The time was 7:58 AM when the student, Kirisaki Ryōma, was leaving home and heading to school. Until that moment, it was supposed to be a normal and routine day—he would wake up, have his breakfast, put on his uniform, and go to school.
On his way to school, the same things usually happened. He would stop at a traffic light where two girls from a different school were also waiting. Shortly after, an elderly lady would arrive, asking for his help to cross the street. Then, he would pass by a house and always greet the same person—a man who had just left home for work. After that, he would walk through a park with a small pond full of ducks. Finally, he would reach the school, store his shoes in his locker, and head to the classroom.
Today was Tuesday, and the first class was literature with Professor Takashi Fujimoto. For some unknown reason, he was always five minutes late after the start of class.
"How has this teacher not been fired yet?" Ryōma said, then continued, "Well, whatever. This way, I can take advantage of the time to play my gacha.
While Ryōma was playing his gacha game, the teacher arrived earlier than usual today, along with a new person.
"So, everyone, today I would like to introduce your newest classmate. I hope you can all be friends," said Professor Takashi.
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Tsukishima Suzune. I'm your new classmate, and I hope we can get along well," Suzune said, grabbing a piece of chalk and writing her name on the board.
Then, there was a stir in the room. Everyone's eyes widened, and they began whispering to each other, feeling quite unsettled. After all, this was something rare—seeing a student transfer in the middle of the year to an old school in a remote region of the country. It was even rarer when that person was extremely beautiful, with smooth white skin, golden hair and eyes, small and cute, like a doll.
"Suzune, there's a free seat behind Ryōma, please sit there," said the teacher.
Suzune walked to her desk, chin held high as she received admiring looks from all her classmates, and she responded only with looks of superiority. However, there was one student who didn't glance at her for even a moment—Ryōma. Ryōma didn't care if she was a new student or exceptionally beautiful. In fact, he didn't care about things that normal people typically do. He was completely focused on his gacha game, where he was in a life-or-death battle to get the latest banner. He had already spent almost all his points; this was his last chance.
At that moment, Suzune sat at her desk and said, "Good morning. I hope today you thank the Gods for being close to someone like me." She received silence in return, which made her furious. How could someone ignore her existence? Curious about what could be so important on his phone that would make him ignore her, she leaned forward and peered over his shoulder. There was Ryōma, fully immersed in his last attempt to get his waifu from the gacha game.
As he pressed the spin button, the wheel began to spin. Ryōma started sweating, his hands and legs trembling, and his stomach growling. The wheel slowly started to decelerate, and then it landed on the waifu from the banner. To Suzune's surprise, she looked exactly like her. At that moment, Ryōma jumped from his seat, raised his hands, and let out a scream. The teacher, who had been writing on the board, turned around along with the rest of the class.
"What's going on? Are you using your phone in class?" the teacher asked.
Immediately, Ryōma hid his phone behind his back and, with a side grin and furrowed brows, beads of sweat dripping down his face, he said, "I don't think you're mistaken."
"Show me your hand," said the teacher.
"My hand? Do you want to marry me?" Ryōma replied.
At that, the whole class burst into laughter, and the teacher grew embarrassed and irritated.
"Silence!" he ordered. The room fell silent. He continued, "Ryōma and Suzune, you two will stay after class and help me organize the school storage room." He then took the phone from Ryōma's hand.
"Ha? Why me, professor? I didn't do anything," Suzune said.
"You're an accomplice," the teacher replied. He put Ryōma's phone in his pocket and returned to writing on the board.
After classes ended, Ryōma was behind the schoolyard, near the storage room. There was no one there—not the teacher, nor Suzune.
"Huh? What's this? Where are they? Was this some kind of joke?" he thought, lowering his head and placing his hand on his chin.
Since there was nothing else to do, he sat down near the storage room and spoke aloud, "If only I had my phone with me right now." He continued, "Damn it, just when I finally managed to get Scarlet!" he shouted in regret.
With his head lowered, reflecting on what had happened, someone suddenly appeared beside him.
"Are you looking for this?"
A hand was extended toward him, holding his phone.
Ryōma, still looking down, caught a glimpse of his phone from the corner of his eye. At that moment, his eyes widened, and a smile spread across his face. Grabbing the phone, he jumped up, raising his hands in excitement.
"I can't believe I got my phone back! No, I can't believe someone actually found my phone and returned it to me!"
Then, he turned to the person who had returned it and said, "Thank yo—"
But before he could finish, his eyes widened in shock. He fell onto his backside and began crawling backward.
Standing before him, with an enigmatic smile, was a creature that should only exist in fairy tales—one step away from changing his life forever.