“Or is it a portal to a fantasy realm?”

“Maybe I should just report this to the authorities!”

William Clark muttered to himself, but suddenly felt a strange flutter in his heart, a sensation that left him utterly baffled.

So, he wore a bewildered expression once again.

A teenage boy, after his first XX, might sigh: Ah, so this is what it feels like! ...But he didn’t even know what to call this feeling.

Before he had time to process this unfamiliar sensation, he heard a faint, indistinct sound coming from the glowing object.

The rhythm was generally calm, with slight fluctuations, and the syllables changed very quickly. It wasn’t any language he knew. It sounded like someone chanting, the voice old and continuous, gradually coming closer, from vague to clear...

William Clark quickly reached out and pulled open the door, standing at the edge, watching the glowing object warily, ready to dash out and slam the door shut at any moment!

Suddenly, the chanting stopped!

An old-looking hand reached out from the glowing object, gripping its edge. At the same time, countless intricate symbols suddenly appeared in the dark space, swirling chaotically through the air.

He opened his eyes wide, his black pupils reflecting the blue, oval-shaped glowing object and the mysterious symbols dancing around it.

A foot stepped through the boundary!

The shoe was rather odd, patched in one spot.

William Clark looked down at it.

When both feet appeared, he looked up and saw a person standing in front of the glowing object. The man was gazing at him calmly, his expression kind, with countless obscure symbols swirling around him, spreading endlessly into the darkness.

Gulp!

William Clark swallowed hard again.

He darted out, slamming the door shut behind him! In that last fleeting glance, he saw a look of surprise flash across the old man’s face.

Leaning against the door, he panted heavily.

That was fucking terrifying!

But he didn’t rush to leave. Instead, he pressed his ear against the security door, listening for any sounds inside.

He heard nothing.

No knocking, either.

Yes, from the inside, this door was invisible, even nonexistent. Whenever he wanted to open it, no matter where he stood, he could just pull it open. But he wasn’t sure if that old man had the same ability.

He went downstairs, drank a glass of water to calm his nerves, and sat for a long while before finally convincing himself that the old man—who looked like a vagrant from another world—really couldn’t open that door.

In other words, it was very likely that only he could open it. If that was the case, then his feeling wasn’t wrong—maybe that space could be considered his “half home field.”

Yeah, half.

William Clark hesitated for a long time about whether to hand it over to the authorities, but eventually decided that the old man didn’t seem like a bad person, so he mustered up his courage and decided to go back up and take another look.

Curiosity killed the cat.

He opened the door a crack, calmly peeked inside, and, seeing nothing, relaxed and widened the gap.

At that moment, a force suddenly appeared out of nowhere, pulling him inside with irresistible strength.

A moment later—

The old man stood before him, leaning on a staff topped with a crystal ball the size of an apple. His expression was still calm, his eyes somewhat cloudy with age, but within them flickered an unfathomable wisdom as he looked at him: “*&%￥#￥%#...”

William Clark: “???”

The old man frowned slightly, then nodded, and with a slight wave of his staff, the crystal ball flashed blue.

“My name is Henry King, and I am... probably a spellcaster from another world. Pleased to meet you.”

“???”

William Clark tilted his head at him, utterly confused.

Chapter 3 Teach Me Magic

The old man, who looked like a vagrant from another world, radiated wisdom and friendliness. If it weren’t for his patched shoes and robe, William Clark would never have associated him with a vagrant.

After Henry King introduced himself in more detail, William Clark began to size him up again.

He looked very old, his hair completely white, his pupils clouded with age, but his face was kind and not very wrinkled. He wore a simple cloth robe, with four or five patches just on the front, and leaned on a staff about 1.8 meters long, as thick as a baby’s arm, quite eye-catching because of the apple-sized crystal ball set at the top.

Other than that, there didn’t seem to be anything special.

But William Clark felt that everything about him was special, especially the way he stepped out of the glowing object, made him understand that unknown language, and told him: he was from another world, a spellcaster.

“My name is William Clark.” William Clark quickly said, “Master Spellcaster, may I ask what brings you here?”

“Hmm?” Henry King didn’t answer, but squinted at him for a long time before sighing helplessly, “You really are a lucky person!”

“Huh?”

“I sensed the appearance of a space-time node, very close to my world, so I came to take a look.” Henry King said with a smile, then reached out his hand and opened his palm, revealing a piece of hotel-branded mini soap, with four square characters written on it—