Chapter 17

It was winter, and snowflakes drifted softly from the sky, swirling in gentle circles before landing. Quill paused beneath the corridor roof, watching the delicate flakes fall. He extended a hand, letting one rest briefly on his palm, where its icy touch quickly melted into a tiny droplet. Three years had passed, and Quill had thought he had forgotten everything about the otherworldly experience he had lived through. However, Aspen and Nora's sudden appearance had reopened a floodgate of memories he had buried deep inside. He recalled the day he had completed his mission. The idea of traversing worlds and working with a System had always felt surreal. When he woke up and found himself back in his familiar bedroom, for a moment, he thought it was just a vividly strange dream. But it was not. The System had transported him back to the exact point when he left five years ago. However, the injuries he sustained in that otherworldly mission remained with him as he crossed over. His bod