Snow drifted heavily beyond the window, while the fireplace flickered softly, casting a dim amber warmth across the room.
Lu Nian’an and Xia Jiuwei sat side by side on an elegant leather sofa, both staring at the empty seat across from them.
With a casual wave of her hand, Lu Nian’an summoned a temporary contract onto the table between them.
Several moments passed.
The contract remained unchanged.
And then—at some point impossible to pinpoint—a young man suddenly appeared sitting across from them.
Not as though he had materialized out of nowhere.
Rather, it felt as if he had always been there—only never noticed.
Like someone you realize, at the end of a gathering, had been standing in the corner the entire time.
“That’s quite an unusual ability.”
Lu Nian’an tilted her head slightly, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
“It seems like it prevents everyone from noticing your existence.”
“You were staring at us earlier,” Xia Jiuwei said, leaning forward slightly, her gaze sharp with faint pressure.
“Was there something you wanted?”
She paused.
“Or are you the type who likes following women around?”
“N-No, not at all!”
The man waved his hands in panic, forcing out an awkward smile.
“And… I already have someone I like.”
“Then why were you following us?”
“Well…” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I could sense a really strong ‘otherworldly feeling’ from the two of you.”
“I thought… maybe you might know a way to undo my condition.”
“Otherworldly?” Lu Nian’an raised an eyebrow slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“About half a year ago,” the man said with a bitter laugh, “while I was working overtime, I accidentally wandered into another world.”
“At first I thought it would be like an anime—being summoned as a hero or forced to work for some kingdom or something…”
“But none of that happened. I just kept walking… and somehow ended up back in reality.”
He lowered his eyes slightly.
“But ever since then, I’ve become… like this.”
Xia Jiuwei let out a soft hum, amusement lingering in her tone.
“You could do a lot with an ability like that, couldn’t you?”
“No one would notice if you stole something, assassinated someone… or even did something terrible to women.”
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Are you really sure you want to get rid of it?”
“I…”
The man froze for a moment.
His expression slowly became serious.
He straightened his posture and looked directly at Xia Jiuwei.
“I just…”
He hesitated.
Then, more firmly—
“…finally found the meaning of my life.”
“And for her sake… I want to truly live again.”
“The meaning of life?” Xia Jiuwei repeated quietly, sounding faintly puzzled.
“Yes.”
A gentle smile appeared on the man’s face.
“Alright.” Xia Jiuwei nodded.
“I can remove this condition for you.”
Her fingers tapped lightly against the table.
“But in exchange…”
“You have to tell us your story.”
“And explain what this so-called ‘meaning of life’ really is.”
His name was Yamada Naoto.
An utterly ordinary person.
As a child, his grades were fairly good. Under the expectations of his family, he entered a respectable high school.
Although he failed to get into his ideal university, he still enrolled in a department considered prestigious at the time.
After graduation, he successfully joined a well-known company in Japan.
Everything seemed to be moving along what people called a “proper life.”
For a while,
he truly thought the hardest days were finally behind him.
On his first day at work—
“Hello everyone, my name is Yamada Naoto. I look forward to working with all of you.”
He bowed politely, nervous but unable to hide his excitement for the future.
At that moment, he genuinely believed he was stepping into a good life.
“Yamada, want to go to an izakaya tonight?”
After work on the very first day, one of the senior employees enthusiastically invited him out.
“Ah—yes, senpai!”
The izakaya glowed with warm light, filled with overlapping voices and laughter.
Beer glasses clinked together while conversations flowed easily.
The atmosphere made people loosen up without noticing.
Yamada smiled too.
It was the comforting feeling of finally “becoming part of society.”
Until—
“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s head back and finish the overtime work.”
“…Huh?”
Yamada froze.
The senior turned toward him, sounding completely matter-of-fact.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you thought we were actually done for the day.”
“If you don’t work hard, how are you supposed to get promoted?”
“…Understood.”
After a long silence, Yamada nodded.
That night, he returned to his apartment at two in the morning.
At nine the next day, he was back in the office right on time.
Day after day passed.
Little by little, he got used to it.
Life wasn’t like people claimed.
“Study hard, get into a good university, and you’ll land a good job and make lots of money.”
Behind those words was endless overtime, responsibility piled endlessly on top of responsibility, and competition with no visible finish line.
And the so-called “climbing upward” perhaps had no end at all.
“Yamada, going to the izakaya again tonight?”
“Um… I still have documents to finish, so I’ll pass.”
He forced a smile.
“I see. Take care of yourself then.”
The seniors left.
Just like always.
At night, the office contained nothing except the sound of keyboards clicking.
Rhythmic. Repetitive. Cold.
He could no longer remember how many nights like this he had endured.
Eventually, he began to feel tired.
Not physically.
But hollow.
A kind of emptiness he could not describe.
Occasionally, his family would call.
“How’s work going?”
“The salary’s good, right?”
“Have you gotten a girlfriend yet?”
And every time, he answered the same way:
“It’s fine.”
But no one had ever asked him—
“Are you tired?”
Then, suddenly—
he realized something.
He had never really thought about what he wanted.
He had simply kept moving forward.
Because everyone said that was the correct thing to do.
Because if he didn’t, he would fall behind.
Because otherwise, he would never have a good future.
He was just a machine.
Start on time.
Produce on time.
Never breaking down.
And never meaning anything.
People did not see him.
What they saw was merely—
“Yamada Naoto, a man capable of working.”
Even to his own family, he was only the successful product they could proudly point to.
So then—
What was left of the person called “himself”?
The moment that thought appeared—
the world around him quietly changed.
When he came back to his senses, nothing was the same anymore.
He froze and slowly looked around.
Almost instinctively, muttered under his breath:
“…No way. Did I just get transported to another world?”