In a rented apartment in Jinghua Community, Zheng City, Jason Liu sat, feeling more uncertain about life than ever.
In his hand was a recent brain scan report, both CT and MRI, from the hospital. According to the doctor, a professional-looking man with glasses, everything was normal. There was nothing wrong with his brain.
Yet, Jason kept hearing a voice echoing in his head, something he couldn't explain. Doctor had looked at him sympathetically, suggesting the symptoms were likely due to overworking and lack of sleep. The doctor said his nerves might be frayed from stress and warned him to rest more, adding that too much pressure could lead to sudden death.
Cases of sudden death due to overwork were everywhere in the news. Hearing this, Jason, already feeling lost, was even more afraid.
Jason was only 24, born in the small town of Zhoushi. His parents were farmers, working the land for a living. After graduating, he quickly found a job and had been working hard for two years in Zheng City, the provincial capital. Despite long hours and exhausting work, his salary barely covered the cost of living.
With a monthly income of just over 5,000 yuan, there was hardly anything left after paying for rent, utilities, food, and clothes. After two years, he had saved less than 30,000 yuan. Buying a house or a car in the city was still a distant dream.
He wasn't unattractive—he looked decent, even somewhat handsome. But his shy personality and constant focus on saving money meant he hadn't dated at all during college. It wasn't that he didn't want to; he just didn't feel confident. After all, being poor made him feel like he had no right to pursue anyone.
Riding his little electric scooter back home, Jason felt both worried and unlucky. He had never been in a relationship and didn't want to face a sudden death before he could even experience love.
When he got back to his rented apartment, he started to feel like maybe things weren't as bleak as he thought.
For the next two days, he stayed inside. He ordered takeout for meals, not leaving the apartment at all. His manager,Alfred, a bossy and overweight man, had called him several times, yelling at him to get back to work. Alfred even threatened to fire him if he didn't return. But Jason didn't care.
"If I get fired, I get fired. Who cares?" he thought. He had worked hard for the company for two years and was still just a salesman with no future. His performance was often taken credit for by that "fat pig" manager. If he wasn't afraid of disappointing his parents, he would've quit long ago.
But why did Jason suddenly have the courage to ignore his manager?
He'd found a better opportunity!
During those two days indoors, he finally made sense of the strange blue "door" he kept seeing in his mind.
Jason called it the "time-space gate."
The voice in his head helped him understand that this blue, glowing gateway could transport him—and possibly objects—to and from another world: the world of Game of Thrones.
After hours of hesitation, Jason's curiosity got the better of him. He looked at the time on his phone and computer—10:19 AM . Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and, in his mind, stepped through the "gate."
In an instant, he vanished from his apartment.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a vast, open field. The land was dry and yellow, with only a few weeds scattered around. The temperature had dropped sharply, and a cold wind carried the scent of fresh grass and soil, unlike the polluted air of the modern city. Jason took a deep breath, feeling oddly refreshed.
But as another gust of cold wind hit him, he realized he was only wearing a thin shirt and jeans. Shivering, he quickly folded his arms.
Checking his phone, he saw it was still working.
"Go back," he muttered, touching the "time-space gate" in his mind. In an instant, he was back in his rented apartment, standing in the same spot he'd left.
The clock on his phone and computer showed it was 10:21 AM, meaning time in the two worlds was synchronized. Looking down, he noticed yellow dirt on his shoes.
He patted his face, feeling both thrilled and shocked. "This is real…"
It wasn't a dream!
"How can I bring things into Game of Thrones?" he wondered. "How much can I take at once?"
Excited, he put on a thick jacket and tried an experiment. He placed his hand on the table in front of him, thinking about bringing it along, and entered the time-space gate.
With a "whoosh," he found himself back in the wilderness, with the table beside him. Jason laughed in delight, realizing that to bring objects along, he needed both a mental focus and physical contact.
Returning to his apartment with the table, he tried again, this time with his bed and wardrobe. By stacking items on top of one another, like placing a table on the bed, he discovered he could transport multiple items if they were touching. This would make transporting things much easier.
Jason was thrilled by this discovery. But he had too many things in his apartment to determine his exact carrying capacity. That experiment would have to wait.
After figuring out how to transport objects, a new thought struck him—could he bring other people into the Game of Thrones world?
Experimenting with people would be risky, though. The time-space gate was his biggest secret, and he didn't want anyone else finding out about it.
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