A New Life in a Parallel World

Prologue

Rick glanced at his desk and stared at his laptop, normally at this time, he would be sitting in front of that desk with his laptop on, browsing through the internet. But now, it seems to him he had gone through every imaginable site on the internet and read its contents, even the videos do not interest him anymore, and even the games that he had installed recently on his laptop seems to be boring and pointless. Aside from that, he had stopped working on all his hobbies, the woodworking and even gunsmithing, at least he had finished the last project he had, from which both Francis and Owen were extremely happy to deliver them to their clients, although they were a bit disheartened when he told them he will not be making any muskets and collapsible furniture anymore. He even terminated his contract with his martial instructor, as lately, the whole thing felt a bit repetitive and routine. Aside from that he had been feeling restless for a month now, and he do not know why. The last time he had felt like was six years ago, just before he resigned from work.

He still cannot understand how the hell it happened, he was at the prime of his life at the time, just turned 43, and was happy with his work. He was a civil engineer back then working on one of the largest construction companies in Asia and holding a position as a Senior Project Manager, earning a whooping six-digit monthly salary, a six-digit annual bonus, plus benefits which includes paid one-month annual vacation, a company car with a chauffeur, and other stuff. Sure, the work was quite tiring and demanding, nevertheless, he was enjoying himself, and he loves the challenges of his work.

One thing he remembers before he resigned was that he was feeling anxious all week, and unfocused. That day, he vivid remembers waking up and feeling he was not himself, as if he were watching his body mechanically doing all the morning routine, from having a breakfast, taking a bath, choosing what clothes to wear, picking up his things and then marching down on the garage to his waiting car. He could still remember the horrifying feeling after he arrive at his office that day, and watch himself opens his laptop, opening a word processor and began typing a very eloquent resignation letter, printing it, and then went first to the HR office to hand a copy of the signed resignation to the HR manager before marching straight to the office of his boss and hands the man his own copy. By the time he regains control of his body, he was already back at his office and was almost finished packing all his stuff. Everyone in the company was shocked, even his rivals, while somehow, all the uneasiness and fear that he was feeling had suddenly vanished.

Financially, he was already well made, as he had started investing over half of his salary on real estate long before he even become a Senior Project Manager, that by the time he resigned, he already owned two apartment complexes and two condominiums and was earning as much as what his monthly salary was, and coupled with the severance pay that he received from the company and his own personal savings, he had more than enough to sustain any kind of lifestyle he wanted to.

Another thing that he remembers back then was the constant dreams that he was having, about a young boy named Lerris, his family and the rustic life they were in. Back then, he thought the dreams would end, but curiously it did not, and the dreams seems to continue even up to this day, not frequently, sometimes once or twice a month. He watched Lerris grew up through his dreams. It was weird really, and when he talked to his friends about it, the only thing they could tell him was that he was longing for a family of his own, and they even started introducing him to a string of women, not that he does not mind, but he thinks, these dreams were not about having a family but something else.

One thing he do like about his life after retirement, was the sense of freedom, freedom from work, from obligation and having all the time in the world, unlike before, he had to schedule everything just to fit all his activity for an entire week. And the first thing he did was visit his siblings and their families and spent some time with them, as he rarely had any time to visit them before, and when they wanted to visit him, they had to call his personal assistant to check if he had any available free time.