Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The blaring alarm jolted me awake. My head was still pounding after staying up late last night.
Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was already 6:00 a.m. Turns out, I had only managed about three hours of sleep.
Forcing my drowsy body upright, I turned to my right—only to find that Dasha was no longer there.
She must have gone to prepare breakfast. After all, today was our daughter's first day of school. Fighting against the heavy pull of sleep, I staggered toward the bathroom.
Thankfully, the cold water managed to chase away at least some of my fatigue. After a quick shower and getting dressed, I headed to the dining room.
There, I found my daughter, Evangeline, already sitting on her chair, waiting for breakfast to be served. Not seeing my wife around, I assumed she was still in the kitchen.
Sitting down beside Evangeline, I noticed the worried expression on her face as she waited.
"What's the matter, Eva? Are you nervous about your first day at school?" I asked gently, ruffling her hair.
"I… I'm scared the kids there won't like me, Papa," she admitted, her little face clouded with worry.
Seeing that adorable expression, I couldn't help but smile. I playfully tousled her hair and said, "How could anyone not like Papa's little angel? You're so sweet and cute—Papa guarantees everyone will be fighting to be your friend."
"R-really? You really think so, Papa?" Evangeline asked shyly.
"Of course. Papa would never lie to you."
Her expression slowly brightened, and just watching her smile filled me with warmth. I spent a few more moments answering her endless questions about school until Dasha finally came in, carrying breakfast.
We ate together, chatting about little things. The meal itself was simple—just a spiced meat soup with toasted bread—but the warmth of family made it taste a hundred times more delicious.
After breakfast, it was time to part ways. I headed for the office, while Dasha would be the one to take Evangeline to school.
I wished I could have gone with them on her first day, but an urgent deadline forced me to entrust that special moment to Dasha alone.
"Be careful on the way, honey. And Eva, listen to your teacher, alright? Don't be naughty!"
"Okay, Papa!"
"You be careful too, Raph," Dasha reminded me.
With those parting words, I set off for work.
'Let's hope nothing bad happens today…'
******
Walking along the busy streets, I noticed the increasing number of vehicles passing by—both on the ground and in the air.
Ever since magic was introduced as a source of energy, hover cars had become a common sight. Looking up, I saw the sky, still a clear blue.
According to my father's stories, with so many vehicles around, the sky should already have been stained gray with pollution.
But thanks to magic energy, which produced almost no emissions, the skies remained clean despite the growing traffic.
Still, the sky wasn't completely unblemished. In the distance, I could see a strange tear that stood out starkly against the blue.
It looked bizarre—like someone had cut open the heavens with scissors, exposing the void beyond. It was a crack.
Surrounding the crack floated massive mechanical structures etched with magical formulas.
I recognized them immediately: Spatial Stabilizers, devices designed to either stabilize cracks or forcibly seal them shut.
As I walked, I occasionally caught sight of figures who clearly weren't ordinary humans.
There were long-eared elves, short-statured dwarves, beastmen with animal features, and even translucent humanoid forms—the spectrals.
Watching them stroll around curiously, taking in the sights, it was clear they were tourists visiting Earth from the crossing zones.
After the appearance of cracks—now known as gates—researchers had studied them intensively.
Eventually, they concluded that there were two distinct types: void gates, which connected to the void between dimensions where monsters were born, and world gates, which linked Earth to parallel worlds.
After about five minutes of walking and observing the scenery, I finally arrived at my destination: the hover train station.
Entering, I headed straight for the turnstiles. As I approached, a mechanical voice spoke.
"Please state your destination."
"Sector 23," I replied.
"That will be 2 UC. Please place your smartwatch on the designated scanner."
I tapped my watch against the scanner. A soft ding followed, granting me access.
"Your train will arrive in two minutes at platform three. Enjoy your journey."
"Alright, thank you very much," I answered, forgetting I was speaking to a machine.
"You're welcome, sir."
I blinked, a little surprised by the humanlike response despite its mechanical tone.
'I guess AI really has come a long way,' I thought, waiting for my train.
After about two minutes, a massive hover train pulled into the station. Even though I had seen them several times before, I was still in awe of what magictech could achieve.
Boarding the train, I found an empty seat and sat down, my eyes wandering over the interior.
The metallic design, marked here and there with faintly glowing magical formulas, was truly impressive.
Honestly, I had only ridden the hover train a handful of times.Usually I will use the hover car, but today Dasha will use it to take Eva to school.
With the drowsiness from last night's lack of sleep still lingering, I leaned back as the train began its journey to my destination.