Chương 136: Chapter 135: Door Number Zero

The isolation chamber behind Station 50's server room sat under the harsh, cold white light of industrial fluorescents. No blazing seal array. No guardian statue or beast standing watch. In front of Lucian's group was just an old galvanized steel door, half its black stenciled paint flaked away: 0 — ROOT SERVER. Evelyn stood rooted in front of the steel door. Both hands hung at her sides, fists clenched into her work apron, eyes locked on the iron sign harder than she'd looked at any monster in the last ten years.

Lucian stepped up beside her, pulled the amber Time Crystal from his spatial ring, and set it into the power tray beside the doorframe. Evelyn plugged the Root Certificate key, borrowed from the Holy See, into the optical reader. CLICK.

The mechanical panel mounted on the steel wall blinked green, displaying routing data in English: [LEGACY TRANSIT ROUTE AUTHENTICATED] Destination: Sector 00 — Seoul, Republic of Korea Customs status: DECLARATION REQUIRED UPON ARRIVAL Live Endpoint Sync Window: 00: 01: 30 (Countdown: 90 seconds)! Lucian read the customs declaration line and immediately reached for the red cancel button on the panel.

"Abort." Evelyn lunged forward, grabbing his coat collar and yanking hard.

"Try it and see what happens!" Lucian pointed at the spatial ring on his hand. Before crossing, the bulk reserve had been secured in Station 50's Vance-controlled storage. Lucian carried only normal personal effects and a small declared trade-and-payment sample. Evelyn gritted her teeth, hauling him straight toward the door by the collar.

"YOU ARE GOING HOME, YOU DAMN CAPITALIST!" If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Lucian froze. He let go of the cancel button and looked around him. Earth was where he'd been born, where he'd poured twenty-eight years of his youth into financial reports, and where he'd died alone. But right now, looking back over his shoulder— Eleanor in her white cloak. Astra holding a strawberry ice cream stick.

Sylvia clutching a stack of ancient-language documents. Evelyn glaring at him. His old home was a set of frozen memories. But his home now — right now — had become the people standing beside him. Eleanor stepped closer and touched his sleeve lightly, speaking softly.

"If you'd rather go through alone first, to check—" Lucian shook his head, gesturing to the whole group.

"No. If Earth has taxes, I'm bringing witnesses, accountants, and deductible business travel." Eleanor laughed out loud. Ting. The Unified System V2. 0 panel appeared: [DESTINATION ENVIRONMENT WARNING:] Mana density at Sector 00: 99. 8% LOWER than the World Tower Effect: Natural mana regeneration significantly reduced Astra, standing behind Lucian, looked at the steel door and asked with total innocence, "Should I walk lightly over there?"

The route's threat profile remained unknown; the console could not measure whoever or whatever waited on the other side. Evelyn turned and answered flatly.

"Yes. Walk light. You crack the asphalt, you're paying for it." FSSHHH — KTCHHH! The steel door's hydraulic latch let out a sharp hiss of released pressure. The metal door slowly cracked open, a ten-centimeter gap. No divine thunder. No solemn angelic chorus. The first sound through the gap was a car horn blaring in the distance: Beep beep! Beep! Followed by the rumble of a bus engine on asphalt, and a cheerful soda-ad jingle playing from some electronic billboard down the street.

Sylvia peered through the gap, her silver beast-ears twitching hard at the sight of blue and red LED signs flickering in the night outside.

"Is this... the legendary Realm of the Gods?" Evelyn leaned her forehead against the doorframe.

"Gangnam." Sylvia tilted her head.

"What's the difference?" Evelyn answered flatly.

"Rent." Buzz... A dead old smartphone from Station 50's legacy storage, which Evelyn had kept in her coat pocket, let out a tiny beep. [CONNECTED: KT_GiGA_5G_VIP] A familiar Korean network name appeared on the cracked display. She let out one short laugh. Then two lines of tears slowly ran down the grease-stained cheeks of the former software engineer, falling onto the cold steel floor. No one said a word to tease her. Lucian just stood quietly beside her, hands in his pockets, watching. CLICK.

Door Zero slid fully open on both sides. The neon-lit night of Seoul, 2026, opened up in full in front of the five of them. Right across the street, on an LED screen the size of a five-story building, an S-rank Hunter in gleaming metal armor, holding a blazing greatsword, flashed a bright smile and held up an energy drink, posing for a hair gel ad. Lucian stood in the doorway, staring at the ad screen for a full five seconds. He blinked, and turned to Evelyn.

"Why is that swordsman selling hair gel?"