Planetary Ascension

Jin stared in awe at his phone showing his bank account. He quickly looked around nervously, making sure no one was going to barge open his door and rob him. While some existential dread plagued his mind, another emotion trumped it—happiness.

Right now, all he wanted was to share that joy with his family. Their long struggle had finally ended.

Although he couldn't be called rich, he couldn't even afford a house with it, for Jin, it was the most money he had ever seen in his life.

He called his mom, Sarah.

"Mom, I have something to show you." At that moment, he transferred $90,000 to her account on the spot, only keeping $10,000.

Sarah noticed the deposit instantly.

"Where did you get so much money?" she asked, her voice laced with concern rather than excitement. She was scared, worried her son had done something illegal.

Jin hesitated, then chose honesty. "Mom, while I was in the other world… I hunted a few creatures and sold their cores. That's where the money came from."

Sarah said despondently, "Jin, you promised you wouldn't do anything dangerous! What if something happens to you out there? No one would be able to help you. And really, you should keep more of the money—we've always managed to get by."

"Don't worry, Mom," he reassured her. "I don't plan on hunting again."

He left out the part about 'why,' but he didn't want to give her a heart attack.

"And about the money," he added, "don't worry about it. I kept some for myself."

"But…" Sarah still sounded uneasy. She'd seen the news. Countless people had already lost their lives. A global count was made, and analysts estimated the death toll to be between 3–5 million. The thought of her son joining that statistic terrified her.

"Mom, with this money, we can send Brother and Sister to a private school. You won't have to worry about rent anymore. We could even go on a vacation together, like we used to."

She began sobbing. Jin could hear the tears in her voice.

"It's all my fault… You've gone through so much just to help us. If I'd made better choices, maybe—" 

"Mom," Jin interrupted gently, "you're an amazing woman. You raised us on your own. Let me help. Also… mind if I visit this weekend? We should all go out for a nice meal."

Her voice, though still heavy, brightened somewhat. "Of course, Jin. You know you never have to ask, and a family dinner sounds wonderful."

Before hanging up, she reminded him to be careful and not to tell anyone he had money. Ever since Jin's father left them with nothing but debt, Sarah had become cautious of everyone, except her children of course.

They said their goodbyes, and the call ended.

Jin immediately went online to book a plane ticket. Tomorrow would be the weekend. He could have gone by train, but that would have been an over eight hour ride, while a flight only took forty five minutes .The price was also similar, domestic flights were cheap.

Having ordered a last minute ticket at a steal, he packed his bags and then got into bed. His flight left at 8 a.m., so he needed some good rest, especially after such an eventful day.

—————

The next morning, Jin took a cab to the airport. With only a backpack, he skipped the lines and headed straight for security.

Stepping into the metallic scanner, nerves kicked in. 'I have a knife, armor, and three fish that could kill a man with me. Surely they can't detect that, right?'

His worry was for nothing, they waved him through without hassle. He left security a strange feeling settling in his stomach. 'If I were a terrorist, I could hijack a plane right now.'

Jin shook his head, deciding to forget about those dangerous thoughts. He'd just have to believe in the goodness of mankind.

"Yeah Fuck that," Jin muttered, still scared shitless as he boarded the aircraft. And he stayed tense the entire flight..

When they landed in Nunkong City, Jin was the first to leave the plane, dashing out like lightning. 

Outside the city's warm air hit him like a brick. His mother loved the city as it was warm all year round and had beaches a plenty close by, as opposed to Luo city, where the weather was more temperate and it snowed in the winter. 

Jin himself could appreciate the colder weather, although he had to admit the heat was nice as well.

Jin raised his hand, flagging down a cab.

—————

The cab pulled up to an old three bedroom house. Paint still chipped at the corners, and their old beat up Honda sat in the uneven driveway. Home.

He paused in front of the door and knocked.

A few seconds later, the door swung open and Sarah stood there in a faded hoodie, her black hair pulled up in a loose bun. She stood still, then grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

"Mom?" 'What's up with her?', he thought.

"Don't scare me like that again," she said before checking him for injuries, even though those wouldn't transfer from one world to another.

'So it's because I hunted'

Jin was about to respond when he heard shuffling in the background.

It was his brother Lukas, who came skidding down the hallway in socks, practically sliding into the front door.

"Dude!" he grinned, before dapping Jin up in a strange way he could only assume he learned from kids at school. "Mom said you hunted some creatures in the Ascendant Realm. Cool!"

Jin heard Sarah sigh in the background.

"Hi to you too," Jin said with a laugh. Then it registered what Lukas just said. "Ascendant Realm? Do you mean the other world?"

"Yeah, but that's what everyone online calls it now. It's because the purpose of the world is to ascend—like the temple and beast cores tell you."

'Ascendant Realm' he mused. It had a certain ring to it and sounded better than just calling it the other world. Jin had seen plenty of names floating online, but most of them sucked like Elirium, Drem, or Snorvana.

Lukas continued talking about the place as his eyes sparkled. Even though he couldn't enter the other world… or well, Ascendant Realm, it seemed he was very interested in the topic. But then again, who wasn't?

"This is all Lukas talks about now," someone said with exasperation.

It was Olivia, who appeared at the back, phone in hand. Slipping past Lukas and Sarah, she gave Jin a slight hug before looking him dead in the eyes."You have to make him shut up. I can't take it anymore."

"Hey, be nice to your brother," Sarah said.

Lukas, offended, replied, "Ha! As if you're not interested in the Ascendent realm. Yesterday I saw you staring at a video of Myung Hok, bare chested, slicing watermelons with his beast armament sword. I even saw you squeal after he sliced a bamboo shoot in three pieces!"

Olivia furiously blushed as she stammered, "N-No I d-did not!"

Interested, Jin asked, "Who's Myung Hok?"

"Her celebrity crush," Sarah said, to a loud outburst from Olivia, whose face practically became a tomato.

Chuckling, Jin said, "Do you guys want to see a beast armament?"

"Yes!" Lukas said immediately.

Olivia also looked interested. Even Sarah, while reluctant, had hints of curiosity in her eyes. They had all heard of them but had never seen one up close, they were extremely rare after all. 

That's why they were surprised Jin had a beast armament, you had to kill multiple creatures just to get one!

A devious smile appeared on Jin's face. "Well, don't be too surprised."

Lukas huffed, "I won't be surpri—AHH!"

The entire family yelped, jumping in fright. Jin had summoned something wet, that fell to the wooden floor and began flopping around.