Sakura City, Shūyō Province.
A silver moon hung high in the sky, and the streetlights flickered quietly.
A boy with crimson-tipped hair that partly veiled his eyes walked alone, a tennis racket nearly half his height strapped to his back.
His head was lowered, fingers dancing swiftly across the screen of his glowing phone, casting light on his youthful face.
The night had grown deep. Only one shop on the roadside still shone with light—the lone convenience store on his way home.
Lifting his eyes slightly, the boy glanced at a poster outside the store, one depicting a magnificent floating city.
[New Full-Dive Game: SAO Beta Registration Now Open!]
[Official Launch: November 6th, 2022!]
"Today's… March 21st… Has it already been ten years since I transmigrated?"
Murmuring softly, the boy pushed open the convenience store door.
"Welcome, Shaka-kun."
The one greeting him was a familiar voice—Nanami Aoyama, her chestnut ponytail swaying as she smiled warmly behind the register.
"How many jobs is this week , Aoyama-senpai?"
Shaka lifted his eyes from his phone briefly to glance at the clerk.
"Ahaha…"
Nanami scratched her cheek and laughed awkwardly. "Caught again, huh?"
Until now, only after interacting with people like her—figures he'd once only known from anime or manga—that Shaka truly accepted the fact: he had transmigrated into a crossover "daily life???" world.
And he had to put quotes around "daily life", because...
"I watched today's match, Shaka-kun. What a shame… You lost to Yukimura Seiichi in the finals."
Nanami's gaze drifted toward the tennis racket on his back with genuine regret and a trace of admiration.
To her, being talented enough to reach the finals and beat powerful players was already amazing.
Shaka sighed, brushing aside his bangs and squinting slightly with a wry smile.
"That couldn't be helped."
Was it because he wasn't strong enough?
No.
As an ordinary human, going up against opponents who played tennis with illusion magic, there was only one possible outcome—Defeat!
How the hell were they still hitting the ball accurately after losing their five senses?!?
That's total sensory deprivation!
Why not just call them Saints from Saint Seiya while you're at it?!
And everyone else? Did they all unlock Observation Haki or something?!
Internally, Shaka grumbled bitterly. This was the reality of a 2D world.
He is not complaining about how illogical and un-magical it all was, because deep down…
What he really hoped for was something supernatural.
An angel or demon transfer student, maybe a dragon maid he'd randomly find behind the school.
Being a plagiarist novelist or "chick magnet" wasn't enough for him anymore—he craved the unknown.
He yearned for mystery.
Just then, his phone flashed again.
The chat window he named [Multiverse Chat Group] was rapidly filling with messages.
[Sadistic Hero]: "A loss is a loss. Less whining, more training, you damn normie! Go explode!!"
[Fallen Angel from Chiba]: "Ridiculous! Gate Master has worked tirelessly—battling psychics Beyond the Boundary and facing the Demon King's generals on the Final Battlefield!"
[Phantom Sixth Man]: "You mean Shaka-kun playing both tennis and basketball at the same time, right?"
[Kobayashi]: "You get it.jpg"
[Thunder Hammer Wielder]: "It's all the Bureau's fault, death! Gate Master is already breaking down, de
ath! We should be supporting him more, de~ath!"
[Dress-Up Doll]: "Even so… Wouldn't it be better for someone with Shaka's talent to focus on one sport?"
[Guitar Hero]: "Hey, Descender-sensei, is the anime OP finalized yet?"
[Shaka (Group Owner)]: "…"
Reading that far, Shaka couldn't hold back. He quickly lowered his head again and typed furiously.
[Shaka (Group Owner)]: "Come on! Opening with Tenbu Hōrin?! I'm not a Saint Seiya character!"
[Unicorn]: "I get that. Every time I enter a karate tournament, I'm completely overwhelmed by Kyogoku-senpai… That kind of pressure is real."
[Shadow]: "Hmph, such things are nothing compared to a nuke."
Reading the comfort from his fellow group members, Shaka sighed.
Sure, he knew that eventually someone would probably serve a tsunami with a tennis ball, but…
"sigh ...Whatever, I never started playing tennis just to win anyway…"
He closed his eyes.
This wasn't some story where everyone conveniently attended the same high school, or were all the same age.
There weren't that many coincidences.
To gather so many familiar characters into his custom-built chat group, Shaka had poured in a ridiculous amount of effort—plus a fair bit of luck.
Out of the 100 members in the group, 80% barely knew him personally.
"I can honestly say now… I gave all and everything for this ideal..."
Yes, the Multiverse Chat Group was one Shaka had created himself. Just a normal chat group.
As for why he created it—or why he even started playing sports in the first place—
He glanced over the member list:
[Sadistic Hero]: Kazuma Satou
[Shadow]: Minoru Kagenou
[Blank]: ???
[Grip Strength ]: Subaru Natsuki
[Moe King]: Rimuru Tempest
…
One thing was clear—they were all isekai/transmigration candidates.
Including Shaka himself!
Which made his heart burn even more passionately.
"Let's be real… In a world where your 'waifus' aren't even in the same school, chasing a harem is just plain delusional."
he curled his lips
"And let's not forget the risk of getting stabbed by a yandere."
He clenched his fists at that moment: "But in another world—it was different! That's a world of power, where a man's ambitions are easier to fulfill!"
"Even I could achieve something there!"
Shaka clenched his fists, a firm believer in being meek in real life and throwing hands online.
"And seriously—who could resist the temptation of creating a nuclear explosion by himself?!"
So…
Young Shaka awakened to his destiny!
He craved the mysterious! He dreamed of transcending worlds once more!
He'd waited in forests for injury dragon girl , searched libraries for legendary tomes of a certain shield hero , studied The Capital like a zealot, filled out every "Hero Recruitment" application he could find, and camped out in MMOs until the servers shut down.
Of course, he still had some sense—he didn't go sticking his face into truck grills, or trying to hunt down Haruhi Suzumiya or Nyaruko.
Those beings were like gods—existing and not existing all at once.
In short, Schrödinger's Gods.
Because of this bizarre behavior, Shaka had long earned the label of a weirdo in middle school.
But hey, most of the group members were weirdos and his fan too.
Still, his efforts weren't entirely in vain.
He had at least found one being tied to the mystical—a one-eyed, one-legged deity worshipped by yokai as a god of wisdom.
Too bad… Shaka couldn't see yokai.
In the end, the only thing vaguely mystical he could connect to was… sports.
The punchline?
In this world, casually serving a black hole during tennis is considered normal.
No superpower? You're just not cut out for competitive play.
Typing with one hand, Shaka picked up his dinner-to-be: a five-pack of instant noodles and some sausage.
He chatted with the group about the relationship between superpowers and sports, as he headed to the register.
"Thank you for your patronage, that'll be 34 yen," Nanami said.
Before leaving, he paid from his wallet and casually asked, "Aoyama-senpai, really not interested in joining the group? Everyone in there is really amazing. Might even help with your dreams."
"Sorry, I'll pass."
She smiled and waved goodbye. "Come again."
She didn't mention that… she couldn't afford the date charges.
A bit disappointed, Shaka stuffed the food into his bag and stepped outside.
Just then, a system notification popped up in the chat group:
[Mori sunmer has left the group.]
"It's that time again…"
It happened now and then. He couldn't stay connected with all hundred members forever.
But this time… it was someone he knew?
The group was already reacting:
[Thunder Hammer Wielder]: "This must be the Bureau's doing again! Mori-sama's entire presence in the Sea of Data has been wiped! Damn it!"
[Black Flame Master]: "She just graduated from chuuni, obviously. We're not middle schoolers anymore.
By the way, Dear Lord Group Owner, still chasing that Invisible Boundary Line?"
[Shaka]: "Yeah, I'll never give that up. The mystical is real!"
He hit send.
The message didn't go through.
A spinning circle appeared on screen.
[Out of Network Range]
Suddenly, he heard cicadas chirping. A warm light bathed the area.
"Wha-What the…? No signal?! Why ?????"
Frowning and tapping the screen, Shaka froze realized something's off
A gentle wind rustled his long bangs aside, revealing sharp, emerald eyes that are wide stunned.
All around him—dense forest, chirping birds, and sunlight pouring through the canopy.
Under his feet, real soil.
He could feel it—this place was not connected to any modern network.
His phone confirmed it loud and clear:
Out of Range.
He had very likely… transmigrated again.
Stunned, The unexpected miracle took him a while to recover from the shock.
He stood there for a long moment before covering his face with one hand and sighing.
"…Right. I completely forgotten that standing in front of a convenience store late at night… is also one of the classic isekai flags."