The Portal

It all began with a cat.

But this wasn't an ordinary cat. It could use magic.

In a forest north of Ixtal①, transparent, swirling ripples appeared across the surface of a towering tree. A moment later, an adorable cat poked her head out.

"Aw, her master isn't here either."

Yuumi's whiskers twitched.

Right behind her, a thick book with a beautiful cover came charging out of the portal.

Yuumi flopped down on the open book.

Its pages began rubbing together—that was how it communicated with Yuumi.

"When do you think we'll find our master? She must be in danger by now!"

Chirp~ chirp~ The pages rubbed together again.

"Fine, fine. Let's try the next place."

Yuumi floated up. The book beneath her turned a page by itself, forming a portal in the air.

Cat and book dove through it once more.

Yuumi and the Book of Doors had been searching for their master, Nora, for a long time.

The Book of Doors was one of Nora's magical artifacts. Yuumi was her pet.

Each page of the book recorded a location in Runeterra, and the book could open a portal directly to that place.

But Nora had disappeared after passing through a portal. Before the Book of Doors could follow her through, she had torn out the page that recorded her destination.

So now Yuumi and the Book of Doors could only travel from place to place in Runeterra, searching for their master's scent and traces.

But the page they had just activated contained more than the coordinates of their next destination.

There was also a line of strange incantation.

Before Nora acquired the Book of Doors, it had belonged to several other mages.

The incantation had been written by one of them, a Yordle mage.

It held no astonishing power, nor did it conceal any sinister scheme.

It was simply a rough draft—a new idea the mage had had about how to create portals.

But when the Book of Doors had activated just now, the incantation had lit up too...

On Earth, in an apartment in a city in the Celestial Empire, Jia Ruo was fast asleep in bed.

He had no idea that transparent, swirling ripples were slowly forming around him.

Then Jia Ruo was sucked inside.

As his body went weightless, Jia Ruo felt as if he were falling.

At first, he thought it was only a dream about falling.

Until he realized that he really was falling...

"Ah!!!"

A moment later, he hit the ground with a heavy thud.

"Ow! Wh-where am I?"

Jia Ruo sat up in a daze, still clutching his blanket. He was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts...

Luckily, the portal hadn't been very high off the ground. Otherwise, this would have been the end of the story.

Our protagonist, Jia Ruo, had suffered nothing worse than a few scrapes and a fright. He sat beneath a tree, hugging his blanket and contemplating life.

Looking at the towering trees and feeling the hot, humid air, Jia Ruo was sure this wasn't his city.

His city had already grown chilly, and the climate here was completely different.

Then he looked up at the blazing sun.

Right. Even the time of day was different.

Jia Ruo looked around.

Having grown up in a city, all he knew about Mother Nature came from Bear Grylls' survival shows.

So he looked this way and that, but couldn't make heads or tails of the place.

Suddenly, Jia Ruo heard a squawk.

He turned toward the sound and saw a bird.

Its feathers were bluish gray, except for the reddish brown around its neck.

The bird stood on a raised tree root. It was about the size of a chicken, but it had a huge, yellowish-brown beak.

Jia Ruo thought for a moment. He'd never seen a creature like this before.

But it did look a lot like...

As the thought crossed his mind, Jia Ruo stood up and tried to get closer for a better look.

But he seemed to startle the bird. It turned and ran off, squawking.

With no other choice, Jia Ruo decided to look around for clues. He had no idea whether anyone lived in a forest this primeval.

But before he could take a step, he heard the footsteps of some animal drawing closer.

He turned around and saw it.

It was a giant version of the bird from before: not only was it nearly as big as an ostrich, it was much more solidly built.

Its short, powerful legs and neck made it clear that it was not to be trifled with.

And when Jia Ruo saw a flock of little birds like the one from before following behind it, he suddenly remembered.

Wasn't this combination of big and small birds the F6—the Rift Scuttlers—from League of Legends?

Jia Ruo had been playing League of Legends for years. As a veteran jungler, he'd killed enough Rift Scuttlers to circle Summoner's Rift a hundred times.

No wonder it had looked so familiar...

Jia Ruo's thoughts raced. Was this Summoner's Rift? Or Runeterra?

Before he could think it through, the big bird charged straight at him.

It... seemed furious?

Had the little bird gone and tattled on him?

But he hadn't even hurt it!

Jia Ruo took off running.

But human stamina had its limits. And Jia Ruo was just an ordinary guy—how could he possibly outrun this otherworldly bird of prey?

He hadn't taken more than a few steps before he felt the big bird closing in behind him.

Cold sweat ran down his forehead, and fear crept up his spine.

The big bird was clearly coming for him.

One look at its sharp, serrated beak told him he'd never survive an attack.

He was just an ordinary guy. What could he do?

Jia Ruo's thoughts raced. Should he fight back?

Give him a break. He wasn't one of those powerful, skilled heroes from League of Legends, and he didn't have "Smite" in his hands. How was he supposed to fight a Rift Scuttler?

He had no way to hurt it.

Suddenly, Jia Ruo remembered something he'd read online: if you encountered a dangerous animal in the wild, like a bear, you should make yourself look as big as possible, wave your limbs around, and roar. Then maybe you could...

Jia Ruo felt as if he'd caught a glimpse of hope. He spun around and started waving his arms, roaring wildly.

He was naked and flailing around like an idiot, doing something no one could make sense of.

But it really did fool the big bird.

It stopped abruptly and looked Jia Ruo over again.

The atmosphere turned strange as man and bird faced off.

Jia Ruo grew even more frantic, sweat pouring down his face.

At last, he remembered the rest of what he'd read online: wave your limbs around and roar, and... you could die at the hands of a wild animal with a little dignity.

Well, crap.

With the little birds chirping around it, the big bird realized that Jia Ruo, the creature trespassing on its territory, was only bluffing. It stepped forward and pecked at him viciously.

Jia Ruo couldn't react in time. All he could do was twist his body aside.

The attack should have punched a hole through his chest. Instead, it carved a vicious gash from his chest to his right ribs.

Blood poured out at once, and Jia Ruo collapsed from the force of the blow.

But in a nearby thicket, he caught sight of a green figure.

She was a girl with blue-purple hair and large green markings on her limbs.

Sh-she had a tail, too?

"Neeko, save me!"

① Ixtal is a jungle region on the easternmost edge of the continent of Shurima on the official League of Legends map. Hidden within it is the city-state of Ixaocan, ruled by Qiyana's family.

It is the region associated in the official lore with Qiyana, Malphite, Rengar, Zyra, Nidalee, and Neeko.

(We recommend reading the author's note before the previous chapter to enhance your reading experience. Readers unfamiliar with League of Legends can also treat this book as a fantasy adventure in another world.)