Then—
A sudden jolt.
A low, rumbling sound. The grinding of steel against steel.
The lights inside the train flickered once. Twice. Then went out completely.
Darkness swallowed everything.
The sound of conversations. The distant music from someone's headphones. Even the mechanical hum of the train itself—gone.
As if the entire world had held its breath.
...
In a space that wasn't quite real—
A girl stood alone.
She had long lavender hair that fluttered as if caught in a breeze, even though there was no wind. Her skin was pale, her eyes a glowing white, wide open in silent recognition.
She didn't scream.
She didn't panic.
She simply existed—as if the moment had frozen in place.
Like something had awakened.
A memory, maybe.
Or a name.
Her lips parted, a whisper forming, one that no one could hear.
"…Kai… Amamiya…"
But she wasn't speaking about someone else.
She was remembering herself.
And in this world—
—in this unfamiliar sky, in this foreign air—
she was no longer who she used to be.
…
"Have you remembered now?"
The voice was gentle—soft and unmistakably feminine.
Amamiya—now in the body of a girl, with flowing lavender hair—blinked in shock as she stared at the source of the voice.
Standing before her was a woman with pristine white wings extending from her back, adorned in elegant robes that looked like they belonged in ancient Rome.
"Argo… Tamaki…?" a familiar voice muttered, deep and slightly confused.
Amamiya turned to her right—
—and there stood a handsome young man, also looking just as bewildered.
He met her gaze directly. His eyes widened.
"Kai Amamiya... and Argo Tamaki," the winged woman said calmly, as if confirming something long settled.
"I am the goddess Perseus. Nice to finally meet you both. You've been reincarnated after your... unfortunate death. Though, yes, I suppose there have been a few adjustments—like Amamiya becoming a girl, and Tamaki... well, undergoing a bit of a redesign himself," she added with a teasing smile.
Neither of them responded immediately.
The air between them hung heavy with disbelief. Their minds reeled, grasping for answers.
A new world.
A new life.
New bodies.
Everything they knew was gone.
And yet… this was only the beginning.
Amamiya looked around.
Everything felt strange. Alien. New.
This wasn't a grassy field, or some gentle forest clearing like the ones she used to read about in fantasy stories.
No—both of them stood in a vast, white space. A blank room that stretched on endlessly, with no walls, no floor, no ceiling… yet somehow felt like a room all the same.
Tamaki stood nearby, his expression frozen in disbelief.
His lips trembled slightly as he opened his mouth for the first time since the revelation.
"…Then what are we supposed to do now?"
His voice wavered, not from fear, but from sheer confusion.
The goddess paused, placing a hand under her chin as if thinking seriously—though the smile never left her face.
"You're no longer in the world you once knew," she began. "This is a realm of magic, mysteries, and ancient wonders. A world where fiction becomes reality. A world your kind once thought only existed in books and games."
Amamiya's eyes sparkled with a faint glimmer.
It wasn't just surprise.
It was... curiosity.
"Then what's your reason?" Amamiya asked—her voice now higher, softer. Feminine. "Why bring us back?"
The goddess grinned like she'd been waiting for that exact question.
"Great question!"
She twirled once, her wings catching the white glow around them like silk in the wind.
"The truth is… the world you're about to enter is facing a rather serious crisis. Something nasty. Dangerous. Deadly. I was looking for a new hero to save it, but… surprise! I found two instead!"
She clapped her hands together, clearly pleased with herself.
A silence followed—
—until a distant sound began echoing through the room.
Like the ticking of a massive analog clock.
Loud. Deep. Resounding.
As if time itself had been waiting for them.
"Oops! Looks like your departure time's here~" the goddess said, waving with both hands. "Good luck out there! Don't die too quickly!"
The whiteness began to fade.
Their vision blurred.
And then—
Everything turned to light.
…
The scenery around them had changed.
A wide, open meadow stretched out in every direction, bathed in soft sunlight and brushed by a gentle breeze.
Tamaki stood tall, unharmed, though slightly disoriented. Meanwhile, Amamiya remained seated on the grassy ground, legs stretched out, hair cascading down her shoulders like lavender silk.
Both of them were dressed in tattered cloth—barely enough to be called clothing. Just a thin sheet wrapped hastily around their bodies.
Amamiya slowly tilted her head up, her eyes locking onto Tamaki's figure with quiet curiosity.
"Tamaki…?" she asked, her voice soft and full of uncertainty.
Tamaki turned, startled by the unfamiliar sound. His brows furrowed.
"Eh…? Amamiya?" he said, blinking in confusion, as if unsure whether the girl before him was really his friend.
There was something uncanny about it.
They spoke with the same familiarity as always, but their forms—especially Amamiya's—were foreign. It was like hearing a close friend's voice echo through a stranger's body.
The dissonance stirred something inside them—like a quiet sense of rejection that neither of them could quite name.
But then, Amamiya smiled.
Bright and pure, as if she'd suddenly remembered a long-forgotten joy.
She stood up without hesitation and threw her arms around Tamaki in a tight embrace.
"Tamaki!"
Tamaki's entire body froze.
It was the very first time in his life a girl had ever hugged him. Not just any girl—this girl was Amamiya. Except… not.
"W-Whoa!! Amamiya!?" he yelped, face turning beet red as he struggled to process what was happening.
Amamiya pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. Her expression had shifted—subtle, teasing, almost flirtatious.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head.
It only made things worse.
Tamaki couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes anymore. Not when she looked that cute. His heart was racing, and he could feel his brain overheating.
Trying to compose himself, he gently placed both hands on Amamiya's shoulders and eased her back a little, creating some much-needed distance between them.
"Amamiya… take a good look at yourself," he said quietly.
Amamiya blinked in confusion.
Then, slowly, she raised her hands.
They were slender. Delicate. Far more feminine than she remembered.
Her gaze drifted downward.
And that's when it hit her.
The curves, the softness, the unmistakable shape of her new body—
Her eyes went wide.
A beat passed in silence.
And then—
"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
A scream echoed through the peaceful meadow, loud enough to startle the birds from the trees.
Knowing that Amamiya had turned into a girl, and would remain a girl, she had no choice but to accept her new fate as one.
The two of them were stranded in a meadow, given no direction or guidance—perhaps it was up to them alone—they had to find their own purpose in this new world.
For now, it seemed they first had to find a way to get along with each other.
"Amamiya…" Tamaki called out, though his gaze was not on her.
"Sorry!" Amamiya cut him off.
Tamaki was startled, then looked back at her. "Eh!? W–why are you apologizing?"
"Well, it's just…" Amamiya fidgeted, her cheeks flushed red, unable to hold back the overflowing embarrassment.
Tamaki blinked, waiting for her to finish her words.
Then, he suddenly chuckled, until he burst into laughter.
That only made Amamiya even more embarrassed and insecure.
"Alright, alright, I'm not really bothered by it. What matters is that we both made it here safely," he said, wiping away the tears that had accidentally spilled from his eyes.
Amamiya began to feel relieved, realizing that the burden had been lifted by Tamaki—who, once again, was always there to help her.
The wind blew gently, carrying Amamiya's hair along with the breeze flowing from the horizon.
Even though they had known each other for a long time, their true journey was about to begin at this very moment.
Yet as silence crept in, bringing calmness, suddenly a transparent blue screen appeared.
"Eh? What's this?" Tamaki muttered, confused by the texts written in symbols completely foreign to his world.
"Wow, it's just like a game," said Amamiya.
Tamaki turned to her. "Eh, you know what this is?"
Amamiya nodded, though her eyes remained fixed on the screen that only she could see.
"The top part is our names, then below that is our level. On the left are our stats, and in the center are our skills," Amamiya explained. Tamaki tried to recall and match her explanation with what he saw.
"Why are you able to understand what this text says?" Tamaki asked.
"I have a skill called 'Auto-Translation.' Just like the name suggests. Then there's also something called 'Check' and 'Charm'?"
"Eh?… No wonder I can't understand the language of this world," he muttered.
But silence soon filled the atmosphere between them.
Amamiya turned to Tamaki, then whispered: "Check." Immediately, another screen appeared—the difference being that this one displayed Tamaki's information.
[Level 1.
Argo Tamaki
Strength: F
Power: F
Durability: F
Attack Potency: E
Skill: Infinite
Class: Ascent]
Seeing that window, Amamiya was shocked. There were several differences compared to hers: all of Amamiya's stats were only F, her skills were only three, and her class was "Descend."
Amamiya then opened Tamaki's skill window… and was instantly hit with a migraine, her head throbbing from the flood of overwhelming information. Her vision went blind, blocked by the countless skills filling her sight.
Tamaki saw her groaning in pain, clutching her head.
"H–hey! What's wrong!??" Tamaki shouted, shaking her body, but she didn't recover.
Amamiya grew more frantic, her body uncontrollable, her voice crying out in agony.
"Damn it…" Tamaki looked frustrated, at a loss with her condition.
"Return!" he shouted, accidentally pulling out Amamiya's very soul, only to quickly return it back into her body.
Amamiya came back to her senses. She collapsed onto the ground, her eyes wide, tears flowing, her breath ragged as if she had just been strangled, her heartbeat racing, and her body weakened.
…
And so the day ended, in a terribly unpleasant way.