Midnight.
A swirl of light.
My bed disappeared beneath me.
I was weightless.
Then—
"Tel!"
…Who's yelling?
"Tel! Hey, wake up!"
My shoulder was being shaken.
Hard.
I lift my head slowly.
…Me?
When did I bury my face in my knees?
I blinked.
And froze.
I didn't know this person. At all.
A guy—maybe early 20s—stood holding an absurdly large spear. Like, ridiculously large.
'Is this cosplay?'
"Tel! You awake now?"
"…Who are you?"
He burst out laughing. "AHAHAHAHAHA!"
…What?
Why is he laughing like that?
"Pfft—Hahaha! I'm Nikky!"
"…Nikky?"
"Yeah. Nikky."
I responded like a complete idiot.
Who wouldn't?
"…The Nikky I know is a high schooler."
"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Okay. Now I'm annoyed.
He must've seen the fire in my eyes because he wiped his grin and said, "Sorry, sorry. For real. I'm that Nikky. And you're Tel."
"…You're really Nikky?"
"Yup."
"…Then why do you look twenty-something?"
"Oh, in here, everyone does. You look like that too."
What nonsense...
But still—he called me Tel, so...
"Tel, check your hands."
I looked down.
"…Gasp."
Flawless skin.
No wrinkles, no spots, nothing.
Ad-ready smoothness.
He handed me a mirror.
"GASP!!!"
The face staring back at me—
Younger. Way younger.
Ten years younger, at least.
The version of me that could run all day and sleep two hours and still win arguments online.
"…This is me?"
I touched my face slowly.
"Yup."
Nikky smiled softly. Too familiarly.
"You… really are Nikky?"
"Yeah."
"…Why are you talking down to me?"
"Oh! Language doesn't have formal speech here. Everyone looks early twenties. So we all speak casually."
"…What?"
Then I noticed.
We understood each other perfectly.
Wait.
Nikky couldn't even say "hello" in English yesterday.
We were drawing stick figures to communicate!
Now?
We're chatting like besties?
"What… what the hell is going on?"
I muttered.
Nikky tapped my shoulder gently.
"I'll explain. Don't worry."
I stared at the guy claiming to be my student.
Strangely, his expression, his eyes, even the way his lip curled—
It really did feel like Nikky.
He plopped down beside me against the wall I was leaning on.
"Okay, where do I even begin…"
I should be happy, right?
Youth restored. Skin flawless.
But I wasn't.
This place.
The atmosphere.
The massive domed stadium around us—
It screamed sci-fi battle royale testing zone.
'Am I dreaming?
Is this psychosis?
Did I actually lose it?'
Nikky was about to start explaining when—
CAW!!
A crow flew down.
"Hold on," he said, holding up a hand.
The crow landed on his palm.
Nikky tapped it twice on the head.
A transparent screen lit up midair.
A new guy appeared onscreen, grim-faced.
"Nikky. This isn't gonna work. Time's short."
"Come on, one more shot. I brought Tel."
"…Tel?"
The guy looked at me.
"Yup. That's him."
"…No way this works."
"I'm telling you, we can do it! I brought Tel!"
I raised a hand.
"Uh, hi? Can someone tell me what's happening?"
The man blinked.
He turned back to Nikky.
"Nikky, did you not explain anything?"
"I was just about to!"
He scratched his head awkwardly.
"You didn't even ask permission to bring him?!"
"It's not that easy, okay? His world's complicated!"
The man sighed.
"Fine. Just move. I'm sending coordinates."
A new map popped up midair.
Nikky tapped a blinking point.
"Tel, I'll explain on the way. Let's go."
"…Okay…"
I stood up, confused as ever.
Nikky whistled sharply.
The air rippled.
And then—
A giant, ridiculous, cartoonish reindeer-shaped vehicle appeared.
Like a sleigh.
But yellow. Plastic. And wiggling.
"…What… is that?"
"Our ride. Get on!"
"Wha—seriously?!"
"Time's ticking!"
I climbed in, totally not reassured.
"Hold on tight. It's fast."
"O-okay… wait, why aren't we moving?"
"…Oh, right. You're a guest. Not registered…"
Nikky fiddled with the screen again.
"Let's see… Nikky 1, Tel 1… you have no job set… no class…"
He scanned me up and down.
"Screw it. 'Other.' We'll fix it later."
'Other'?
In here, that meant… useless.
Great.
"Alright—let's fly!"
Suddenly, the reindeer cart jerked.
"Whoa whoa WHOA!!"
We launched into the sky like a firework.
Wind blasted against my face.
We weren't on wheels. We were FLYING.
I screamed.
"WAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!
WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
Nikky howled with laughter beside me.
"Tel! You're a teacher, right? Why do you sound like a toddler?"
"SHUT UP, NIKKY!!
Just wait until we get back to Earth!!"
He laughed even harder.
"AHAHAHAHA! Oh man, I missed this!"