Chapter 158 - Into The Unknown

After recalling these events, Randy quickly shook his head to get rid of all these unhealthy thoughts before his journey, and then his feet suddenly came to a halt in the middle of the street.

Rumble——

At this time, it was raining very strongly for some reason. The sound of thunder echoed across the sky as it reverberated in loud rumbles, and at this point, everyone was quickly making their way into their houses for shelter.

Sha——

Randy calmly looked up at the rain clouds in the sky with a deep pondering expression, seemingly thinking about something.

'Indeed, the only person I have to worry about in this world is Lydia. Because she does not have any friends to get along with outside of school. She is only twelve years old, so she is a very energetic girl who should be playing with her friends rather than staying cooped up in our house all the time, but she couldn't. She always comes to my room whenever she can to bother me all the time because of this.'

'Our parents do not like it when we go out because of the dimensional rifts and gates that appear unannounced sometimes, and so, they preferred it if we stay at home all the time. But if we have to go out, they'd accompany us to wherever we want to go. Although that was before they started treating me indifferently, now only my sister is restricted from going out. I think she would be too bored by the time I come back, but I have no choice.

'My parents seemed to hold some secret that they refused to tell me and even treated me badly because of this very secret. I couldn't help but wonder what this secret was, and also what significance it had on me being mistreated just because I couldn't awaken at the time.'

'And since their only requirement for me to know this secret was to get stronger, though I am not sure how strong exactly I have to get, so I can only get strong enough that nobody would be able to step on me or get in my way in the future. And for that to happen, necessary risks are recommended to speed up the process. If I die, then I die, but I won't die no matter what.'

'Anyway, once I get stronger hopefully through this journey, I will make sure to return as quickly as I can to play with Lydia once again to prevent her from being lonely like me. But then again, with her current awakened abilities, I am sure she would eventually gain her freedom sooner or later and do whatever she wants to do. By then, I don't think our parents would be able to stop her even if they wanted to.'

Randy silently thought to himself with a resolute and confident expression, as he used his magical energy to prevent his clothes and hair from being drenched from the rainwater that was falling ceaselessly on his body.

'Strange, it was not supposed to rain today so why is pouring down so strongly and loudly like this?' He wondered at this moment but dismiss the thought shortly after.

Right now, he had already purchased the potions that he needed and even bought a rusty sword that was very cheap among all the things that his remaining money could afford after purchasing the potions.

Although he would like to buy more things to prepare himself for the unknown, this trip itself was unplanned, so he could only make do with just this rusty sword and the potions that could recover his energy and heal his wounds when things get critical at the other world.

With his mind made up and having already acquired the things that he needed from the commercial section of the city, he quickly made way back to the abandoned factory once again.

…

The Abandoned Factory.

As the middle-aged man in the constructed station saw the young man from earlier appear inside the abandoned building again, he raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise and then displayed a confused expression shortly after.

At this moment, Randy was standing in front of the constructed station that looked like a small stall, but except that it was a very highly reinforced small stall.

Inside the stall were set-up devices and displayed screens meant to monitor the changes in the dimensional rift in real-time.

"Young man, why did you come back? I thought you gave up on doing this, but you suddenly came back here once again. What is your reason for returning?" The middle-aged man curiously asked him.

"No reason in particular. I just want to see what is on the other side of that rift that's all. Don't you get curious about what's on the other side of the dimensional rifts that appear in this world all the time? Or have you already been to one of them?" Randy calmly replied.

"Tsk, tsk, just curiosity? I thought you came back here for some grand reason like changing your life or something along those lines, but you just want to risk your life because of your curiosity? Have you heard of the famous saying that curiosity would lead to the cat's death sooner or later?" The middle-aged said.

"I think it is curiosity killed the cat, though?" Randy corrected.

"Does it matter what it is as long as you get my point? I say, young man, listen to my advice and go back home, okay? And to answer your previous question, I wouldn't dare go into these dimensional rifts even if you force me to." The middle-aged said to him in an earnest tone.

Randy frowned when he noticed that the middle-aged man seemed quite serious about advising him against entering this dimensional rift. 

"Why do you say so? I thought it was normal for people to attempt going into the portal within the dimensional rifts." He confusedly asked.

The middle-aged man replied to him almost right away: "Because nobody came back after going in that portal. At least those that went in recently never came back. The earlier group came back, but they started muttering gibberish words like demons and monsters and how they were terrifyingly too strong. But who did not know that most of the time, the people in the other worlds were powerful than us? Compared to us, who only recently acquired power through these dimensional invasions, they have been using their world's energies for a very long time, so it's quite obvious that there'd be so many people beyond our world's comprehension."

After hearing all these from the middle-aged man, Randy pondered to himself.

'So it's like that, but demons and monsters? Are they talking about vampires and werewolves? Well, it doesn't matter as long as I make sure to not run into them. If I only mingle with races similar to humans, then everything should be alright.'

"Anyway, I do understand what you're trying to say, but I've already made up my mind. But thank you for your advice regardless. Based on your words, I should avoid any contact with these demons and monsters, and I will be safe, right?" Randy declined his advice and then said afterward.

"Tsk, young people these days try to act so bravely and reckless without thinking about the consequences of their actions. Well, it's not my job to stop you if you're seeking death. According to the law established, as long as someone has awakened to their ability, they're eligible to become a seeker, granted they had their identification." The middle-aged man stated in a displeased tone.

And then he asked: "So do you have your awakener's identification or hunter's identification card with you?"

"Ah, I do. Here you go." Randy took out and handed his awakener's identification card to the middle-aged man upon his request.

The middle-aged man took his identification card from him, scanned it on a device to verify its authenticity, and then record his information in the system before handing it back to him.

"Alright, here you go. You have been registered as a probationary seeker. Although it says probationary, there's no real deadline or anything. As long as you survive your first dive into another world, you will officially become a seeker and receive your identification card, so make you survive and return to your parents if you have one." The middle-aged man said to him afterward.

"…Thank you." Randy replied after storing his identification card in his storage bracelet.

Afterward, he quickly made his way towards the dimensional rift. It was about a few meters to the right side of the constructed station.

At this moment, Randy stood in front of the oval-shaped dimensional rift, which rippled vicissitudes of profound energy, and then proceeded to stare at it with a deep gaze.

A moment later, he took a deep breath, turned around, and then looked in a certain location. This was the location where he was beaten and tortured by Jeremiah and his goons.

A few moments later, he turned his gaze around to face the dimensional rift, and without hesitation, he climbed up the staircase that led to an elevated platform.

Since the dimensional rift was about 5 meters off the ground, there was a need to construct this elevated platform.

A short while later, Randy had reached atop the platform, and he then stood on the platform as he stared intently at the blue-colored portal for a few seconds.

Without any hesitation, he took a step forward and then immediately entered the portal, proceeding into the unknown world behind.