The both of them went down to a spacious basement workshop located at the far end of the mansion. A veritable mess of tubes and cables lined its walls. 

A majority of them were connected to a large mechanical terminal equipped with a wide, forty inch screen and a keyboard interface somewhat resembling the desktop computers from Keith's previous life.

Yep. Previous life.

You guys must've already guessed it, but young Keith here is actually a transmigrator. His previous life was that of the unfortunate otaku salaryman, Michael Cruz.

After getting run over by the almighty Truck-sama, his soul was sent all the way to another world. Or so it would seem.

Truth is, Keith is actually unsure if what happened to him was a case of transmigration at all. This is mostly due to the circumstances surrounding the event which led to the awakening of his memories as Michael Cruz.

Y'see, the world he's living in right now is called Alterria. It's a world filled with romance and mystery from the point of view of people from modern Earth. It has all the fantasy staples: Elves, Dwarves, Wizards, Magic, Dragons, Beastkin, Demonkin and whatever cliche fantasy JRPG elements you can think of. 

But the occurrence of a certain major mysterious phenomenon almost completely broke this standard setting. It has forcefully altered the development of the world to great effect, and the native inhabitants regard it either as a great boon to civilization or an unprecedented disaster heralding the beginning of the end.

This world changing phenomenon was the advent of the [Neumann Gates]; coined after the veteran adventurer who first discovered them - Garrett Neumann.

These Neumann Gates were basically portals which led to otherworldly dimensions filled with knowledge and technology significantly more advanced than whatever the current Alterria has. And surprisingly, people could actually bring back the knowledge and technology within if they manage to successfully explore the Gates and bind some Production Cores which store and apply such knowledge. 

This fact provoked a mad scramble for the Gates by major powers the world over. It singlehandedly ushered in a fast and furious technological renaissance which heavily disadvantaged those who were late to the party.

But not just anyone could enter into the Gates and start questing for knowledge, fame and riches. The actual factors considered are still largely unknown, but only people with a certain level of compatibility with the Gates are allowed to explore them. All others are barred from entry.

This eventually led to the advent of the Path Seekers. They are adventurers sufficiently compatible with the Neumann Gates, and thus, were the only ones capable of exploring them and bringing home all the goodies inside.

The rise of the Simmons House is inextricably tied to the Gates as well. The family is based on a small vassal kingdom called Nemuria, located on the southern tip of the largest island within the Galdheim island chain. 

The Simmons clan is a curious case of a family with most members actually highly compatible with Neumann Gates. Thus, they dedicated themselves to the art of Path Seeking and were eventually duly recognized by the Crown because of their significant contributions to the country and were accorded nobility as a reward.

But nothing lasts forever. This is also the case for the Simmons House. More and more of their members became eternally lost while embarking on Gate surveys. Most recently, the current Lord and his heir apparent also failed to return, prompting the inevitable decline of this once prosperous noble clan.

Poor Keith Simmons is the only remaining male from the direct line of descent. This practically forced him to become the legitimate successor to the House. However, until recently, no huge expectations were placed upon him. His father also heavily doted on him due to the fact that Keith was the last child his wife had borne for him before succumbing to disease. So Keith was inevitably spoiled rotten and behaved in an unscrupulous, degenerate manner as a result, much to the chagrin of his guardians.

Thus, his first attempt at surveying a Gate nearly ended in a disaster and almost left him in a comatose state. This event further decreased the standing of the Simmons House in the eyes of the people and the authorities. However, this also led to Keith awakening his memories as Michael Cruz after regaining consciousness.

Most of Keith's memories regarding the time he spent inside the Gate were gone. He could only recall vague bits and pieces which couldn't be put together to form coherent recollections at all. That's why he suspects that his time as Michael may have been induced by the Gate somehow. 

But no other cases of Seekers gaining extra memories of other peoples lives have been recorded so far. So, as a result, he's been busy during the past few days trying to digest everything that happened to him and all the extra memories now present within his head.

"Glad to see you're finally up for some work, Young Master. Now come over here and try your gear out for me. I need to make sure everything's calibrated perfectly. Can't have you passing out on us again after all," an aged but energetic voice called out from within the room and snapped Keith out of his reverie