Kael stood in front of the goddamn mirror.
"A door to another world."
The voice in his head—clear as fuck, like someone whispering right into his skull—hadn't been his imagination.
『Universal Language Acquired.』
『Dimensional Exchange Activated.』
『Storage: Capacity 10kg.』
Kael clenched his jaw. Either he'd lost his damn mind, or his grandfather had left him something a hell of a lot weirder than money.
He reached out, fingers hovering just above the mirror's surface.
"Touch it."
The thought slithered into his brain, slick and tempting.
"Just one finger. See what happens."
Kael hesitated. He now has two options.
Option 1: Walk the fuck away. Tell someone. Sell the story. Become the guy who discovered interdimensional travel—instant fame, interviews, maybe a Netflix deal.
Problem: The second he opened his mouth, some shadowy government fucks would kick down his door, drag him to a black site, and turn this basement into a lab. And goodbye freedom.
Option 2: Keep it secret. Use it.
His grandfather had. The old bastard had built an empire with whatever he'd pulled from the other side. Gold? Technology? Something else?
Kael's fingers twitched.
"Fuck it."
He pressed his palm flat against the glass.
Cold.
The mirror's surface didn't feel like glass—it was viscous, clinging, like dipping his hand into a pool of liquid shadow.
Then the pull came.
Sudden. Violent.
Kael barely had time to gasp before the darkness yanked him forward.
The Other Side
Kael stumbled, knees hitting dirt.
Kael found himself in a forest. And surprisingly, it was now day on the other side.
He whipped around.
The mirror—the portal—was gone.
His stomach dropped.
No. No no no—
He spun, heart hammering against his ribs. Nothing but trees, moss, silence.
"Shit. Shit."
He was stranded. No way back. No—
Then, like a fucking nightmare blinking into existence, the black portal reappeared behind him, swirling like ink in water.
Kael exhaled hard.
"Okay. Okay. So it's not a one-way trip."
He reached out, fingers skimming the surface. The portal held.
He stepped through—
Basement.
Dust. Rot. The familiar stench of mildew.
He turned back. Touched the mirror again.
He returns to the forest.
Back and forth. Testing.
The third time he crossed, he realized—
It's responding to me.
He didn't need the mirror. He just had to think about the portal, and it opened.
A grin split his face.
"Hell yeah."
....
Kael crouched in the basement, running his hands over the nearest artifact—a dagger with a blade so black it drank the light.
His grandfather's letter had said it: "I built my empire with what I took from the other side."
So.
Time to steal some magic shit.
He grabbed the dagger.
『Item registered: Shadowforged Dagger. Weight: 0.8kg. Storage capacity remaining: 9.2kg.』
A screen. A stat sheet. Like a fucking video game but real as sin.
"Storage skill, huh?"
He concentrated, willing the dagger to vanish.
Poof.
Gone.
His hand was empty.
He reached for it in his mind—like calling something from a dream.
Poof.
Back again.
He laughed—manic. "This is what I want."
Kael enters the mirror again.
He needed to test the other skill—Dimensional Exchange.
The letter hadn't explained shit.
"Trade objects between worlds."
Okay. But how?
He picked up a rock. Held it out.
"Exchange."
Nothing.
He frowned.
Then—
『Exchange requires equivalent value. Offer something of worth.』
Of course. Equivalent exchange. Magic economics.
Kael dug in his pocket. Pulled out his cheap-ass digital watch. Ten bucks at most. Scratched. Battery already dying.
"Here. This for… something useful."
The air shimmered.
The watch blinked out of existence.
Two silver coins dropped into his palm. Etched with a symbol he didn't recognize.
『Exchange complete.』
Kael turned the two coins over in his palm.
Kael's grin faded.
That old man really left me a goldmine. If he were still alive... I'd wash his feet with whiskey.
Far off, past the trees, a flicker of stone and light caught his eye.
A city.
It looked like a medieval city.
Kyle put the two coins in his packet. He decides to head towards the city.
It wasn't that far.
Huge walls. Gates guarded by statues—or were they golems? Kael couldn't tell if they breathed.
As he got closer, he saw figures moving. Hooded. Armed. Not immediately hostile, but watching.
Kael stopped at the edge of the treeline.
This was real.
No dream. No simulation.
A new world. Full of danger. Full of unknown.
He checked his storage.
9.2kg left.
One dagger in storage. Two alien coins in his pocket.
No plan.
But a shitload of curiosity and nothing tying him down.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's go fuck with fate."
And with that, Kael walked toward the city gates, the grin creeping back across his face like a wicked promise.