Reality broke apart without making a sound.
Mario felt neither weight nor motion.
There was no sensation of flying, falling, or being pulled through space.
Instead, it was as though the universe simply folded, like someone turning the page of a book.
One moment…
He stood inside his apartment.
The next…
He smelled fresh air.
His feet touched solid ground.
Birds chirped somewhere overhead.
A cool breeze brushed against his face.
Mario slowly opened his eyes.
“…”
A quiet residential street greeted him.
Rows of neatly maintained houses lined both sides of the road.
Utility poles stood in perfect intervals, their countless cables stretching across the pale morning sky.
A bicycle rolled past.
Its rider barely glanced at him before continuing down the street.
Somewhere nearby, a crossing signal emitted its rhythmic electronic chirping.
Everything looked…
Orderly.
Clean.
Peaceful.
Mario took a slow breath.
The air felt noticeably different from Manila.
Less humid.
Cooler.
Even the faint scent carried by the wind was unfamiliar.
Fresh bread.
Cherry blossoms.
Freshly cut grass.
His gaze slowly swept across the neighborhood.
Japanese writing.
Vending machines.
Compact cars.
Everything confirmed what he already knew.
“I made it.”
Japan.
His first fictional world.
Despite knowing it wasn’t real…
Standing here made it feel more real than many places he’d visited during his first life.
He glanced down at his own hands.
Still the same.
No glowing status window.
No system notifications.
Nothing.
“…Good.”
He preferred it that way.
One mystery at a time.
Several pedestrians walked along the sidewalk.
An elderly couple.
A mother pushing a stroller.
Two office workers discussing something in rapid Japanese.
Mario listened carefully.
He understood…
Almost nothing.
“…Right.”
That was going to be a problem.
He knew scattered words from years of watching anime and Japanese dramas.
Simple greetings.
Numbers.
A handful of common expressions.
Enough to recognize a conversation’s topic.
Not enough to actually participate.
“I’ll have to avoid unnecessary conversations.”
Another item added to the mental checklist.
Mario reached into his pocket.
The wallet remained exactly where it should be.
Five thousand Philippine pesos.
He looked at the colorful bills before quietly laughing.
“…Worthless.”
At least here.
He slipped them back into the wallet.
“I should’ve expected this.”
He had spent hours thinking about legendary artifacts.
Asset Functions.
Interdimensional loopholes.
Yet somehow…
He’d forgotten foreign currency.
“Smart.”
He shook his head.
“Very smart.”
At least he hadn’t made the mistake after obtaining the Sage’s abilities.
Until then…
Fortunately…
His mission didn’t require shopping.
He walked slowly through the neighborhood, careful not to attract attention.
Unlike Manila, where pedestrians constantly filled the streets, the area felt surprisingly quiet.
People kept to themselves.
No one stared.
No one asked questions.
Exactly the environment he preferred.
As he walked, his analytical mind returned to the problem at hand.
Finding Yuuya.
That sounded simple.
It wasn’t.
The series had never provided an address.
No postal code.
No neighborhood map.
Nothing that conveniently pointed to the protagonist’s home.
Mario stopped beside a vending machine.
“…Think.”
He closed his eyes.
What did he actually remember?
Not scenes.
Landmarks.
The grandfather’s house.
A residential neighborhood.
Walking distance from school.
A shopping district.
Several parks.
A nearby convenience store.
Train tracks…
He frowned.
“Not enough.”
Then another memory surfaced.
Yuuya usually walked.
Rarely took transportation.
Meaning…
His school couldn’t be very far from home.
Mario opened his eyes.
“There are only so many high schools within walking distance of this type of neighborhood.”
It wasn’t much.
But it was a starting point.
He smiled.
“I’ve solved harder problems.”
The next several hours passed quietly.
Mario never rushed.
He observed.
Asked for directions only when absolutely necessary, relying on broken Japanese mixed with gestures.
Sometimes people understood.
Sometimes they politely apologized before walking away.
It was enough.
Little by little…
His mental map expanded.
Around noon, he located a commercial district that looked remarkably familiar.
A bookstore.
A small ramen shop.
A bakery.
Across the street…
A convenience store.
Mario slowed his pace.
“I’ve seen this before.”
Not in real life.
On a screen.
He continued walking.
Every familiar building increased his confidence.
Eventually…
He found it.
A school.
Students in identical uniforms poured through the front gate as lunchtime approached.
Mario remained across the street, pretending to study a bulletin board.
His eyes quietly observed the students.
One minute.
Two.
Five.
Then…
His breathing almost stopped.
There.
Walking with his head lowered.
An overweight teenage boy carrying an old school bag.
His uniform looked slightly wrinkled.
His shoes showed obvious signs of wear.
Several boys passed beside him.
One deliberately bumped his shoulder.
Another laughed.
None of the teachers noticed.
Yuuya simply lowered his head further and continued walking.
Exactly as he remembered.
Before the miracle.
Before the door.
Before his entire life changed.
“So…”
“I really made it in time.”
Yuuya disappeared around the corner without ever noticing the older man watching from across the road.
Mario waited another minute before quietly following.
Not close enough to appear suspicious.
Far enough to remain unnoticed.
Yuuya eventually entered a quiet residential neighborhood.
After another five minutes…
He stopped in front of an older traditional house.
His grandfather’s house.
Yuuya unlocked the front door.
Stepped inside.
Closed it behind him.
Mario remained where he was.
He didn’t move.
Didn’t approach.
Didn’t even cross the street.
Instead…
He memorized everything.
The surrounding houses.
Possible escape routes.
Blind spots.
Street cameras.
Neighbors.
One elderly woman watered flowers across the road.
Another man washed his car in the driveway two houses away.
Children played at the nearby park.
“This won’t work during the afternoon.”
Too many witnesses.
He quietly turned around.
Operation Door required patience.
Not urgency.
The following hours became nothing more than observation.
Mario discovered a small public park less than three hundred meters away.
From one particular bench…
The front gate of Yuuya’s house remained partially visible through the trees.
Perfect.
He sat there until evening.
At exactly four-thirty…
Yuuya emerged from the house carrying a backpack.
Different clothes.
Casual.
Work clothes.
“He still has his part-time job.”
Good.
That matched the original timeline.
Yuuya disappeared down the street.
An hour later…
He returned.
Dinner.
Lights inside the house remained on until nearly ten o’clock.
Then…
One room after another went dark.
Finally…
Silence.
Mario checked his watch.
Ten twenty-three.
He slowly stood.
Tomorrow.
Yuuya would attend school.
The neighborhood would become quieter.
The timing would be perfect.
He looked toward the old house one last time.
Behind those walls…
Hidden beneath the floorboards…
Waited a door capable of changing a person’s destiny.
Tomorrow…
It would change his.
Mario turned away and disappeared into the night.
Far beyond every universe…
The Random Omnipotent Being smiled into his teacup.
“No hesitation.”
“No unnecessary heroics.”
“You really are treating this like a business acquisition.”
He laughed quietly.
“Tomorrow…”
“…let’s see if you can steal a miracle.”
End of Chapter 9