The Start (1)

20-year-old Magnus bolted upright, sweat-soaked sheets clinging to his body. The nightmare of his mother getting stabbed by a trident haunted him yet again. Tears threatened to spill as he wrestled with the suffocating grip of his trauma.

"Hey, big bro, breakfast is ready!" Ava's voice, a ray of light in the darkness, called from the kitchen.

Magnus pushed aside the torment, focusing on his little sister's kindness. With a heavy sigh, he shook off the remnants of his nightmare and dragged himself to the bathroom.

Staring at his reflection, Magnus couldn't help but wonder what madness had gripped the world. Ten years had passed since the first mysterious doors appeared, bringing with them chaos and terror. 

The door colors became synonymous with dread. Red, green, yellow, white, and the feared black, each representing escalating levels of danger and destruction. Depending on the door's rank, there are different number of rooms. Red doors have 3 rooms, 5 rooms for green and yellow, 7 for white, and 10 rooms for black doors. Black doors, unlike other doors, have a miniboss in room 5.

These doors are ranked. Red doors are usually E-rank but sometimes have strong monsters so they can be D-rank, green doors are usually D~C-rank, yellow doors are C~B-rank, white are A-rank, and black doors are S-rank.

But it wasn't just the doors that changed everything. The Ascender emerged, individuals with powers beyond comprehension. Magnus was one of them, though his ability seemed dull compared to others. He could store items, a skill that earned him the role of a porter for hire.

As he devoured the breakfast Ava prepared, Magnus got lost in thought, pondering the uncanny resemblance between Ava and their mom. Yet, Ava bore a strange mark, a remnant of the amusement park incident, something they never liked to talk about. The memory was a shadow lingering in the corners of their minds, an unspoken agreement between siblings to leave the past buried. But Magnus couldn't shake the feeling of unease whenever he caught sight of the mysterious mark on Ava's skin.

"Big bro, you're staring," Ava said with a glare.

"My bad, my bad, I was just admiring my little sis," Magnus replied with a smirk.

"Ew, you're not good at flattering, so you should stop," Ava said with a playful tone.

Magnus chuckled a rare moment of joy in their chaotic lives.

After dropping Ava off at school, Magnus headed to his assigned door, where he met his team, led by Mike.

"Hey, Magnus, back to being our porter?" Mike asked.

"Yep, same old, same old," Magnus replied, eyeing the bright green door with fear.

Nearby, a trio of Ascenders whispered among themselves, their words cutting deep into Magnus's insecurities.

"That's Magnus Lynton, right? The guy with the lame power?" one of them sneered.

"He can't even use it for combat, what a joke," another chimed in.

"And have you seen his sister? She's fucking hot," the third added crudely.

Magnus clenched his fists, his mind racing with thoughts of revenge. But he knew he couldn't match their combat prowess.

"Alright, people, listen up!" Mike's voice cut through the tension. "Today, we're tackling the green doors. Splitting into two teams, let's make this quick and clean."

An idea sparked in Magnus's mind, a chance for payback disguised as cooperation.

"Hey, Mike, how about we split into a group of four to lead the way, with the high-rankers and a larger group of six to follow?" Magnus suggested.

Mike raised an eyebrow, considering the proposal. "Alright, Magnus, you're onto something. Ryan will lead the team with you, and I'll take the rest."

Ryan, one of the sneering Ascenders, sauntered up to Magnus, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Don't slow us down, failure," Ryan taunted before strutting off.

Magnus's grin turned wicked as he muttered to himself, "Let's see who's laughing in the end."

With determination burning in his veins, Magnus stepped through the green door, ready to get revenge on these arrogant Ascenders.

Walking through the first room inside the door, fireballs were being thrown everywhere as the burnt corpses of enormous black wolves. The three high-rank Ascender, Ryan, Tyler, and Thomas, were annihilating the monsters without even needing their weapons.

Ryan, a fire mage, used a staff or a wand, while Tyler, who can strengthen his muscles, used a shield to block attacks, Thomas's ability was that he could master any weapon, so he was trying out some bows.

The three of them were unstoppable. They were destroying a green door that usually takes 10 normal Ascender.

"Mike, it seems like we are not even needed here. Can't we just go back?" a random person from Mike's team asked.

"Hmm, yeah, I think that Ryan's team can just clear it easily. My group, gather up! We are going back," Mike called out.

After Mike's group went back, Ryan sighed and said in annoyance, "Do they think that we are their slaves? We only get 5 percent when we are doing all the work."

"True. I wish we could just kill them and take the door rewards," Thomas said with a sigh.

"How about we use the porter to hide some of the rewards?" Tyler suddenly asked with a big smile.

"...That's smart. I didn't know you were smart, Tyler," Ryan laughed as he talked to Tyler. Then he looked at Magnus with a serious face and said, "Oi, porter, if you go with our plans, you can keep 25 percent of it."

Magnus just wanted to keep going to the next room, so he replied with a quick "Sure" and followed them as they started walking into room 4.

Room 4 took a little longer than the other rooms, as these wolves had some sneak skills that let them dodge the trio's attacks. The trio decided to work together and defeat one at a time and finally took down all 14 of the sneaky wolves.

"Hey, Porter, we are going to rest here a bit, so bring out the water and carry our weapons until we go to room 5," Ryan ordered.

Magnus, without hesitation, stored their weapons and gave them some water as he smiled to himself.

Finally...