Chapter 5: The Unseen Gate
The quiet of Yusha's study room was a welcome respite after the unsettling encounter with his mother. He had been forced to leave his father's study earlier, a place that still held mysteries he wasn't allowed to uncover. But now, alone in the study room, his thoughts drifted back to a memory that had lingered at the edge of his mind for years.
The Hell Gate.
Unlike the stories that swirled around certain forbidden topics, the Hell Gates weren't a taboo in the world—they were simply accepted as part of the fabric of reality. They existed across the globe, mysterious rifts that connected their world to something far darker, far more dangerous. But for all their existence, little was truly known about them. Yusha's father had spoken of them often, but always in the context of their danger and the importance of understanding them—yet it was clear that even his father didn't know everything. The Hell Gates were enigmatic, but not forbidden.
Yusha leaned back in his chair, his fingers absently tracing the edge of his desk. His thoughts turned inward, to a time long past when he had first heard of the Hell Gates—a time when he was but a child, still unaware of the weight his destiny would soon carry.
The Hell Gates were not just rifts between two worlds. They were living anomalies, each one different, yet all carrying a distinct connection to a darker dimension. They were a force of nature—an entity that, despite being well-known, had never been fully understood.
His mind wandered back to the year it all began—the year the Hell Gate first opened in earnest. Fifteen years ago, when Yusha was still a boy, the world had changed forever. Aelric, the person he had once been, had witnessed the first opening of the Hell Gate at just fifteen years old. The Hell Gate wasn't something one simply saw; it was something that demanded to be understood, to be feared.
And it was in the wake of that event that Aelric's transformation began. By the time Aelric was twenty, he had become a Hell Raider, a title that carried both respect and dread. But it wasn't until he was twenty-one that Aelric truly became the hero the world needed, when an SS-rank Hell Gate cracked open right in the heart of Seoul. The devastation was unimaginable. Yet, Aelric had fought the chaos with unwavering resolve, containing the onslaught and saving the city from the brink of destruction.
"Was that when the attributes truly began to emerge?" Yusha muttered to himself, his voice barely above a whisper. The question echoed in his mind like a distant thunderclap, unanswered and haunting.
He had never fully explored the connection between the Hell Gate and the Increase of people who was gifted with attributes that had begun to manifest in people following the Gate's first opening. Yusha's own family had them, his mother telekinetic attribute was proof to that. But there were other, rarer abilities—ones that defied logic and explanation. His own unique attribute, the ability to alternate dimensions, was one of them.
Yusha closed his eyes for a moment, lost in the puzzle that was his life. The more he thought about the Hell Gate, the more he felt the weight of its influence. Everything in his life seemed to circle back to that singular event, and the mysteries surrounding it were impossible to ignore. Why had it opened? How had it shaped the world as it was now? And what part did his family, and he himself, play in its unfolding?
As these questions gnawed at him, the sound of a knock at the door broke his reverie.
"Yusha!"
The voice was unmistakable—it was Jisoo, his brother, always bursting with energy and unrelenting enthusiasm. Without waiting for an invitation, Jisoo opened the door and strode into the room, his eyes gleaming with the familiar gleam of mischief.
"Big brother! You're not busy, are you?" Jisoo grinned, his voice full of youthful exuberance. "I've been practicing some new moves. Care for a spar?"
Yusha blinked, momentarily disoriented. He had been so deeply lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even heard Jisoo's approach.
"Do we really have to do this now?" Yusha sighed, rolling his eyes and leaning back in his chair.
Jisoo crossed his arms and shot him an exaggerated pleading look. "Come on! It's been a while, and I've been working on some new moves. You know, gotta keep my skills sharp!" He nudged Yusha's desk, as if to emphasize his point.
Yusha looked at his brother, exasperated, but he knew Jisoo wasn't going to let it go. He could see the glint in Jisoo's eyes—the same determination that always led to a training session turning into a battle of wills.
"Fine," Yusha finally muttered, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "Okay, okay. We'll spar. But don't blame me when you end up on the floor."
Jisoo grinned, clearly pleased with the response. "Deal!"
Yusha stood up and began making his way toward the armory. "You better be ready to lose," he muttered, though his lips curved into a small, knowing smile.
The armory was vast, lined with weapons and training gear from all corners of the world. Yusha, however, didn't need much. He didn't like relying on armor or fancy weapons. His current outfit—simple, unassuming—was enough for him. He took a deep breath as he selected his katana, the blade's weight familiar in his hands. As always, he also grabbed a durable thread since he mastered thread manipulation technique , one that allowed him to create entanglements and traps that others couldn't easily comprehend.
Meanwhile, Jisoo was preparing in his own corner of the armory, a burst of energy as he picked out his rapier—a sleek, finely crafted weapon that suited his speed and agility. Yusha noticed that Jisoo was also carrying a magic device, a small artifact with intricate engravings on its surface.
Yusha eyed the device curiously but chose not to comment. There was no need to reveal everything just yet. The sparring match would be enough for now, and if Jisoo wanted to keep his tricks hidden, Yusha would respect that—for now.
As Yusha prepared, his mind flickered back to the Hell Gate, and the mystery of the attributes that had begun to manifest long before the Hell Gate's first appearance. He couldn't help but feel that everything—his abilities, his past, his family—was connected somehow to that mysterious gate. And as he stood there, ready to face his brother in a spar, he couldn't shake the feeling that this fight was just a small preview of the battles to come.