“...In other news. The United Nations has predicted that the death toll will be at over 10.000 due to the monsoon. Final numbers will be tallied up the 1st of January 2023. Let me tell you Jill, this isn’t how I wanted to bring in the new year.”

“I don’t think anyone did John-”

The professor turns down the volume before turning the students. “All right, class. Your results are in, and let me congratulate you all by saying every single person has graduated. The lowest grade being C.” He pauses as the students start to chatter amongst themselves.

Ethenia plays with a strand of her dark caramel hair, while rolling the stylus pen between her fingertips. Casting a glance around the room at the excited students, finally graduating from economics and business.

Resting her gaze on a few particular individuals, she daydreams about her own future for a moment, before the professor regains the attention of the lecture hall.

“Yes, yes, very good. Now we all know for most of you these three years have simply been to follow the rules and regulations set by the government. All of you have been raised and groomed since birth as future heirs and heiresses to some of the most influential companies in the world.” He pauses for a second, before walking towards the desk, placing his palms down and leaning slightly forwards. “Remember the connections you’ve made, and the people you’ve met. Each of you will be working with each other in some capacity going forwards, some as partners, some as rivals in the same industry.”

Ethenia almost snorts out loud. She hasn’t bothered making connections. The three years mandated by the government to be able to take over businesses with a net worth over a certain limit was an annoying rule, and caused an uproar once it was introduced. The only reason she’s here is that she’s the only child of her parents, therefore the only heiress to the company.

Tuning out the rest of the speech, her mind begins to play with a theme she’s been thinking about a lot lately. The future. She’s just shy of 21, and already bored with life. She’s had a lover here and there, but no lasting relationships. While she isn’t socially inept, she just can’t bother to spend the energy necessary to maintain the connections.

Sure she loves her parents, but they’re her parents. There’s a certain barrier, a threshold of familiarity and acceptable behavior. Especially so due to their standing in wealth, connections and ‘elite’ social circles.

While her parents are strict, they’re not unreasonable. They haven’t mandated her life, but due to Ethenia not holding any particular interest for long, they have set her on the path of taking over their banking business.

She remembers once when her father brought up the possibility of arranged marriages, but the glare she sent him shut him up, before explaining, –quite brutally– that the only part of her life she dictates completely on her own, is her love life.

The sound of people packing up their things, moving chairs, and making small talk brings Ethenia out of her thoughts, and she starts gathering up her things.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Slowly and routinely placing each of her items in their dedicated spots in her bag. She’s not in a hurry to get home, as she has nothing to do until evening when the Gala for the graduates is being held.

“What the?” A male voice grabs her attention. There was a certain sense of urgency and confusion in it. She turns towards the voice and sees the person at the front of the herd, having opened the door to the hallway.

Except instead of seeing the hallway, there’s a blue, something. Her brain halts for a second, before catching up at the weird sight. She looks at the blue liquid? She isn’t quite sure how to describe it. It looks gaseous and liquid at the same time, with different shades of blue. Slowly looking from the center, and towards the outwards, she notices the saturation fades into white borders.

The noise picks up, and she hears panicked voices erupting across the room, while barely hearing the professor trying to calm everyone down.

She studies the blue portal for another few seconds, before letting out a sigh.

Portal. She’s read enough Korean novels and manhwa to recognize it for what it is, a portal.

There’s a disconnect between rationale and emotions. She recognizes the entity in front of her, but for some reason the emotion usually associated with such an absurd phenomenon is non-present.

Until it starts moving.

Casting a quick glance around the room, she notices she can no longer see the walls, instead there’s alternating blue, black and white surrounding the entire room, and the occupants.

Ethenia’s heart starts to race, the reality of her thoughts finally catching up. ‘A portal? Are you fucking serious? This can’t be happening, this isn’t a fucking novel.’

Screams erupt across the room, and she notices the people closest to the door are no longer there, barely catching a glimpse of a limb being sucked through the portal.

Ethenia scans the room. Threat assessment is a subject that was drilled into her from a young age, from multiple ex-military tutors preparing a young heiress for a life in the spotlight.

All public buildings are obligated to have two exits from each room, in case of emergency. Scanning the room for the emergency exists, dread fills her stomach.

There’s nothing but blue. Nothing but a portal. Slowly tightening its circle, like a predator stalking its prey.

Gaze flickering between people, between the edge of the portal, the center of the room. Nothing ever prepared her for such an event. Hostage situations, muggings, self defense. Nothing that she has been drilled in can help her figure out the absurdity of a portal appearing out of thin air, without any clue as to what’s waiting on the other side.

Despite the situation, her body calms, her instincts returning to normal, from their fight or flight state, and a thought enters her mind. ‘Wait, why should I truly care? Hadn’t I already almost given up on life?’

Her mind wanders in familiar paths, but there’s something different. Something new.

In her current state of mind, Ethenia doesn’t notice. Despite her apathetic outlook on life, something sparks in the depths of her mind, pushing her forwards.

Almost as if possessed, she calmly walks towards the encroaching portal, stopping half a meter in front of her, and if she didn’t know better, she’d think the portal stopped too.

Slowly reaching out a hand, her fingertips meeting a slight resistance, before a gentle pull grabs ahold of her outstretched limb.

Looking at her hand, half on the other side, feeling slightly humid, she shrugs her shoulders and steps through the portal.