongated springs were all that were left. Shane figured he had been out for at least ten hours; the moon's soft light cast itself through the gaping openings of his wall-less dwelling.

Without moving a hair, he listened intently for any unnatural sound within the ruins of his home. After a minute of only the sound of the wind bouncing off the wall behind him, he inhaled a breath of deep relief. Shane had an idea of the things a player could find in this endless world. From the weakest of woodland animals to beings with the literal strength of gods.

He suspected the lion-headed warrior was of the latter variety.

"I suppose I have some real piss-poor luck with these random encounters that…" he trailed off and pondered his wording.

Were they really just randomized encounters made for a player? No, Shane was positive that wasn't the case. In a vast world full of NPCs, he knew they were all designed to have persistent, evolving lives. Shane's perceived lousy luck was simply nothing more than circumstance. At least my [Luck] stat helps me get better loot, he thought grumpily.

He was so excited to come home and try out some of Humphrey's cooking and celebrate Sharlot's victory with everyone. Only for that excitement to be demolished like most of the walls and roof of his comfy cabin. Shane sullenly looked around. He sat in the middle of his living room—chunks of wooden beams, both small and large, littered the cabin floor.

Where there was a warm wall next to his bed was now a bare, obtuse opening with loose slivers of wood being blown onto his lap by the night breeze. The angled roof above him was missing half of the beams that kept the layered hay on top of it. The lion man's giant mace somehow left small, uneven holes in the parts of the ceiling that were still fully intact.

Shane sighed, feeling exasperated from recent events. His previous position on wanting to gain the power to live an easier life, free from people and things like the lion, was only amplified. After wiping the dust and wood particles from his rear, he stood up and decided to find Liz and Humphrey. Shane walked around the edge of his home and peered through its many new openings.

The darkness of night and its many calming sounds of insects and wind assaulted his senses. He focused his eyes on trying to find faint moonlight potentially bouncing off the shiny armor of his home's demolisher. After a few tense minutes, he sighed again and felt thankful for that man's absence.

Shane quickly checked his health and mana.

HP: 180/180

Mana: 164/164

Fatigue: 02/143

Good, he had enough for [Skeleton Crew]. He raised his arms and cast the spell—watching his skeletal companions materialize was always a joy to behold. Once summoned, he commanded Mage to hold a small fireball as a makeshift light source. The warm light from Mage's spell greatly emphasized the destruction he had already seen by moonlight.

Where the couch had been were piles of broken cushion frames and the tattered soft fabrics that fit into them. Something reflecting light caught the corner of Shane's eyes. He wandered over and gasped aloud. The shine came from an iron half-circle connected to the hatch's hinge hidden underneath the sofa.

With curiosity getting the better of him, Shane reached down and opened the hatch halfway. There was a strange light that seemed to be moving in the darkness. The colored light then turned toward him and rushed at him with alarming speed. Air caught in Shane's throat at the surprise, and he almost shut the hatch before he heard the light call out to him.

"Shane?! Is that you?"

He knew that voice, it was Liz! He flew open the hatch with enough strength to almost break off its hinges.

Liz came bounding out of the dark space beneath the floor and buzzed around him in great excitement. She must have circled around him ten times before he could catch her and give her a big hug. Humphrey casually climbed out of the hatch and patted Shane's shoulder—.

"Welcome back, master Shane."

Shane smiled. "Were you two in that hatch the whole day?"

"It's actually a cellar, master Shane. I keep a lot of the supplies for your dwelling's stations down there, and-"

"Hold on, Humphrey," Liz interrupted, her eyes concerned.

She turned toward Shane and carefully looked him over before meeting Shane's tired gaze.

"What do you mean the whole day, Shane?"

He cleared his throat, feeling like he was on the spot for something but didn't know what.

"Like, have both of you been down in the hatch since that lion guy showed up yesterday afternoon?" He elaborated upon his previous question.

Liz and Humphrey shared a growing look of alarm.

"Shane…Humphrey and I have been down there for about a full week now."

Shane's eyebrows furrowed with furious concern.

"But that guy threw me into orbit no more than thirteen hours ago!" he pleaded, trying more to convince himself than them.

"The sun was up when I passed out from floating in space. Respawning took only a few minutes, and I woke up here, and I know the respawn process takes around ten to twelve hours," he continued, deep in thought.

Liz nudged him to get his attention. He met her gaze, worried and anxious about the bad news he was sure she had for him.

"You're not entirely wrong in that observation. It's just that your revival in this world takes longer and longer each time you die. You probably didn't notice the first time it happened because it was so short. However, the time it takes to revive from here on will take exponentially longer…." Liz trailed off.

The deafening silence was heavy in the air, only punctuated by the occasional sounds of Humphrey trying his best to tidy things up.

"I'm sorry, Shane. I thought you knew," when he didn't respond, she continued.

"You know, this is a good opportunity to really understand what's at stake in this world. Use this knowledge to help you focus and get stronger, so you aren't making us wait so long." She giggled at that last sentence.

Somehow, he felt a little bit better given the circumstances.

Liz was right, though. He would need to get a whole lot stronger if he was going to avoid standing witless in a broken home again.