The old man snapped his fingers, and the warehouse instantly plunged into darkness. The flickering lightbulb overhead burst with a sharp pop before dying completely, leaving Kai suspended in a suffocating void so absolute that even his own breathing sounded foreign to him. Panic immediately clawed its way up his throat. One second ago he had been standing inside an abandoned warehouse, and now it felt as though the world itself had vanished around him.
Then he felt something touch his arm.
Kai jerked violently, but more of the strange sensations followed immediately afterward. Long, soft tendrils slithered through the darkness like living creatures, brushing against his limbs before wrapping themselves tightly around his wrists and ankles. Their texture felt disturbingly smooth, almost warm, and no matter how hard he struggled, their grip refused to loosen. Within seconds, his entire body was lifted helplessly into the air, curled inward like a fetus trapped inside a womb.
"Hey! Old man!" Kai shouted, his voice echoing uselessly through the darkness. "What the hell is this?!"
No answer came.
The silence only made the situation worse. Kai's heartbeat pounded violently against his ribs as the tendrils continued moving across his body with terrifying patience, almost as if they were examining him. One slid slowly up his leg, causing a shiver of revulsion to shoot down his spine.
"Wait—hold on!" he blurted out immediately, twisting in panic. "Not there!"
The tendril ignored him completely.
A second later, Kai's horrified scream echoed through the darkness.
"YAMETEEE!"
Thankfully, the strange creature—or whatever it was—seemed to reconsider after reaching the boundary of his dignity. Instead, the tendril moved upward before tightening gently around his neck. Then something sharp pierced his skin like a needle.
Pain exploded through his body instantly.
Kai gasped as fire surged through his veins, every muscle locking up at once. It felt as though molten metal had been injected directly into his bloodstream. His vision spun despite there being nothing to see, and his scream died halfway out of his throat before darkness swallowed him completely once again.
Consciousness returned slowly, dragged upward through layers of pain and nausea so intense that Kai genuinely wished he had stayed unconscious. Every muscle in his body throbbed as though it had been ripped apart and stitched back together incorrectly. Even breathing hurt. His chest felt heavy, while his arms and legs refused to respond properly no matter how hard he tried to move them.
"Ugh…"
The groan escaped his throat weakly as he forced his eyes open.
Sunlight greeted him.
Warm wind brushed across his face, carrying the scent of grass and earth. Kai blinked repeatedly, struggling to clear his blurry vision while his brain tried desperately to understand what it was seeing. The abandoned warehouse was gone. In its place stretched an enormous grassy plain beneath a brilliant blue sky, so vast and open that it made him feel painfully small.
For several long seconds, Kai simply stared blankly at the unfamiliar world around him.
Then a familiar voice broke the silence.
"Well, well. Look who finally woke up."
Kai immediately turned toward the sound.
The old man sat nearby in a folding lawn chair, calmly sipping tea. Behind him floated a swirling vortex of black energy large enough to swallow a truck whole. Dark mist twisted endlessly inside it while faint purple lightning crackled around its edges, giving the portal an unnatural presence that made Kai's instincts scream in warning.
The sight looked impossible.
Like something ripped straight out of a fantasy anime or science fiction movie.
"This ain't Earth anymore, kid," the old man said casually before taking another sip of tea.
Kai's mouth went dry.
The words confirmed every impossible suspicion racing through his mind. Another world. An actual another world. His breathing became uneven as he stared at the massive portal behind the old man, trying to convince himself he was hallucinating.
Then another terrifying thought crossed his mind.
How did the old man know exactly what he was thinking?
As though responding to the question directly, the old man smirked. "Don't bother trying to hide it. I can hear your thoughts loud and clear."
Kai froze.
Mind reading?
No. There was no way.
Suspicion immediately replaced fear for a brief moment. Maybe the old man was bluffing somehow. Maybe he was reading Kai's expression instead of his thoughts.
So Kai decided to test him.
You look like a homeless wizard, Kai thought deliberately while keeping his face completely blank. And honestly, your beard makes you look like a depressed Santa Claus.
A sharp sound suddenly sliced through the air.
THUNK.
Kai flinched violently as a small throwing knife embedded itself into the dirt barely an inch from his cheek. The blade quivered slightly from the force behind the throw.
His entire body went cold.
The old man slowly lowered his hand while staring at him with complete amusement.
"That," he said calmly, "was your warning."
Kai nodded immediately.
"Understood."
His survival instincts screamed at him not to try anything stupid again.
For several moments, silence returned to the grassy plain while Kai forced himself to calm down. The reality of the situation continued crashing against his thoughts like waves. Another world. A magical portal. A mind-reading old man claiming to be a god.
None of this made sense.
Finally, Kai swallowed hard before asking the most important question.
"Who… exactly are you?"
The old man leaned comfortably against his chair before answering.
"Xenophon," he said. Then a faint smile spread across his weathered face. "A god."
Kai stared at him in disbelief.
Normally, he would have laughed in someone's face for saying something so ridiculous. Gods belonged in myths, games, and fantasy novels—not reality.
But after everything that had happened inside the warehouse, after waking up in an entirely different world, he no longer had the confidence to call anything impossible.
"N-now what?" Kai asked carefully while slowly pushing himself upright. "Why did you bring me here?"
Xenophon raised one finger and pointed toward the massive black vortex behind him.
"Your task is simple," he said. "Guard the gate."
Kai frowned immediately. "The Gate?"
"The gate connects this world to Earth," Xenophon explained calmly. "If left unprotected, creatures from this side may eventually cross over."
Kai's stomach tightened slightly. "Creatures?"
The old god's expression darkened just enough to make the warning feel genuine.
"The kind capable of destroying nations."
A cold chill crept down Kai's spine.
He stared at the portal again, suddenly imagining monsters pouring through it into crowded cities back on Earth. The image felt absurd, yet after everything he had already witnessed, impossible things no longer seemed impossible.
Still, one massive question remained.
"If you're really a god," Kai began cautiously, "why don't you guard it yourself?"
Xenophon sighed heavily, sounding almost irritated by the question.
"Because gods are forbidden from directly interfering with mortal affairs. If one of us openly harms mortals or alters the balance too aggressively, the others will unite to punish that god."
Kai blinked slowly as he processed the explanation.
So even gods had rules.
That explained why Xenophon needed someone else to handle the gate. But another problem immediately appeared in Kai's mind.
"How am I supposed to stop monsters strong enough to destroy nations?" he asked. "I'm just a normal guy."
Xenophon chuckled softly before shaking his head.
"No," he said. "Not anymore."
Kai frowned in confusion.
The old god placed his tea aside before standing up from the chair. Despite his elderly appearance, the movement felt strangely imposing, almost as though the world itself shifted slightly around him.
"I suppose I should properly introduce myself," Xenophon continued. "My full title is Xenophon, the Mercenary God. Before ascending to divinity, I was considered one of the greatest mercenaries Earth ever produced."
Kai honestly didn't know whether that sounded ridiculous or terrifying.
"You," Xenophon continued while pointing directly at him, "are now my chosen proxy in this world."
The words carried unexpected weight.
Proxy.
Not servant.
Not soldier.
Something about the title sounded important.
"And before you ask," Xenophon added, "this is not the only gate connected to Earth. Multiple portals have already appeared across your world. Every gate requires a guardian, and every guardian is chosen by a god."
Kai's eyes widened slightly.
There were more of these things?
That realization alone changed everything. If portals existed all over Earth, then governments had probably known about them for years. Humanity had been living beside another world without ordinary people ever realizing it.
"As for your concern about strength," Xenophon continued casually, "I already solved that problem."
Kai blinked. "What?"
"The process earlier," Xenophon explained, "reconstructed your body using divine energy. Compared to ordinary humans, you are now significantly stronger, faster, and more durable."
Kai instinctively looked down at his hands.
Now that he focused properly, his body really did feel different. Lighter. Sharper. More responsive somehow.
The pain from earlier was already fading rapidly as well.
"So I'm basically superhuman now?"
Xenophon smirked. "By Earth's standards? Absolutely."
Kai flexed his fingers slowly while trying to process everything happening around him. Just yesterday, he had been unemployed and standing on the edge of a bridge wondering whether his life was worth continuing.
Now a literal god was telling him he had become humanity's guardian against another world.
The sheer absurdity almost made him laugh.
"What kind of powers do I actually have?" Kai asked quickly.
"I won't spoil the surprise," Xenophon replied immediately. "Discovering them yourself is part of the fun."
Kai opened his mouth to complain, but Xenophon had already begun walking toward the portal.
"I'll be leaving now," the old god said casually. "If you wish to access the authority I granted you, simply call my name."
Kai blinked in surprise. "Wait, you're leaving already?"
Xenophon stopped near the edge of the portal before glancing back over his shoulder.
"Oh, right. One more thing."
His expression became oddly casual again.
"You can still return to Earth through the gate. Just make sure you fortify this area first unless you enjoy suicidal levels of risk."
Relief washed through Kai almost instantly.
At least he wasn't trapped here forever.
Then Xenophon casually dropped another bombshell.
"The government will pay you ten million dollars per month for your service."
Kai's brain stopped functioning for several seconds.
"…Excuse me?"
"Your family has already been informed that you're away on government business," Xenophon continued calmly. "Financial matters have been handled."
Ten million dollars.
Per month.
Three days ago, Kai had been worried about whether he could afford instant noodles for the rest of the week.
Now he apparently had a salary larger than most CEOs.
Before Kai could fully recover mentally, Xenophon stepped toward the swirling darkness of the portal.
"Protect the gate," the old god said one final time. "That is your purpose now."
Then he disappeared into the black vortex without another word.
Silence returned to the endless grassy plain.
Kai stood there alone beneath the open sky while wind rolled across the field around him. Fear still lingered heavily inside his chest, but beneath that fear was something else now.
Excitement.
For the first time in years, his life actually meant something.
Slowly, Kai looked toward the massive portal standing in the middle of the plains.
"Alright…" he muttered quietly to himself.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"Let's see what happens next."