Hello Reader,

  My name is John Rue. I’m either 45 or 49 years old—but I’m not sure with the time skips between worlds, and it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Despite growing up in the foster care system in Birmingham, Abama, I made my way into the Uy of Chicago Pritzker School of Medie. Afterward, I spent nine years patg up bullet and knife wounds and stitg up broken lives in the ER at St. Bernard Hospital in Chicago. But don’t take my word for it; check the records if you think this is all a fairy tale. I included the details above specifically for this reason.

  I’m writing this as a st-ditch effort to warn you about what’s ing. What you do with this information is up to you. You might think I’m a coward for leaving, and maybe you’re right. But the truth is, I’ve got nothi here. My wife’s gone, my family disowned me before I was even born, and the only es I ever made died with my mom and wife. So, I’m not stig around to py hero.

  My life has been a mess most of my childhood—foster care, bullying, and finally, a schorship that got me out of that hellhole. I was always different, not just in the usual ways. Smaller, stronger, faster, eyes that seemed too big for my face with an unusual color—things that made people uneasy without them even knowing why. So, finally, they shipped me to a group home until I aged out of the system.

  In med school, I met a woman who made my life good for the first time—then lost her to cer. And now? Now, I’ve got friends waiting for me to leave Earth for the sed time around, and that’s precisely what I’m going to do.

  You read this as a fantasy about a guy traveling with his pet, or take it as a warning about what’s iher way, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. This is the full story of my journey. How it started when I discovered the Gate, everything I learhat might help you adapt or even thrive, and the relevant Archive entries. Initially, I wrote a summary of what was about to happen, but when I read it, I realized no one would believe it. So, instead, I will tell you the eory of what happeo me from day one, how I found out what’s going to happen, a you decide for yourself.

  This might sound like a cop-out, but I’m not stig around. The only thing I’ve left oh are two graves, and graves don’t care. So get ready—stock up on supplies, learn first aid, meditate to sense mana, train with ons, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll survive what’s ing.