It has been twenty years since the first Gate tore open the sky.
At first, they appeared as ripples in the atmosphere—small distortions, like mirages seen on hot asphalt. Scientists thought them glitches. The religious thought them miracles. The governments thought them threats.
They were all wrong.
They were portals—interdimensional Space Gates, tearing through the fabric of reality and stitching Earth to other worlds like crude surgical wounds.
The Gods' game had reached Earth, and nothing would ever be the same again.
( The Age of Gates)
Thousands of these gates opened across the globe. Some in the heart of major cities, others in deep oceans, dense forests, or beneath deserts. Through them came beasts, curses, magic—and empires.
Not all Gates led to ruins. Many connected Earth to ancient, powerful civilizations:
The Elven Dominion of Sil'Valen, a forest empire of immortal archers and high magic, whose songs could cause stars to flicker. They were the first to form a truce with Earth—but only on their terms. Their disdain for technology runs deep, and humans are seen as crude creatures of chaos.
The Ogre Tyranny of Krarg-Mok, a volcanic realm ruled by warlords the size of trucks. Their gate opened in Central Asia, carving a crater 80 kilometers wide. Treaties failed. Every ogre considers Earthlings prey.
The Arcane Tower Republics, floating citadel-states from the Magic Kingdom of Altherra, brought ancient spellbooks and crystalline engines. They trade knowledge—for blood, mana, or obedience.
And then there are the Dead Lands—desolate worlds consumed by undeath. No sun. No wind. Just silence and the endless groan of rotting hordes. Few return from those Gates. Those who do are often changed… or cursed.
And these are only the ones we know.
More than 60% of all gates remain unexplored, sealed off by natural disasters, monster swarms, or barriers of unstable mana. Some are rumored to lead to entire continents where time flows differently—or where the gods themselves still walk among mortals.
The early years were an apocalypse.
Military units were wiped out within hours of entering certain gates. Tanks melted in magical storms. Fighter jets fell to dragons. Nuclear weapons barely scratched some Gate monsters.
Earth's nations soon realized that firepower was obsolete.
In this new age, power belonged to the Awakened.
(The Age of Awakening)
After the first few Gates appeared, something changed in humanity. A rare few began to hear voices, see runes in their dreams, or feel fire in their blood. These people were called Awakened.
And with awakening came classes.
Some became Sword Saints, slicing through steel with their bare hands.
Others were Chronomancers, freezing time for a heartbeat.
Some were Demon Contracts, bonded with infernal powers.
A few were Beastcallers, taming Gate-born monsters.
And the rarest… received Blessings from the Gods.
The more powerful the Awakened, the more amused the gods.
Each god began choosing champions, whispering blessings in exchange for devotion, destruction, or entertainment. The divine called them "Pawns," but Earth called them Apex Awakened.
Some rose as heroes.
Others became monsters in human skin.
(Guilds, Cities, and the New World Order)
The old world governments crumbled. What rose in their place were Awakened Guilds—independent factions of powerful individuals who controlled territory, economy, and influence. Cities became fortified hubs, each ruled by one or more dominant Guilds.
Titanspire in North America: controlled by the guild Iron Revenant, led by an S-Rank berserker known as Breaker Cain.
Neo-Kyoto: co-governed by Lotus Hex and Mecha Fang, a fragile balance of magic and cybernetic augmentation.
New Delhi Arc: protected by the largest known family of Summoners—most of them blessed by Vishra, the God of Binding Threads.
Even black markets, underground guilds, and rogue Awakened found their place. Entire economies now ran on mana crystals, beast cores, skill scrolls, and dungeon tech scavenged from unexplored Gates.
(The Dark Side of the System)
But not everything was under control.
Some Gates spawn World Bosses—creatures that regenerate endlessly, cursed by divine cruelty.
Others open temporarily, unleashing plagues, curses, or nightmarish weather.
And in the deepest levels of unexplored Gates, things are whispered that even gods do not claim as their own.
Rumors speak of "Bugged Classes"—glitches in the system.Forbidden awakenings.Classes too broken, too cursed, or too dangerous to be allowed.
And beneath it all, the gods still watch.Still wager.Still laugh.
The world is now their arena. Earth, their stage.
The strong live like kings.The weak live in fear.And somewhere… the seed of an ancient rebellion waits to awaken.
(currently)
They said this was just another gate.
But no one believed that.
Hovering like a jagged black wound in the air, the S-Class Gate loomed over the eastern edge of the Neo-Yokohama Ruins—twisting the clouds, turning the wind cold, and distorting the sun with its endless pressure.
[Gate Name: Grave of the Dragon King][Classification: S-Rank (Unstable)][Estimated Threat: ???]
Even the most seasoned Awakened could feel it—the tremble in their bones, the way their mana recoiled. This gate wasn't just strong. It was ancient.
And worse... it was unmapped.
Three S-Rank Hunters, twenty A-Rank elites, and over fifty B-Class support hunters had assembled today, under orders from the World Gate Authority and the Guild Council. Not because they wanted to.
But because if they didn't, this gate might erupt.
And if an S-Class Dungeon breaks…
A city dies.
Amidst the bustle of magical scans, ritual buffs, drone arrays, and last-minute equipment checks, one young man stood quietly by the supply transport, wearing a second-hand armor vest and carrying a crate of potions on his back.
A name tag dangled from his neck:
[Lee Rovan — B-Rank (Support Division: Porter)]
Age: 20.Class: Unawakened Utility.Affiliation: No Guild.
To most here, he was a nobody. Just another quiet porter tagging along to carry gear, recharge mana stones, and vanish before the fighting began. Even his rank—barely B-Class—was a fluke, the kind of rank that couldn't even clear a mid-tier dungeon alone.
But few knew his real story.
That his father was once Lee Garam, the Thunder Monarch—an S-Class legend who fell mysteriously five years ago in a "sealed" gate the Guilds never reopened.That his mother and sister were both killed during a dungeon break when a B-Class Gate unexpectedly evolved into A-Class, flooding their district with nightmare hounds.
Rovan was the last of his line.A survivor.A shadow of what once was a hero's family.
And yet, even now—despite the pain, despite the broken dreams—he stood here, carrying someone else's equipment, too low-ranked to fight, too desperate to walk away.
Because this was the only place he could earn enough credits to eat.
"All support teams, form up! Entry begins in five minutes!" a guild officer barked.
Rovan shouldered the last crate of ether kits, eyes scanning the command ranks. He saw familiar faces—the cold eyes of Kim Yuna, A-Rank flame witch from Crimson Spiral. The silver-haired tank from Titan Spire, laughing with a sword slung across his back.
And then there were the S-Ranks.
Arin Gravewalker, a necromancer in black silk robes laced with cursed sigils, her eyes covered by a bone-blindfold.
Captain Veylor, a brutal martial class user, known for killing trolls barehanded.
And at the center of it all…Helio Straza, the Radiant Spear—his armor shining like a mirror of the sun, the very symbol of what an Awakened hero should be.
They didn't even glance at Rovan.They never did.
He was just the porter.An extra.
As the air rippled and the gate's threshold widened, an eerie wind began to blow from within—a cold breath that smelled of scorched bones and something older than death.
[Gate Resonance Detected. Mana Type: Draconic — Corrupted.][Warning: Ancient Signature Present.]
The A-Ranks started murmuring. The B-Class teams shifted nervously. Even the S-Ranks tensed.
And somewhere inside the gate, deep in the broken grave-world beyond, something stirred.
Waiting.Watching.Calling.
Rovan didn't know it yet…