"Huh?"
The word left my mouth before I could process anything. Wait. My mouth? Do I even have one?
I couldn't feel a body. My sense of being felt strange, suspended in an endless void of blinding white. I tried to move—or at least think about moving—and suddenly realized I wasn't entirely nothing. No, there was something. My awareness expanded, and the whiteness around me began to shift.
There was a table. A computer. A chair.
I didn't have eyes to "see," but somehow, I perceived these things as if they'd always been there. They felt out of place in this nothingness, but at the same time, completely normal.
What are these for? I wondered.
As if answering my unspoken question, I suddenly felt a shift in the void. Then—arms. My own arms. I flexed my fingers, the sensation foreign yet familiar. Feet. A torso. Slowly, a whole body materialized around my awareness, fitting me like a glove I had forgotten I owned.
"Okay, what the fu—" I froze mid-sentence as I heard my own voice.
That confirmed it. I was me again—somehow.
It all happened so fast. One moment I was zoning out in biology class, half-listening to the monotone droning of my teacher about mitochondria or whatever, and the next moment, I was here.
Wherever "here" was.
I tried to piece it all together, but the strangeness of the situation didn't overwhelm me as much as I thought it should. Oddly, I wasn't panicking. Sure, this was insane, but it felt like a part of me already knew this was going to happen. Like some buried instinct had been waiting for this moment all along.
I thought back to my normal life—a decent one, nothing extraordinary but not miserable either. I had loving parents, a younger sister who could always make me laugh with her goofy jokes, and a typical high school routine. So why did I feel... at ease?
Unsure of what else to do, I walked to the computer.
The chair pulled me in like it was designed specifically for me. I sat down, staring at the glowing screen. It flickered to life, displaying a simple but cryptic interface:
-- PLAYER --
Name: Kiyoka Amura
Age: ?
World: Not Decided
[Locked]
[Locked]
...
"Player?" I muttered, leaning closer.
My gaze moved to a button next to the word "World," which read [Select World]. Curiosity overcame caution, and I grabbed the mouse. Clicking the button brought up a massive list that spanned endlessly, like a catalog of infinite possibilities.
"These are... worlds?" I mumbled.
I scrolled through the list, seeing names both familiar and completely foreign. Some seemed like they belonged to video games or anime, while others felt more realistic—ordinary.
So... did I die? The question lingered in my head, unspoken. The last thing I remembered was sitting in class. I hadn't been sick, and there was no truck barreling toward me or anything. One second, I was there, bored out of my mind, and the next, I was here.
Shaking off the question, I clicked the search bar and typed "Earth."
A list of results appeared immediately:
Earth 0001Earth 0002Earth 0003
...
The list stretched on endlessly.
"Ugh," I groaned. "It's gonna take forever to figure out which one's mine."
Clearly, going back to my original life wasn't an option—not unless I wanted to spend eternity scrolling. If I even could go back.
I sat back in the chair, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. This was starting to feel a little too much like one of those isekai stories I loved reading in my free time.
With a hesitant smirk, I typed something else:
Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)
The name popped up almost instantly.
"No one in their right mind would go here unless they were desperate to screw Mikasa. Even then, is it worth it?" I muttered to myself, chuckling nervously.
My love for Attack on Titan was undeniable, but actually living in that world? I'd rather not spend my days as titan chow, thank you very much.
I cleared the search bar and typed again.
Tokyo Revengers
"Nah," I said almost immediately. "I get this kind of chance and waste it on a world like that? Hell no."
The options seemed endless, yet none of them felt right.
"Should I go for Marvel or DC?" I mused aloud, my finger hovering over the keys. "No... way too chaotic."
I thought about it for another long moment before typing something that had been sitting in the back of my mind since this whole thing started:
Naruto
Now that was tempting. I knew the Naruto story like the back of my hand, and I'd read more fanfiction about it than I cared to admit. It seemed like the safest, most logical choice.
But as my finger hovered over the enter key, I hesitated.
"Something about this feels... off," I muttered. "I mean, I'd know exactly what to do. But is that even fun?"
Leaning back, I stared at the endless possibilities before me. Minutes passed as I scrolled aimlessly, indecision gnawing at me.
Eventually, a thought popped into my head—a ridiculous, impulsive thought that made me laugh out loud.
I typed:
Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
The name glowed on the screen.
"Demon Slayer... really?" I muttered to myself. It wasn't even my favorite series. Sure, I loved the manga, but I always thought the story was average at best.
And yet, a single, shameless reason pushed me to make this choice.
"I'm gonna marry Aoi," I declared out loud, the words echoing in the empty void.
It was true. I'd always had a soft spot for Aoi Kanzaki, the blunt, no-nonsense girl from the Butterfly Mansion. She was my type—simple as that. Protecting her and staying by her side didn't sound bad at all.
"Holy shit, this is so stupid," I laughed, shaking my head. But the grin on my face didn't fade.
Closing my eyes, I clicked the name.
--
[Welcome, Host.]
A soft chime rang in my ears as I opened my eyes. I was no longer in the endless void. Instead, I found myself lying on a bed.
The room around me was modest, with wooden walls and a faint smell of herbs in the air. A window let in the dull gray light of a snowy morning, and the chill made me shiver.
Above me, a floating blue screen hovered, displaying information:
-- PLAYER --
Name: Kiyoka Amura
Age: 14
World: Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Quest: [No Quest]
Timeline: 2 years before the main story takes place.
"So this is real..." I muttered, sitting up. My hand instinctively reached for the screen, but it flickered and passed through my fingers like a hologram.
Glancing at the information, I felt a wave of relief.
"A simple system," I noted. "No crazy skills or inventory. Just basic info. That's good—too much would've hurt my head."
The word "Timeline" caught my attention.
"Two years before the main story starts, huh? That's... interesting."
Standing up, I stretched my arms and took a moment to study the room. It was small but cozy, with a wooden table and chair in one corner and a neatly folded blanket on the bed I had just been lying on. Through the window, I could see snow blanketing the ground outside.
A shiver ran down my spine. "Damn, it's cold," I muttered, rubbing my arms.
I stepped toward the door, curiosity pushing me to explore. Wherever I was, this world was mine now.
And I had every intention of making it mine.
---
A/N: Hello, this is the first chapter. I am planning on continuing this for fun. I'd like your feedback and things I could improve. Thank you :D