Shanghai, China.
2045.
Standing in front of the glass wall of his apartment, Liu Feng was looking at the beautiful city lights at night.
Today being the peak of the spring festival season, many people choose to spend their time with their loved ones.
Some go to the city square, others visit the park, while others pray for wishes in the new year at the temple. But, it's different with this 27-year-old man.
He chose to stay in his High Suit apartment room and enjoy the serenity away from the hustle and bustle of the festival.
His phone rang, catching Liu Feng's attention for a second. He stepped over and grabbed it, Mei Yue had called him that night.
"What's up, Yue'er?" asks Liu Feng, his relationship with Mei Yue was quite close.
"They are searching for you. Are you sure you don't want to come to the class reunion?" the woman asked, half-whispering.
"I told you that I won't be going, didn't I?" asked Liu Feng, confirming his decision.
"Are you still working on your research?"
"I'm resting," replied Liu Feng, walking back towards the glass wall of his apartment with his eyes focused on the outside world, "I've found out where the problem was in the 12th experiment last month. Maybe I can complete this research soon."
"So, you don't want to be bothered with this?" asked Mei Yue.
"I'm sorry, Yue Er."
"It's okay. I understand."
"I'll talk to the others. If I have time, I'll go visit you on New Year's Eve. How about it?" asked Mei Yue.
"You're really picking on me, Yue Er."
"Alright. I'll wait for you at my apartment."
Mei Yue hung up the call, Liu Feng put his phone back in his pants pocket.
He looked to the side, clearly displayed photos of his research achievements that changed many things. In the world of science and technology, Liu Feng was known as the Young Genius of the Mainland.
"Are there any limitations on the human body or was magic completely wiped out when humans entered the age of technology?" asked Liu Feng.
He searched through various sources, research, journals, and interviews. The tentative hypothesis was that something had made modern humans reject waves of magic energy or similar, not that the energy had disappeared completely.
"Twelve experiments have been conducted, but they haven't yielded anything meaningful. Is there an error in my calculations and presumptions?"
Liu Feng let out a long sigh, placing his phone on the table as he walked over to the glass wall of his apartment.
He touched the cold wall gently, while wondering whether he should continue this research or not.
'I started all this to find my parents' whereabouts.To this day, the police have not found any trace of them in the Kunlun Mountains,' Liu Feng explained.
It's been 10 years since they disappeared, and Kunlun Mountain is well-known as a sacred mountain in China.
If they disappeared there in an accident or something, at least the police could search for their bodies or the wreckage of their vehicles. But they didn't.
They failed to find them and chose to close the case.
A similar incident happened 5 years ago, when a group of tourists disappeared without a trace. Liu Feng went there and felt a different sensation than he had ever felt before.
He had read about other dimensions, but it was theoretical and unpublished, but the researcher of the other dimension research was his senior at university.
In short, other dimensions can be opened if we are able to control the energy of particles, such as protons, neutrons, and electrons to the maximum.
That way, Liu Feng's chances of finding his parents with science are widely open.
"If the energy does not change, does it mean that the subject refuses to accept the energy wave?" asked Liu Feng, just realizing something.
"But what kind of subjects are capable of receiving energy waves? Is it the researchers? Those who deal with radiation emission? Is it those who work in the mines?"
"It's really confusing, but the results will be well worth it," Liu Feng explained.
While Liu Feng was deep in thought, he received an unexpected message from one of his assistants at his lab.
In the message, she tells him that the energy-holding machine is experiencing unexpected turmoil and she requests his presence there.
'What exactly is going on?' Liu Feng asked.
Worried about his research, Liu Feng hurriedly left his apartment for his science lab in the east of the city in his black sedan.
Arriving at his lab complex, Liu Feng was immediately greeted by a woman in a white coat who approached him. She began to explain the initial cause of the energy turmoil in the energy containment dome.
"The quantity of proton particles has increased significantly, causing an imbalance between particles to occur," the woman replied.
"How did that happen? Did someone intentionally open the dome door?" asked Liu Feng, putting on his white robe again.
"No, there wasn't. We've checked the surveillance cameras many times, no one opened it," said the woman.
Liu Feng paused, then went to the large room where the energy retaining dome was located. There, he saw that the energy, which was originally transparent, began to show various colors, mostly warm colors —Red, orange, and yellow.
"There are changes in the shape and color of the particles. Record those changes, Liu Shen," Liu Feng ordered, his assistant nodding in understanding.
The man went to the large computer that controlled the energy inside the containment dome.
He saw that there were anomalies occurring as a result of the extra proton particles, but Liu Feng did not know what the cause was.
BLAST!
A sudden explosion occurred on the glass wall of the protective dome, causing red, orange, and yellow colored energy to spread all over the place. It was enough to make the temperature in the room heat up.
"Initiate evacuation procedures, let the others go," Liu Feng replied, sternly to his staff.
Sirens sounded accompanied by a bright red light. The staff scurried away, as did Liu Shen. However, among all of them, only Liu Feng is not in this place.
"Where is the head researcher?" asked Liu Shen, turning his head and scanning the surrounding area.
However, no matter how hard she searched, they still couldn't find Liu Feng's whereabouts. Deep inside the energy-retaining glass dome room, Liu Feng was still curious about his research.
He tries to touch the energy with his fingertips. To Liu Feng's surprise, the energy seemed to resonate and emit different colors, more like cold colors —blue, green, purple.
"Is it possible that this energy is resonating with the ones in my body?" asked Liu Feng.
Not long after that moment, the color seemed to glow brighter and brighter, then exploded with a powerful explosion that destroyed half of the research building.
Liu Feng gasps, his heart beating very fast as he feels panic and fear at the same time.
He tried to jump back but the explosion happened so fast that it was difficult for him to dodge.
"Is this the end of my struggle? Am I going to die because of my failed research?"
The entire staff was shocked, they were in disbelief of what happened tonight. Liu Shen was the hardest hit.
She tries to rush in to save Liu Feng, but the other staff try to restrain her from acting rashly.
The city police and fire department came to control the situation. Media journalists came in droves to cover the news of Liu Feng's research failure.
The next day, news timelines across mainland China turned to sad news. The young genius who was projected to be the most influential scientist died in an explosion in his research building. However, something odd happened during the crime scene examination process.
"The police are still looking for the whereabouts of Liu Feng's body. The explosion was big enough to make it difficult for the police to identify the victim," said the news anchor.
From inside Liu Feng's apartment, Mei Yue sat sadly with her head bowed. She felt very guilty for failing to persuade Liu Feng to go to the class reunion yesterday.
If she knew that it was Liu Feng's last night, she should have persuaded him harder or even forced him.
Elsewhere, Liu Feng was not actually dead. Just as the explosion occurs, a mysterious portal opens and pulls Liu Feng into it, making it difficult for the police to identify and locate Liu Feng.
Liu Feng's eyes opened, he appeared to still be wearing the researcher's long shirt and white robe. However, what he saw before him was an empty void space.
"What exactly happened? Is it possible that the energy triggered the opening of another dimension?" asked Liu Feng.
"But that's not possible, the research on other dimensions is still being studied and hasn't been published yet. Is it the proton energy particle that triggered this?" asked Liu Feng again.
At this time, he seemed to be floating in the sky like outer space. Surprisingly, Liu Feng's body seemed to be attracted to a sky altar that floated flying.
From the altar, Liu Feng saw ancient ornaments and four main statues.
The gravitational pressure was gone, Liu Feng could move freely even though his breathing felt labored. He turns his head around, noticing the mysterious monument that dragged him here.
"Where am I?" asks Liu Feng.
Four statues appear with different shapes, ranging from a man holding a sword, a man holding a bow, a large muscular man, and a woman standing on a dragon.
"Knight, archer, bodybuilding, priest. What does it mean?" the man asked again.
[Welcome, Host]
[Divine summoning successful ]
Surprisingly, a hologram-shaped notification panel appeared in front of his face, bearing the words welcome and divine summoning. Liu Feng didn't know the meaning of those panels at all.
"Divine summoning? What does that mean?" asked Liu Feng.
"It means that the gods in other places need your help," said a woman, appearing without any signs from behind Liu Feng.
The man turned around and saw a beautiful woman with smooth white skin flying over the altar floor.
She appears to be wearing a beautiful dress covered with a red shawl that matches the color of her dress.
Liu Feng continues to look down at her feet. There seems to be no wind blowing or traces of turbine propulsion, which is enough to make Liu Feng confused.
"How can you fly?" asked Liu Feng.
"With magic. Aeris is different from Earth, we have broken our seal so that we can use natural energy," replied the woman, meekly.
'I had expected that.The limitation of modern humans using magic is because of the seals embedded in the body, not because of the loss of energy,' Liu Feng said.
'If I can bring this woman home, the whole world will be astonished,' the man replied
"Do you think you can kidnap me? You can't!"
The woman surprisingly thrust her hands forward, gripping Liu Feng's body in the shackles of a strong fire chain. It left Liu Feng shocked and frightened, trying not to be intimidated by her.
"Who are you exactly?" asked Liu Feng.
"Hmm... it wouldn't hurt me to tell you," replied the woman.
"I am Aetherna. I am the Astral Goddess of Magic."
"And you, Liu Feng, you must be a pawn to me."