John Milligan was a completely ordinary person. He liked chocolate-flavored ice cream, had three or four friends he occasionally went out with, and, as a single man, he used a lot of moisturizing lotion.
He worked at a bank as a financial advisor. He didn't particularly like his job, but since he didn't want to end up homeless on the streets fighting stray dogs, he had to keep working anyway.
John's life was peaceful perhaps even a bit too much so because he often imagined himself fighting aliens, vampires, magicians, or even cultivators.
Indeed, John was an avid reader of webnovels, and something no one knew was that he could control his dreams. Because of this, he often found himself battling monsters or discovering countless worlds, each more beautiful than the last.
His life could have continued that way. Perhaps John might have married, had children, and lived a peaceful life if not for a package that arrived in the mail.
His grandfather Patrick, an old man of 80, had just passed away from a heart attack in his sleep. Like John, and like all the Milligans, Patrick could also control his dreams.
Patrick and his son Roger (John's father) did not have a good relationship, since Roger wanted to live an artist's life, while Patrick like most fathers wanted him to become a doctor or a lawyer.
After leaving home for college, Roger never returned to the family house. It was only after John's birth that family ties began to mend, and Patrick was finally able to see both his son and grandson again.
Patrick felt close to John the very first time he saw him. He was even the one who introduced John to the beauty of comics, manga, and even novels.
For that reason, Patrick chose John as his sole heir.
A lawyer had informed him the very afternoon of his grandfather's death, and without anyone having to sign anything, John received the package which was very strange.
But since his heart was heavy and his eyes red from the news, John didn't pay much attention to that detail.
Inside was a simple pendant, made of a material resembling ivory, purple in color, and bearing a strange symbol.
In the letter, Patrick told John that if he was receiving it, it meant Patrick was dead. He said there was nothing to fear and no reason to be sad, since he had lived many years. He even added a few jokes and ended by leaving John his seaside house, which was worth a fortune.
He also gave him the pendant, making John promise never to sell it. He even asked John to place a drop of blood on it to uncover its secrets.
John finished reading the letter and continued crying for a while. He spent the rest of his time looking at photos of his grandfather. A few hours later, seeing that it was already 9 p.m., John decided to eat something.
He went for something simple: pasta with cheese and small pieces of bacon.
After eating, John thought about calling his family. It was only then that he thought about them and their well-being but at the same time, John wasn't a machine.
His father had taken the news relatively well, even if he was very sad. Roger was even able to make a few jokes to try to cheer John up. That's where you could see a father's love: even though Roger was heartbroken, he still thought first about his son. Father and son exchanged several anecdotes about Patrick, and in this way, an hour passed.
After hanging up the phone, John looked around his apartment. There were plenty of memories of his grandfather comic books, novels, and even a few Chuck Norris posters.
It was at that moment that John remembered he was supposed to place a drop of blood on the pendant.
Since it was his grandfather's last wish, and even though it seemed completely absurd, John did it anyway.
The moment the blood touched the pendant, John was instantly transported into a secret dimension.