The door that shouldn't exist in

Author's Preface

Chapter 2 — The Door That Shouldn't Exist

"...Wake up."

"...Oi, Kael."

"...KAEL!"

A sharp smack landed on the back of his head.

"Ow!" Kael jerked upright, wincing, almost falling off his desk.

Laughter erupted throughout the classroom.

"Finally decided to return from the dead?" his classmate mocked, grinning.

Kael wasn't yet conscious of his surroundings. He rubbed the back of his head and looked around in confusion, trying to identify who'd given him the smack.

Unfortunately, he locked eyes with the lecturer instead.

She stood at the podium, arms folded. "Since you're awake, Kael, perhaps you'd like to help us solve the equation on the board."

Laughter rose in the lecture hall. No one knew who started it, but everyone joined in.

The lecturer gave the students a sharp stare before redirecting her eyes to Kael. "We're still waiting, Kael."

He scratched his head awkwardly. "...Sorry, ma'am. I think I'll pass."

"Yes, of course, Kael — you already have."

Another wave of laughter filled the hall.

Kael sighed helplessly. "Great. First period, and I'm already making an embarrassment of myself."

He wasn't lazy. Just exhausted.

For the past week, he'd barely slept, let alone rested. Each night, the same strange dream repeated itself.

A city drowned in black light. A man running desperately. A chained book.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember the man's face.

The lecture went on, but Kael couldn't concentrate, nor could he shake the strange feeling crawling beneath his skin.

If there was one word for it: *Creepy.*

...

Lectures were over. The university courtyard filled with life after class.

Students laughed as they discussed their day. Street vendors argued with customers, trying not to chase them off in the process. Some students gathered at a nearby café.

Everything was perfectly normal.

Yet Kael, on his way home, stopped walking.

He tilted his head slowly. "Hmmm."

Across the road, a black door stood between two vending machines.

It was old, laced with strange silver cracks. People walked right through it, as if it wasn't there.

He rubbed his eyes and looked again. It was still there.

"..."

Kael frowned. He looked around and spotted a classmate nearby.

"Sorry, excuse me."

"Me?" She pointed to herself. He nodded.

She walked over. "Hi, Kael. Any problem?"

"Nothing much. I just need you to do something for me."

"Sure, what is it?"

He pointed toward the door. "Do you see anything?"

She looked where he pointed. "Umm... yes, I do."

"Great. What do you see?"

"A vending machine."

"..."

"That's all?"

"Yep."

"Alright, thanks a lot."

"It's okay."

A car pulled up as a horn beeped loudly at the gate. "Oh, my dad's here. See ya."

Kael didn't respond — he wasn't even aware she'd left. He was still watching the door.

A boy walked directly through it without noticing anything. A delivery robot rolled through it too. Nothing happened.

"...Am I finally going crazy? Or am I seeing things?"

He approached the door slowly. The closer he got, the tighter the air became. His heartbeat pounded as if trying to escape his chest.

One step. Two. Three.

The door was real. Its surface resembled polished obsidian, reflecting not his face, but endless darkness. A rusty iron chain wrapped around its center.

Kael paused. "Hold on... isn't that like—"

Exactly like the book from his dreams.

He reached toward it instinctively, expecting to pass through like everyone else.

Unlucky for him — the moment his fingers came within inches of it, time paused.

His view of the world changed instantly. He wasn't in another world, exactly. He was in a silent white space. No air, no sense of his own body. Everything felt like nothing.

Only an enormous black ledger floated quietly in the air. It looked incomplete, scattered — its pages blank.

Kael observed his surroundings with curiosity. "Where am I? Did I stumble into some magical dimension?"

He'd read plenty of novels with entrances like this.

A single line slowly began scrawling itself across the ledger, as though an invisible pen were writing. It formed one question:

"Will you bear the Debt of Reality?"

Kael frowned. "I don't even know what that means. What debt — a payment, or what?"

No answer came.

He looked around the endless white space. "No matter what this place is, I won't get any answers standing here."

He inhaled deeply, not like he had any other choice. "...Fine. I accept."

*This is way too ridiculous,* he thought, unable to believe any of it.

Kael's throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. "If this is real, then—"

A slow smile spread across his face. "Interesting."