“This is just in; millions of portals have appeared throughout the city of Tokyo, Japan, and other countries in the entire world! According to the United Nations, every country is fighting back against the portals and the creatures summoned inside them. And the government has finally disclosed the existence of monsters residing in these entryways and adventurers! Adventurers are people with awakened powers, be it super strength, speed, intelligence, or taming beasts. The adventurer’s guild, specifically Crimson, and the prime minister, would like to recruit talented individuals to fight back against these portals wreaking havoc in our city! Anyone with these powers is automatically qualified to conquer dungeons and retrieve the treasure living in these portals. Please be advised that every treasure the guild receives shall be handsomely rewarded! Changing this instruction will be given on further notice.”

Those were the words coming out from the television inside the hospital room where Hina’s parents rested. But the whimpering voice of Hina occluded the sounds beside me. She still couldn’t believe everything that had happened to us. It was all too fast. Thankfully, I was there with her and saved her from despair… just like Hina had saved me.

After our solemn conversation, Hina returned to her room and slept beside her unconscious parents as soon as she rested her face. This time, it was real. Her snores were my evidence, and Hina’s exhausted look carved on her face. She was like an angel in disguise and had finally rested after a tiring day of suffering.

I made a promise to Hina. And it was the reason Hina could silently sleep as she placed her trust in my words. If I said something to her, I would do it. It was what Hina had mentioned to me a while ago. Hina said that she learned this character from me, her older brother. After countless years, how could I turn down my sister, who just called me her brother?

But I never planned on taking a part-time job to pay for the hospital bills. Even if I could, the paycheck I would receive from working at a convenience store wouldn’t make it within a week. It would be insufficient for a student. I needed to earn at least one hundred thousand yen or even more to extend Hina’s parents’ stay in the hospital for at least one month.

And the only thing that I could do was…

“The news… It said something about the treasures and trading them for money.” Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Fortunately, the news earlier ignited an idea inside my head. I used my phone while running outside the hospital. I found a bench and sat for the time being, and browsed what I could find about these portals and their whereabouts. The news spread like wildfire, so using the internet was a wise decision.

The outside world was still the same. When I got out of the hospital, dozens of ambulances rushed elsewhere and brought the wounded inside the emergency department. Hundreds of patients went in and out of the door. Some of them cried, while others had already lost hope inside their eyes. I knew, because I once felt that agony.

It was as dark as ever, and the twinkling stars from above were the only light source that guided my path. The moon wasn’t here with me. Instead, there were magical circles in the air and purple smoke, indicating the existence of these portals surrounding the city. There was not a single place people could hide, except behind the adventurer’s backs. Luckily, no monsters wandered in my vicinity. As stated by the government, adventurers heavily protected hospitals and remained distant from the portals. However, some places weren’t as lucky as ours. They felt doom.

As I scrolled through the internet, the news I heard earlier popped up a second time. The article mentioned that adventurers and the army had already engaged with these portals and studied their content and behaviour. Our government still knew nothing about these gates, which led to the open attack of talented individuals or adventurers.

I was one of those gifted individuals. And my power was a system, amplified with my sniper class and rifle as my weapon. There was still no list of superpowers that the adventurers received here on social media, but mine could be a unique one. Midori had mentioned some to me before, but I never knew and cared about it. I didn’t care if my power was exceptional. All that mattered right now was retrieving the treasure inside a portal, exchanging it for money, and ultimately using the fund to pay the hospital bills.

It was as if I had hit the winning lottery numbers. After thirty minutes of staring at my phone, I finally caught one untouched portal that the adventurers had never explored. Everyone who saw it posted it on a social media application, which helped me locate it. It was not far from here.

I stood from the bench and tracked down the portal-sighting someone marked on the internet. Although the information received from these sights was unreliable, it was worth the shot. The treasures could be exchanged for a million yen. I expected everyone who had powers to run straight to a portal if word came out. So I had to use this advantage and collect as many treasures as possible before they prohibited anyone from entering the portals.

“Treasures can only be obtained once you finish the portal…. As soon as you enter one, instructions will appear on how to defeat the portal. If you successfully beat the portal, the gate would reward you. If you don’t, you may be kicked out and try again. But if you have it worst and the portal you’re conquering is a B-class portal and above, you may… die.” Someone with an unknown username had narrated everything that person knew about portals. And some of their commenters supported the idea. “I saw it around a playground. It’s right between the space of a slide, right beside the swing and the seesaw. You won’t miss it.”

These details were accurate from what I could remember. I had already entered two portals. And each portal I experienced had these instructions to beat it. As long as the adventurer was skilled, it would be easy to take away the treasure from the portal. But if the adventurer were inexperienced, the portals would claim those novice’s lives.

It was a thirty-minute walk, but I eventually reached my destination. As soon as I arrived, the walls and landmarks left by the commenter were spot on. The place was a playground meant for kids, but no children were playing in the meantime. How could they, especially after the incidents of these portals?

There was nobody on the playground besides me. The traffic was on the main road and the rest of the people were staying inside a shelter or a hospital. No one would dare visit this place, which was what I wanted.

Since it had come to this, I summoned my system and changed my attire. It also materialised my weapon, which I had equipped earlier. A faint life glowed around my body and replaced my student uniform with the white cloak with sapphire hues. This feeling wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be.

“There’s really a portal right here,” I mumbled, while I gazed at the magic circle just between the hole from the slide.

It was what the commenter had mentioned. Two golden hues swirled on the side as the light violet coloured smoke enveloped my vicinity. Compared to the ones I had seen before, this portal looked like it wasn’t something special.

But my portal told me otherwise.

[Warning, you are entering a class B portal up ahead. Do you still wish to breach the portal?]

[Yes]

[No]

A panel popped up in front of me, asking the same question I wanted to ask. Of course, I wanted to enter inside and take the treasure for myself. It would be helpful if I could. And that reason alone was enough to steel my courage and press the [Yes] button offered by my system.

[Warning! Your level is too low for the portal. Do you still wish to proceed?]

Another notification appeared before me, this time hindering me from entering. My system explained that this portal was beyond my level and experience as a novice adventurer. However, what choice did I have? And I couldn’t choose the problems that life handed on my plate, even if I didn’t want any of them. So I pressed yes for the second time.

[Very well, adventurer. May luck guide you through your endeavour.]

As soon as the system accepted my answer, the world changed before me. I had no idea what happened, but it appeared that I was inside the portal and left the Earth’s premises. This place was in a whole different dimension. It was what I had experienced when a portal appeared twice in front of me and devoured my family and the students.

When I got sucked inside the portal, another panel appeared. It didn’t come from my system. It was a box that belonged to the portal and gave me instructions on defeating it.

[Two adventurers have entered the class B portal.]

[Quest: Defeat the monster residing in this place.]

[Reward: Ruined Sword (Rare)]

There it was; my first portal that I needed to conquer…