After everyone finished introducing themselves, Rovak glanced sideways at Garion again.

"Well, now that we’ve all introduced ourselves... what about you?"

Slifera immediately nodded. "Yeah, we still don’t even know your name."

Elisa quietly turned toward him too, her long white hair flowing behind her from the speed they were traveling at.

Garion blinked once, then shrugged casually. "Right."

He pointed at himself. "I’m Garion."

The group gave light nods in response.

Then Garion added naturally, "And I’m human."

The instant those words left his mouth, the entire group visibly reacted.

"...Human?"

Slifera blinked several times.

Rovak looked Garion up and down again.

Even Elisa’s calm expression shifted ever so slightly.

Garion immediately raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Rovak scratched his cheek awkwardly. "No, it’s just..."

Slifera picked up right after him. "We honestly didn’t expect you to be human."

Garion looked even more confused. "Huh?"

Elisa tilted her head slightly. "The surprising part is you being here."

Garion frowned. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Rovak gestured around the Cosmic Terminal while continuing forward. "Humans usually gather in completely different Cosmic Terminals."

Garion blinked slowly. "Wait... you mean there are terminals specifically for humans?"

The entire group nodded.

"Yeah."

Slifera crossed his arms. "The human race controls a massive number of territories."

"So most human cultivators naturally gather around human-controlled regions first."

Garion looked genuinely stunned now. "The hell..."

Atlas suddenly laughed beside him invisibly.

[Looks like your world was even more isolated than you realized.]

Garion ignored him immediately.

Rovak looked at him curiously. "That’s why we were surprised after hearing you were human."

Elisa calmly nodded. "Honestly, we only figured it out after you said it directly."

Garion scratched the side of his face awkwardly. "Guess my world was just ridiculously backward."

He laughed lightly. "Seems like even other humans didn’t know we existed."

The group exchanged glances before slowly nodding.

"Probably."

Slifera sighed. "The universe is absurdly massive. There are still countless isolated worlds scattered everywhere."

Rovak smirked faintly. "But honestly, now that we know you’re human..."

Garion glanced at him. "What?"

Rovak casually shrugged. "You probably don’t need to worry too much."

Garion raised an eyebrow. "That sounds suspicious as hell."

Elisa answered calmly this time. "The human race is one of the major cosmic races."

Garion blinked slightly. "...Seriously?"

Slifera laughed. "Very seriously."

He pointed upward dramatically. "Humans are literally everywhere."

Garion stared blankly for a moment. "What the hell..."

Atlas snorted softly.

[Congratulations. Your species somehow ended up becoming one of the dominant races.]

Garion honestly had no idea how to react to that.

Back on Earth, humans were just... humans.

Yet now he had suddenly learned they were apparently one of the giant races spread across the universe.

Rovak grinned. "So unless someone’s completely insane, most people won’t casually mess with humans."

Garion slowly nodded. "I see..."

That honestly explained a lot.

The others had looked surprised, but not hostile.

If anything, they almost seemed relieved after finding out he was human.

Elisa looked toward him again. "Although..."

Garion blinked. "Hm?"

"You really don’t act like most cosmic humans."

Garion frowned slightly. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

Slifera burst out laughing. "You’re way too casual."

Rovak immediately nodded. "Most newly awakened humans from advanced civilizations act proud as hell."

Garion snorted. "Sounds annoying."

Rovak laughed loudly. "Oh, they definitely are."

Atlas suddenly spoke beside Garion again.

[Honestly, you’d fit right in with them.]

Garion answered out loud without thinking. "No, I wouldn’t."

The group instantly looked at him strangely.

Garion froze. "...Uh."

Atlas immediately burst into invisible laughter.

[HAHAHAHA!]

Slifera blinked. "...Who exactly are you talking to?"

Garion’s mouth twitched slightly. Then he immediately pointed upward at random. "Ah. I was talking to myself."

The group stared at him silently for several long seconds.

Rovak slowly nodded. "...You know what? Fair enough."

Elisa sighed softly while shaking her head. "He probably spent way too much time alone drifting through space."

Garion instantly latched onto the excuse. "Exactly."

Slifera immediately looked sympathetic. "Damn... five years alone would definitely mess somebody up a little."

Atlas laughed even harder beside him.

[You actually convinced them.]

Garion ignored him completely this time.

Then Elisa suddenly looked toward Garion again. "So what exactly is your cultivation realm?"

Garion blinked slightly. "My realm?"

Rovak nodded. "Yeah. The Awakening Realm has multiple stages."

Garion scratched his cheek awkwardly. "...Honestly, I don’t really know."

The group looked surprised again.

Garion shrugged helplessly. "I only know I’m in the Awakening Realm."

At the very least, that part should be true.

The group exchanged another look.

Then Slifera slowly nodded. "I see..."

Rovak laughed lightly. "Well, we’ll find out soon enough anyway."

Garion looked at him curiously. "Hm?"

Rovak pointed toward the gigantic silver tower rapidly approaching in the distance.

"The registration process automatically scans your cultivation level."

Garion’s eyes narrowed slightly. "...Automatically?"

Atlas immediately spoke calmly beside him.

[Relax. They won’t detect the God Physique itself.]

Garion silently relaxed a little after hearing that.

Elisa smiled faintly. "So you’ll finally know your exact level soon."

Garion looked toward the massive registration tower ahead while streams of blue light flashed across its surface.

Honestly...

He was getting a little curious too.

---

The closer they got to the giant silver tower, the more chaotic everything became.

Garion originally thought the Cosmic Terminal itself was already crowded.

He quickly realized he had been completely wrong. This place was far worse.

No... "Worse" probably was not the correct word. It was massive, overwhelming, and... alive.

Countless streams of people moved in every direction around the enormous registration tower.

Some flew through the air. Some rode floating platforms.

Others moved through glowing gates that constantly teleported people in and out.

Thousands of voices echoed across the area while giant holographic screens displayed information in countless different languages and symbols.

Meanwhile, enormous mechanical beings floated above the crowds while monitoring everything below.

Garion slowed down slightly while staring around him. "...Holy shit."

Even after everything he had already seen, the scale of this place still shocked him.

Rovak laughed loudly after seeing Garion’s face. "Hahaha! There it is again."

Garion blinked. "What?"

"That newbie expression."

Slifera crossed his arms while grinning. "You keep looking like your soul leaves your body every few minutes."

Garion pointed around them immediately. "Can you blame me?"

He stared at the endless crowds. "There are more people here than entire continents from my old world."

Honestly, Garion was not even exaggerating.

The registration area alone looked bigger than some countries from Earth.