The crescent moon hung at the Stygian sky, casting a faint light on the streets but was no match for the street lamps that illuminated them. Hongbin sighed, exasperated, as he looked at his watch and walked at the same time. How nice to be released at 11.45 p.m because he had to clear up the mess that one of his colleagues had made. He looked up and with wide eyes, saw the bus arriving at the bus stop a few metres away.

"Wait!" he shouted, breaking into a sprint. But his efforts were futile. He watched helplessly as the bus left. He then slowed down and panted, fatigued from the run. 

"Just my luck, missing the last bus," he cursed. He looked at the empty streets, a contrast to the earlier hustle and bustle. Knowing what he had to do, he sighed for the second time that night. He dragged his exhausted body and began plodding to his home. Fortunately, his home was not that far from his workplace, if not who knows what time he would be back home. Hongbin shivered when a chilly wind blew. As he walked, he grew increasingly unsettled. It felt as though someone was following him. However, he shrugged it off. It was probably just his imagination.

All of a sudden, he felt himself being gripped by the neck by a pair of strong, muscular hands. A knife glistened before him.

"Give me your money or else," a rapsy voice hissed into his ear. Cold sweat dripped on Hongbin's forehead and his heart pounded wildly. Thinking fast, he yelled, "Look! Police!" The robber turned around, his face pale. With the robber distracted, Hongbin smacked the knife out of the robber's hand and kicked him where it hurt most. The robber howled and recoiled in pain, letting go of Hongbin as he did so.

Seeing his chance, Hongbin made a run for it, adrenaline surging through him.

"Come back here!" the robber yelled, giving chase. Upon hearing it, Hongbin ran even faster, not even glancing back to see how far the robber was.

As the chase continued, Hongbin's legs were starting to ache. He looked from left to right, trying to find a way to get out this situation, and spotted an alleyway. Hoping to lose the robber, he turned and ran along the aphotic alleyway, making use of the dim lights there to navigate his way. A groan escaped from his lips when he saw a dead end. Ok. So maybe running along the alleyway to escape danger wasn't exactly the best idea. To make matters worse, he could hear footsteps, most likely coming from the robber.

"Great. Now what am I going to do?" Hongbin thought. He was probably going to be found by the robber at any minute.

Suddenly, there was a bright glow, blinding Hongbin for a brief moment. He eventually regained his vision and gasped when a swirly, circular thing came into view. He had to blink a few times and pinch himself to make sure he wasn't seeing things. A portal? But how was this possible? Portals only appeared in fictional books, didn't they? But that was the least of his concerns. The footsteps were getting louder and louder now. Hongbin looked at the portal hesistantly. He could use the portal to get away from the robber but what if it was fake? And who knows where it would lead to? Then again, it couldn't be any worse than being killed by a robber... Taking a deep breath, he dove right into the portal.