Prologue

"Holy shit!"

"Why the hell did this happen to me?"

As he watched his body disintegrate in front of his own eyes, Joe really wanted to curse.

Why in the world did he have to be so curious? He should have tried to flee as soon as those weird clouds pulled him into the lake!

As he remembered his 25 years of virgin life, he felt that it may not be a bad way to end his pathetic life. He was an orphan as long as he can remember. Someone left him in front of a rundown temple when he was only about one year of age. A kind, and gentle old man working there as a cleaner took him in and raised him as if he were his own grandson.

When he was just 10 years of age, the old man couldn't hold on any longer and breathed his last. Since then, Joe always struggled to live by. The priest of the temple couldn't bring himself to give him to the orphanages and let him stay with him till he was 15. All this time, he did all sorts of odd jobs and made himself enough money to pay the only teacher in the village near the temple to teach him how to read and write.

By the time he was a teenager, he managed to learn enough to be able to keep accounts and so he earned himself a small position in a grocery store to keep accounts. With the salary being barely sufficient to feed and clothe himself, he never even entertained the idea of dating a girl.

By the time he was 22, he saved enough to start a Xerox center in a nearby town, which was not that good of a business but is much better than his previous job. It also rekindled his passion for studying. He read the books that students brought for Xerox and managed to learn theories like atomic structure, mass-energy conversion, etc.

One day, when the business was not that good, he wanted to visit the temple he grew up in and the old priest. Just when he was about to reach his destination, he suddenly felt a strong summoning from the lake nearby. He had a feeling that he would miss the most important thing in his life if he didn't check it out.

Out of curiosity, he went and stood on the edge of the lake. Just as he was losing his patience and was about to leave, he suddenly saw grey clouds start covering the lake and felt chills running over his spine. As he started harboring the thought of retreating from the edge, he suddenly felt a strong suction force pulling him towards the center of the lake. He cried out and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the middle of the lake standing on a platform which came from who knows where. He found that he was surrounded by the grey clouds which he saw before. He tried touching them with his hands. As soon as he touched them, he felt all the pores on his body open and all his the cells in his body cry in jubilation.

"It's really strange. How did I even know that?"

"This fog is really strange. I wonder what is in the middle of this platform."

Although frightened by this strange and illogical situation, he was still excited. He slowly made his way to the center. At the center, he saw a grey medallion floating in the air releasing an ancient aura. When he saw the medallion, he felt as though it contained the whole universe in it. It felt as though all the creation under heavens was the handiwork of this lone medallion.

"Damn! This is like I am in a sci-fi movie! No, no! This is more like a wuxia movie setting! Or is all this a reality show? Hmm, possible. Maybe if I perform well, the director of the show may even ask me to work for him!"

Without caring for this fellow who was mumbling like an idiot in a daze, the medallion suddenly flashed and sent a type of energy into a spot in front of him. Suddenly coming back to his senses, Joe saw what looked like a portal open in front of him. Then, the medallion became a streak of grey light shot into his forehead.

Startled by what seemed like a sudden attack from the medallion he stumbled and moved erratically accidentally stepping into the portal and saw the scene of his body disintegrating. Then he lost consciousness.