"What's good today?"
The room was completely dark. The only light came from my phone screen, reflecting directly on my face. If someone saw the scene from outside, they'd say I was the exact copy of that meme of Trunks looking at his phone, with the same exact face of deep boredom while I swiped through, looking for a new anime to watch.
It was 5:30 in the morning.
I always watch one episode before going to work. It's kind of a ritual. Not because I have time, but because it's the only moment I feel alive before facing the miserable routine waiting for me out there. Work is boring, yes. But if I don't work, I don't live. And if living is already kinda shitty with money… imagine without it.
I don't have friends. Not because no one likes me — I think I'm a decent person — but because I just got tired. I prefer silence. I prefer being alone. I prefer not having to fake smiles or listen to other people's dramas. Anime is my only escape portal.
That's when my eyes lit up.
"Found it!" I muttered, smiling to myself as I clicked on a newly released anime. The cover looked promising. Just the way I like it: parallel worlds, broken protagonists, and a bit of existential drama.
But before I could press play, my phone vibrated.
A notification. Something strange. It wasn't from any app I remembered installing.
"Did I get a virus?" I thought, frowning.
I swiped my finger trying to delete that crap, but it came back. It wouldn't go away. It seemed... part of the system?
"As if I had another option…"
I rolled my eyes. Must be some cheap hacker testing a new scam. I hoped a real group would pop up, because I was ready to curse that bastard so hard he'd regret being born.
I tapped
That was the moment everything changed.
The phone screen vanished. It didn't turn off, didn't freeze. It just... disappeared.
In its place, a new interface projected itself right in front of my eyes — not on the phone, but in my vision. Like it was floating in the air, in front of me.
[ Congratulations on entering the chat group ]
I froze.
"What...? What do you mean?"
I pulled the phone away from my face, looked around, but the message was still there, suspended in the air like a hologram.
"What... the hell is this?"
That's when I realized: this wasn't a virus. It wasn't an app. It wasn't even normal technology.
It was something else.
Something that was about to change my life completely — and I didn't even know if I was ready for it.
---
Hidden User has joined the chat.
Red Pepper from Konoha has joined the chat.
Erased from Humanity has joined the chat.
Straw Hat Thief has joined the chat.
---
I stared at the screen. Silence. I immediately recognized two names... but the third one? "Erased from Humanity"? What the hell is that?
And why am I "Hidden User"? Did I choose that? No... I don't think so. But honestly, that wasn't even the biggest reason I was shocked. The real problem was something else: it looked like I had landed in a group that connected anime dimensions.
I lightly tapped my forehead and shook my head. "I'm tripping." It had to be. Must be some random group of pranksters. Bored people who hacked my phone and wanted to be funny.
I was already ready to tell everyone to go fuck themselves when the messages started to pour in, one after the other.
---
Straw Hat Thief: what is this? Was it a devil fruit user?
Red Pepper from Konoha: devil fruit? Is that some kind of genjutsu? WHO PUT ME AS RED PEPPER??? I'M GONNA PUNCH WHOEVER CAME UP WITH THIS!!!
Erased from Humanity: what is this? What's a devil fruit? Genjutsu? Who are you people? What is this thing in front of me?
Straw Hat Thief: Erased from Humanity... what a scary name. So... none of you put me here? There's a Hidden User here... was it you?
Hidden User: no.
Red Pepper from Konoha: great, now we're getting somewhere. So it wasn't anyone here, huh? Which village are you all from?
Erased from Humanity: village?
Red Pepper from Konoha: yeah, don't you know the name of your own village?
Erased from Humanity: District of Shiganshina... before Wall Maria fell...
Red Pepper from Konoha: what kind of place is that? Is it part of a country? Land of Clouds?
Straw Hat Thief: country? Like Alabasta? I'm from Conomi Island, Cocoyasi Village. Never heard of any of those places. But in the last country I visited, I saw a name kind of like what the Erased guy mentioned.
Hidden User: you're getting confused... you're not from the same place. Don't try to meet. You won't be able to. You're from different universes.
---
That's when it hit me.
That… that wasn't something a hacker could do. The interface was right there… in my eyes. Like a hologram. Transparent, but tangible. It couldn't be just a prank.
I touched the screen — or what looked like a screen — and noticed I could interact. There was a button there, labeled "Login." I didn't think twice. Curiosity won.
[You've claimed your gift. Congratulations on receiving the Ame Ame no Mi.]
I froze.
A warm... strange... feeling ran through me. I can't explain it. It was like an absurd energy taking over my body. I looked at my hand… and it started to transform.
Syrup. Green.
I thought quickly and tried to harden it. The sticky mass obeyed, as if it were an extension of my will. The texture changed, turned solid. I could only stare at my own hand, speechless. Eyes wide.
"This… this is real? …Holy shit… that's awesome."
That's what I managed to say. A little lost, a little excited. A weird reaction, maybe. Or maybe not so strange… I mean, if you were an anime fan and found out you could actually have an anime power, you'd freak out too.
I looked at the chat again. The messages hadn't stopped. And I… I had just dropped a bomb in there.
---
Red Pepper from Konoha: Hidden User seems to know stuff... But what are universes?
Straw Hat Thief: I'm confused too, I don't get what he's saying.
Erased from Humanity: Hidden User?
Red Pepper from Konoha: He vanished… Drops a truth bomb and disappears! Not even responsible enough to explain!
Straw Hat Thief: I'm dying of curiosity too, but he vanished...
Hidden User: Different universes. To simplify: everything that exists in your world might not exist in another. Like Akuma no Mi or Genjutsu.
Take a look at your profile, tap the login part. You'll get a gift.
Red Pepper from Konoha: I only kind of got it… I got something called Emperor Red Dragon Gauntlet.
Straw Hat Thief: That name sounds powerful! What is it?
So I kind of understood this universe thing… I got an ability called Theft. From the description, it's a skill to steal things.
Red Pepper from Konoha: That was tailor-made for you!
Erased from Humanity: I got the Sharingan.
Red Pepper from Konoha: What?! Are you an Uchiha?
Hidden User: Different universes…
Red Pepper from Konoha: Yeah, got it. I was just joking.