Location: Somewhere in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil
Time: 9:00 PM
Time Left Until Transport: 1 Hour
Location: Unknown Forest – One Hour Before Transport
Time: 9:30 PM
The forest was silent—unnaturally so.
The moonlight seeped through the gaps in the tall, dark trees, painting silvery lines across the moss-covered ground. A faint breeze stirred the leaves, but the air felt thick. Still. As if the forest itself was holding its breath. Unwelcoming.
A group of five stood in a small clearing, a large stone-like pattern etched into the earth beneath their feet.
Among them, Aarav Sharma stretched his arms with a lazy grin on his face.
"Oi, you said ten people, right? Including me?" Aarav called out, cocky and loud. "So where are the other five? Playing hide and seek?"
A man in a dark suit nearby adjusted his glasses and replied coolly.
"The other five will be transported from another location. But rest assured, you'll all arrive at the same place."
Aarav clicked his tongue.
"Tch. Here I was thinkin' I was the main character of some fantasy anime. Y'know—chosen one, new world, monsters to slay..."
He tilted his head with mock drama, placing a hand on his chest.
"Looks like I'm not the only one in this script."
He let out a soft laugh.
The moonlight spilled down onto the forest clearing, casting a pale glow over the four figures—Kara Hill, Han Jiwon, Leonel Duarte, and Zhou Liang—standing together in a loose group at the center.
A cold wind swept through the clearing, tugging at coats and hair.
Beside Aarav, Kara Hill stood with her arms crossed, jaw clenched. She shivered once, then let out a sharp breath through her nose.
"Seriously? How long is this going to take?"
She shot a glare at the suited man nearby. "Hey you, if you're in charge of this crap, maybe try moving faster—some of us aren't built for standing around in the cold."
The man, unfazed, adjusted his glasses with practiced calm.
"Just a little longer. It'll begin soon."
Aarav glanced at Kara, grinning.
"I can give you my coat if you want."
Kara didn't even fully turn to face him. She shot him a sideways glance, voice flat and unimpressed.
"I'd rather freeze to death than take your coat."
Aarav clutched his chest with mock pain.
"Oof. Harsh."
Han Jiwon, who had been silent until now, shifted with a faint sigh, arms behind his back. His expression was unreadable—but the irritation was clear.
"These idiots really don't get it, do they? We're being sent to another world to fight monsters—not playing some game or starring in a fantasy movie. We could actually die."
Aarav turned to him, amusement flickering in his eyes.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but just to be clear—I'm no weakling."
Han's voice was calm, but firm—composed, yet cutting.
"It doesn't matter what you did or how strong you are in this world. The world we're going to… will be nothing like this one."
Liang stood quietly near the others, his gaze dropping for a moment as Han's words settled in. A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes, barely noticeable—but it was there.
He might be right...
We're heading into a world we've only read about in books or seen in games. What we'll face out there... it might be far beyond anything we can imagine. All we can do is hope to survive in that world.
Before the thought could finish forming, a light chuckle broke the silence.
Leonel Duarte, standing between them with an easygoing smile, glanced around and said, "Alright, alright, let's not get into a fistfight before the monsters even show up."
The group fell into silence once more, the night air growing colder with each passing second.
Far from the forest's edge, away from the tension building beneath the moonlight—
Location: Osaka – Moving Vehicle
Time: 9:15 PM
Time Left Until Transport: 1 hour and 15 minutes
The car rolled on through the city, engine low and steady. Inside, silence settled again between Ren and Kaito—until Ren turned slightly, eyes narrowed.
"So," Ren said, voice laced with sarcasm. "Mind answering my one last question."
Kaito raised an eyebrow, lips curving faintly. "Of course."
Ren's gaze sharpened, the question already loaded on his tongue.
"Then tell me this... what happened to Yumi Tachibana?"
Kaito didn't respond right away. His expression shifted slightly—not in surprise, but recognition.
"I'm pretty damn sure," Ren continued, leaning forward, voice harder now, "she would've been the one to get me out of that place. So why isn't she here?"
Kaito exhaled through his nose, looking ahead.
"Yumi Tachibana... yes. The woman who filed your appeal, right? Fought hard to get your sentence reduced."
Ren's eyes remained locked on him.
Kaito glanced over, voice flat.
"She died. A year ago."
Silence hit the car like a slammed door.
"…What?" Ren muttered, the word barely audible.
Kaito spoke evenly, emotionless.
"You didn't get the news? It was a car accident. Sudden. No survivors."
He paused briefly.
"The driver who hit her fled the scene. Still hasn't been found. The case is technically still open."
Ren blinked slowly.
The world outside blurred, but his mind sharpened in painful clarity.
"Yumi… she's… gone?"
His breath hitched for a second.
"…Shit."
The word slipped out sharp, breaking the silence like glass.
Ren clenched his jaw, then exhaled—long and steady. When he finally looked back at Kaito, the fire in his eyes had dimmed slightly, but not disappeared.
Kaito studied him for a moment. "Did she mean that much to you?"
Ren looked away, jaw still tight. "Yeah," he said, simple. Quiet. "She was the only one who ever gave a damn. When everyone else looked at me like I was some freak—she still treated me like a person."
He turned sharply.
"Take me to her house."
Kaito raised an eyebrow.
"That's not part of our scheduled route."
"I don't care," Ren snapped. Then, after a breath, he added, voice lower—controlled. "You said I don't have a choice in going to that other Earth. Fine. But let me say goodbye in my own way."
A pause.
Kaito stared at him—silent.
Then he leaned slightly back in his seat, thinking for a moment.
"…Alright."
Ren didn't thank him. Just turned back toward the window, hiding the storm that brewed behind his eyes.
Outside, the city lights continued to flicker—alive and uncaring.
Inside the car, a heavy silence settled once more, thick with the weight of what had just been said. Ren didn't speak. Kaito glanced at him briefly, then gave a slow nod to himself, as if reaching a decision. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a sleek black phone. With practiced fingers, he dialed a number and raised it to his ear.
The line rang once—twice—before a voice picked up.
"Hello?" came the calm, professional voice of his assistant.
"Haruki," Kaito said smoothly. "It might take me a little longer to reach there."
A pause.
"…Sir, you know the transportation of candidates can't be delayed," Haruki replied quickly, concern bleeding into his tone. "If the board members find out, they won't be happy about it."
Kaito's gaze remained fixed on the road ahead, his tone firm but unbothered.
"It's urgent."
Haruki hesitated. "Well… if you've already decided, then okay. But please, sir—come as fast as possible. We can't afford to delay the transfer for too long."
"I understand," Kaito said simply.
He ended the call without another word and slipped the phone back into his coat.
Then, without missing a beat, he turned the steering wheel, taking a sharp right at the next intersection. The car veered off the main road, heading toward the quiet residential outskirts of Osaka.
Ren didn't speak. He simply stared out the window, a name pulsing quietly in his thoughts.
Yumi.
The air in the car remained thick with unspoken things—grief, guilt, questions with no answers.
But the engine didn't falter.
It kept moving forward.
Just like Ren.
Location: Osaka – Moving Vehicle
Time: 9:20 PM
Time Left Until Transport: 1 hour and 10 Minutes
The black car rolled to a gentle stop in front of an aging two-story house. The headlights cut across the cracked pavement and faded white gate, casting long shadows on the overgrown weeds by the fence.
Kaito stepped out first, calmly adjusting his coat as the city's night air swept over him.
Ren followed, the door clicking behind him. He stood still for a moment, his eyes drifting—not toward the house they'd arrived at, but to the one next door. His expression hardened, serious and sharp, like a memory he hadn't expected to surface.
After a long second, he turned and walked up to the front steps of Yumi's house without a word.
Kaito trailed behind.
The door creaked open, untouched since her passing. Dust clung to the floor like a layer of forgotten time. A stillness lingered in the air—not peaceful, but suffocating.
Ren stepped inside slowly, his eyes scanning the interior. He walked past the living room table, fingers gliding over the surface. Dust puffed up beneath his touch. He glanced at a half-filled glass on the corner shelf, and beside it, a decorative knife—still clean, untouched.
He picked it up, then set it back down gently.
Then his gaze caught on a shelf beside the hallway. A wooden frame—holding a photograph, slightly tilted from its original place.
Ren walked over, crouched, and lifted the photo. Yumi's face was obscured by the angle and glass glare, but he held it like something precious. He stared at it in silence.
Behind him, Kaito finally spoke.
"Can you tell me why you wanted to come here?"
Ren didn't turn around. He didn't even blink. His voice came quiet, but sharp—cutting through the silence.
"Do you know… the time I killed my parents—"
His grip tightened on the photo frame.
"—stabbed a knife into their throats, lungs, stomach... even gouged out their eyes?"
Kaito's eyes narrowed slightly, his posture subtly shifting.
Ren stood slowly, still holding the frame.
"I didn't feel a damn thing. Not joy. Not guilt. Not even fear. I was just… empty."
His voice dropped an octave.
"For years I believed I was incapable of emotion."
He turned slightly, not enough to face Kaito fully—but just enough for his voice to carry stronger.
"But now…"
A long pause.
"Now I understand… I can feel things."
His fingers dug into the wood of the photo frame.
"Because right now… I'm really feeling something."
Kaito's eyes flicked to the photo in Ren's hand, then back to his face.
"What...?" he muttered.
CRASH!
In a sudden burst of motion, Ren hurled the photo frame straight at Kaito's head.
But Kaito moved. Swift. Sharp. His body ducked with trained instinct as the frame shattered against the wall behind him.
"You shouldn't—"
CLINK!
Before Kaito could finish, Ren had already lunged forward, snatching the decorative knife from the table.
His hand shot toward Kaito's throat, blade first, eyes wide with a savage glint.
"Do you really think I'd fall for some fucking stupid trap—and just agree to go to your make-believe world, huh!?"
Kaito caught the knife with his bare hand, fingers tightening around Ren's wrist, halting the blow just inches from his neck. His face was calm—but the pressure in his grip said otherwise.
"I wasn't planning a trap," Kaito replied, low but firm.
"You are going to another world… and there's no escape."
Ren's expression twisted into a wild smirk, eyes brimming with defiance.
"Fuck you."
He let go of the knife.
It dropped—aimed straight for Kaito's foot.
Kaito reacted fast, jerking his leg back—
But before he could reset his stance—
Ren lunged.
His fist shot forward, aimed with violent precision.
Location: Outskirts of Kyoto – Forest Clearing
Time: 10:11 PM
Time Left Until Transport: 15 Minutes
The moon hung high over the dense forest, casting long silver shadows that danced with the rustling leaves...
The moon hung high over the dense forest, casting long silver shadows that danced with the rustling leaves. Crickets chirped in the distance, but their melody couldn't mask the tension in the clearing.
Haruki stood alone beneath the dark canopy, the glow of the ritual circle faintly pulsating behind him. His sleek black suit was pristine, but his fingers twitched restlessly at his sides.
He checked his wristwatch again.
10:11 PM.
His jaw clenched.
"They should've been here by now…" he muttered, eyes narrowing.
He turned his head slightly, scanning the empty path leading into the forest for any sign of headlights or footsteps—but there was nothing. Just trees and darkness.
Haruki exhaled sharply, pulling out his phone and staring at it, resisting the urge to call again.
"We don't have time for delays…" he whispered to himself, more frustrated than afraid. "If the Board finds out Kaito-san took a detour—especially for that Ren kid—they'll bury us."
He looked back at the ritual platform behind him. The glowing sigils on the ground were becoming brighter, more unstable—an early warning sign.
"Damn it… just get here already."
He checked his watch again.
10:13PM.
17 minutes left.
The tension tightened around him like a noose.
Haruki remained still, but every second that passed made the air feel heavier—like the forest itself was waiting.