Hello! Quick note that (( )) signifies what Kay is thinking.

((There he goes again with his ramblings))

The only thing Kay could do was sit and watch as his Dad for the hundredth time today told him about his premonition.

"AND THERE WERE DRAGONS, KAY, DRAGONS!" Kay's Dad grabbed his shoulders and shook him erratically.

"Alright Dad, dragons. Got it. Now come take your medication"

Kay's Dad let go of him and Kay got up to get his Dad's insomnia medication. Kay grabbed the shabby top cabinet door where all of the medicine was stored but the hinges of the door broke off and the cabinet door fell to the ground making one of the wooden floorboards break.

Kay, annoyed, swept up the pieces of the broken floorboard and grabbed his Dad's medication, putting it in water so his Dad could drink and go to sleep.

"THERE WERE ELVES AND GIANT KINGDOMS!"

"Ok Dad, It's time for bed now."

Ever since Dad began talking about his fantasy world from a dream he had years ago, he's stopped going to work and stopped caring about anything. Mom divorced him and we were forced to move to a small sketchy motel. I'm forced to work 3 jobs to compensate for both of us and the only one who seems to really care about my Dad besides me is my Uncle, who occasionally sends us money.

Kay took his Dad from the kitchen to the bedroom and quickly bathed and dressed him up for bed. He makes the bed for his Dad, wishing his Dad a goodnight before leaving the room. Kay then goes to take a quick shower and put on his work uniform.

((I'm gonna be late if I don't hurry it up!))

Kay rushes out, almost forgetting to lock the motel door, and gets in his car. He whips out of the motel parking lot, speeding towards his job. He floors the pedal, the roads clearer than usual which made for an easier drive.

((Only ran two red lights today! Not bad!))

He arrives at his 1st job, a supermarket, quickly checking in and begins to stock the shelves of the market. Hours of restocking shelves, pesky customers asking him where certain items are and hiding in the bathroom passed and it was soon time for him to clock out and head back home.

Kay heads to the back room where he slacks off a bit waiting for 5:00 am to hit so he can finally clock out when suddenly someone approaches him.

"Hello, Kay." A women's voice spoke behind him.

((Oh shit...)) He instantly recognized the nasally voice of the woman.

"Oh, hey boss..." Kay awkwardly pretended like he was moving a few boxes when in reality he was slacking off.

His boss was holding a clipboard in which she promptly scribbled something down and walked off, the sound of her high heels hitting the ground fading as she slammed the door behind her.

((I fucked up.))

He sat in silence for a few minutes, knowing exactly what her writing down on that clipboard meant. He pulled out his phone and looked up "jobs hiring 17 y/o's near me" on Google preparing for what was gonna happen. 5:00 AM soon hit and he was off back to the motel for a quick break before heading to his 2nd job.

Kay arrives at the motel and quickly changes his uniform and warms up some microwavable noodles to eat before heading out. He sits down at the table in the kitchen and prepares to eat but notices notes scattered all over the table. He sets aside his noodles and examines the notes. He recognizes the handwriting as being his Dad's, the handwriting for the most part was ineligible but some words stuck out to him. "Different world...Reincarnation...Gods...Magic...Souls..."

((ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT!))

Kay ripped up the note in frustration. He felt fed up with all of the fantasy world stuff his Dad would constantly spout. He gets up to go check on his dad before eating to see if he's ready to get up but notices his Dad is completely still. Usually, his Dad would be tossing and turning or awake even due to his insomnia but this time he was actually quiet.

"Dad?" no response. Kay tiptoed over to him to make sure everything was okay. As Kay got closer, he noticed blood on the covers which immediately made him turn his Dad on his back in which there was a gaping hole in his chest.

Kay immediately fell back, his throat began to close up as he tried to speak but he just couldn't. His vision became blurry due to tears welling up and his body instantly tensed up.

After several minutes, Kay attempted to speak.

"dad..." Kay spoke in a silent whispery voice due to the feeling of a lump in his throat

"dad..." there was no response.

Kay was completely overwhelmed as he mentally went back to the times where his Dad was his normal self and soon lost consciousness.

Kay was awoken by sunlight welling in from the window of the shared bedroom. He was in the exact same position from when he passed out last night. Suddenly the memories from before flooded in.

"DAD!" Kay jumped to his feet and scanned the room but there was no one.

((Was that just a horrible nightmare?? But that can't be...))

Kay walked over to the sheets where he originally saw blood but all of the sheets were clean and now that he looked around the room some more, the room seemed even cleaner than usual.

He walked out of the room completely confused and searched the motel for his Dad. After searching the motel and even asking the staff if they had seen or heard anything from or about his Dad.

Nothing. It's like Kay's dad just completely vanished into thin air.

Kay was beginning to question if he was going insane.

After searching the surrounding areas and asking around if they had seen him, he filed a missing person report to the police.

After Kay gave his testimony to the police since he was a minor he wasn't allowed to live by himself and had to move in with a family member and so he chose to move in with his Uncle.

Kay quit two jobs shortly after moving in with his uncle. His uncle was relatively rich so he didn't need to work 3 jobs anymore for now.

Kay stood in front of his Uncle's house in awe. It'd been a while since he lived in an actual home and so even through the feeling of complete helplessness, he felt some comfort in knowing that he gets to live in a house again. He brought his bags to his room which was on the top floor and his room was bigger than the motel room he and his dad stayed in. He unpacked his bags and tried to make himself comfortable but he just couldn't focus on anything but his dad. He paced around the room recounting the events.

((I went to our room...walked over to him... saw blood...passed out then he was gone...))

He couldn't wrap his head around the whole ordeal.

While Kay paced around, his uncle entered his room. Kay's uncle was holding a stack of papers and silently gave them to Kay before exiting the room.

((Dad's notes....))

Kay was confused why his uncle gave him his Dad's notes but decided to take a look at them, maybe to see if there could've been anything hinting at his location.

There were 5 notes in total, the handwriting on each note was still had messy handwriting but certain sentences and words were comprehensible.

Each note had a title at the top but in no particular order did Kay select a random one.

In the note he selected it detailed what exactly this fantasy land was, Kay's dad calling this fantasy world "Arteria" in the notes. It talked about the different creatures and the system at which the world worked.

Apparently, there were 3 Gods who watched over the world of Arteria and lived at the top of the world in a tower that led to heaven and could be seen from any point in Arteria with how big it is. It seems no one besides them has ever reached the top and it's said that if you reach the top you also become a God.

((Sounds interesting...Still, why would Uncle give me these notes?))

Kay continued reading and went on to the next note that detailed the roles and beings of Arteria. There were different classes, roles and mobs. Gods were at the top while the weakest of the weak common mobs were at the bottom. Things like Goblins, Slimes and at the very bottom rodents and insects. There were also different roles you could have like Guild Master, Knight or even Demon Lord.

Kay moved on to the next note which talked about the Magic system.

There's a thing called Mana in this world that every creature, even the weakest have, Although the amount of Mana varies between how strong or weak you are. The more Mana you have, the more abilities you can perform and the more powerful you are. When you become stronger and evolve, the amount of mana you have greatly increases. When you lose all of your Mana, you die so it's important to always have some Mana and never use too much at one time.

((Sounds like an RPG or something...))

Kay curiously kept going as he got to the 4th note which talked about the Tower of Arteria specifically, which states that the Tower is a part of the world and no one, not even the 3 Gods know its origins. It starts at ground level and surrounding the Tower is the city of Arteria which is the biggest city in the world. There are said to be 1,000 rooms in this tower that consist of Dungeons, Gathering halls, Treasures, and more although no one truly knows how many rooms there are besides the Gods who reside at the top.

Kay moved onto the 5th note which was different from the rest. Most of the note was scribbled out but from what was left Kay could piece together the last few words of the last sentence.

"Arteria is real."

Kay scoffed.

((Yeah right.))

Kay walked downstairs after having read all 5 notes and gives them back to his Uncle.

His Uncle takes them from him.

"You read them?"

"Yeah. What's the point of this?"

Kay decided to be straightforward as he didn't see how the notes were relevant.

Kay's uncle then sits upright, fixing his posture.

"Kay...I believe my brother...Your Dad is in Arteria."

Kay looked at his Uncle for a second to see if he would burst out laughing for some sick prank but his Uncle's face remained serious.

"Ha...ha?"

Kay was uncomfortable.

"I'm being serious Kay. My brother years ago told me about how he was transported to a different world. He said that he became a God and lived at the top of an impossibly giant tower for what seemed like Centuries."

Kay stood silent but his Uncle continued.

"Of course I didn't believe him at first, I thought maybe he hit his head or something but Kay... I also saw this world."

Kay's face scrunched but his Uncle kept going.

"I was going to bed as usual, I blinked and was...in Arteria...Although it was only for a few minutes, I saw the massive tower he was talking about and just like that I returned here... I couldn't tell anyone though. I learned to not make that mistake like my brother."

Kay was beginning to think schizophrenia ran in the family.

He stood awkwardly as he and his uncle held eye contact.

"You believe me, right Kay?"

Kay didn't believe him. However, he didn't want to be rude.

Kay's uncle could tell by his demeanor and facial expressions that he didn't believe him and shook his head.

"Alright Kay... I see you don't believe this old man's word."

"W-wait I do Uncle!" A lie, obviously.

His Uncle chuckled to himself and dismissed him.

"It's alright youngin. How about you go pick up some groceries for yourself? I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy what I have in the fridge."

"Alright, Uncle."

Kay went upstairs to get his car keys and wallet before heading back down and leaving to his car. He opens the car door, contemplating everything that he read and all of the knowledge he received.

((Alteria, huh?))

Kay began to drive to the supermarket he used to work at to buy himself some snacks and drinks he would like.

As he sped down the road, he suddenly felt strange, not being able to discern the feeling. He grips his steering wheel, feeling uneasy when he approaches an intersection. The light is green so he keeps his foot on the pedal but as he passed under the green light, a car on his right ran the red light at full speed.

Kay was T-boned, his car being rammed into at full speed from the right side. Kay's airbag deployed, completely destroying his glasses and hitting him hard as his body whipped towards the driver-side window. He wore his seatbelt however his head still slammed into the window, breaking it and his car eventually skid to a stop.

Kay lied still, his body completely numb and his consciousness fading. As his vision blurred and the noise around him softened, he slowly shifted his eyes towards the car and driver that T-boned him.

He looked into the front window but the driver's seat was... empty.

((Eh?!?))

Kay sat still as bystanders approached and called paramedics. He questioned every single step that led to this very moment. He wondered if he'd done something wrong to get here. As his consciousness faded he, strangely enough, heard a voice in his head.

.

.

.

.

"hey..." 3 voices in unison spoke.

"Hey." the voices spoke again, sounding slightly annoyed.

"HEY"

After the third hey, Kay felt a hard slap.

"OW!" Kay straddled his cheek and bounced upwards.

As his eyes opened, all he saw was a luminescent white. Standing over him was a figure in a white robe, his face not visible.

((Am I...Dead?...Well it's bright here so at the very least I didn't go to the other place.))

The man in the white robe stood up, Kay couldn't see his eyes but somehow he could tell the figure was looking at him condescendingly.

"Uhm. Hi?" Kay rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

The man didn't respond and instead backed away, pulling a scroll from his robe. The bright figure opens the scroll and looks at it for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. He looks at Kay then looks back at the scroll then looks at Kay again and keeps laughing. It then speaks with its 3 voices in unison.

"Y'know that in this world... There are Dragons...Giants...Demon Lords...Tyrants..."

Kay was completely dumbfounded.

"Yet you get the strongest of all of those things..." The divine man struggled to hold himself together.

"You get to be a fly!"