The old book sat heavy on the wooden desk, its faded cover cracked and worn with time. Its pages glowed faintly under the dim light of the study room, as if the book itself carried a secret too big to hide. Hiroshi, with his sharp eyes and restless curiosity, flipped through the strange symbols and runes written in a language none of them fully understood.
Kenji leaned closer, his voice low. "This doesn't look like any science or math I've ever seen. It feels… alive."
Sakura, who had joined them out of both worry and interest, touched the book gently. The moment her fingers brushed the page, a ripple of blue light ran through the letters. Everyone pulled back in shock.
"It reacts," Hiroshi whispered, his heart racing. "This is no ordinary book."
The pages began to shift on their own, landing on one filled with a circular diagram. Strange words were written around its edges, glowing brighter with each passing second. The air in the room grew heavy, charged, as though electricity flowed through every corner.
"I think…" Hiroshi swallowed hard. "I think this is a spell. Maybe… a gateway."
Kenji shook his head. "Don't joke about that. If your father couldn't open a path to another world with all his science, you think a book can?"
But even as he said it, the light grew stronger, filling the room with warmth and power. The diagram on the page pulsed like a living heart.
Sakura's voice trembled. "Hiroshi, if you're right, maybe this is what your father was searching for all along."
Hiroshi's hands shook as he traced the diagram with his finger. The symbols lit up one by one, and suddenly, the floor beneath them rumbled. The entire room vibrated as though the earth itself was responding to the call of the book.
A blinding flash erupted, and before their stunned eyes, a swirling vortex formed in the center of the room. Blue and gold streams of light twisted together, opening into a circle that looked like a window—no, a door.
Through it, they could see trees unlike any in Japan, glowing faintly as though filled with light. The sky was painted in colors they had never seen before, deeper than any sunset. It was another earth, waiting for them.
Kenji stumbled backward. "This… this is impossible."
But Hiroshi's eyes were locked on the portal, wide with wonder and fear. His mind raced with the weight of what they had just done. His father had spent years chasing this dream, and in a single night, they had opened it by chance.
Sakura clutched Hiroshi's sleeve tightly. "If this is real, what happens if we go through?"
For a long moment, no one spoke. The portal hummed, alive and waiting, as if daring them to step forward. Hiroshi felt his heart pound in his chest, louder than the rumble of the magic swirling before him.
He looked at his friends. "We've found it. Another world."
But none of them could yet guess the price that would come with that discovery.