NOVEL SIMPLE Book 2—Epilogue: Get Ready!
The story The Gate Traveler appeared one day on Royal Road and Scribble Hub, with links all over social media: Facebook, Reddit, Twitter (X), Zero Hedge, Prepper.org, SurvivalistBoards.com, Rumble, BitChute, InfoWars, and countless other forums.
This is not a fantasy!
Verify the facts given in the story.
Get ready to survive.
The Gate Traveler
The reactions and opinions varied. Some hailed the story as a brilliant narrative, while others dismissed it as poorly written fiction. For most, it was just another tale of adventure. But for a few, it became something more—a call to prepare.
DreamWorld Forum
DragonSlayer99: “Wow, such a fantastic narrative! I loved every minute of it, but I wish they’d move on to another world already.”
ElfQueen88: “Totally agree! Mana waves and crumbling technology sound terrifying. I hope the author writes a spinoff to show what happens on Earth. Best LitRPG I’ve read in ages.”
Swordsman Sam: “Part of me wishes it were real, even though I know it’s fiction. Imagine crossing Gates with magical abilities!”
DarkMage42: “Has anyone else felt a bit nervous after reading this? The details are so convincing. I might start practicing with my bow again—just for fun.”
IneedToKnow12: “This has me worried. I checked old news stories. Dr. John Rue disappeared on September 3, 2022. He called a taxi from his Frankfurt hotel, told the driver his friends were picking him up, and vanished. Just in case... I think I’m signing up for HEMA training.”
Critical Writer: “Am I the only one who found the writing off? Pacing was erratic, the MC was inconsistent, and the dialogue felt unnatural. Three out of ten.”
GrammarGeek: “Agreed. I noticed several grammatical errors that pulled me out of the story. It needs a competent editor.”
Goodreads Reviews
Reviewer: PrepperGeek: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I know it’s fiction, but the scenario is so well thought out that it got me thinking about real-life preparedness. Might start reading up on survival skills, just for fun.”
Reviewer: RealistRandy: ⭐⭐⭐ “Entertaining, but let’s not get carried away. It’s an okay story, but that’s all it is—a story. No need to dig bunkers.”
Reviewer: PlotCritic: ⭐⭐ “Interesting concept, poor execution. The plot holes and inconsistencies were hard to ignore.”
Reviewer: SyntaxSkeptic: ⭐⭐⭐ “Good ideas, but the writing could use a thorough edit.”
Royal Road Reviews
⭐⭐ Novel idea, sloppy execution
REVIEWED AT: Chapter 65—Friends Are Awesome
BY nemesi8s, 5/29/2031, 6:23 AM
The premise is interesting, but the writing is repetitive and basic. The dialogue feels forced, like it exists only to convey information. The characters often act out of character. The grammar, at least, is good.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Slice of life bliss
REVIEWED AT: Chapter 54—I Think I’m Good at This
BY JJB4335_80_8155, 5/14/2031, 2:19 PM
I’m loving this story about John, who, after losing his wife, discovers he can travel to other worlds. It’s refreshing to see a character who actually plans ahead. The magic system, with both mental and physical components, is unique. Incredible flow!
Despite the general consensus that The Gate Traveler was fictional, a handful of readers couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there might be some truth to it. Across the globe, a quiet wave of preparation began.
Japan
Kenji Nakamura, an IT specialist by day and committed LitRPG enthusiast by night, finished the story in his tiny Tokyo apartment, his mind spinning. Leaning back in his chair, he muttered to himself, “Better safe than sorry.”
Over the next year, Kenji transformed his apartment into a survival center. He joined a kendo dojo, training daily, moving up the ranks faster than most. His small space became a fortress, equipped with an indoor garden, water filters, and enough supplies to last months.
He practiced swordplay obsessively, perfecting each strike, each stance. He didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but he was going to be ready.
Hawaii
Keoni stared at the screen, unsure of what to think. His mind went completely blank in stunned silence. When he met Al, he thought their relationship was special, both emotionally and physically. Al’s decision to continue sailing with his friends instead of staying in Hawaii to see if they could build a future together left Keoni devastated.
He confided in his best friends, Kai and Ilani, about Al and his two friends, John and Maya, and their giant dog, Rue. Two weeks ago, Ilani sent him a link to an online story on Royal Road and insisted he read it. After a few chapters, he told her he didn’t want to continue; it wasn’t his style. He preferred Robert Ludlum and John Grisham, not some weird fantasy with numbers and levels. Ilani kept pushing him to keep reading.
As he read the chapter where John rescued Mahya and noticed the strange, pronounced “h,” alarm bells went off in his mind, though their ringing was still faint.
When he got to the chapter where John and the gang arrived in Austria to meet Alfonsen, the alarm bells grew louder. He tried to convince himself there was no way it could be real and that he was just imagining things. But when he read the chapter about Hawaii, he had to admit, at least to himself, that these were the same people. He remembered that conversation word for word.
The thought that he had sex with an alien prince blew his mind. He didn’t know what to think. He sat in front of the computer, staring at the screen, his mind completely blank. The only thing he could do for a long time was blink.
After he recovered from the shock, and following a long conversation with Ilani, they heeded the warning and started preparing. Kai initially thought they were crazy but agreed to cooperate. All three enrolled in self-defense classes: Keoni and Mike took up sword fighting, Ilani joined archery, and they all took first aid and attended every medical workshop they could find. They also stocked up on food, water, and first aid supplies. True or not, fiction or real life, they got ready.
Brazil
Lucas Silva, a lifelong fantasy fan in Rio de Janeiro, closed his e-reader and glanced around his cluttered apartment. "This could be a sign," he murmured, his gaze settling on the pile of unplayed video games.
Over the next year, Lucas threw himself into preparing for the worst. He learned how to grow vegetables on his balcony, set up a tiny aquaponics system, and became a fixture at the local martial arts gym, practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Capoeira. His small apartment transformed into a vertical garden, with shelves lined with survival books.
The once-avid gamer now spent his days sparring and his nights offering urban survival tips on YouTube. “You never know,” he’d say with a grin, “but it’s always better to be ready.”
A Small Town in Maine
Tony Bianchi, formerly Tony Pantero, spotted the link on InfoWars, and something in his gut urged him to click it. Throughout his life, Tony had trusted his instincts. He processed everything with his intellect, but he always listened to his gut.
He read the story and stumbled upon a literary genre he’d never encountered before—and to his surprise, he liked it. It was light, flowing, and didn’t demand much thought. It became a perfect way to unwind at the end of the day with a beer, rather than mindlessly stare at the TV.
When Tony reached the chapter Looter Extraordinaire, he froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. He laughed so hard and for so long that tears streamed from his eyes. This wasn’t a conspiracy, nor an attack on the syndicate, or on him personally. A girl wanted rifle bullets, and the king fell.
For half the night, he shook his head in dismay, occasionally bursting into laughter. The next day, he signed up for archery lessons. They might have taken down the King of Las Vegas, but they had saved Tony Bianchi's life.
Russia
Anya Petrov, a competitive fencer from Moscow, read the manuscript with a skeptical eye. But as she observed strange occurrences around the city—technological glitches, unexplained phenomena—she began to wonder.
"Why not be ready for anything?" she reasoned.
Over the next year, Anya sharpened her skills. Fencing was no longer just a sport—it was survival training. She enrolled in martial arts courses, studied tactical combat, and dove into urban survival strategies. Her apartment became a training ground, her bookshelf filled with books on military strategy.
Canada
Luna Bouchard, a traditional bookbinder, heard a knock on the door. It was a UPS driver with an envelope. Inside was a thick manuscript with a short handwritten note:
| I promised you answers, and I always keep my promises. —John |
She started reading the story, and after three pages, she looked at the manuscript with furrowed brows.
What the hell is this nonsense?
The memory of the strange letters that made her eyes slip over them, the headaches, and the odd dreams nagged at her, urging her to keep reading. She slogged through the manuscript, battling with herself to continue. Luna preferred romantic novels—stories about overcoming obstacles and personal growth, not fantasy. But still, she kept going.
It took her a week to finish, with plenty of breaks. When she finally did, she sat and thought for a long, long time. On one hand, it was bizarre—illogical, disconnected from reality, and so far-fetched that she could barely believe it might be real. But those letters...
After much deliberation, she joined a meditation group. If Mana was real, she was sure she’d be able to feel it. If not, at least she’d learn to relax.
United States
Ethan Clarke leaned back in his old, worn-out leather recliner, the faint glow from his computer screen casting shadows across the shelves of canned goods and gold coins behind him. As a lifelong prepper, he was always ready for anything. But The Gate Traveler struck a chord deep inside him.
Clicking the link had been a whim, but as he read, his unease grew. The talk of mana integration, the collapse of advanced technology, and the rise of magic classes—it all seemed eerily plausible.
Ethan sprang into action. His cabin, already well-stocked, became a fortress. He doubled his food supply, added water purification methods, and built a bunker deep in the woods. His arsenal, already substantial, grew even larger as he added close-combat weapons and traps.
Every morning, he trained in close-quarters combat, slashing through dummies with machetes and staffs. He taught his family how to survive without modern conveniences, their drills growing more complex with each passing day.
Ethan knew he might be preparing for something no one else believed in. But deep down, he trusted his instincts—and his instincts told him to get ready.
Germany
In the heart of Berlin, veteran agent Klaus Weber of the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz received a worn envelope with no return address. With a sigh, he tore it open, expecting another conspiracy theory to debunk. Instead, he found The Gate Traveler, a manuscript about the impending integration of Earth into a mana system.
He scanned the pages, eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. Mana? Portals? Collapse of technology? It read like a fantasy novel, and Klaus had seen enough conspiracy theories to know a wild story when he read one. But as he read on, his skepticism deepened.
The details were... unsettling.
Three days later, after reading through it all, Klaus tossed the manuscript into the shredder with a decisive whirl. He had real threats to handle—terrorist groups, cyber threats, political espionage—not fantastical claims about magic.
Inspector Hiroshi Tanaka
In Tokyo, Inspector Hiroshi Tanaka approached the manuscript with his usual precision. He was meticulous, analytical—a man who had solved many complex cases. But The Gate Traveler challenged everything he thought he knew.
Reports of unexplained phenomena around Japan—technological glitches near shrines, rapid plant growth, yokai sightings—matched the manuscript’s claims. With each new incident, Tanaka’s skepticism chipped away.
He brought his findings to his superior, Chief Superintendent Nakamura, but his concerns were dismissed. “Fairy tales,” Nakamura had said.
Undeterred, Tanaka formed a small, secret study group. Together, they investigated, blending science with ancient Japanese mysticism. As months passed, the phenomena grew more frequent, and Tanaka’s quiet preparations intensified.
Captain Dave Ramsey
Captain David “Dave” Ramsey of the Los Angeles Fire Department sat in his cluttered office, staring at the manuscript that had just arrived. Years of fighting wildfires and earthquakes had honed his instincts, and they were screaming at him now.
At first, he didn’t take it seriously, but something about the details gnawed at him. His Scottish roots were full of stories about seers in the family line, about intuition and things unseen. What if it was real?
He started preparing, quietly. He ordered extra supplies for the station—medical rations, tranquilizers, batons—all under the guise of “emergency preparedness.” He ran disaster drills with his team, introducing scenarios they’d never trained for before.
His lieutenants joked about aliens and monster invasions, but Dave remained steady. “Better to be over-prepared than caught off guard,” he’d say with a tight smile.
The signs were there—small, but unmistakable. He didn’t know when or if the mana integration would happen, but he was ready for whatever came next.
Chief Inspector Thomas Hardy
Chief Inspector Thomas Hardy of Scotland Yard was no stranger to strange cases. But when he read The Gate Traveler, a chill ran down his spine.
Stone circles glowing in Glastonbury. Accelerated plant growth in Avebury. Technological glitches across London’s AI systems. The manuscript’s descriptions matched the odd reports flooding in.
His superior, Assistant Commissioner Margaret Thompson, dismissed it as fantasy. “Take a holiday,” she’d said, waving him off. But Hardy couldn’t ignore the signs.
He gathered a small team, prepping in secret. Supplies, survival skills, meditation to sense mana—it all seemed ridiculous, but Hardy trusted his gut. The world was changing, and they needed to be ready.
CIA Analyst Daniel Reynolds
Deep within CIA headquarters, Senior Analyst Daniel Reynolds sifted through a mountain of reports. The manuscript on his desk caught his eye. The Gate Traveler. The note attached told him to read certain chapters first.
He did—and his alarm grew with every page. The descriptions of the Area 51 incident were unnervingly accurate. How could anyone outside the base know those details?
Daniel knew this was more than fiction. He called his superior, Deputy Director Emily Hargrove, and together they built a case. Quietly, they pulled in favors, gathered evidence, and rallied support. The world needed to prepare for what was coming, and they would be the ones to guide that effort.
As the mana level rose, the world braced itself for the unknown. Across countries and continents, a handful of people—those who believed—were ready.
