In the past of this bizarre world, fantastical races had the ability to use magic. Some were born with certain supernatural powers that differed from their peers. These powers were known as Abilities or Superpowers.

At present, Abilities weren't available for public use anymore, and it became illegal for just anyone to use them. They gave injections and pills to Babies, which in turn took away their abilities.

One could only reawaken his or Ability by getting into a career—one that set them up to work for the Government one way or another. But this was no easy feat.

While it is true that most people were affected by the Ability Suppression pills or injections given to them at birth, it is also true that some people found a way to reawaken these abilities, without serving the Government.

People with special class Abilities; who weren't affected by the Ability Suppression drugs, were carried to a special organization at birth.

People who found some other special way to extricate themselves of the Ability Suppression drugs were deemed smugglers. They surreptitiously utilized their illegal Abilities and henceforth were known as Ability Runners.

———

Frightened and standing at the summit of fear, Jin stood in the distance, shaken to his core. After all, there was a jarring phenomenon unveiling before his drifting pupils.

They were in a dark alley in the grim street, with red brick walls to their rights and their lefts. The only thing in this said alley other than they themselves were huge Recycle Bins.

A dark portal, that looked like someone cut a chunk of outer space and brought it to Earth, was behind Flint, veering in a spiraling motion as fast as a black hole.

"Jinny, boy," Flint smirked, "Are ya' ready to hop in on the fun!?"

The two girls then stood on either side of Flint as he callously posed. His pose hinted at his arrogance, charisma, and exhilaration while also injecting some anxiety into Jin's heart.

Alura looked as if this was nothing out of the norm for her, she stood there with her hands on her waist, chewing what appeared to be gum.

On the other hand, Sylvia seemed to be a little apprehensive about it. The stoic look on her face that seemed to always linger, had disappeared after Flint created the portal.

"What's the matter, Jin? Aren't ya' gonna go in with us…"

'No way I'm gonna trust that shit. It looks as if it's gonna send me straight to outer space!'

Pressured, sweat started to trickle down his face, and he had to constantly wipe it. His heart showed no mercy, while his dilated pupils lingered.

'Flint's got an Ability? Do all have Abilities? No wonder why they were asking me about magic so much…'

'Can Flint be a Successor too?'

"Jin, aren't you coming with us," Alura peered at him, evinced impatience written all over her face already.

Jin furrowed both his brows, "Why should I?"

'Yeah…why should I? It could probably be another trap. This time there are no goblins involved, but it doesn't change the fact that too could be a trap…'

Alura then quickly facepalmed, "If you're gonna be my boyfriend, you gotta man up…"

Flint folded his arms, and stood like a King with his nose looking down at the cowering figure ahead. "What's the matter, Jin? Are you…scared?"

"No," blurted Jin, "I'm not," he shifted on his toes, "It's just that there's a portal behind you. And you're using an Ability…"

Flint grimaced again, "So?"

"So I don't want to go in. We can get in a lot of trouble for something like this. Just using your ability subjects you to that secret organization they take people to…or even worse—Metaprison…"

"So you are scared," Alura rolled her eyes.

Flint tittered, "You're being a pussy, Jin."

"I've only met you guys today! There's no telling what's on the other side of that portal!" Jin snarled, knotting his brows.

Alura slightly furrowed her brows at him, "What do you think? We're gonna just stab you in the back? Take you to hell or something?"

Flint looked at her, "What the hell does he think is behind that portal?"

Flint looked back at him, "Jin, you can trust me, pal. I swear I'm not gonna do anything to you," he outstretched his arms widely, "We all aren't gonna do anything to you…"

"I can't be too sure."

Alura scoffed at him, "You're making my patience run out, Jin. Are you that much of a pussy?"

"I'm not—I swear! I'm just a little skeptical about it. I'm not an asshole, y'know!"

"So walking into a portal makes you an asshole?"

"Yeah, it does," Jin wiped his sweat, "It does when you don't know what's on the other side…"

Sylvia then finally said, "Jin, the portal's not gonna take us to Mars, you know…"

"I know…but…"

'Fuck!'

Sylvia continued, "Stop being a baby about it. Aren't we all gonna walk in together? Look, we're still gonna be in New York when we're on the other side either way. We don't have a car…and even if we did, taking the portal is the fastest route…"

'Okay, Jin. You're really embarrassing yourself. And hey, if something goes south, I'll just summon my Laevateinn and start gashing like there's no tomorrow…'

Jin sighed, "Alright-alright. Screw you guys," he started approaching them.

Flint and Alura quickly looked at each other and grinned.

Jin stopped in front of them, "Okay, how am I doing this now?"

"You just walk in," said Flint, "Easy, right?"

"I'll go first," enlisted Alura, turning around to face the portal.

Then, she voluptuously rocked her hips from side to side as she deliberately bustled to the portal.

She walked straight into it, walking and not even taking a moment to question whether she should or not. The others did the same—both Flint and Sylvia—they simply walked into it.

As soon as Jin had become the last one to enter, he started questioning if he should just bail on them, and call it a day. Or, simply grow balls and bite the bullet.

It was clear that he still didn't want to go into the portal, regardless of who recently entered it. And so, he was still quite paranoid.

Still, he stood in front of the portal, and exhaled loudly.

"Here goes," he said, quickly darting towards it.

Though, before he could jump in, a screen appeared before his eyes, causing his motion to come to a sudden halt. He stopped there, peering at the screen.

[Hypnosis Detected]

[+2 resistance]

Then another screen appeared before his eyes.

[One of your active skills strengthens]

[+1 Exp]

[Exp: 10/15 | Level 2]

"Grandma's probably in trouble…"

"Also, what's this hypnosis thing?"

'As soon as I walked a lot closer to the portal the first message appeared,' he put a hand on his chin.

'Hypnosis Detected. What's trying to hypnotize me? Whatever it is—it's gotta be weak 'cause I don't feel anything somehow.'

He peered at the portal, "Could it be the portal?"

"At this point, I don't feel like going in anymore. I never felt like going in to begin with…"

Suddenly, a head poked out from the portal, staring. Immediately Jin flinched, jerking his body away remotely.

It was Flint's head.

He looked at Jin, narrowing his eyes, "I almost closed the portal on you there. If I closed it the exact moment you walked in, you'd be somewhere in the Milky Way right now…"

Jin narrowed his eyes, "Way to go, Flint. You just made me even more unwilling to step into that thing."

"Are you not coming in?"

"I was gonna…when out of nowhere you appeared…"

He raised his brows, "Jin, I don't know why you're afraid. But you should just know that you've got absolutely no reason to be," he then brought his entire body through the portal again.

"Sorry…"

"And besides," Flint looked down at Jin again, with a smug face, "You're ruining your chances with the girls the more you chicken out?"

"Whatever," Jin replied, gazing down at the ground.

"I wanna be your partner Jin, so I would never even think about getting you into trouble. Just trust me on this one. And y'know what, as someone who wants to be good with you, I think it's best I give you the option to leave right now if you wanna…"

"No pressure," he folded his arms, "take your time and make a decision…"

Flint was no longer prodding Jin to go into the portal. He wasn't being forced to do what he didn't want to anymore. But dignity was yelling at him, wishing for it to be secured. Yes, it was a matter of pride now.

And so, Jin squeezed his balled fists in tightly, and started walking past Flint who had a permanent smirk on his arrogant face.

He looked at Flint, "Are you coming in or not?"

And just like that, Jin, as paranoid as he was, finally…finally walked into the portal. He slapped suspicion to its face, and walked right in when he clearly had no idea what was on the other side.