The glowing words hung in the air, steady and cold, casting their pale hue across the damp tunnel walls. Alex stared at them, lips parting in disbelief. He felt no sound, no heat from the letters—only the unnerving sense that they were as real as the stone beneath his boots.
He glanced down at the pocket watch in his hand. Its hands spun in slow, deliberate circles, though the ticking was silent. The movement was too precise, too perfect, for any mechanism he knew.
Then the letters shifted.
[ System Initializing… ]
[ Identifying User… ]
[ User Confirmed: Alexander Carter ]
Alex's pulse quickened. "What the devil is a… 'system'?" The word felt alien on his tongue. In his mind, a system was a thing of pipes and cogs, a mechanical arrangement—never a phantom of light that spoke in riddles.
Another message formed.
[ Do you accept the inheritance of the Clockmaker? ]
Beneath the words, two options glowed faintly: Yes and No.
Alex's first thought was of Emma. The thought of never seeing her again struck him with sudden force, the image of her small frame vanishing into the morning fog etched fresh in his mind. If this inheritance could help him open that door and return home, perhaps…
"But how am I supposed to agree?" he muttered.
He reached out, attempting to tap the glowing "Yes" with his finger. His hand passed through as though touching smoke. The light did not so much as flicker.
Scowling, he tried another approach. He closed his eyes, fixed the word in his mind—Yes—and willed it forward.
The word blazed bright, and the "button" depressed soundlessly.
[ Congratulations on accepting your inheritance, young heir! ]
[ Tutorial Mode Activated ]
[ First Quest: Say or think the word "Status" ]
Reward: 2 Stat Points
Penalty: None
Alex read it twice, unsure whether to laugh or curse. Still, something compelled him to try.
"Status!" he said aloud, his voice echoing faintly in the tunnel.
The screen shifted instantly.
[ Name: Alexander Carter
Race: Human
Title: None
Current World: The Gates of Time and Space
Stats:
Strength – 5
Intelligence – 9
Stamina – 3
Agility – 4
Watch Attributes:
Dimensional Energy (DE)
Description: The raw power needed to open portals between worlds, also used as currency in the item shop. Earned by completing quests, absorbing dimensional anomalies, or defeating enemies in foreign worlds.
Value: 120
Usage: Each jump to a world costs a set amount based on distance and difficulty.
Temporal Stability (TS)
Description: Represents the user's ability to exist outside his native time flow. If it hits zero, the user becomes trapped in a time rift.
Value: 100 / 100
Usage: Slowly decreases while in another world, restored by resting at safe zones or using system items.
Resonance Key Fragments (RKF)
Description: Special fragments required to unlock the path home. Scattered across worlds; only appear after major quests or boss defeats.
Value: 0 / 5 (All fragments required to return to original world). ]
[ Quest #1 Completed! +2 Stat Points Awarded ]
Alex stood frozen, staring at the wall of information as though it might rearrange itself into something sane. "Portals? Other worlds? Trapped in… a time rift?" He let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "And yet it talks about 'stats' like I'm some blasted character in a children's tale."
His mind, always methodical from years of clockwork repair, began sifting through the terms. He could grasp the concept of energy, of stability—at least as far as mechanics were concerned. But Dimensional Energy? Temporal Stability? These things had no place in the world he knew.
The light shifted again.
[ Quest #2: Embark on your journey to another world. ]
Reward: Unlock Item Shop Feature
Penalty: None
Alex's stomach tightened. Another world. It was nonsense… and yet here he was, in a place that could not possibly exist beneath his home.
The tunnel ahead lit slowly, revealing walls etched with faint, curling lines. At the far end stood a row of seven great doors.
A faint whisper of air brushed past his ear. He found himself speaking under his breath. "Looks like there's no going back now… let's see this through."
He walked forward cautiously, boots tapping softly on the stone.
Each door was massive, framed in dark metal and crowned with a carved sigil. The shapes were alien—sharp angles mixed with flowing curves, some resembling celestial diagrams, others like the inner workings of a clock. Above each door, a panel of script hovered in the air, glowing faintly.
Six of them were dull, their inscriptions unreadable, the light from the watch sliding off them like water from oil.
But the seventh door, at the far right, was alive with light. Its sigil pulsed in rhythm with the beat of the watch in his hand. The panel above it read:
[ World: Elysa ]
Difficulty: Easy
Travel Cost: 100 DE
Alex stared up at it, then down at the watch. "Easy," it said—yet even the word sounded suspicious in this place. His fingers tightened around the cool brass.
The silence pressed in again. Behind him, the tunnel was a black throat swallowing the way home. Before him, this door—this choice—offered the only way forward.
His heart beat hard against his ribs. "If this is what it takes to get back to Emma… so be it."
He reached for the handle.