Night.
Astera.
Leon had just stepped out of the workshop when he noticed the atmosphere had shifted. The hunters looked tense, their gazes fixed on the edge of the horizon.
The wind grew fiercer as the night deepened, yet the sea had turned unnervingly flat, like the eerie silence before a violent storm.
It was disturbingly calm.
Leon's heart tightened. He took the wooden lift up to the fourth-floor Gathering Hub, which was already teeming with people. Everyone stood frozen, staring at the dark shadow far out at sea.
That was no island, nor was it a reef—
It was Zorah Magdaros.
It lumbered forward from the horizon where the sky met the sea, like a living continent crossing from the Old World into the newborn wilderness.
Its body seemed forged from dark basalt, with glowing magma coursing through its back like burning veins. It illuminated the night sky while scorching the air, causing the seawater to boil violently and rise as a thick mist.
A body of basalt...
Blood of flowing fire...
Leon instinctively swallowed, holding his breath.
He had never seen such a creature. Even after flipping through the Elder Dragon field guides at the Ecological Research Center countless times, he had never truly felt the "sheer awe of nature" until now.
Only at this moment.
Only now did Leon realize that an Elder Dragon wasn't just a monster—it was a manifestation of nature itself.
How truly magnificent...
"It's here... It really came..." a low murmur drifted from behind. An old hunter stood by the railing, his eyes filled with undeniable shock.
At that moment, Leon noticed several ships breaking the waves further out on the horizon, trailing behind the colossus.
Those were the vessels of the Fifth Fleet from the Old World. Their sails bore the crest of the Fifth Fleet as they followed Zorah Magdaros toward the New World.
"Tracking it all the way from the Old World just to uncover the mystery of the migration..." the old hunter muttered. "Some say it influences the ecological cycle. Others say its arrival in the New World will bring nothing but disaster..."
Leon didn't hear a word the man said. He stared blankly at the titan crossing the ocean, his body trembling involuntarily.
It wasn't the thrill of battle; it was an instinctual reverence.
Zorah Magdaros wasn't prey to be hunted...
It was—
A living piece of nature.
A migrating mountain of fire!
***
May the Sapphire Star light your way.
The sea surged.
Several ocean-faring ships were in transit, carrying members of the Fifth Fleet of the New World Research Commission.
Their ultimate goal was to uncover the true reason behind the Elder Crossing.
On the deck, sunlight poured down.
Inside the cabin, the air was thick with the sound of voices.
A man with black spiky hair was talking to a female Handler. They were discussing the New World.
The man was Ramsey, and the Handler was Aibo.
Around them, hunters held mugs of beer, boisterously dreaming about their future adventures in the New World.
"We're heading over to track the migration route of Zorah Magdaros," Aibo said. "That's an incredibly rare, massive Elder Dragon!"
Ramsey nodded, not offering much of a response.
"I heard," Aibo continued, "that Zorah Magdaros is heading to the New World because its life is nearing its end."
Just then, a hunter with messy, bird-nest hair sat down across from Ramsey with a beer mug. "Hey, we're almost at the New World. You ready?"
Without waiting for Ramsey to answer, the messy-haired hunter sighed to himself. "Finally! It's been such a long journey since we left the country..."
He paused for half a second, then looked up at Ramsey. "So, are you nervous?"
As they spoke, the ship suddenly jolted violently.
The deck shook, equipment slid across the floor, and the conversation was cut short. Sailors scrambled to investigate.
A powerful surge of energy erupted from the depths—
Zorah Magdaros appeared!
The colossal beast surfaced from beneath the sea, lifting the entire ship onto its glowing, lava-covered back!
The crew fell into chaos, Ramsey and Aibo struggled to maintain their balance. They tried to climb to safety, only to find themselves standing directly on the back of Zorah Magdaros.
Zorah Magdaros moved slowly, its massive frame resembling a moving volcano, waves of heat rolling off it as fire lit up the sky.
After a frantic climb, Ramsey and Aibo managed to escape the creature's back and leaped into the sea.
The seawater was bone-chillingly cold, as if it could freeze one's very consciousness.
Ramsey struggled to open his eyes. The roar of the tide hitting the rocks filled his ears, mixed with faint, muffled shouting.
His consciousness felt sluggish, as if it were still submerged.
"Ramsey! Are you alive? Hey! Get up!" Aibo's voice held a tremor of fear, but mostly urgency.
She was kneeling beside Ramsey, soaked to the bone, her hair matted down. She looked like a mess, having just escaped the jaws of a storm.
Ramsey coughed up a few mouthfuls of seawater and staggered to his feet on the sand, looking out into the distance.
A dense, primordial forest stretched to the horizon. Sunlight slanted through the clouds, illuminating a vast and alien land. The air was filled with the scent of unknown flora.
This was exactly what they had dreamed of—
The New World.
Aibo reached out to pull Ramsey up. "Follow me. We need to get to the base first."
The two entered the forest. The damp ground was slightly muddy, and the roars of unknown beasts echoed in their ears.
They descended a slope into the depths of a dense forest that felt like an endless labyrinth. Vines tangled together, and massive trees towered above, allowing only thin shafts of light to pierce the canopy.
Their footsteps crunched through fallen leaves and mud.
Ramsey kept his hand on his weapon, his eyes sharp and alert for any sudden danger.
Aibo led the way, occasionally leaning down to inspect tracks and signs of wildlife.
"These... look like tracks left by a large herbivore, though they're a bit old."
The two moved quietly, continuing their trek.
They scaled cliffs and crossed streams.
After several hours of hiking, finally—
Man-made silhouettes appeared ahead.
It was a massive fortress built against the sea, spanning the cliffs. It was brilliantly lit, with tall wooden masts and airship docking platforms standing like sudden towers in the forest.
"We're here," Aibo said, a genuine smile finally appearing on her face.
As they approached the base, several patrolling guards spotted them and waved, shouting, "Members of the Fifth Fleet! They're back!"
Several hunters soon ran out to meet them.
Leon was among them.
He knew perfectly well that the young man standing before him was the 'protagonist' of the game Monster Hunter: World.
Since his transmigration, Leon had always believed he would be the one to change the world and stir up the winds of destiny.
But now, the true protagonist was standing right in front of him.
Standing silently in the crowd, he looked at the travel-worn yet determined youth, and a strange sensation suddenly welled up in his heart.
It wasn't jealousy, nor was it disappointment.
It was a conflicted sense of daze and clarity...
'So, the story is only just beginning?'
Leon flashed a knowing smile. Hidden in the crowd as he was now, he felt exactly like an NPC...
Ramsey scanned his surroundings, his gaze shifting between the Gathering Hub at the center of the base, the Resource Center, and the Smithy.
He saw ships docking one after another at the harbor and noticed survivors from his own ship receiving medical treatment.
"Looks like you've been through a tough battle," the Commander said as he arrived on the scene, letting out a sigh. "It was Zorah Magdaros, wasn't it?"
Aibo nodded. "It surfaced from beneath the sea without warning and smashed our ship to pieces..."
"At least we only lost one ship," the Commander continued, turning away. "Go get settled in. We'll talk tomorrow morning after the welcome feast is over."