Chương 1: Book One: Shimoor—Prologue

Hello Reader, My name is John Rue. Despite growing up in the foster care system in Birmingham, Alabama, I made my way into the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Afterward, I spent nine years patching up bullet and knife wounds and stitching up broken lives in the ER at St. Bernard Hospital in Chicago. But don't take my word for it. Think this is a fantasy story? Check the records. I added those details for a reason. I'm writing this to warn you about what's coming.

What you do with this information is up to you. You might think I'm a bastard for leaving, and maybe you're right. But the truth is, I've got nothing left here. My mom died when I was five, cancer took my wife, and the only connections I ever made died with them. So, I'm not sticking around to play hero. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. You can read this as a fantasy about a guy traveling with his pet or take it as a warning about what's coming.

Either way, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This is the full story of my journey. How it started when I discovered the Gate, everything I learned that might help you adapt or even thrive, and the relevant Archive entries. This might sound like a cop-out, but I'm not sticking around. The only things I've left on Earth are two graves, and graves don't care. So get ready: stock up on supplies, learn first aid, meditate to sense mana, train with weapons, and maybe, just maybe, you'll survive what's coming.