Chapter 44: Key To Another World

After he finished eating, Lucas left the guild to go shopping, but he wasn't familiar with this district, so he called a taxi.

"Where would you like to go?"

"Somewhere I can buy cell phones."

"I know just the place."

The taxi driver then drove Lucas to this large shopping center about ten minutes away from his guild.

"You can buy almost everything in this place— cell phones included."

Once he paid for the ride, Lucas entered the shopping center and looked around for a map.

After locating the cell phone store, Lucas made his way there.

"Hello, can I help you today?" A young woman approached Lucas shortly after he entered the store.

"I'm looking for a cell phone."

"Are you upgrading your old one, or do you prefer a new one?"

"A new one."

"Do you have a certain brand in mind? What about your budget?"

"I don't care about the brand. As long as it functions and isn't too expensive."

The young woman nodded and brought Lucas to look at the cell phones with his requirements.

After spending about an hour inside the store, Lucas came out with a brand new cellphone and 1,000 dollars fewer.

'Now what should I do?' Lucas wondered to himself as he stood outside the phone store.

After pondering for a bit, he decided to look around the shopping center to see if there was anything else he needed.

However, Lucas quickly realized that he did not like the crowd in the place, so he left the shopping center shortly after.

After wandering around the district for about an hour, he came across this store that gave off an ominous aura, but what attracted Lucas' attention was the sign in front of the store.

"Free treasures to qualified players?"

Lucas quickly entered the store after seeing the word 'free'.

Upon entering the store that was dimly lit, Lucas navigated to the front desk while passing through many weird-looking antiques.

Sitting behind the front desk was an old man wearing ragged black clothes, and he was rocking back and forth in a rocking chair, seemingly asleep.

However, the moment Lucas got close, the old man opened his mouth and spoke, "Why don't you come back to the desk when you have something that you want to buy, little boy?"

"I'm not here to buy," he calmly said.

"Your sign mentions free treasures. How do I qualify for them?"

The old man opened his eyes to look at Lucas' with these dark eyes that glimmered with light.

"Well, that depends. What kind of treasure do you want? The higher quality, the more difficult it will be to qualify."

"Then I want to qualify for the best treasure." Lucas responded without any hesitation.

The old man laughed out loud, "You're a greedy one, aren't you?"

"Humbleness won't keep you alive in dungeons." Lucas continued.

"So you've also got a sharp mouth, huh? Alright, I will let you take the test."

The old man then retrieved a small wooden box from under the desk and placed it before Lucas.

After opening the box, Lucas could see a small and round object resting inside, almost like a marble.

"What is this?" Lucas asked.

"Swallow it if you want to qualify." The old man said.

"I'm not eating that. I don't even know what it is nor what it does." Lucas frowned.

"That will tell me if you're qualified or not. If you're still alive after swallowing it, then you qualify. It's as simple as that."

"And how many people have taken this risk before?"

"None."

"Goodbye." Lucas didn't say anything else and turned around to leave.

"Well, if you don't want to risk your life, there is a second way to qualify, but that will require much more effort." The old man suddenly said, stopping Lucas from leaving entirely.

After returning to the desk, Lucas said, "Tell me."

The old man placed a piece of paper with a drawing on it and said, "If you can bring me back this flower, I will give you one of the best treasures in this world."

Lucas looked at the picture and raised his eyebrows, "You want a flower?"

"Not just any flower. It's a flower that can only be acquired in another world." The old man said with a mysterious smile on his face.

Upon hearing the old man's words, Lucas' immediate thought was that he was being pranked and that the old man had no intentions of giving out free treasures.

And without saying another word, Lucas left the store, feeling like he'd just wasted his time.

Afterward, Lucas went straight back to the guild and into his room to play around with his new phone for the rest of the day.

He eventually fell asleep, and while he slept, he had this weird dream of using the 'Key to Another World'.

When he woke up, he looked at the black key with a pondering face.

'It was a weird dream, but it was oddly specific and real...'

After pondering for a few minutes, Lucas got dressed, ate breakfast for free, and left the guild to go to the main guild, where he found and paid two strangers to help him enter a dungeon.

"Good luck." The strangers left Lucas the moment they passed the checkpoint since there are usually no guards around the portal.

Once Lucas was standing in front of the dungeon portal, he retrieved the black key and thought to himself, 'I can't believe I am really going to try something I saw in a dream...'

After taking a deep breath and making sure he was alone, Lucas inserted the blade of the black key into the portal like it was a door and turned it.

However, nothing happened even after waiting a few moments.

Lucas felt incredibly stupid and foolish at this moment, and not wanting to be caught looking like a dumbass, he quickly removed the key.

The moment Lucas removed the key from the portal, the blue portal suddenly began changing colors, turning bright white!

"Fuck me... It actually worked?" Lucas muttered in a voice of disbelief, and he was so dumbfounded by the result that he could only stand there in shock, not knowing what he should do next.