Sakura City, Reiyo Prefecture.
The silver moon hung high in the sky, and streetlights flickered intermittently.
A youth, his eyes obscured by reddish bangs, carried a tennis racket nearly half his height on his back.
His head was lowered, his ten fingers dancing rapidly over his phone screen.
The light from the screen illuminated his somewhat youthful face.
The night was deep; only one shop on the roadside remained lit—the only convenience store on his way home.
His lowered eyelids lifted slightly, scanning the exterior of the shop where a poster of a magnificent floating castle was displayed.
[New Full-Dive Game: SAO Closed Beta Qualification Reservation]
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“Today is…
March 21st…
Ten years since I transmigrated?”
Murmuring to himself, the boy pushed open the convenience store door.
“Welcome.
Xia Jia.”
The hardworking girl with a chestnut ponytail, Ms.
Aoyama Nanami, greeted him familiarly.
“Senior Aoyama, which job is this now?”
Xia Jia’s gaze drifted from his phone screen for a moment, sweeping over the cashier.
“Ah, haha…”
Aoyama Nanami scratched her cheek, laughing dryly: “Caught again.”
To this day, only by interacting with characters so familiar from his previous life did he truly believe that he had transmigrated into a “slice-of-life” anime crossover world.
The reason “slice-of-life” was in quotes was because…
“Xia Jia-kun, I watched your match today.
It’s a real shame you lost to Yukimura-san in the end.”
Aoyama Nanami looked at Xia Jia with regret, her eyes landing on the tennis racket behind his back.
She envied people with such talent.
Being able to defeat so many powerful players and squeeze into the finals was truly impressive.
Xia Jia sighed, reached out to brush his bangs, squinted, and laughed softly:
“It couldn’t be helped.”
Was he weak?
No!
As an ordinary person, against an opponent who plays tennis using “illusions,” the only path is defeat!
He couldn’t comprehend how the others managed to swing their rackets and return the ball even while their five senses were being stripped away!
That was the “Lockdown of the Five Senses”!
Why don’t you go be a Saint Seiya instead!!
And the others—does everyone here have Observation Haki by default?!
Huh?
He grumbled inwardly, thinking, This is the 2D world for you.
It wasn’t that Xia Jia hadn’t complained about this “daily life” that was neither scientific nor magical.
In fact, he had hoped for more of a supernatural life—perhaps a transfer student who was an angel or devil, or picking up a dragon maid in the mountains behind the school.
Aside from his rather vulgar early ideals of being a plagiarist writer (wenchaogong) and a “sea king” (playboy), the supernatural held a much stronger appeal for Xia Jia.
I yearn for the mysterious!
At that moment, his phone flashed.
In the chat window he had named “Heavens Chat Group,” messages were scrolling rapidly.
[Virtuous Brave: “A loss is a loss.
Instead of complaining, you’d be better off spending more time practicing, you damn normie!
Explode!”]
[Chiba’s Fallen Saint Black Cat: “Absurd.
Gate Master has worked hard enough.
Not only does he have to fight superhumans in ‘Kyoukai no Kanata’ (Beyond the Boundary), but he also has to battle the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Realm on the final battlefield!”]
[Phantom Sixth Man: “Speaking of which…
you’re talking about Xia Jia-kun participating in both the tennis and basketball clubs, right?”]
[Kobayashi: “You know your stuff.jpg”]
[Thunder Hammer Wielder: “It’s all the Bureau’s interference, death!
Gate Master is already tattered and torn, death!
At times like this, we should give Gate Master more support, dea~th!”]
[Dress-up Doll: “That may be true, but…
aren’t all athletes like that?
With Xia Jia-kun’s talent, wouldn’t it be better if he focused on just one?”]
[Guitar Hero: “Adventurer-sensei, has the OP song for the animation been decided yet?”]
[Xia Jia (Group Owner): “…”]
Seeing this, Xia Jia couldn’t hold back.
He bowed his head and his fingers danced across the screen once more.
[Xia Jia (Group Owner): “That’s easy to say, but…
starting with ‘Tenbu Horin’ (Treasures of the Heavens) is going too far!
I’m not a Saint Seiya!”]
[Unicorn: “I know that feeling.
It’s like every karate tournament, I’m never as good as Kyogoku-senpai.
That kind of pressure…”]
[Shadow: “Hmph, that level of power is completely unworthy of mention before a nuclear bomb!”]
Seeing his fellow group members’ comfort, Xia Jia could only sigh…
Although Xia Jia knew that later on, there were even tennis moves that could summon tsunamis, but…
“Whatever.
Anyway, I didn’t play tennis to win…” Xia Jia closed his eyes.
This wasn’t a novel.
Not every character appeared at Soubu High, and it was impossible for everyone to be the same age.
There weren’t that many coincidences in the world.
To be able to invite so many familiar characters from his previous life into the chat group he had built, Xia Jia had endured much hardship, and more than anything, it had been luck.
In fact, 80% of the 100 people in the group were not even that familiar with Xia Jia.
“It could be said that I gave everything for my ideal…”
That’s right, this “Heavens Chat Group” was built by Xia Jia himself—a simple, ordinary chat group.
As for why he built this group and started playing sports…
Xia Jia scanned the group member list.
[Virtuous Brave]Satou Kazuma.
[Shadow]Kagenou Minoru.
[]Blank (Kuuhaku).
[Grip Strength of 50 Jin]Natsuki Subaru.
[Slime King]Mikami Satoru.
…
A line of potential transmigrators/reincarnators.
Combined with Xia Jia himself—a living, breathing transmigrator!
This made his already restless heart even more agitated.
“Honestly, in this ‘reality’ where my ‘wives’ aren’t even at the same school, seeking a harem must be a mistake!”
Xia Jia pouted: “And it’s easy to get ‘shidao’ed’ (stabbed).”
He clenched his fists: “But another world is different!
It’s a world of meritocracy, where a man’s ambition is so easily satisfied!”
“Even someone like me can do it!” insisted Xia Jia, who was submissive in reality but a “heavy-hitter” online!
“And, who could refuse the temptation of hand-crafting a nuclear bomb!”
So!
Young Xia Jia awakened!
He yearned for the mysterious!
He hoped that he, too, could complete a “transmigration” once more!
He had squatted in the park hoping to find Tals (monsters), searched for the Legend of the Three Holy Heroes in the library, read Das Kapital, filled out applications to be a brave hero, and even waited until the very last moment in a game about to shut down.
Of course, Xia Jia was still rational; he didn’t actively try to get hit by a truck or attempt to seek out Haruhi Suzumiya or Evil God D.
In this “slice-of-life” world, these beings who could be called “Gods” existed in the gaps between reality and non-existence.
In short, Schrödinger’s Gods!
Such behavior also led the middle-school sophomore Xia Jia to be labeled with strange tags.
Speaking of which, a large portion of the people in the group were fellow enthusiasts…
And Xia Jia’s efforts weren’t entirely in vain.
As for a “God,” he had indeed found one.
The “One-Eyed, One-Legged” God of Wisdom elected by the yokai!
But unfortunately, Xia Jia couldn’t see the so-called yokai…
In the end, the only thing he could bridge to the mysterious was sports.
Laugh to death, being able to casually create a black hole in this world was apparently just the standard level for a normal athlete.
If you don’t have a superpower, you don’t deserve to play competitively, right?
Xia Jia danced his fingers, inputting text, then turned into an aisle, grabbing his future rations—a five-pack of instant noodles and some ham sausages.
He checked out while debating the relationship between superpowers and sports with everyone in the group.
“Thank you for your patronage.
That will be 34 yuan.”
He took out his wallet and paid.
Before leaving, he asked casually: “Senior Aoyama, are you really not considering joining my group?
Everyone is an excellent companion, and perhaps it would be helpful for your dreams.”
“Sorry, there’s really no need.” Aoyama Nanami smiled and waved at Xia Jia: “Please come again next time.”
She didn’t want to say that she couldn’t afford the data usage…
Feeling slightly disappointed.
Xia Jia put the instant noodles into his backpack and stepped out of the convenience store.
He looked down and saw a system notification in the chat group.
[mori summer has left the chat group.]
“Has it come to this time…”
This was common.
After all, it was just an ordinary chat group, and Xia Jia couldn’t possibly get along with over a hundred people.
But this time, was it an acquaintance of Xia Jia’s who left?
Xia Jia watched the group; Dekomori had already exploded.
[Thunder Hammer Wielder: “It must be the Bureau’s doing!
All of Mori-sama’s information in the electronic sea has been wiped.
Damn it!”]
[Dark Flame Master: “She just graduated from her middle school ‘chuunibyou’ phase.
We aren’t middle-school kids anymore.
Speaking of which, you dog of a group owner, are you still pursuing the so-called ‘Invisible Boundary Line’?”]
[Xia Jia: “Yes.
Only this, I will not give up.
‘Mystery’ is truly real!”]
Xia Jia finished typing and his finger hovered over the send button.
A circular loading icon appeared on the screen.
The phone screen popped up a prompt: [No Service]
Suddenly, the chirping of cicadas rang in his ears, and then, a warm, bright light washed down.
“Wh-why is there no signal?”
Xia Jia, tapping the screen incessantly, suddenly realized something.
He looked up abruptly, and a wind mixed with the fragrance of soil swept across his long bangs, revealing his green eyes, now constricted to pinpricks.
Before him was a dense forest; birds were singing, and the warm sunlight filtered through the dappled canopy.
The soft feeling on his feet was authentic soil, and a primitive atmosphere rushed toward him.
Most importantly, the large “No Service” symbol on his phone told Xia Jia that he was outside the range of electronic signals!
He had likely transmigrated again!
The unexpected miracle left him momentarily stunned.
For a long time, he covered his face and accepted reality:
“Sorry, I forgot.
The doorway of a late-night convenience store isn’t just a place to meet silent white-haired armored beauties; it’s also one of the classic flags for transmigration…”