As the scene slowly disappeared in front of me, the invisible panel slid me upward at the waiting hands of my group. When I arrived at the apex of the staircase, a panel materialised in front of me. It told me that we finally arrived at the third floor. I opened my eyes to confirm my surroundings. Within a few seconds, the environment changed, together with the survivors. Almost in a second, the people I knew and had travelled with disappeared right in front of my eyes. I didn’t even have the time to say goodbye. It was as if the portal tested my patience and took every hard work from me. After a few seconds, my ears caught someone clapping behind me. I turned around and greeted Vulcan’s figure, standing in front of me. He leisurely clapped his hand as if the old man watched a marvellous movie. The two of us were the only ones inside this room. From the looks of it, this place was just a studio nothing different from the ones advertised from various apartments. The only exit and entra

“You two! if you continued fighting on the portal’s exterior boundaries, you might’ve already caused some disturbance and commotion from my patients. And maybe they would’ve summoned the two of you on court,” a voice so familiar echoed at the side. After a few seconds, the figure who spoke to us eventually revealed himself, which was Doctor Maruki all along. “And you, Aoi. I thought you’re hiding your identity from the real world? I thought that the Crimson Guild is looking for you and the person who has a sniper. If word comes out someone who has a sniper is found inside this hospital, your sister and you would’ve been so screwed.” Doctor Maruki continued, while crossing his arms. “Oh, crap… Now that you’ve said it, you’re right, Doctor Maruki. I should’ve been careful,” I uttered. “And that reminds me of something. How the hell did you place us inside the portal without any pre-cast magic circles, chants, or even notification to my system?” While I was at it, I had forgotten tha

“I will tear you apart and that will make the portal kick you out of pity, brother.” After she said those words, Hina and her fist made of gauntlet ran straight in my direction. Behind her were the Grocks trying to catch up on her. This was my plan. And everything I had plotted was coming together like puzzle pieces fitting on their missing spots. The only thing left for me to do now was execute my and pray for the best outcome. Even though this was just another training, I still wanted to give my best. And maybe I could, somehow, apply what I would learn for this battle to the actual portal sightings. But for now, all I needed to do to keep calm down and taunt Hina from getting closer to me. Hina was a smart child, despite what her parents described her about. She wasn’t booksmart, but my sister was diligent enough to study the meticulous details she could encounter. And if she was done putting that information in mind, Hina would register everything and do it as she had experience

“Before letting you drink the potion, I’d like you to get your consent about it. Here’s the paper for you to sign in right now. And within a few seconds, I will elaborate what you will feel after digesting the liquid I concocted for you,” Doctor Maruki muttered, and handed me a paper. “You are part of my little experimentation program called ‘miracle drug’, which would greatly help in giving and improving the quality care to all patients in the world. If, let’s say, my experimentation worked on you, the potion’s ingredients from you will be extracted and used as a means and based for the ‘miracle drug’. And then, I will put the drug on the market for free. Thus, saving the world.The side effects you may experience will also be noted and further studied within one day, which is tomorrow. I will call and check up on you tomorrow for anything ‘funny’ you’d be feeling. Okay?”“The side effects that may occur are, but not limited to nausea, intense pain in your gut rising towards your head

As soon as Vulcan led us back to the training area, everything changed. The three floors, which had served as the arena when I trained, became completely different. The desert realm, the green forest, and the studio room became a gymnasium with blant colours and equipment. But from the looks of it, Vulcan could change the place if he wanted to as long as someone would use this dimension as a training ground and complete the task given by the portal and the owner of this place as well. For the meantime, Vulcan and I weren’t training. I was already way past that stage. However, I still needed to check what Vulcan had in store for me and added from my sniper, Oculus, and my suit. There might be other features he included, but I had to wait and see that soon.Hina was beside me throughout our march inside the training room. She kept glancing at the walls, pointing her fingers at various places, and even straying from our path. My sister kept telling herself that this portal was different