🟠Prologue:
It was an incredibly hot day probably the hottest in years.
I'm Takashi Takeru, a twenty-year-old guy, and my simple plan for the day was to just chill and watch some anime. But then… the air conditioner decided to rebel.
Yep, that dumb white box gave up right at the peak of summer.
I had only one option left: ice cream.
I left the house, practically melting.
The weather outside? Let's just say: if a raw egg could cook inside the house, it would burn the moment you stepped outside.
I was walking toward the store, sweating buckets, when I noticed a speeding truck heading straight for me. For a second, I thought my life meter was about to hit zero—
But it stopped at the last moment. The driver leaned out and shouted:
"Watch it, you idiot kid!"
He was probably sun-crazed… or maybe I was. Or maybe we both were.
Speaking of trucks, the whole situation felt eerily familiar: get hit, then wake up in another world.
Anyway, I bought the ice cream and started walking back, savoring that first victorious bite on this cursed day—
And then I heard the same voice again:
"Watch it, you idiot kid!"
I looked up.
This time, it wasn't a truck.
I was standing in front of an electronics shop, and right above me…
an air conditioner was about to fall.
The shout had come from a store worker, but I was too slow to process what was happening.
What a clueless worker… and what a dumb air conditioner.
And just like that, it fell.
The last thing I saw in this world…
was an air conditioner.
I opened my eyes like I'd just woken up from a long nap.
What I saw in front of me felt like I had landed on a blank page.
Everything was white—no walls, no ceiling, no floor… just an endless white void.
I didn't feel hot or cold.
My body was still there, which was… comforting, at least.
I reached up and touched my head—
Yep, there it was. Pain. The exact spot where the AC hit me still ached.
So yeah, an air conditioner really did fall on me.
Now, there are two possibilities:
Either I'm unconscious in a hospital… or I'm dead.
Honestly, the second one feels more likely.
In dreams, we usually don't realize we're dreaming—right?
A slow, creeping fear started to settle in.
This place… this void…
What is it supposed to be?
I looked down.
No floor.
Literally nothing beneath me yet I wasn't falling.
What if… this is one of those isekai moments?
No, that's impossible.
…Or maybe it's not?
Imagine a beautiful girl showing up and saying:
"Takeru, you're the chosen one! Please save our world!"
That would be kind of nice.
Though… saving the world sounds exhausting.
Okay, no way that's actually happening.
Suddenly, a voice sliced through the silence:
"You've awakened, Takashi Takeru."
I froze.
My heart started pounding.
No way… could it really be her?
…Wait a second.
That voice…
Was male?
I turned around—and there stood a well-dressed man.
A formal suit, neatly styled white hair, and a terrifyingly well-coordinated tie.
Without thinking, I blurted out,
"Nuul?!"
He looked at me, slightly surprised, then raised an eyebrow and said,
"How do you know my name?"
I pointed straight at him with full confidence.
"It's written on your shirt tag, genius!"
He glanced down, read the tag, then muttered,
"Oh… I forgot to take that off. It doesn't really suit me."
Well… the one good thing I was hoping for in all of this didn't happen.
So who is this guy anyway?
In a place like this, I meet a guy in a suit… Weird.
Maybe I really have lost my mind. Heheheh.
Nuul raised an eyebrow at me.
"Why are you laughing?"
"How can I not laugh? This place is driving me nuts, and then you show up looking like that. Who wears a suit here? Are you dead too or what?"
The man smiled calmly.
"You're not dead, kid."
"Haaaah? And how would you know?"
"Because I saw you. You're still very much alive.
The AC hit you, sure—but it didn't kill you.
You were wandering around aimlessly, probably from heatstroke. The moment the air conditioner hit you, you collapsed completely.
You looked like someone who'd totally lost it.
And after that… you ended up here."
Wait… is that really what happened?
He knows about the air conditioner—so he really did see me.
What shocking words...
Man... I hope I didn't do anything embarrassing
while I was out of it.
Do air conditioners hate me that much?
All I said was they were dumb—and they are.
So, if I didn't come here by dying…
then someone brought me here.
I let out a tired sigh and said:
"Alright, let me guess… You guys want me to save the world, right?
Sorry, not interested."
The man in the suit chuckled softly, as if I'd told a cute joke.
"Save the world? Oh, no, no… it's not what you think.
Actually, you were supposed to be executed."
…Whaaaaat?!
First, I find out I'm still alive—
and now… execution?!
"Why?! What did I even do?! Did I kill someone without realizing?!"
"Calm down, calm down… I said supposed to.
But I changed that."
He changed it? Just like that?!
Seriously… what is even going on anymore?
Is this guy messing with me?
What if he ended up here like I did and just lost his mind?
No… that can't be it.
He knew about the AC accident. That means he's not normal.
Finally, I asked—trying to sound as rational as my brain would allow:
"Alright, Mr. Nuul... why was I supposed to be executed?"
He replied as he opened a small notebook—I had no idea where he even pulled it from.
"Simply put… you're an exception.
We classify people who arrive in this world into two categories:
Summoned — those brought here intentionally by us; we have a few agents in your world who handle the transfers.
And Strays — people who show up without us having any idea how."
Then he closed the notebook and looked at me, dead serious.
"And you, Takeru… are a stray."
A stray?!
So I was supposed to be executed just because they don't know where I came from?
I can barely defend myself, and now I'm apparently a threat just for being… weird?
Nuul continued coldly:
"It could be a glitch in the transfer system… or maybe something—or someone—else brought you here. An unknown source.
What matters is that you arrived without our involvement.
Which, from the perspective of certain officials, makes you a potential danger."
He scratched his head like he was talking about a late food delivery:
"We've got this council that monitors transfer cases… basically just a bunch of people who sit around drinking coffee and pretending to be important."
He sighed and went on:
"When they saw you, their first reaction was, 'Execute him.'
But I didn't see any threat in you, so… I stepped in on your behalf."
I quickly asked, hopeful:
"So… does that mean you'll send me back to Earth?"
He gave me a dry smile—more yellow than hopeful.
"Sorry, that's only possible if you were a normal case.
But since you're an exception… I've been assigned to monitor you in this new world."
He went silent for a moment, then said:
"They want to know what your intentions are.
Or, if you're not the one behind this, what are the intentions of whoever sent you—assuming anyone did at all."
Honestly… all of this was just making me more confused.
Not because I'm helpless, necessarily, but because everything's happening way too fast to make sense of.
And yet… I find myself going along with it like I'm in a dream I can't control.
I looked at Nuul and asked him with suspicious naïveté:
"So… what do those summoned people usually do? Fight evil or something?"
He smirked sarcastically.
"Your imagination's impressive, kid.
Clearly, you read way too many light novels and manga."
I raised an eyebrow, surprised:
"Wait, you know about manga and light novels?"
"Why wouldn't I? I sometimes go to Earth and buy a few myself."
…Wait, what?
…He likes manga?
"I love One Kick Man, and Two Piece too."
"Why are you butchering the names?! Ugh, never mind…
So if it's not about defeating evil, then what is it?"
Nuul took a breath, like he was repeating a presentation he'd given a hundred times before:
"We summon people from Earth to become explorers in the new world.
The world's called Nevelira.
And within it, there's a mysterious land known as HideLand —a place that's nearly impossible to reach.
They say… that anyone who gets there and unlocks it will be granted one wish.
Any wish, no matter what it is."