Silas slowly opened his eyes and was stunned to see the familiar altar. What the hell happened? Was that all a dream? Silas refused to believe it was a dream… It was too vivid to be considered a dream, and people only remember parts of dreams, but Silas remembered everything that had transpired, so he was pretty sure he experienced it all.

At one point, Silas was even certain that he had died and reincarnated into a different world, and he felt pretty sad about leaving his grandparents, who might be heartbroken upon learning about his demise.

‘Well, I should be happy. Why am I questioning why I’m still alive?’ Silas mused. Maybe I got hit by some type of illusion beast. As soon as this thought popped into his mind, Silas looked around vigilantly, but he couldn’t find any beast. If he had really been attacked with such an ability, he would have already died. Moreover, such beasts shouldn’t even be present in the Iron Rank Gates.

Silas suddenly thought of something and shouted, ‘Status window!’

...

Well, looks like it was really a dream. Silas shook his head, stood up, and looked into the pond, which he remembered as the start of all this drama. After thinking for a couple of seconds, Silas dipped his hand in the water…

Nothing happened…

Damn it. I don’t want to think about it anymore, Silas grumbled, packed his spoils of war, and started to track back to the gate’s entrance. When Silas entered the gate, he was even dreaming about getting rich in a single day, but looking at his storage ring, he wasn’t sure if he could even obtain a couple of evolution points.

As soon as Silas came out of the gate, he hired a cab to take him back home.

After entering his house, Silas dropped all his luggage, jumped on his bed, and began to think deeply.

After some time, he stopped thinking as his stomach started rumbling. Silas thought about the berries he ate, and his mouth salivated… Damn it... I can even remember the taste of the berries, so how could it all be an illusion?

Silas decided to drop the matter for now. He quickly took a shower and went out of his house to the nearby street where a food truck was located.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

A smile blossomed on his face, and his worries disappeared as the smell of food wafted into his nose.

“Hi, Uncle Jay, Aunty Laura,” Silas waved at them. The couple, who were preparing the food, were slightly surprised to see Silas.

“Haha, Silas, I remember you saying this morning that you’d only return after a couple of days since you were entering the gate.”

Hearing Uncle Jay’s words, Silas coughed awkwardly, unsure of how to reply.

Aunt Laura, seeing the situation, gave Uncle Jay a sidelong glance, which made him immediately shut up.

Seeing this, Aunt Laura gently said, “It’s good that you came back without getting hurt.”

Hearing Aunt Laura’s words, Silas' heart warmed up, and he gave her a bright smile.

After moving from the village, Silas was really lucky to find Uncle Jay’s and Aunt Laura’s shop.

Excluding his grandparents, these two were the next closest to Silas. He became pretty attached to the couple and their food truck. Even though Silas knows how to cook, he preferred eating here often and listening to their stories.

Both Uncle Jay and Aunt Laura were unawakened people, so when they heard the news that Silas had awakened, they were both happy and worried at the same time. As people know, gates are pretty dangerous. Even though the gates have not caused significant damage to society, many people died when they were inside them.

So they both cautioned him to be extra careful when venturing inside, as they knew that both of Silas’ parents disappeared in a gate, their status unknown.

‘Aunt Laura, no need to worry. Even though I came back early, I got what I went in for,’ Silas said as he emptied his ring, and cleanly diced parts of the lizard rolled out.

Aunt Laura and Uncle Jay were taken aback, as it was only his first day inside the gate, but Silas still managed to hunt a pretty big prey.

Holding his nose high, Silas looked at Uncle Jay and said proudly, “Uncle Jay, they said that Ironclad Lizards are one of the apex predators in the Iron Rank Gate, but they really didn’t amount to much. It only took me a couple of moves.”

Hearing the name of the Ironclad Lizard, they were both taken aback again. Even though they were unawakened, they knew quite a bit about the monsters in the lower-ranking gates, as they run a food business.

The process of raising cattle and poultry had long been halted since the gates appeared, as people preferred monster meat over farm-grown meat. The monster meat contained more nutrients and was known to strengthen the bodies of the unawakened, even though they were not able to gain any evolution points.

And meats such as Ironclad Lizard are considered a delicacy among middle-class people, as it is one of the best-tasting meats they can afford.