"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Neo's eyes shot open, a cold chill running down his spine. He was drenched in sweat, his heart pounding so loudly it felt like it might leap out of his chest. The sound echoed in his ears as he struggled to catch his breath.
His stomach twisted with nausea, a wave of deep fear washing over him. He felt weak and disoriented.
"Damn… what… what was that? Did I die? Am I dreaming? Is this a nightmare?" he called out, "Francis… Francis!"
Frantically scanning his surroundings, Neo's pupils dilated with panic. "What's happening? Where am I? What is this place?" Confusion clouded his mind as he took in the unfamiliar scene around him.
"Wait… this isn't the restaurant. Where am I?"
As he looked around, he realized he was on a vast gravel road lined with towering pink blossom trees, these trees were unlike any he had ever seen before, standing like giant sentinels.
Ahead of him loomed an enormous traditional Japanese manor door, tens of meters tall, marked by a strange symbol at its peak. He found himself kneeling before these imposing gates.
His heart raced even faster when he noticed a tall, broad-shouldered elderly man dressed in traditional black clothing that blended into the night. The old man's cold gaze bore down on him with lifeless eyes that made Neo feel as if he were staring at a corpse.
The pressure from those eyes shook Neo to his core; it was as though one blink could mean his end.
Completely disoriented and overwhelmed with confusion, thoughts raced through Neo's mind: Was he dead? Was this man some sort of underworld deity? All he remembered was being crushed by a massive slab of stone and now finding himself kneeling before this ominous figure.
"Kurokami Reigen…!"
An emotionless voice suddenly broke through the chaos in Neo's head. He glanced around frantically but saw no one else aside from the old man.
Looking back up, Neo met the old man's icy stare; it felt like staring into a thousand-year-old block of ice.
"Th-this guy is talking to me... calling me Kurokami Reigen?" Panic surged again within him.
"You have failed to awaken, Kurokami Reigen," the old man intoned softly yet clearly. "According to the doctrine of the Clan, you are hereby expelled from our ranks. Never set foot on this ancestral land again."
Though the old man's lips moved silently as if whispering without sound, Neo heard every word echoing in his ears.
Shock coursed through him; Kurokami Reigen… failed to awaken… clan… exiled, these words swirled chaotically in his mind without meaning or clarity.
Before Neo could fully process everything, the old man reached into his robe and tossed an item in front of him. Confused, Neo looked down and immediately recognized it as a bank card, a sleek black card adorned with the strange symbol he had seen etched on the giant gates earlier.
"Use this to live an ordinary life. Never attempt to return to the world of Shinkai again, unless you want to die." The old man's icy voice echoed in Neo's mind, but this time it felt distant. When he looked up again, the old man had vanished, as if he had never existed at all.
Neo knelt on the rough gravel road, a gentle breeze brushing against his skin while cold sweat clung to his clothes. A chill coursed through his body.
After what felt like an eternity, Neo's frozen limbs finally moved. With trembling fingers, he picked up the bank card and studied it for a moment before pushing through immense pain to stand upright.
He was bewildered; everything about this situation felt strange and unsettling. He wasn't sure if he was dead or alive, but one thing was clear: something significant had happened when that slab of stone crushed him.
Right now, he needed a place to gather his thoughts because clarity eluded him entirely. He had to escape this place as soon as possible.
As he glanced back at the faintly closed door, a wave of familiarity washed over him. After a brief moment of daze, he shook his head and began walking away, every step sending jolts of pain through his body.
He walked along the seemingly endless gravel road lined with pink blossom trees that painted the landscape in hues of pure pink.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, he found himself out of sight of the gates. The gravel beneath his feet gave way to soft grass and weeds.
Turning back for one last look, Neo's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. The gravel road had vanished along with the sea of pink blossoms; in their place stood a vast forest filled with towering trees that seemed to pierce the sky itself.
"Wh...what...where am I?" Neo stammered as he nearly stumbled backward. Everything he'd experienced so far flipped his understanding of reality upside down, he didn't even know if he was dead or alive anymore.
Gripping his head in frustration as dizziness washed over him from all angles made everything feel surreal, like something straight out of a movie.
"Reigen!"
Just then, a soft and melodious voice called out from behind him. Startled, Neo turned around abruptly and found himself speechless at what lay before him.
Standing just a few feet away from him was a girl, the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. She wore a sky-blue kimono, and her soft purple hair was elegantly tied into a unique bun, adorned with a pink butterfly-shaped hairpin.
Her face was small, framed by striking blue eyes, red lips, and skin as white as snow. Neo could even see her skin ripple gently in the breeze. Just by standing there, she seemed to brighten up the entire place.
She smiled softly and approached the frozen Neo. With a gentle touch, she caressed his face before pulling out a black bank card, the same one the old man had given him earlier, and placed it into his hands.
"Live well, Reigen," she said softly. "Our world is not one you can survive easily."
Neo snapped back to reality but was shocked to find that the girl had vanished, just like the old man had disappeared earlier, like a ghost fading away.
All that remained was the bank card in his hand.
Now numb and dazed, Neo walked forward with an expressionless face, as if he were in a trance. After taking only a few steps, however, pain twisted his features. Sweat began to pour down his body as spasms overtook him; his eyes rolled back before he collapsed onto the soft ground.
The entire area fell into serene silence, broken only by the occasional song of birds and the rustling of leaves surrounding him.