An unknown space.
This was a vast expanse of nothingness, surrounded by complete darkness.
From time to time, tiny specks of starlight could be seen in the distance—the light emitted by celestial bodies.
And yet, within this peculiar space floated a golden humanoid figure.
It had the shape of a human, but its entire body radiated golden light.
Its face was handsome, though it carried a rather listless, worn-out expression.
“W-Where…
is this?”
The golden humanoid suddenly opened his eyes.
After sensing his surroundings, he immediately fell into confusion.
But the next moment, his expression twisted as though he were enduring some tremendous pain.
“I am…
Who am I?”
“I’m…
Ren Kurose.
But…
where is this?”
The golden humanoid was named Ren Kurose.
However, Ren Kurose could tell that his current condition was anything but normal.
He raised his hands and stared at them, a strange expression appearing on his face.
“Wasn’t I on my way back to the dorm?
How did I suddenly end up here?”
Ren Kurose held his forehead and sank into thought.
Very soon, however, a flood of memories surged into his mind.
“A dump truck…”
Ren Kurose finally understood.
He…
seemed to have died.
That night, while walking back to his dormitory, he had been crossing an intersection when one of those recklessly speeding dump trucks barreling around at night slammed straight into him.
By the time he regained awareness, he was already in this strange place.
Obviously, he must have died beneath the dump truck.
But Ren Kurose was confused.
If he was already dead, then what exactly was going on now?
Unfortunately, there was no one around who could give him an explanation.
“Could it be that I transmigrated?”
That was the only possibility Ren Kurose could think of.
After all, the legendary dump-truck transmigration method had been pretty popular for a while.
“Am I supposed to stay like this forever?”
After waiting for some time, his surroundings remained completely silent, and nothing about his condition changed.
Ren Kurose gradually began to grow anxious.
Surely he wasn’t going to be trapped in this place forever?
He didn’t even know what kind of state he was currently in.
According to his own speculation, perhaps this was the legendary state of being a soul.
But if he had to remain here indefinitely, Ren Kurose felt that he would eventually go insane.
Fortunately, at that moment, something finally changed around him.
Ren Kurose immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
A pitch-black passage suddenly appeared before him.
Before Ren Kurose, still in his soul-like state, could react, he was sucked straight into it.
He felt as though his scalp were being violently tugged backward.
The sensation continued for what seemed like an extremely long time.
“Is this what transmigration feels like?”
“I wonder where I’m going to end up.”
Ren Kurose was actually somewhat excited.
He had already experienced something as absurd as dying and turning into a soul, so as someone naturally optimistic, he found himself looking forward to whatever came next.
Unfortunately, what should have been an ordinary transmigration suddenly went wrong.
The passage, pitch-black yet faintly glowing with purple light, abruptly began to crack apart.
“What’s happening?”
Before Ren Kurose could even think about it, an immense force suddenly dragged him away.
He was forcibly torn straight out of the transmigration passage.
When Ren Kurose finally recovered from the shock, he discovered an enormous star before him.
He had no idea just how massive the star was.
All he knew was that it completely filled his entire field of vision.
He couldn’t even see where it ended.
Strangely enough, a star should have been radiating unimaginably intense heat, yet Ren Kurose felt no burning sensation whatsoever.
He didn’t know whether that was because he was currently in a soul state or because of some other reason.
However, at that moment, Ren Kurose inexplicably felt a powerful sense of sorrow.
That was extremely strange.
“What’s going on?”
“Why does it feel like…
I can hear something wailing?”
After noticing this, Ren Kurose looked toward the star once again.
This time, he finally saw something unusual.
The star was completely different in color from the Sun Ren Kurose was familiar with.
It was a blue star.
However, surrounding that blue star was a layer of vivid crimson flames.
Only after carefully observing it did Ren Kurose notice what was happening.
Wherever the crimson flames came into contact with the blue star, the blue flames emitted by the star were disappearing.
It was as though the crimson fire were devouring the blue flames.
The sight naturally left Ren Kurose stunned.
And so, he continued watching.
Finally, within those crimson flames, Ren Kurose saw something.
A flame pattern shaped like three flower petals.
Then—
The instant Ren Kurose saw that three-petaled flame pattern, unbearable pain exploded through him.
More accurately, it was as though he had suddenly begun losing his sanity.
Ren Kurose felt his emotions collapse in an instant.
He desperately wanted to vent everything inside him.
The loneliness he had felt ever since arriving in this strange place suddenly erupted all at once.
Then came overwhelming agony.
And after that—
Ren Kurose completely lost consciousness.
At the same time, his golden soul-like body continued drifting slowly toward the blue star.
Just a single glance at that three-petaled flame pattern had been enough to make Ren Kurose, even in his soul state, lose consciousness.
One could only imagine how terrifying that thing truly was.
However, just before he completely blacked out, Ren Kurose seemed to hear a voice.
Ding!
The Dimensional Chat Group has detected a living consciousness.
An invitation to join has been issued.
Would you like to join?
With the final shred of consciousness he had left, Ren Kurose forced out two words.
“Join it!”