You know those days that feel exactly the same as yesterday?
Yeah. That was today.
Classes had finally ended, leaving me with another afternoon that looked just like every other one. I walked home under a half-dead sunset—the kind that couldn't decide if it wanted to shine or just give up and sleep. My bag felt heavy, even though I barely had homework. Maybe dread had mass. That would explain a lot about math.
The streets were half-empty. Students joked around in groups, planning weekends I wasn't invited to. Office workers rushed past like being late was a medical condition. And me? Hands in my pockets, pretending I belonged in a hurry too.
A convenience store sat on the corner. My daily checkpoint.
I stopped by the vending machine outside and hit the button for black coffee. The can dropped with a familiar thunk. I cracked it open, took a sip—
"Still bitter as hell…"
Yep. Still tasted like burnt disappointment. But I drank anyway. Bitter was tolerable… if you got used to it.
That's when I noticed something off.
The reflection in the vending machine glass… moved.
No—warped. Like a heatwave rippling off asphalt.
I blinked. Rubbed my eyes.
The reflection bent again, and this time the air behind me hummed—low, like an overloaded speaker.
I turned. Nothing. Just the quiet street, a few distant cars, and a breeze that didn't match the sound I heard.
My heartbeat picked up.
"Well, that's new."
Then I saw it.
A thin, glowing scratch across the sky—bright blue, pulsing. Like reality itself had been sliced open by some giant cosmic box cutter.
The line widened. Light bled out of it. The clouds twisted, dragging color into the tear like gravity had flipped sideways.
"What the hell…" I muttered, stepping back.
People around me finally noticed. Phones came out fast—humans documenting their impending doom like pros.
"It's a government experiment!"
"Alien invasion!"
"CGI prank!"
Meanwhile, my coffee slipped from my hand and spilled across the pavement. The ground shook. Cars skidded. Someone screamed.
Then—
Silence.
No moving cars.
No chatter.
No wind.
Even the spilled coffee froze mid-drip.
Everything stopped… except me.
My lungs tightened as the blue fracture snapped wide open. Bright white light poured out, swallowing the sky. My body lifted off the ground—
And the world vanished.
———————
Grass.
The first thing I felt was grass.
Cool. Soft. Too soft. Like a bed made of nature's memory foam.
I groaned, pushing myself up. Dirt stuck to my school uniform. My head throbbed like I'd been hit by a planet.
When my eyes finally adjusted—
Two suns.
Hanging in the sky.
One orange.
One pale blue.
"…Yeah. Okay. Definitely not Japan."
I stood up, wobbling, trying to process the whole double-star-system situation. The breeze smelled different—cleaner. The air shimmered faintly, tiny floating specks glowing like fireflies made of dust and magic.
Magic. I actually thought the word.
I let out a shaky laugh. "Alright, Ryo… either you are dead… or you're isekai'd."
Anime binge-watching: finally useful.
The hill I stood on overlooked a wide forest. Thick trees, lush green leaves, light reflecting off them like polished jade. It was beautiful. Too beautiful. Like a painting someone took way too seriously.
I dusted off my uniform, muttering,
"This better not be one of those worlds where everything tries to kill you."
…Of course, that's when a scream tore through the air.
A girl's scream.
High-pitched. Desperate. From the forest below.
My body reacted before my brain did. I sprinted toward the edge of the hill. Leaves rustled under the gust of wind following me. My shoes skidded in the grass as I leaned forward to look—
A girl.
Small. Maybe twelve.
Dirty blonde hair. Worn forest clothes.
Running. Eyes wide with terror.
Behind her—a wolf.
Not a normal one.
Bigger. Sharper. Wrong.
Its fur gleamed metal silver, like blades catching moonlight. Its legs kicked up bluish sparks with every step. Claws digging into the ground like it hated the earth itself.
I froze.
My heart slammed my ribs like it was trying to escape.
Do something.
Move.
But my legs locked.
The girl stumbled—
The wolf lunged—
And my hand acted before I could think.
My fingers grabbed a rock behind me.
A small one. Smooth. Cold.
I didn't aim.
Didn't look.
I just threw it—
wild, over-the-shoulder, like a kid tossing trash behind his back.
Thwip—
The air trembled.
The rock streaked down the hill like a sniper bullet, trailing a faint crimson glow. Heat bloomed in my palm—warm, pulsing, alive. The stone ignited mid-flight—
BOOM.
A burst of fire flared on impact.
The wolf tumbled into the dirt, yelping, smoke swirling around its body.
I stared at my hand.
It glowed. Only for a second.
Just enough to tell me one thing:
That wasn't normal.
My throat tightened.
"What… was that?"
Down below, the girl kept running—she didn't even look back.
The wolf scrambled, furious and hurt, its silver fur singed black at the strike point.
My mind was blank.
No strategy.
No understanding.
Just—
"I hit it… with a rock… and it exploded…"
The wolf's growl shook me back into my body.
That glowing hostility… that hunger…
It wasn't done.
And neither was this world.
I clenched my trembling hand into a fist.
Fresh wind swept across the hill, carrying the distant shouts of fear, the rustling trees, and the lingering scent of fire.
This place was real.
Dangerous.
Alive.
And I had no idea what I was.
The suns cast long shadows as the wolf rose again—
and I realized:
This adventure wasn't waiting for me.
It had already begun.
To be continued