"Ahh… they finally released GTA 6," he muttered, eyes locked on the launch timer as it ticked down to zero.
"Well, well… I can't wait any longer."
The screen flickered. Then, with a deafening BANG, his PC roared to life like a jet engine. Sparks burst from the case, fans screaming at max speed as the whole desk rattled.
"W–what the hell—?!" he yelped, stumbling back.
Before he could even pull the plug, a blinding surge of light shot out of the monitor, slamming into his chest. The force blasted him backward, chair toppling, body flailing. He crashed against the window—glass shattering—then tumbled out into the open night air.
The last thing he saw before blacking out was the launch timer hitting 0.
The world spun as he plummeted through the night. But instead of hitting the pavement, the air beneath him tore apart like fabric being ripped wide open. A swirling rift yawned open, pulling him in. Colors bled into one another—violets, blacks, and blinding whites—as his body tumbled weightlessly.
"Am I… falling? Or flying…?" His thoughts blurred as the roar of static drowned out everything.
Then—silence.
POV Shift – Demon Slayer World
High above the mountains of Taishō-era Japan, the sky suddenly shattered like glass. A thunderous crack ripped through the heavens, fragments of starlight raining down as if the firmament itself had broken.
In a nearby village, people dropped to their knees, wailing in terror. Children screamed, pointing with trembling hands at the jagged rift tearing itself open across the clouds.
"The sky—! The sky's breaking!"
Demon Slayers on patrol froze in their tracks, hands tightening on their blades as the unnatural phenomenon bled across the horizon. Even the Kasugai crows shrieked in alarm, scattering into the night sky.
The Hashira were among the first to sense it.
Sanemi snarled, knuckles whitening around his hilt. "Tch… what kind of demon could cause something like this?!"
Shinobu's eyes narrowed, her voice low and sharp. "No… this doesn't feel like a Blood Demon Art. It's… foreign."
Gyomei, beads clutched tightly in his hands, bowed his head in prayer. "A calamity descends…"
And then—from the heart of the rift—something began to fall. At first, only a speck against the broken sky… then clearer.
A human silhouette, tumbling helplessly through the fractured heavens, hurtling straight toward Mount Fujikasane, where the Final Selection had just begun.
The candidates who had entered the wisteria-covered mountain looked up in horror as the night sky above them cracked open. Even the demons lurking in the shadows paused, their eyes glowing with fear.
Gasps and cries rippled through the clearing at Mount Fujikasane. The young candidates, already tense from the trial ahead, froze as the heavens themselves broke apart above them.
"The sky… it's cracking—!" one boy screamed, stumbling back into the wisteria trees.
Another dropped his sword in shock, eyes wide. "W–what is happening?! This wasn't supposed to happen in Final Selection!"
The fractured sky glowed with an unnatural light, shards of brilliance falling like glass before fading into nothingness. Even the most hardened of the candidates felt their breath catch.
Some demons, bold enough to creep forward from the shadows, actually halted—clutching their heads or hissing in unease, their instincts screaming at them to flee.
For a moment, it felt as though the world itself had stopped.
And then… slowly… the jagged cracks began to mend. The starlit sky stitched itself back together, light bleeding away until only the quiet moon remained, hanging innocently as if nothing had ever happened.
But the silence was heavy. Too heavy.
A boy with trembling hands whispered, "Was… was that a demon? Or… something worse?"
The silhouette plummeted faster, cutting through the clouds like a falling star.
Wind howled in his ears. His body spun uncontrollably.
"W–what the hell is happening?! This isn't real—this isn't real!" he screamed, arms flailing uselessly. His chest burned where the light from the PC had struck him, throbbing like a second heartbeat.
Wind howled in his ears. His body spun uncontrollably.
"W–what the hell is happening?! This isn't real—this isn't real!" he screamed, arms flailing uselessly.
The ground drew closer, faster, every second. His vision blurred with tears.
"this has to be a dream! I can't just… die like this!"
As if answering his desperate plea, the pulse in his chest surged.
A dark ripple spread outward from his body, invisible yet suffocating. The air warped. Gravity itself seemed to twist around him.
Down below, candidates gasped as their knees buckled, swords clattering to the dirt. A crushing weight pressed down on them, as though the heavens themselves were trying to grind them into the earth.
"I… can't move!" one cried, clawing at the ground as tears spilled unbidden from his eyes.
"What is this pressure?! My… my chest—!" another choked, his voice breaking into sobs he couldn't explain.
The demons felt it worst of all. Their snarls curdled into shrieks, claws digging into their own faces as they writhed. Bloodlust was replaced with a hollow despair, a primal instinct screaming that they would never win—that they would never escape.
And then—
CRASH!
He slammed into the ground like a meteor, dirt and stone erupting upward, a crater splitting open beneath him. The ripple of force expanded with the impact, sending a wave of crushing despair through the forest.
For a moment, there was only silence.
And in the center of the crater, his body twitched. Slowly, he stirred—groaning, coughing up dust.
His eyes cracked open.
"…Where… am I?"