Friday night, the atmosphere at the Bandung branch office of PT Best Trading Futures felt quiet. The lights were still brightly lit, but for Frima, tonight felt gloomier than usual.
Inside his leader's office, Frima sat silently, listening to the words he had long suspected were coming.
"I'm sorry, Frima. You can no longer work at PT Best Trading," said the leader in a heavy tone.
"It's been seven months, and you still haven't brought in a single client. But don't be discouraged—you can still work as a freelancer from home. This is also a decision from WPB and the branch head." Frima looked sad, but deep down, he already knew.
"A gentle dismissal, huh?" he thought. After nodding slightly and expressing his thanks, Frima left the room and walked toward his desk, which would soon no longer be his.
There, his coworkers were celebrating the birthday of one of the leaders, Shanty. Before saying goodbye to his colleagues, he joined in the birthday celebration.
After celebrating Shanty's birthday, Frima canceled his intention to say goodbye. He quietly gathered his things and left without saying a word.
As he walked along the sidewalk, thinking about his fate amid the traffic-filled night, he accidentally caught sight of a girl crossing the road.
The girl paused for a moment in the middle of the street and reached into the pocket of her skirt. While she was searching for something inside, a truck suddenly came speeding toward her.
Frima, seeing this, shouted immediately, warning her of the danger heading her way.
"HEY!! WATCH OUT, THERE'S A TRUCK!!" he yelled at the girl. Without thinking, he ran forward and pushed her out of harm's way. But without realizing it, the two of them ended up falling into a dimensional doorway.
After saving her, Frima stood up, panting heavily from the exertion. Without waiting, he scolded the girl.
"Hey! What were you thinking, just standing still in the middle of the street, huh? You almost got hit!" Frima snapped at her, still catching his breath. But the girl didn't respond—instead, she rubbed her leg, which looked injured.
"Oww..." she murmured quietly.
Frima was about to help her when he froze in shock—he had just noticed that the girl's ears had turned into wolf ears.
Frima's eyes widened. "Hey… you're—"
But before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly realized they were no longer on the city street. They were in a strange room.
They found themselves in a peculiar space, surrounded by walls lined with doors. Frima turned to the wolf-eared girl and asked,
"Hey, where are we? What is this place? Why are there so many doors here?" he muttered, confused as he looked around.
The wolf-eared girl looked at him awkwardly, wincing in pain. "Someone from Dimension 135 like you shouldn't be in this room," she said.
"Huh? Dimension 135? What do you mean?" Frima asked, even more confused.
Before the wolf-eared girl could explain, the door in the center of the room swung open. A short-haired man with pointed ears—a fedora-wearing elf—stepped in with a displeased look on his face.
"What's all this commotion in the Dimension Door Room, huh?" he said sharply. His eyes immediately landed on Frima, and he turned to the wolf-eared girl to question her.
With a serious expression, he asked, "Hey, Hina, why did you bring a human from Dimension 135 into our headquarters?"
"I don't know, Chief. I was just grabbing the key to open the dimensional door when he suddenly ran in and pushed me," Hina defended herself as she stood.
Frima, overhearing that, quickly cut in. "Yeah, because you were about to get hit by a truck, you know!"
Still confused, he asked, "Excuse me, sir, where exactly am I? Why are there so many doors lined up in this room?"
The elf replied, "You're currently in the Dimension Door Room, which also serves as the headquarters of the Keeper of Dimension Door organization." He then continued speaking to Frima.
"Well, regardless, you're here now. But you should know—coming to this place doesn't happen without consequences," the elf said.
Frima, now curious, asked, "Huh?Consequences? What kind of consequences?"
The elf then laid out the options, which sounded more like a forced choice.
"Yes, you have two options. First, we can erase your memories and send you back to your original dimension. And second…"
Frima swallowed hard. For some reason, a bad feeling crept into his mind.
"Yeah, and the second… You must join us and become a member of the Keeper of Dimension Door,"
"Together with us, you'll guard and seal the dimensional doors! Hahaha," the elf said with a bright expression and a goofy smile.
"Huh??" Frima furrowed his brows slightly, clearly confused by the elf's second option. The elf quickly continued speaking.
The elf chuckled lightly. "Yes, and you don't really have a choice, hehe." Hearing that, Frima realized he had no option but to accept this unexpected reality.
At this point in his life, Frima had no clear direction ahead of him. So, he chose the second option given by the elf.
Letting out a deep sigh, he said, "Huff, alright… I'll take the second option." The elf immediately smiled in satisfaction and introduced himself to Frima.
"Good. Then let me introduce myself—my name is Rhaze Greilvat, leader of the Keeper of Dimension Door." He extended a hand toward Frima.
"I'm Frima Erlangga, a former business consultant," Frima replied, shaking Rhaze's hand.
Rhaze smiled as they shook hands. "Welcome to the Keeper of Dimension Door, Frima. I expect great things from you." Then, he turned to introduce Hina.
"Oh right—this is Okami Hina, one of our members. She's from the wolf beastman race." Hina immediately bowed in greeting to Frima.
"Nice to meet you, Frima. And thank you for saving me... I also apologize for my carelessness earlier," she said politely.
"It's alright. Honestly, I should be the one apologizing for getting you hurt," Frima replied as he scratched his head and offered a small smile.
Rhaze invited Frima to take a tour of the Keeper of Dimension Door headquarters, intending to show him each room.
"Alright, come with me, Frima. I'll introduce you to every room in the headquarters," Rhaze said, walking leisurely alongside Frima and Hina as they strolled through the facility.
"Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask—are the two of you the only members of the Keeper of Dimension Door?" Frima asked.
"No," Rhaze replied casually. "We have a few more members, but they're currently out on missions to retrieve dimensional keys from other worlds."
"There are only four people in the headquarters right now. I'll introduce you to them later."
The three of them walked toward the Dojo. Inside sat a horned man in a meditative pose—Saito-sensei.
Cheerfully, Rhaze pushed open the Dojo doors without knocking and greeted Saito-sensei.
"Yo! Saito-sensei! This is our new member, Frima Erlangga. He's from dimension 135. Come on, Frima, say hi!" Rhaze gestured dramatically toward him.
A little nervous, Frima waved and smiled. "Uh, hello. Nice to meet you, Saito-sensei."
Saito-sensei let out a long sigh. "Huff... Rhaze, at least knock before you enter."
"Ahahaha! Sorry, sorry! I got too excited and forgot to knock, ahahaha!"
Saito-sensei gave Rhaze a puzzled look and asked, "And why did you recruit him into the Keeper of Dimension Door?"
"Because he's unique," Rhaze answered nonchalantly.
"Unique? What do you mean? He's just an ordinary human," Saito-sensei said with a frown.
"I know that."
"Then why did you—" Before he could finish, Rhaze cut him off, his gaze slightly sharper now.
"Saito. Never judge someone by their cover. Even if Frima is just a regular human, I have high hopes for him."
"Someday, Frima might become a great hope for the Keeper of Dimension Door. That's why I believe in him."
Frima stood quietly. Hearing Rhaze's words stirred something in his heart. He wasn't sure whether to feel encouraged or overwhelmed by the heavy expectation placed on him.