Before light appeared, the world was shrouded in darkness.
In the darkness, Dark Elves were born. Their existence predates even the Asgardians.
However, this ancient race was brutal in nature. One of their kings, Malekith, even sought to use the Aether to destroy the Nine Realms.
This led to a war between the Dark Elves and the Asgardians, nearly wiping out the Dark Elves. The Aether was sealed away by Odin's father, the king of Asgard.
Even the current God-King Odin does not know the exact location of the Aether's seal.
This has led to a certain speculation online.
If Jane hadn't entered the spatial passage, touched the Aether, and removed it from its seal, would the Reality Stone within have remained sealed for another 5,000 years, waiting for the next celestial alignment?
In that case, the Dark Elves wouldn't revive, Asgard wouldn't be attacked, Queen Frigga wouldn't die, and the Collector in Knowhere wouldn't be killed.
Most importantly, Thanos' plan for destruction might be delayed by another 5,000 years.
After the celestial alignment, even if Thanos dug up Odin's grave, he wouldn't find a way to the sealed location.
Wouldn't the future crisis of the Infinity War be directly resolved?
Furthermore, the spatial passage appeared in London during the celestial alignment. London is one of the three Sanctums. Why didn't the Ancient One pay attention to it or foresee the future danger?
If she had slightly intervened in Jane's rash actions, perhaps the future would have been entirely different.
Well, the Ancient One is like an old nun detached from worldly matters. She was in New York but didn't intervene during the Battle of New York, which speaks volumes.
She wouldn't take any action to change the future unless the idea came from Doctor Strange, as she saw in the future.
Simply put, she trusts Doctor Strange more than she trusts herself.
So, in reality, one shouldn't have high expectations of this nun. She's just a tool character with a sense of style. Even Kamar-Taj, like the village in Shang-Chi, exists to aid Doctor Strange's growth.
All these irrational developments serve to strengthen a specific character. This is a typical narrative pattern.
Since the Ancient One doesn't care, neither does Su Ye. After all, the timeline of this world is already messed up. He can't pinpoint exactly when Jane enters the spatial passage. He can't just follow her around all day.
A fair lady is what a gentleman desires, but there must be propriety...
Jane, after all, is Thor's lover. Su Ye is no chancellor; he wouldn't do something as bold as stealing her from under Thor's nose.
Though it sounds exciting... ahem!
After Heimdall called out, Thor stopped drinking and impatiently asked Heimdall to open the Bifrost to transport him to Earth.
Su Ye, with nothing better to do and unwilling to return to the battlefield of silent conflict among a few women, decided to tag along with Thor to Earth.
Besides, he had never been to London before.
Soon, the Bifrost pierced through space, sending the two men far away to Earth.
Earth, somewhere in London. Heavy rain poured down as various heavy vehicles were overturned. The police cordoned off the area, trying to manage the situation.
Darcy Lewis stood anxiously in the rain. Her boss and friend, Jane, had been missing for over five hours. The police couldn't find her, and Darcy was on the verge of breaking down.
After all, who would pay her salary if Jane didn't come back?
In today's social climate, the importance of a stable job goes without saying.
At that moment, Jane reappeared, under an invisible, massive rain shield, coming back into Darcy's sight.
Before they could exchange a few words, a tall man holding a hammer appeared in the distance.
Jane walked up and slapped Thor, using the excuse of verifying his authenticity, venting her frustration. She wanted him to know how cruel it was to leave a woman who had been deeply in love feeling unfulfilled.
However, after his head was knocked sideways by the slap, Thor didn't take it seriously. Instead, he looked around in confusion. "Huh? Where's the other guy?"
Hearing this, Jane instantly exploded with anger.
What did that mean? He didn't come alone? Did he bring someone else along? Was this a show-off visit?
Just as Jane was about to speak, Thor raised his head and shouted to the sky.
"Yeah."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
At that moment, everyone nearby was dumbfounded, their gazes toward Thor filled with indescribable oddness.
This guy, despite looking tall and strong, turned out to be a masochist. After being slapped, he enjoyed it so much that he shouted 'Yeah' three times. Clearly, something was wrong with him.
Of course, Thor was looking for Su Ye. They had set off from Asgard together, but only one of them landed. Where had the other gone?
The Bifrost is a transport conduit. The surrounding rainbow-colored beams guide and protect its passengers.
But the rainbow beam isn't indestructible. Hela once pinned Thor against the beam, eventually throwing him out into the void of space.
Although Thor hadn't experienced such a rough treatment yet, he was well aware of the consequences of falling out of the beam.
Su Ye wouldn't have been lost in the vastness of space, never to return, would he?
Thor thought of the group of Great Wall Guardians feasting and drinking at his place and immediately felt a headache coming on.
If those guys found out that Su Ye had been lost by Thor, would they stop drinking and chatting and instead just flip all of Asgard upside down?
No doubt about it, they really had that capability.
As a result, Thor didn't even have the energy to deal with Jane's slap or her earlier disappearance. As long as she was safe, the priority was to find Su Ye.
"Heimdall!"
Thor shouted to the sky, and the rainbow beam descended again, taking both him and the utterly bewildered Jane.
"Does this count as kidnapping?" Darcy Lewis, watching from a distance, didn't know how to even begin criticizing.
At the Bifrost, Thor looked at Heimdall. "Where's Su Ye? Where did he go?"
Heimdall looked equally puzzled. "Didn't he go to Earth with you?"
As he spoke, he turned to look toward Earth, then at the Nine Realms, and then even farther, but he found nothing.
"Su Ye is missing!"
This news immediately made both of them look grief-stricken. Clearly, the worry Thor had was something Heimdall had also considered.
After staring at each other for a long time, Heimdall suddenly said, "You go drink, and I'll keep looking. We have the whole night to find him. I'm sure we can locate him."
With that, Heimdall squatted down and began meticulously scanning every inch of the Nine Realms with his wide-open eyes.
Thor, meanwhile, took his hammer and flew off to another battlefield.
Jane, who had been inadvertently "kidnapped," felt completely redundant, as if no one had cared about her from the beginning.
"Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do next?"
Jane was momentarily stunned but eventually pieced together from their conversation that Su Ye was missing.
As for where Su Ye had gone, even he wasn't entirely sure.
While riding the Bifrost to Earth, just as he was about to arrive, his system suddenly activated.
[Ding! Unknown energy detected. Triggering system upgrade. Would you like to proceed with the upgrade and experience new features?]
Believing the system generally wouldn't harm its host, Su Ye decisively chose "Yes."
[Ding! Unknown conditions met. You may now draw a 'Special Card.' Would you like to draw and use it? Countdown: 5, 4…]
This new feature seemed rushed—offering a "Special Card" with no explanation and starting a countdown, leaving only 5 seconds to decide.
This wasn't meant to give him time to think; it felt more like forcing his hand!
Seeing the countdown nearing its end, Su Ye still chose "Yes."
After all, hope is what he chose to believe in.
And with that, he vanished from the Bifrost.
When Su Ye opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dilapidated warehouse. Beside him squatted a young girl with purple hair, quietly gazing at him with somewhat vacant eyes.
"Good morning, Senior Ye!"
The girl, dressed in a Japanese school uniform with shoulder-length hair, smiled and greeted Su Ye as he opened his eyes.
Su Ye smiled in return and greeted her, "Good morning, Sakura."
The moment the name "Sakura" left his lips, Su Ye frowned slightly. The girl in front of him was named Sakura, the younger sister of one of his classmates. These memories seemed to have always been his, naturally surfacing in his mind.
"So, this is another memory interference from the system, like when Harry appeared?'
The girl's eyes turned into crescent moons as she smiled upon hearing Su Ye speak.
"Senior, you oversleep too, huh? I'm actually glad when you do because it gives me a chance to wake you up."
"Oh, by the way, I'll prepare breakfast, so don't worry. Also, Fujimura-sensei will be here soon. You should change your clothes, Senior."
Su Ye looked down at his somewhat dirty work clothes and gave a wry smile with a nod.
"Yeah, if Fujimura sees me like this, she'll probably punch me."
Another new figure appeared in his memories: Fujimura-sensei, who was eight years older than Su Ye. After his father passed away and he became an orphan, she took on the role of his guardian.
"Wait a minute!"
Su Ye suddenly froze.
"I'm… an orphan? Old Su… gone?"
Thinking about this, Su Ye couldn't stay calm. Since the system appeared, Old Su had been like a mythical figure. No matter how many "parent-restraining" abilities Su Ye had drawn, Old Su had always been alive and well.
Not only was he alive, but he was getting stronger.
His performance on the southern slope of Mount Everest had convinced Su Ye that Old Su might be the biggest boss in the world, simply uninterested in meddling with American affairs, which was why he let Su Ye roam freely.
But now, his "memory" was telling him Old Su was gone?
Su Ye didn't believe it. He immediately activated his telepathic ability, extending his consciousness outward.
This was clearly Japan, not far from the Dragon Kingdom. He might not even need a mental amplifier to detect the Dragon Kingdom. As long as he connected with the national defense array, everything would become clear.
But as Su Ye's consciousness spread, he realized that while this place might be Japan, it didn't belong to his original world.
In his perception, this city was merely a lone existence within a space, surrounded by a foggy void, completely isolating it from the outside world.
Recalling the system's earlier upgrade notice and the activation of the "Special Card," Su Ye had a rough guess.
Perhaps this was a special space created by the activation and use of the "Special Card"?
In this space, his "orphan" background was recognized as common knowledge, and it wouldn't affect the "real" Old Su.
In other words, Su Ye was now inside a "dungeon" of sorts.
That was probably the case.
After taking a shower and changing clothes, Su Ye went to the dining room. By then, Sakura had already prepared breakfast, and Fujimura-sensei was seated at the table.
In his new life, his daily routine involved a junior schoolmate, like a little sister, who let herself into his home every morning to make him breakfast in different styles.
Additionally, there was a guardian, like an elder sister, who found various excuses to come over and mooch off meals.
This kind of life didn't seem too bad.
One day, I'll have a large blanket big enough to cover three people.
However, this city didn't seem peaceful. Various disasters frequently occurred, with vague causes such as gas leaks or knife attacks.
The Metropolitan Police Department was busy every day, like headless chickens, merely reacting without making progress.
After watching the news, Su Ye had no desire to investigate the truth.
After all, even if this was like a dungeon, it was still a Japanese city. Let it be chaotic.
Aside from Fujimura-sensei and Sakura, Su Ye also seemed to have a slight crush on another girl at school named Rin, a proud girl with black twin-tails.
The moment Su Ye saw this girl, he had a strange feeling that she wasn't just an ordinary classmate with no shared history.
Do you think these three girls make up the entirety of Su Ye's current life?
No. One evening, after finishing work and walking home in the dark, a white-haired little girl dressed in European aristocratic attire suddenly appeared in an alley, smiling at him.
As they passed each other, the girl softly spoke a sentence.
"If you don't summon it quickly, you'll be killed, O-ni-chan!"
Clearly, no matter where Su Ye ended up or what new settings he received, his knack for attracting women remained as solid as ever.
As for the summoning the white-haired girl mentioned, it was part of a special setup.
In this "dungeon," a special power called magic existed. However, battles between magicians weren't just about using magic.
Instead, every so often, seven chosen individuals would use spells and formations to summon seven Heroic Spirits from legends and history.
Ultimately, these Heroic Spirits would battle each other to determine the war's victor.
The summoners were called Masters, and the Heroic Spirits were called Servants.
After killing or subduing all other Masters and Servants, the final pair standing would be the victors of this war.
The victor would receive the ultimate prize.
The Holy Grail, capable of granting any wish!
This war was also known as the Holy Grail War!