Day 282

The desert wind doesn’t sting the skin — it whispers. It speaks in ancient sounds, as if the very breath of the world of “IN” is breaking through time and dust… trying to warn — or to guide.

I was on my way back to camp, and each step felt like passing through a tunnel of thoughts, pulsating within me. I could feel the gravity of unease — not in my chest, but in the very ether. Space itself trembled under tension, like a string stretched between dimensions. Where is the end? Where is the beginning?

My concern was no longer personal. It had transformed into responsibility — for every soul who answered my call, who crossed the boundary of the known world to find themselves here — in a reality where even the laws of physics bend to the will of consciousness.

But before I reached the camp, fate, as always, disrupted my path — I was met by the Heroes, hastily returning from the front. Their eyes were weary, but they held a light — that unique spark one sees only when someone has touched a mystery.

“Professor!” gasped Necromario, breathless. “We reached the outer perimeter of the structure. It... it pulses. Like it’s alive. It’s not just a building. It’s an anchor. A magical anchor.”

“There are signs of prior presence,” added SeLeg. “Caravans, crates, remnants of fortifications — and… markings. A lot of markings. As if they were left behind… for someone yet to come.”

I froze — not in surprise, but from recognition. This place resonated within me, strange as it sounds, on the frequency of my subconscious. For the first time, I didn’t hear a whisper — I felt a deep response, as if everything I had studied had been pointing exactly here.

“An expedition…” I whispered — as if that word was a key, unlocking a multidimensional door in my mind. “This… is proof.”

Until now, we only assumed, guessed, theorized about ancient civilizations that might’ve left traces in this world. But now, we have tangible evidence — signs of encampments, map fragments, broken devices, and perhaps knowledge locked within forgotten symbols.

I headed there immediately. Even the sand itself seemed to part under my steps, letting me into the recorded memory of the land.

The Heroes had cleared part of the path — but only partially. Their battles continue. I pray they complete the passage — I must explore this place to its very core. It calls to me not only as a scientist — it pulls me like a fragment of something greater, like an ancient resonance embedded in my DNA.

And somewhere deep within my mind — where quantum probability collides with sacred dream — I feel that this structure was never just a building.

It may be... a gate.

A gate behind which we will not find answers, but encounter the Question itself.

And I can already hear it approaching.

P.S. Special recognition to: Necromario, SeLeg, BlackTAB, amironov, dimlight, CHpoker, Brutt, Dimaztik, Mirage, Almazik456 +1000 SP for active clearing of the desert. 💠

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