Lost Paradise

Inside the office, a young woman sat behind the desk.

A white blouse, a black jacket, and a grey H-line skirt that clearly outlined her curves. With a leather office bag in her hand, the woman looked to be a typical young businesswoman.

"It seems you have finally arrived, Sergeant Cha? I was beginning to think I would have to wait all day."

Her tone went up towards the end of her sentence. Despite her appearance as a serious businesswoman, she spoke somewhat playfully.

Sergeant Cha, or Cha Yeon-woo merely sat down with a cold expression on his face, not reacting to what she had said at all.

"Geez, all least show a little reaction. Well, I guess that would be hard for a military man such as yourself. Then let's get to the main topic, shall we? The recent appearance of your brother, Cha Jeong-woo." Kim Hannah said with a devious look in her eye.

Cha Yeon-woo immediately straightened, his sharp eyes directly focused on the person directly opposite of him. The two entered a state of silence, before finally, Yeon-woo decided to speak.

"I will give you time to explain. If what you say is not satisfactory, then prepare to face the consequences."

His brother, who had missing for five years, had suddenly been found, and was currently in the hospital, trapped in a coma.

He had personally come all the way from Africa to Dongjin Hospital to check the authenticity of the letter he had received. His brother, who had always been the less athletic of the two, was now deadly pale and skinny beyond words, on the brink of life and death.

To say that he was angry would be an understatement. He wanted to shake his brother awake and demand an explanation for all the years he had disappeared, why he had run of and left him and their ailing mother alone.

But he couldn't get answers from a person who couldn't respond. So, when this shady lady had approached him with information on who was behind this, he had jumped in without hesitation.

So, here he was, in the office of one of the directors of Sin-young Pharmaceuticals, Kim Hannah, to finally find the answers to all of the questions he had harbored until now.

"I'm sorry to say that I am not allowed to tell you about the circumstances that Cha Jeong-woo had found himself. But I know where you can find the answers." replied Kim Hannah.

Pulling out a silver stamp, she placed it in front of the desk.

"This is a Silver marked Invite, allowing you to visit the place were Cha Jeong-woo had been all this time. Now, normally I wouldn't hand out something this priceless without cost, but I believe that you will serve as a good investment for me."

Yeon-woo watched with astonishment as a golden light flashed. The light shone upwards before dissipating like a receding tide and becoming grey.

Feeling completely mystified, Yeon-woo shifted his gaze down at his left palm. Right in the middle, a small, round mark was emitting a reddish-silver light. Although it quickly vanished in the next moment, Yeon-woo was still mesmerized by the sight.

Next, an envelope slapped him in the chest. Seeing how luxuriously packaged it was, he guessed that it was the Invitation letter.

"The Gate will open at 10:30 PM, on March 16th. It's a few days from now, so take care of your personal affairs. As for that letter, I don't really care if you read it or not."

Yeon-woo clenched and loosened his left fist a couple of times before shifting his focus to the Invitation letter. There was one letter neatly folded inside the envelope.

Yeon-woo carefully opened the letter.

"Greetings!

We would like to thank you for accepting our Invitation to Lost Paradise, a foreign world that is connected to ours.

Lost Paradise is a world for the select few.

A world full of heart-pounding adventure and dazzling riches! It is a world of living, breathing legendary ruins and fierce competitions!

This Invitation letter will guide the honorable guest to the steps of Eden and help you escape the drudgery of everyday life!

*This Invitation letter is only issued to an honorable guest with the approval of the golden stamp.

*The opening time for the Gate is 10:30 PM, March 16th, 2017. We recommend that the guest open this letter at that time in a secluded place.

*This Invitation letter is required during the confirmation of the Marking as well as the starting bonus giveaway. Do not lose this letter and please bring it with you.

*This Invitation letter allows the honorable guest to bring along another person as an aide."

His eyes instantly dilated. 'Lost Paradise', huh? Is this where his brother had been all these years. The information on the letter seemed a little unbelievable, but considering what he had just witnessed, he was inclined to believe in its contents.

"Also, there are some objects that have been given to me that were supposed to be given to you on the behest of your brother. The second order I had received from the higher ups."

Kim Hannah pulled out another package, a small box, and then handed it to him.

"Anyway, make sure to arrive at the site! Don't waste my generosity!"

With that, Yeon-woo left with the box in his arms.

...

After arriving at home, he immediately set down the box on the table.

Yeon-woo opened it with care. The box contained two things.

One was a faded photograph, and the other….

"…A pocket watch?"

In the photograph, his brother was in front of a shabby looking house, wearing some kind of medieval armor, next to some people with unusual appearances.

Was he filming a movie somewhere? He thought.

Yeon-woo had roamed around all sorts of places, but he had never seen anything like this.

He put the photograph down and checked on the pocket watch.

It was worn out and badly thumbed, as if it were more than a hundred years old.

Only 'XII', the roman numeral for 12, and the hour hand was left of the watch, and it was not working. He took it to a jeweler to repair, but the only answer he got was that it was too rusty to fix.

'This is the present that I gave my brother back then.'

When they were 19 years old, the year they became third graders in high school, the brothers gave each other a present on their birthday. The younger brother gave him a book for him to study, and Yeon-woo gave his brother a pocket watch to wish him luck on his CSAT.

This was that pocket watch.

Yeon-woo grabbed the pocket watch, it slipped and clung perfectly into his palm. It was just the right size.

'I knew it.'

He remembered how he wandered around every jeweler, looking for a pocket watch that would perfectly fit in one hand.

Then Yeon-woo flipped the watch over, and on the backside saw a name written in cursive on one corner.

J. W. CAH

"Whoa! I really needed a watch. Thanks bro. Compared to a digital watch, this is way cooler."

"Puhaha! How is it? Your big brother's got a nice fashion sense.

"But what is this written on here? Looks like J. W. is my name, but CAH? *pft*"

"Hmm? That's our family name, 'Cha'."

"How is this 'Cha'? It's spelled CHA!"

"What? Dammit! Give it to me."

"Why?"

"I'm gonna talk to the guy from the jeweler to fix it."

"It's OK, don't bother. I'll take it. From now on, I'll just write CAH whenever I write my name."

Then, the younger brother confidently put the pocket watch into his pocket.

After that, the younger brother proudly wrote 'CAH' as his name when he went to apply for a passport.

At that time, Yeon-woo had felt both sorry and grateful at the same time.

Yeon-woo chuckled as he recalled his past memory.

While he was running his hand over the pocket watch, he pressed on a knob by accident.

*Click*

'Huh?'

Wasn't it broken? He thought.

The knob slid inside the watch.

Then suddenly….

*Tic* *Tac*

The hour hand that seemed to be stopped started to run.

"To my older brother who will listen to this sometime in the future."

A familiar voice was heard inside his head.

"…!"

Yeon-woo subconsciously sprang up to his feet.

It was a voice he hadn't heard in five years. It was a voice he thought he would never hear again. It was his brother's voice.

*Thump* *Thump*

His heart started to pound like crazy.

"By the time you hear this, I guess I will be already dead."

It was not a hallucination.

Yeon-woo checked if there was a recorder inside the pocket watch, but it was nowhere to be found.

The voice was clearly ringing inside his head.

How is this possible? He thought.

"I am sorry. Everyone had a hard time because of me, didn't you? I just wanted to find a medicine for mom. I thought I could return home soon, but time had gone by too quickly."

"What?"

It was at this moment when his eyes got strained.

*Whoosh*

Suddenly, in front of his eyes, a flood of his brother's memories passed by like a panorama.

It, was a diary.