"Thank you for coming!" Cale, a handsome guy with black hair, said while wearing a convenience store uniform.
Sigh.
It's been three days since someone bought something here. A lot of people are moving to the city, leaving only a few in this low-populated province.
It wasn't like this when I was just four years old. My mom died in an accident, and after that, my dad and I moved here to live with my grandpa. Back then, my grandpa owned this convenience store, and the province was lively, full of kind people.
But Grandpa said even a place like this could change someday, and I should know how to protect myself. So, he taught me some martial arts and swordsmanship. At first, it was hard because I was just six. Grandpa said it was our family's martial art, and I should only teach it to people I can trust.
When I turned twelve, Grandpa passed away, and three years later, my dad passed away too. At fifteen, I stopped going to school and focused on managing my grandfather's convenience store. But now, four years have passed, and I'm nineteen. People are starting to move to the city, making it harder for me to have customers.
Since I didn't finish high school, nobody wants to hire someone like me. There were times when people wanted me to become a model, but because of the depressing things happening in my life, I never considered it, and now I'm starting to regret it.
Interrupting my thoughts, the door to the convenience store burst open, and a gang of six guys entered.
"Hey, pretty boy, get me everything you have!" the gang leader said.
"Yeah, money, everything!" another member said.
I always encounter guys like this. How could they rob this poor-looking store in a nearly abandoned town? Did they think I had something to give them? It's going to get messy again. It's happened over 50 times. Did the other gangs not warn them? Never mind.
"I don't have anything. Can't you see how few people live here? It's almost a ghost town. If you use your head, you should already know that I don't have money because no one is buying," I said.
"The bastard! Do you think we're fools? Take everything!" the gang leader ordered his men.
"Do you think I will let you do as you please?"
"Then what do you want to do? Do you think you can handle us? HAHAHA!" the gang leader said mockingly while laughing.
Without replying, I closed our distance and punched the leader in his face.
"Ugh!" the gang leader groaned while holding his broken, bleeding nose.
Before he could finish, I kicked him in the balls.
"Ugh, what the hell are you doing? Get him!" the leader said to his men, dumbfounded.
After processing what happened, his men finally realized what was going on. Then, all of them rushed toward me, waving their weapons. I took a deep breath, and my martial arts training kicked into gear. With swift movements, I disarmed the first attacker, sending his bat clattering to the ground.
The others hesitated, momentarily stunned by my speed and precision. Seizing the opportunity, I launched into action, delivering a series of quick strikes that sent them reeling. Within moments, the tide turned in my favor. With each punch and kick, I quickly dispatched the gang members, their weapons no match for my skills.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, the last of them lay defeated on the floor, groaning in pain. Though my store was a bit worse for wear, I should call the police now before they regain consciousness.
After 30 minutes, the police arrived and arrested them. After the police left, I cleaned my store. After sighing, I finally finished. I should start closing up.
After dragging down the store's metal gate, I started walking on my way home. Arriving, I took off my shoes, walked toward the kitchen, and started cooking myself dinner. After finishing eating, I walked down the hallway toward my room.
While walking, I passed my father's door, then my grandpa's room. I was about to walk away, but I noticed that my grandpa's door was slightly open, and there was a faint light glowing inside. After noticing that, I prepared myself. I wasn't sure yet, but I never go to my grandpa's room since he died, so the light in his room was always off. So, there was only one possibility—and that was that there was a thief.
After preparing myself, I kicked the door open, and I only saw a light coming from behind an old tall wooden cabinet. My curiosity kicked in, and I didn't realize that I was starting to push the wooden cabinet aside to see what was behind it. While moving it, I started to see a rune-looking text, and after completely moving the cabinet, I saw behind it a glowing golden door.
"What the hell is this? It's my first time seeing it," I said, moving closer.
Again, my curiosity got the better of me, so I started to open the door, closing my eyes because of the blinding light. After opening it completely, a fresh breeze caressed my nose, smelling of soil, grass, and trees.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw an unfamiliar small grass field with a lot of trees around, and I saw the door standing in the middle of the forest. Shocked, I went back inside and closed the door.
Confused, I sat, processing what was happening. I looked at my grandfather's small drawer, and there was a light coming out of it. I walked closer and opened it, and saw an old-looking envelope with a ring-shaped bulge inside it. Opening it, I saw a letter with the ring on top. It looked like it was written a long time ago. The golden ring had a pattern of a sword. Putting the ring aside, I started to read the letter.
"To my Grandson,
Hello, Cale. I know you're confused right now. At first, my plan was for your father to open it or know about this, but your father never listened to me. He never had interest in martial arts or holding a sword, so I let him be. But after knowing I had a grandson, I felt relieved and happy because I could now pass my knowledge to you and our secret arts.
I know you might think I'm talking nonsense here, but the truth is, I'm actually from another world. I'm the head of a family, the Duke of Ashford. A lot happened there. I was supposed to become the next duke, but my brother took it from me and tried to kill me, with a bunch of assassins following me. I saw the ring of the head of the family glowing, and wearing it, without realizing, I ended up in this world called Earth.
I did everything to look for a way back to my world, but I ended up meeting a kind, beautiful girl, who turned out to be your grandma. After being with her, I lost interest in looking for my way back to my world. But five years ago, my ring started to glow again, and I started studying how the ring worked. I ended up making a door to another world using the family head ring.
But I was already happy with my life here, so I kept the door a secret. At first, I wanted to send your dad through it, but he didn't have an interest in becoming stronger. Now that I have my grandson, you're strong, but you can become even stronger if you stay in that world for a period of time.
I don't care what you want to do with that door; I'll just entrust it all to you, grandson. I'm happy to have a kind, strong grandson like you. If you want to move the gate wherever you want, you need to wear the ring and just imagine the doorway back home, and the door will appear in front of you. So before you go to the other side, you should always wear this ring.
Good luck, Grandson."
After reading the letter, I sat there, stunned. It was a lot to take in. My grandpa wasn't just a simple convenience store owner; he had a whole other life, another world. And now, he was entrusting me with this secret. My mind raced with questions and possibilities. But one thing was clear: my life was about to change in ways I never imagined.
As an hour passed, I processed my thoughts and decided to venture to the other side of the door. But first, I needed to pack things up. If the other side was indeed another world, then I must prepare the things I needed, like basic camping equipment, weapons such as a knife and handgun, and food.
Thirty minutes flew by as I prepared the necessities. I checked the knife, handgun, and my sword, the backpack filled with food, and the first aid kit—all checked. I was wearing a windbreaker with hiking boots, ready for the journey.
With everything prepared, I wore my backpack and walked closer to the door leading to another world. Taking a long, deep breath, I opened it and stepped through, entering the forest beyond.
After five minutes of walking, I finally came across a grassless road. As I walked along the middle of the road, I felt something changing inside my body. Unexpected pain surged through me, causing me to cry out, "Ugh!" My entire body felt like it was burning, my blood boiling with agony. It was excruciating, and I prayed for it to stop.
"Ughh!"
After enduring ten painful minutes, the agony finally subsided. Exhausted from the pain, my eyelids grew heavy, and my vision darkened as I succumbed to unconsciousness.