"Hello, sir, do you know who I am?"
Seiya stared blankly at the man in front of him. He had arrived here unexpectedly, and yet someone seemed to recognize him. Seiya couldn't understand why, but he was excited that someone knew him.
"Sir can I...," Seiya began to ask, but before he could say more, Satoru, standing in front of him, quickly pulled him aside.
Satoru, not even thinking about how he had just narrowly escaped death, was now completely on edge. He grabbed Seiya and dragged him into a nearby alley.
"People have been talking about anime characters appearing in real life recently. I didn't believe it at first, but now… this is unbelievable!" Satoru muttered as they ran, while Seiya, puzzled by the older man's behavior, asked, "Sir… do we know each other?"
After they reached the dark alley, Seiya looked at Satoru, still confused by everything that had just happened. However, Satoru simply gave him an exasperated look.
"Sir? I'm just a little over thirty! Do I really look that old?"
"My apologies, uh, sir," Seiya responded, a bit flustered.
Satoru felt a pang of frustration. Was he really getting that old? But he quickly shook it off. This guy did save his life, after all. No need to dwell on it.
After composing himself, Satoru turned back to Seiya and asked, "So… you're really a Saint Seiya, right?"
"Of course," Seiya nodded. "I just got back, but for some reason, I woke up here. When I saw you were in danger, I stepped in to help."
Seiya spoke politely, but Satoru, though grateful, was still trying to process everything. He decided to explain things to Seiya.
"Well, Seiya, to thank you for saving me, you should hear me out. You're actually..."
Satoru began explaining Seiya's situation to him, but Seiya was bewildered. What was going on? He was just a character created by someone else? And now he was in the real world?
"That's ridiculous! I just saved you—how could you lie to me like this?"
"I'm not lying to you! I'm trying to help you! If you don't believe me, look!" Satoru pulled out his phone and showed Seiya an image of the Saint Seiya character. Seiya stared at the picture, finally freezing in place.
"This… it's true? Sir?"
"What?"
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Brother! How do I get back?" Seiya was truly anxious now. Seeing his distress, Satoru replied helplessly, "Maybe… we should go to the police? Didn't you hear that when in doubt, you can call the police?"
Hearing Satoru's suggestion, Seiya could only nod, though he wasn't sure if that would really help.
Just as Satoru was about to leave with Seiya, a large flowerpot suddenly came crashing down from above! The target was Satoru's head!
"Brother! Watch out!"
Seiya quickly punched the flowerpot, shattering it to pieces, and once again saved Satoru from harm. But now Satoru was completely frozen in place.
What's going on? Why is this happening again? Why am I so unlucky today? First a robbery, then a near miss with a truck, and now a falling flower pot?
What is this, some kind of divine punishment? Or… have I encountered the Grim Reaper?
With fear gripping him, Satoru clung to Seiya's hand. He could feel the cold, harsh reality of the world, and only Seiya's presence offered him any comfort.
Seeing how shaken Satoru was, Seiya sighed helplessly. This guy… why is he so unlucky?
But neither of them knew that, in an unseen space, a figure with long blue hair was staring blankly ahead, just as confused.
"It's strange. I found such a promising candidate to send to another world, but why did it fail every time?" the figure muttered, shaking her head. Then she glanced down at the list in her hand.
"Forget it. If reincarnation fails, I'll just pick another one. Let's see… Sato Kazuma? Alright, you're next."
With that, the blue-haired goddess silently departed.