Yuki woke up with a headache. She heard the air conditioner, a familiar sound, unlike the noisy marketplace of Graaswell City. She looked up at the smooth, clean ceiling, realizing she was not in the medieval inn anymore. An alarm was blaring from her phone on a messy desk with a blinking Bluetooth speaker.
"What the...?" she muttered, sitting up quickly. This made her dizzy, and she held her head. She felt her pajamas, not the dirty brown dress she had been wearing while running away in Graaswell City.
Yuki looked around the room, her heart beating fast. There were anime posters on the walls with her favorite characters from Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer. She saw her gaming chair and her gaming PC with colorful lights. The air conditioner was humming quietly.
"This... is my room," she whispered, standing up shakily. She went to the window and opened the curtains. She saw Tokyo outside, busy with life. She could hear cars and smell fresh bread from the bakery below.
She saw her reflection in the window. Her long, wavy blonde hair framed her face, showing her half-Californian, half-Japanese look. Her blue eyes widened in shock as she pinched her cheeks.
"No way... Was all of that a dream?" she whispered, thinking about Alepou's smile, the chaos at the takoyaki stand, and Prince Gabriel arresting the old man. The punch and Alepou's hug felt so real.
Yuki's eyes moved to her closet. She opened it and saw her Kamiyama International High School uniform, reminding her of her current life. She looked at her calendar.
April 5th.
Her heart sank. "The first day of school... And the entrance exam results!" she gasped.
She started to panic, pacing the room. "How is this possible? I was just in Graaswell City! I was wearing medieval clothes! Did I... time travel? Was it all a dream? Or... am I in a weird in-between world?"
She looked at the Bluetooth speaker. It sat there silently. She picked it up and shook it. "Did you send me to another world? Are you a magical artifact?"
It didn't respond.
Yuki sat in her gaming chair, staring at her reflection on the dark screen. "If it was a dream, why do I remember it so clearly? Alepou... Gabriel... even the smell of that takoyaki stand..."
Her stomach growled, bringing her back to reality. She sighed and stood up, muttering, "Whether it was real or not, I have to focus on today. First day of high school, here I come."
---
**Flashbacks and Doubts**
As Yuki brushed her teeth and got ready, memories of Graaswell City came to her like a movie. Alepou's laugh, the chaos at the takoyaki stand, and the prince's arrival felt too real to be just a dream.
"Am I going crazy?" she muttered, putting on her school uniform. The clean uniform felt strange after days—no, years—in the rough clothes of the isekai world.
But as she tied her necktie and grabbed her schoolbag, another thought came to her. What if the isekai world was real, and this is the dream?
---
**The Decision**
Yuki took one last look at her room before leaving. She paused at the door. "If I go through this door, am I leaving that world behind forever?"
She shook her head. "No. If it's real, I'll find a way back. Alepou, Gabriel... if you're out there, wait for me."
She took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped into the busy Tokyo morning, the sun shining brightly. Her adventure in this world was just starting.
But deep down, she felt her journey in Graaswell City was not over yet.