"Whoaaa"

A man stretched while pushing the covers off the bed, woke up punctually at 8 am and was already getting ready for the daily routine.

Kaito lived alone and lived life with a certain tranquility, he always valued the calm and the idle time he had, mainly because he worked at home, he almost never went out except to buy groceries.

First he made the bed, then he took a shower and cooked some breakfast. Finally he watered the plants in the small yard behind the house and went upstairs to work in the office.

It was always the same things, and it got to the point where he was so used to it that he could do chores with his eyes closed.

And so it was repeated daily...

"Damn, I'm a little late to water the plants." Kaito still had half a loaf of bread in his mouth as he ran with the watering can to the door that led to the backyard of the house.

That day he had strangely woken up late and for the first time he couldn't keep to his usual schedule.

Upon opening the side door, while whistling, he instinctively started to water the plants before actually looking around.

When he turned his head, what he saw simply stunned him.

Kaito's backyard was always cemented, there were a few countless pots scattered around that he methodically watered before they let in some sunlight.

But the sight before him was simply indescribable. And in a moment of torpor he fell down on the grass in shock.

The place he was now was twenty times less than the old backyard, the ground that had been trampled now turned into a flat grassy meadow.

To his left was a large forest with tall trees and thick trunks meters in diameter.

And to his right was the continuous prairie that seemed to stretch out from his backyard.

But what stood out the most was a huge Torii gate, it was well crafted and there were golden ornaments all around its wood.

The proportions of the gate were large, the gate was at least 10 meters high and at least 6 meters wide, which made it occupy a good part of the space.

Its color was a deep black but there were small grooves that seemed to blend into each other giving a kaleidoscope appearance where they met.

Kaito swallowed hard as his mind started to go into despair.

"W-Where am I?" Kaito muttered in disbelief as he was hit by that fantasy landscape, his mind was in a whirlwind of thoughts and at this point even the shock wasn't so great that somehow he seemed anesthetized.

'Maybe this is all a lucid dream…' Kaito said mentally trying to convince himself that it was all unreal.

Then an idea crossed his mind, 'If it's a lucid dream I just need to wake up, maybe if I cause myself pain somehow…'

Kaito then closed his eyes and pinched his arm hard until he started to lose sensation in the area.

Slowly, he started to open his eyes in hopes of waking up in his bed. But when the light reached his pupil he was still in the same place.

With panic building gradually in his heart, another thought crossed his mind. 'Maybe if I find some other trigger like a door…'

As he finished forming another idea, his eyes narrowed and he noticed a door floating on the south side of the lot and it was the same as the door to his house.

With a smile on his face he quickly got up and ran to pull the handle and find that the door wouldn't open.

Little by little Kaito's hopes were being undermined, the last idea he had was to go to the forest and look for some way to wake up from this dream.

Then, running, Kaito tried to get to the edge of the forest, but after a while he realized that he never got any closer.

Either the trees were too far away or something was wrong.

Using a stone, he marked a point on the way and started running again, when he looked at the ground he realized that he was in the same place as the stone although he was sure he had moved.

'So I'm always returning to the same place…' Kaito just wanted to sit on the floor and cry until he woke up.

That dream had already crossed the line and he was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable.

As the door wouldn't open, Kaito moved to the only other structure in that place. The Tori Gate.

Kaito walked to the base on one side as he admired the magnitude of the structure. As he took in the inscribed details and size of the gate, he felt strangely calmer and more lucid.

Then he reached out and brushed his fingers against the wood, then something happened.

Kaito felt a great wave of energy assault his body and move inside him, it was how you felt after a great night's sleep, small waves radiating from his body sweeping over the tops of the surrounding grasses.

He closed his slightly aching eyes and when he tried to pull his hand away, it felt like it had stuck to the gate.

Her body visibly trembled as the pain became more pronounced, in a desperate act, Kaito tried to pull his hand away with all his strength until he passed out.

***

It is unknown how much time passed before Kaito woke up.

But now he was staring at some words that floated in front of his eye as if they were a bad joke.

[You have been chosen by Fate to become the next guardian of the Torii gate.

Due to the unavailability of land, the system chose his backyard and expanded it to meet the needs of his profession.

To instruct and help develop his new terrain, Fate has gifted him with a system.

Congratulations, guardian! Welcome to the backyard system!]