“And… By adding this final algorithm I’ve finally, with 100% certainty, proved that alternate dimensions exist!!” A middle-aged man dressed in a white lab coat intensely slapped the blackboard due to his excitement. A confident grin can be seen plastered on his face, his eyes that were filled with pride and joy passed their gaze on the entire class. The majority of the visitors, all great scientists and physicists, stood up from their seats as their eyes bulged out from their sockets due to their immense shock and disbelief.

 

“How??! This isn’t supposed to be possible!!” One of the guest scientists gasped in total disbelief.

 

“But it is, my friend!” The middle-aged man responded with a playful smile. “For I have proved it possible!!”. He continued, displaying the utter confidence held in his words.

 

“Hmmm… But is it really?” Another famous physicist pushed up his glasses as he remarked with his tone still holding some doubts. He drilled his sharp gaze on the excited middle-aged man.

 

“Why don’t you see it for yourself then?” The middle-aged man smugly replied. His playful eyes narrowed just like his smile. Actions that made the physicist respond with an angry ‘Hmpf’. Standing up from his seat, he approached the blackboard with steady steps, this physicist is clearly determined to prove the middle-aged man wrong.

 

As he leaned towards the board, the middle-aged man took a couple of steps back while remarking ‘No hurry, no hurry’, his face still holding the same smug as before.

 

“Tsk.” The physicist just clicked his tongue while staring back with contempt, he moved on to pick up the white chalk and proceeded to check if the formulae on the board was, in fact, correct. As he did the calculations, his expression started to change bit by bit. The trembling in his hand along with the disbelief in his eyes naturally increased the more he calculated, it was to the point he even started to mumble repeatedly ‘no way, no way, no way’.

 

After finally finishing the math, his trembling hand ended up dropping the chalk on the ground. He just stood there, with his eyes locked at the formulae on the blackboard. The middle-aged man just narrowed his eyes with mockery, he calmly watched everything with his arms crossed.

 

“M-M-MASAKAAAAAAA??!!” The physicist suddenly gave out a high-pitched scream that surprised the entire class, including the middle-aged man who was not expecting such a shout from this world-renowned Asian physicist.

 

The physicist then proceeded to immediately shift his gaze to the middle-aged man. His eyes held no desire for objections as he demanded…

 

“Wagner… Oscar Wagner… J-just, just how?” The middle-aged man, called Oscar, simply replied…

 

“Heh… German science is the best in the whole goddamn world!!” He declared with an expression that was filled with pride.

 

“Hah… Anata wa honto ni, kureiji de odoroku beki rojindesu...” The physicist gave out a sigh as he mumbled to himself, with his face holding an unnoticeable smile.

 

“Eh? What did you say?” Oscar asked confusedly, tilting his head to the side

 

“You… OH JUST SHUT UP, AHO!!” The physicist angrily shouted back, this is an action that made Oscar instinctively take a couple of steps while lifting his hands in defense.

 

“Woah there! No need to get so pissed off.” Oscar still held the same smug as before. For now, there is definitely nothing that could shut down his excitement, much less a rant from his triggered Asian friend.

 

“Hahaha! But anyway, it is indeed unfortunate that our technology isn’t advanced enough for us to use these formulae in any type of form. Ah, a pity, a pity…” By this point, Oscar let his head down while sulking.

 

[But, don’t lose hope. Because, as long as humanity evolves and improves from trial and error, not even the-

 

[Borders between dimensions can stop us!!!]

 

“Borders between dimensions can stop us…”

 

(...)

 

“...Tsk...” 

 

Clicking my tongue, I picked up the controller from the sofa and immediately turned off the TV, and by scratching my dark brown hair in frustration, I immediately ended up releasing an annoyed sigh. 

 

Hah… This is the 10th time I had to listen to this crap, what the hell? Couldn’t this news channel show something else for fuck’s sake? The same thing repeating over and over again is making me go insane, I even memorized the entire scene by heart. 

 

In all honesty, I and everyone else who watched it was going crazy over it. Possible dimensions? That is something you only see in Hollywood movies. Of course, everybody would lose their minds over it, but I think we lost our minds from overhearing it.

 

They still haven’t thought of anything regarding it at all. Just the same talk every time with no new results. That’s the meaning of insanity, redoing a thing and expecting a different result. 

 

I stood up from my couch and placed the remote on the table before making my way towards the kitchen to find something for me to eat. I opened my fridge, just to be greeted by the sight of frozen fried chicken sitting in the fridge while accompanied by a bunch of beverages and other junk food. 

 

I took a deep breath and released a sigh, “Frozen fried chicken again, huh?” I said as I took the chicken and put it in the microwave to heat it up again. But don’t be fooled, fried chicken is my favorite food, it’s just that eating it every single day is a bit too repetitive, even if it’s something I like.

 

After the fried chicken heated up, I took a plate, placed the chicken in it, and grabbed a coke bottle from the fridge. Then, I proceeded to walk towards the couch again and turned on the TV to watch my favorite anime at the moment. It's an anime called “Mecha Mind”, it’s basically about a guy using his intelligence and the power of mecha robots to rule the world. It sounds too generic, but it honestly has the best writing and plot by far.

 

My usual everyday routine was eating fried chicken, drinking coke, and watching the TV until I fall asleep or get too bored with it and go outside. And today, I was very bored and decided to take a walk outside and breathe the very polluted air of my city. Just the goddamn best. 

 

I gathered all my power to stand up from the sofa and walk towards my room. It was a very messy room with clothes scattered everywhere and posters of my favorite bands, movies, and video games filled the walls of my room. Even if it was very messy, I still felt very comfortable and at ease when I was in it, it reminded me of the only things I like in this world. 

 

I opened up my somewhat empty closet and grabbed my favorite hoodie, which was the only one I had. I wore it on top of my T-shirt that I didn’t wash for over a week, I think it had the smell of death itself reeking from it. Regardless, I put on my shoes and proceed to make my way outside and take a walk, so I don’t die in my apartment from immense boredom. 

__

Inside a dimly lit room that had many cables, wires, and super generators, there was a weirdly shaped object that looked like a ring. Precisely, a giant ring made out of steel and different types of metals that was wired to a large number of cables. But what was weirder than the object itself, was the number of people surrounding it. People wearing lab coats, formal suits, military uniforms, and some who looked like normal workers, all gathered up around the ring. 

 

“Gibson, when are you and your coworkers going to proceed with the test?” A man wearing a military outfit, that of a general, said in a slightly irritated and impatient voice.

 

“General Mcarthur, we waited thirty years for this moment, can you please calm down and be patient for at least a few minutes?” A man in a formal suit said.

 

“Listen here, Gibson... You may have funded this project with billions of dollars, but I and the army funded it with manpower. Many of my men died and disappeared out of existence because of this goddamn pile of iron! So at least show some compassion and understanding towards me and the army.” General Mcarthur replied in a very furious tone of voice while clenching his fist.

 

“Gentlemen!” A voice shouted behind them. The two men turned around to see a guy wearing a lab coat holding a small USB in his hand, “The project will finally start!” He said as he was wiping the sweat from his forehead while breathing heavily. 

 

Everyone in the room shifted his focus towards this mysterious man holding a very small USB in his hand. He walked towards a large supercomputer behind the ring object and inserted the USB into it. 

 

While the man in the lab coat was typing something into the supercomputer with a wide grin on his face, Gibson and Mcarthur couldn’t help but grow curious as to what was the contents of that USB.  

 

“Mr.Adler, as your business partners, I demand an answer to what are the contents of that USB you’re holding.” Gibson demanded in a calm voice tone.

 

“Hahaha, gentlemen!” Adler replied after releasing a crazy laugh, “This is what I was working for, this is what I spent thirty years of my life on. This is what so many researchers and soldiers died for in the last thirty years. This is-...the USB that contains the practical formulae of traveling between dimensions that got discovered by THE Oscar Wagner himself!” Adler replied in a voice that indicated his absolute joy and craziness from finally accomplishing his life’s work. 

 

As Adler was still typing in the supercomputer, all the people in the room shifted their focus from the crazy scientist towards the ring object that had a blue light forming inside of it. While the blue light was becoming bigger by the second and created violent winds inside of the room, many of the spectators were starting to get terrified and even tried to run away from the chamber they were in, except for Adler who was laughing maniacally as the blue light became bigger and powerful. 

 

Suddenly, the light disappeared and the room went back to normal. Adler’s crazy laugh and looks all ended up instantly disappearing along with the blue light. 

 

The terrified look that was once on Gibson and Mcarthur’s faces shifted into one of absolute confusion and wonder. 

 

“Adler, what the hell just happened right now?” General Mcarthur asked in a slightly scared voice. 

 

Adler didn’t respond as he turned to his supercomputer and started typing insanely fast on the keyboard. After a few minutes of the rapid writing, Adler’s face went completely pale from horror. 

 

“Adler, what the fuck is going on?!” Gibson asked as he grabbed Adler from his shirt collar and violently shook him. 

 

“The portal-...I tracked the portal’s location.” Adler replied in a quiet and terrified voice.

 

“Then where is it?!” Gibson shouted at Adler as he shook him violently again. 

 

“I-i-i-it’s in-...Brazil.” Adler barely answered after gathering up all his courage and energy. 

 

“Brazil?!” Gibson shouted back in confusion and anger after letting go of Adler. 

 

__

“And don’t even dare to try entering my store again!! FUCKING HOBO!!” Those were the last words I have heard before the triggered store owner threw me out of his shop, making me fall down in the middle of the streets with my backside.

 

I furiously looked at him while doing my best to stand up from this fall. Ouch… That fucking fatso didn’t hold back at all with me eh? 

 

“Fuck you!” I gave him the middle finger while limping myself out from this area. After escaping from the multitude of stares I was previously receiving, I found myself in an area filled with a gloomy atmosphere.

 

Ah… I ended up in the slums, didn’t I? Those shabby houses, and the unnerving, observant eyes of the people drilling at me… 

 

*Gulp*

 

Gulping down the building saliva present in my mouth, I just lowered my gaze while slowly turning back. My body is tense, just as the chills I felt running through my spine. Cold sweat threatened to freeze my entire being while I did my best praying to not receive a bullet on my head.

 

But the moment I took one step…

 

I found only darkness.

 

Yes. There is nothing. The slums, the people… They all disappeared!

 

W-what the hell is happening??!! Looking around, I could only find pitch blackness surrounding the entire space. Although, strangely enough, I’m still able to clearly see myself despite all this darkness.

 

Unfortunately, this was merely the beginning of the nightmare.

 

An immense ringing sound suddenly came, threatening to explode my eardrums. I instinctively used my hands to cover my ears but it was to no avail... 

 

Make this stop! I can’t handle this anymore!! What is going on??!! And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I only found my entire self being tortured by an immense pain rummaging through my whole body.

 

I could still see it… Such an unnerving, scary vision… I saw… My entire body being ripped to pieces while being grinded into nothingness.

 

I couldn’t even scream. I couldn’t even cry… Before completely losing my consciousness amidst this strange occurrence…

 

_

“Hah. Hah… Hah...” With each of his steps sulking in the orange-ish sand, an extremely thin boy dressed in rags, dirtied by the never-ending stream of filth from this wasteland, could be seen trying to run away from his pursuers.

 

Turning his head back while holding even more tightly the remains of spoiled food in his arms, the boy did his best to keep this pointless chase. His throat was as dry as the empty rivers from this cursed land. 

 

But due to one misstep, the boy tripped on a piece of stone. Twisting his ankle while putting an end to his unworthy tale for survival. His delicate face straight up ended meeting the scorching and sharp sand that gave him even more pain while the dregs of what one can barely call it food, ended up all falling on the ground.

 

The boy, seeing the fruits of his labor possibly ending up in failure made him grit his teeth and insist on this pointless struggle while enduring the sharp pain coming from his legs. Using his hands, he dragged his frail body through the sand while nearing an old half-eaten piece of bread.

 

But just when he was about to grab it, his thin hand got stepped on by a sudden foot, the boy grunted in pain while widening his eyes. The owner of the said foot was one of his pursuers, a thin middle-aged man also dressed in rags. He had a despaired look in his eyes while furiously glaring at the boy. After a couple of minutes, the rest of his pursuers had finally managed to catch on.

 

“Tsk… This. God. Damn. Brat!” The man who was stepping on the boy’s hand suddenly delivered a kick to his stomach, making the boy instinctively shrink his body to a crescent moon shape while his eyes threatened to jump out from his eye-sockets.

 

“*Cough!!* *Cough!!*... Ugh…”  The boy coughed then gasped for air while holding his abdomen in pain. It felt like his stomach got punctured by that strong kick to his fragile body. 

 

“Goddamn piece of shit!” Another man shouted before kicking the boy in the back with all his power. He felt as if his spine shattered from that kick as his tears started coming down uncontrollably.

 

While the boy was still crying from the increasing pain of his back and the decreasing pain of his stomach, he felt someone step on his twisted ankle with his full weight. The boy uncontrollably released a loud cry of pain before he got kicked in the face. 

 

His nose and mouth were bleeding while his vision was blurry and his ears were half deaf. He couldn’t cry nor scream from the excruciating pain that was only increasing in his face, ankle, and back. The man that was stepping on the boy’s hand, used that very same foot to roll the boy on his back and stomp on his chest. The boy’s vision went from blurriness to darkness, his chest was in immense pain and he couldn’t muster up the energy or power to take a single breath as he was fading out of consciousness.

 

“Is he dead?” The man that kicked him in the back asked in a nonchalant voice. 

 

“Most likely.” The man that stepped on his ankle replied in the same voice tone.

 

“Who gives a fuck about him?! God fucking dammit! Three days of searching for a somewhat proper food just to get stolen by this brat and thrown into the scorching hot ground like nothing!” The man stomping on his chest said in a voice full of rage towards the boy. 

 

“Huh? What’s that?” The man that kicked his back said as he crouched towards the boy and ripped a necklace from his neck. “A necklace?” He said in a confused voice while rubbing it and biting on it, “Looks and feels genuine. Maybe we can sell it for some actual proper food unlike those spoiled tomatoes and moldy bread crusts.” 

 

“Really? Thank god we’re not going to die of starvation at least. Let’s get going and sell it quickly before those disgusting scavengers find us.” The man stomping on the boy’s chest said as he removed his foot and walked back to where they were running from.

 

As they were walking away, the man that stomped on the boy’s chest felt something grab his right foot. The three men turned to see the boy holding the man’s foot with tears coming out from his eyes like a fountain. 

 

“Give-...it-...back, please. It’s-...my-...mother’s.” The boy quietly said, struggling to breathe, cry, and talk all at the same time. 

 

“Get the fuck away from me!” The man said as he used his foot to kick off the boy’s hand and managed to deliver one last kick to the boy’s chest, giving him the final lethal strike that he needed before his lungs stopped functioning and his vision went dark. The boy was lying down on the scorching hot ground, his eyes were teary and empty, his body was bruised and beaten, blood was coming out of his nose and mouth, and most importantly… He was dead.