CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 54: FIXING THE HOUSE

Kael and Seris left the inn. Since there was enough room on the second floor of the store, Kael and Seris each took a separate room.

After eating their evening meal, they returned to their homes.

Kael closed the door of his room tightly and sat down on the bed, pulled off his gloves, and stared at his palm.

The golden ring shimmered faintly in the low light.

He took a breath, steadying himself. "Let’s see what they’ve done," he murmured.

He raised his hand, and the ring pulsed.

[Dimensional Portal Activated]

The air shimmered with a soft hum, a tear forming in reality before him like ripples across a still pond. Beyond the shimmering veil lay a familiar sight: the dim, musty basement of his grandfather’s abandoned house on Earth.

He entered the portal.

Earth – The Lancaster Estate, Basement

"In other worlds, I can open a portal anywhere," he thought. "But on Earth... it’s always here. Maybe it has something to do with that old mirror."

Kael climbed the narrow wooden stairs to the main floor. He opened the basement door, stepping into soft morning light streaming through broken windowpanes.

He paused in the doorway.

The change was subtle—but unmistakable.

Construction equipment was scattered around—saws, planks, power tools, heavy-duty plastic sheeting.

More than that, the clutter that had once filled the house was gone. The mountain of old furniture that had choked the hallways had been cleared.

The living room no longer looked like it had been swallowed by a jungle. All the weeds and vines that had crept in through the broken windows were gone.

Even the porch, which had been leaning dangerously to one side, was now reinforced with temporary supports to keep it from collapsing.

Outside, the iron gate—once crooked and rusted—stood upright and freshly painted.

The front yard, which used to be completely overgrown, had finally been cleared. For the first time in years, it actually looked like a yard again.

Kael stepped outside, crunching gravel under his boots.

"They’ve started," he murmured. "But there’s still a long way to go."

He walked out of the house.

Then a voice rang out from behind.

"Oi, Kael!"

He turned. Eli stood near the driveway, a hammer in one hand and a thermos in the other. He wore a thick canvas jacket and jeans speckled with sawdust.

"Uncle Eli," Kael greeted with a nod.

Eli approached with a slight limp, wiping sweat from his brow. "Where’ve you been the past four days, anyway? I didn’t see you when I brought the crew over."

Kael scratched the back of his neck. "I went into the city. Had to run a few errands. Took longer than I thought."

Of course, it was a lie. Because he couldn’t tell them that he had been in a fantasy world for the past few days.

Eli gave him a side-eye but let it slide. "Heh—don’t worry, I didn’t expect you to actually go through with this place. Most people your age? They talk a big game, then vanish the minute they realize how much real work it takes."

"I’m not most people," Kael said, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Eli chuckled, taking a swig from his thermos. "You keep saying that. Guess you’re trying to prove it."

"Something like that."

Then Eli said with a smile, "Well, since you gave me an advance, we started work in your absence. Cleared out most of the inside junk. Hauled off two whole truckloads of crap. Rebuilt the porch supports. Even managed to scare off a raccoon colony under the back porch. You owe my guys hazard pay for that one."

Kael chuckled. "I’ll add it to the budget."

"Hell, they’ll appreciate it." Eli sipped from the thermos and gestured toward the side yard. "C’mon, I’ll show you where we’re staging the next load."

They walked together around the side of the house. Behind the porch, a small temporary fence had been erected, cordoning off a space where workers were unloading materials from a mini truck.

Kael watched them for a moment. A man he didn’t recognize handed off a crate of window frames to a younger worker. Another was rolling up power cords from what must have been an overnight job.

One of them spotted Kael and gave a casual wave.

Among them, to his surprise, stood Yuna—Eli’s daughter.

She wore a work vest over her university hoodie, clipboard in hand, hair tied into a tighter ponytail than before. She barked orders at one of the workers—"No, those go on the east side, not near the drywall!"—before glancing up and spotting Kael.

"Oh," she said, voice flat. "The ghost house’s new resident returns."

Kael raised a brow. "You helping out?"

"Only part-time," she replied, adjusting her glasses. "Dad strong-armed me into ’consulting’ since I’m home. Said my ’expertise’ couldn’t be wasted." She made air quotes around the last word, then jabbed her pen toward the house. "But seriously, this place? It’s a miracle it’s still standing. I came here once as a kid—dared my friends to touch the front door. We all ran screaming when a shutter fell off."

Kael smirked. "So you’re an architecture student and a former trespasser?"

"Urban explorer," she corrected, nose scrunching. "And yeah, I never thought this house would ever be fixed up. Everyone in the village called it cursed. There were stories—lights flickering in the windows when no one lived here, weird sounds..." She trailed off, then narrowed her eyes at him. "You haven’t seen anything weird, right?"

"Just raccoons," Kael said smoothly.

Yuna snorted. "Sure. Well, cursed or not, it’s got good bones. That back hall with the double beams? Totally inefficient. I told Dad to knock it out and repurpose the space as an entry mudroom."

Kael blinked. "That’s... actually not a bad idea."

Yuna smirked faintly, clearly proud of herself. "Of course. Architecture is my major. I know things."

Eli, who’d been listening nearby, gave a low chuckle. "Told you she’s a handful. But she’s got a sharp eye—even for ’haunted’ properties."

Yuna shot him a glare. "I’m just saying. Forty years abandoned, and the one person who moves in isn’t some broke squatter but a guy with renovation money? Suspicious." She pointed her pen at Kael again. "You’re hiding something."

Kael held up his hands in mock surrender. "Yeah, yeah. My secret’s out—I just really like fixing creepy old houses."

"Uh-huh." She didn’t look convinced.

Eli rolled his eyes. "Ignore her. She watched too many horror movies as a kid."