"That's cool, Mom, but I can't go, you know. I'm busy with something at the moment," Tom said, trying to sound casual.
He glanced back at his parents... and froze.
His mom had stopped packing. She was now glaring at him. Her face slowly zoomed in like a horror movie jump scare.
"Is that thing more important than your family, huh!?" she growled, arms crossed. "If that's the case, I might as well call Mr. J and pull you out of it, since you haven't been spending time with us anyway!"
Before Tom could even react, she grabbed the frying pan. Not to cook—but as a weapon of family discipline.
"Wait, Mom—no—!" Tom sweatdropped as she stormed toward him, her battle aura glowing.
"Honey!! Stop!" Dad yelled, rushing over and hugging her from behind like he was trying to tame a wild beast. "The pan! Put down the pan!"
Tom slowly backed away, internally regretting every life choice that led to this exact moment.
Eventually... we made it to the airport.
{Airport Intercom Voice (calm, professional tone):
"Attention passengers of Flight 307 bound for Seoul, South Korea."
"This is your final boarding call. The plane is now preparing for takeoff."
"All remaining passengers, please proceed to Gate 5 immediately."}
"Wait! That's our flight!" I yelled, eyes wide.
"Mom! Dad! Stop arguing about snacks—we gotta go!!" I grabbed my suitcase in panic as I turned to look at the chaos that was my parents.
"I told you not to waste time in the gift shop!" Mom scolded, grabbing Dad by the ear.
"Now RUN before I use this as motivation!" she threatened, holding up her trusty frying pan like it was a magic wand of discipline.
"Oww oww! Honey—my ears!! Not in public!" Dad whimpered dramatically, being dragged away like a naughty puppy. I couldn't help but sweatdrop as I watched the scene unfold.
"They're so embarrassing sometimes..." I muttered to myself, shaking my head with a sigh—but also smiling a little. I scooped up the rest of their bags they nearly forgot (again), and hurried after them.
{Airport Intercom Voice (slightly more urgent now):
"Once again, this is the final call for Flight 307 to Seoul. The aircraft doors will be closing shortly."
"If you are still holding a boarding pass, please stop chasing your husband with a pan and head to Gate 5 now. Thank you."}
"...Did they just call us out?!" I whisper-yelled, as Mom paused mid-swing.
"...Run faster!!" she yelled, now dragging both Dad and the suitcase as we made our mad dash to the gate—just in time.
We made it just in time and finally settled into our seats in business class. My parents were looking around with wide eyes, clearly impressed. Dad was fiddling with the seat controls like a kid with a new toy, while Mom was already eyeing the menu like she was planning a five-course meal.
I smiled a little before making my way to my own seat. I stashed my bag in the overhead compartment, sat down, and slipped on my headphones.
"I hope nothing crazy happens on this trip... with my luck these days, I wouldn't be surprised," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck with a tired sigh.
Was it the prep for this trip, or just how chaotic things had been lately? Either way, my whole body felt like it was running on backup batteries.
I yawned again, slouching into the comfy seat, letting the soft hum of the plane lull me.
"Mom, Dad... I'm gonna sleep for a bit," I mumbled without even opening my eyes.
Through the music in my ears, I heard Mom reply warmly, "Alright, dear."
That was the last thing I remembered before I drifted off—safe, comfortable, and for once... peaceful.
[WARNING!]
[WARNING!!]
[A DISASTER IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN, DEAR HOST!]
[A DISASTER IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN — PLEASE PREPARE YOURSELF!!]
[YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN.]
[YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO PARTICIPATE.]
Tom had no idea what was happening.
The words echoed in his head like some broken broadcast—loud, robotic, impossible to ignore.
He stirred slightly in his seat, headphones still on, a frown forming on his sleeping face.
Something... was off.
"Gonna regret this... whatever this is..." he mumbled in his sleep, completely unaware of the chaos creeping his way.
After a whole 11 hours stuck on that damn plane, they finally landed.
While passengers were busy getting their luggage from the carousel, Tom stood still, watching everything with quiet suspicion.
From the outside, everything looked... normal.
Too normal.
Tom, of course, tried to act like everything was fine—like he always does—but deep down, he knew something was off.
And the biggest red flag?
His parents were gone.
Back when he took a nap during the flight, he remembered falling asleep in business class, next to his parents. But when he woke up... everything had changed.
He was suddenly in first class, alone.
The flight attendants were wearing a completely different uniform—wrong style, wrong color. Not even close to what he remembered.
At first, he thought maybe they had just moved him while he slept, but his gut told him otherwise. That tight, uneasy feeling in his chest wouldn't let him ignore it.
So, he asked one of the flight attendants casually, "Hey... what flight is this?"
The answer?
Not the flight number he remembered.
Right then, he knew.
It happened.
That warning... the weird broadcast he tried to shrug off. It was real.
But he didn't panic. He didn't scream or start flipping trays over looking for his parents.
Why?
Well... let's just say this wasn't the first time.
He had already experienced something like this before.
And if he'd learned anything from the first time, it was this:
Losing your cool only makes it worse.
His parents were probably safe—still in the real world. He had no doubt about that.
But he?
He was somewhere else. Again.
And this time, the system warning wasn't just noise.
It was a message.
A riddle.
A test.
Or maybe... a trap.
Either way, he had a bigger problem now:
Figure out what was happening.
And finally decipher that damn system's warning... to see what his up against this time.
To be continue
.
.
.
Tom:
Fuck this shit.
[The constellation "Laughter is Chaos" said: 'Here we go again, dear~']
Tom:
No. Nope. Not this time. I just got off a damn plane.
['Planes are boring. You looked half-dead, honestly.']
Tom:
Because I was! That was called sleeping. A normal human function—not that you'd know anything about that, you damn entity!!
['Boring. You're way more fun when you're screaming.']
Tom:
Yeah? Well, I scream when things try to eat me. That's a perfectly normal reaction.
And do you ever consider timing? What the hell did you do this time?!
['I may or may not have entered your life into a world-ending survival game~']
Tom:
YOU WHAT!!!
['Now, now, no need to get worked up~ It's just like the last world I sent you to. Very "Solo Leveling" inspired. Hehe~']
Tom:
Fuck you, I almost died last time too!!
['But you made it out, didn't you? Look at you~ all alive and grumpy.']
Tom:
Grumpy is my default now, thanks to you.
Where the hell are my parents?
['Oh, they're safe~ Tucked away in your original timeline like bedtime snacks. No need to worry~']
Tom:
That's not comforting. That's... deeply concerning, actually.
['You're welcome~ ❤️']
Tom:
You can't just say "you're welcome" after dumping me into a death-survival-apocalypse world!!
['A little existential dread keeps the blood flowing!']
Tom:
Have you ever considered therapy? Or I don't know—maybe a muzzle?
['Only if you come with me. Couples counseling, maybe~']
Tom:
We're not a couple.
['Yet.']
Tom:
I hate you so much.
['Awww~ You say the cutest things when you're in denial.']
Tom:
Okay, fine. Just tell me what fresh hell I've landed in this time.
['That would ruin the surprise~ But let's just say: there's death, and stars, and some light body horror.
Oh! And a crazy man who may or may not be the main character in this world~']
Tom:
Great. Is this scenario gonna be like that time you threw me into a Solo Leveling world again?
Can't wait. Gonna go scream into the void for five minutes.
['don't worry it different this time ']
Tom:
And how the fuck is this any different!
['you'll know soon~ don't worry I'll be watching~ 🖤']
Tom:
...Of course you will.
[The constellation "Laughter is Chaos" smirked.]
[⚠ SYSTEM WARNING: [HOST SYNC FAILURE DETECTED] ⚠]
[ERROR: IDENTITY SPLIT 002 — "TOM" IS NO LONGER STABLE.]
[WARNING: THE DREAMER IS WAKING. DO NOT — ██̷̩̫͔̥̎͋̓̓͠Ḋ̶̙̘͍̍̆̐͆̏͊̐ͅR̷̞̱̩̟̒͂̑̈́͝Ẹ̷̢̘̥͚͚͒͐̿̎Â̶̛̻̟̅͑͋͌͘M̵̜̖͈̐̂̚]
[PROCESSING... ✧ ERROR ✧ ERROR ✧ ERROR...]
['Oops~♥ Looks like your reality's cracking again. See you soon, darling.']
[s̷̻̈́ṳ̷̑r̶̥̍v̸͎͘i̴̪̐v̷̠͗é̷̟ this]