Su Yun woke up at dawn.
The place where he was lying was hard, and his body was curled up. It felt awful.
When he opened his eyes, he realized he was lying in the bathtub.
Su Yun wasn't surprised. He calmly climbed to his feet and went straight to the sink. Looking at his impossibly handsome reflection, he splashed cold water on his face to wake himself up.
Only then did Su Yun rub his face and mutter, "Another nightmare. What a pain. Sleeping in the bathtub makes me feel a little safer, but this thing's seriously hard..."
He shook his head and started brushing his teeth.
That was right—Su Yun had had a nightmare. Lying in a comfortable bed made him feel terribly unsafe. He could only fall asleep in the somewhat enclosed bathtub.
A side effect of being transported to another world?
No. It was the World Consciousness's failure to understand human nature.
The World Consciousness didn't understand that people had limits. The moment Su Yun crossed over, it transmitted everything that had happened to this world into his mind—something that had been mentioned before.
What hadn't been mentioned were the details.
The details were that the World Consciousness had transmitted every bit of information about those killed and tormented by Mystery, and in ultra-high definition, too. It showed him every last detail of the deaths and every single horrific scene.
In that instant, with no warning at all,
all that information flooded into Su Yun's mind.
Before that, Su Yun had been nothing more than an ordinary overworked planner, a corporate drone working the 996 schedule, one face in the crowd.
As for now...
Honestly, Su Yun didn't even know if he'd already gone insane.
"My name is Su Yun. I'm sixteen years old and live in an upscale apartment in northeastern Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. I'm a student, and I don't have a girlfriend. I go to school and come home at the usual times every day. I don't smoke, and I only drink soda in moderation. I go to bed at one in the morning and get less than six hours of sleep a day."
"Before bed, I always think about a lot of things, then do all sorts of things through the system. After getting into bed, I lie awake for ages and end up seriously sleep-deprived. But thanks to the World Consciousness's protection, my body never carries fatigue or stress over to the next day. Even doctors say there's something seriously wrong with me, and that I should get psychological therapy and counseling at least twice a week."
Staring at the handsome boy in the mirror, Su Yun murmured all this. Then his eyes narrowed, and he smiled gently. Anyone who didn't know him would have thought he was a sweet, kindhearted boy.
Su Yun took a sandwich he'd bought on his way home from school the day before out of the fridge and heated it in the microwave. Then he grabbed a carton of milk, sat down at the dining table, and finished his simple breakfast.
He headed out, ready to go to school.
But when he stepped into the elevator, he saw two people already inside.
There was nothing strange about that. In an upscale apartment building like this, it was perfectly normal for people to head to work or school in the morning.
Su Yun just happened to know the two people in the elevator. He greeted them with his signature gentle smile and a raised hand. "Morning, Kanae-senpai, and Shinobu."
The two he'd greeted, the sisters Butterfly Kanae and Butterfly Shinobu, responded in turn.
Seventeen-year-old Butterfly Kanae had long, straight black hair, a sweet face, a gentle smile, and violet eyes. She raised a hand in a warm greeting. "Good morning, Su-kun."
Her younger brother Butterfly Shinobu, who was only fifteen, had short hair and a stern expression. He didn't seem particularly fond of Su Yun and only offered a flat, "Morning."
The sisters' personalities were complete opposites: one was a gentle big sister, while the other was a prickly, rebellious tomboy. What a pair.
Both sisters wore adorable butterfly hair ornaments, though, which suited their surname perfectly.
The Butterfly sisters were anime girls Su Yun recognized.
He'd been very surprised at first, but now he'd seen so many familiar faces that nothing in this crossover world could surprise him. He'd long since gotten used to it.
The elevator continued downward. Quite a few people got on along the way, and when they saw Su Yun, they all greeted him. He smiled and responded, sometimes even greeting them first.
As mentioned before, thanks to the perks granted by the World Consciousness, Su Yun owned the entire upscale apartment building. Everyone living there was his tenant, so it was only natural they knew him.
Soon, the elevator reached the first floor, and Su Yun and the Butterfly sisters stepped out.
Just outside, Butterfly Kanae casually took out a small, adorable bag decorated with butterflies and handed it to Su Yun.
"Su-kun, I made these little cookies yesterday. Would you mind trying them for me? You could share them with your classmates, too. I'd especially appreciate any suggestions for how I could improve them."
Su Yun paused. Looking at Butterfly Kanae's beautiful, gentle smile, he immediately understood what she meant.
When she said she wanted him to try them, she was simply being kind and considerate. She knew that a sixteen-year-old boy like Su Yun would probably have his pride and might not easily accept something someone gave him. Most boys that age would feel as if they were being pitied.
Of course, Butterfly Kanae didn't realize how charming she was. A normal sixteen-year-old boy in this situation wouldn't feel pitied at all. He'd happily accept the cookies and fall for one of the three great delusions of life: She's into me!
Su Yun smiled and accepted the bag of cookies without a fuss, then thanked Butterfly Kanae for her kindness.
After that, they parted at the intersection and headed in different directions, since they attended different schools.
Once they'd walked for a while, Butterfly Shinobu finally couldn't hold back and curled his lip. "Sis, you're awfully nice to that guy."
Butterfly Kanae's gentle smile remained unchanged. "Well, Su-kun has a lot to deal with on his own."
Butterfly Shinobu scoffed. "He owns the whole apartment building. He's practically living the dream. How can you tell he has a lot to deal with?"
Butterfly Kanae tilted her head. "Shinobu, you seem to have a problem with Su-kun. Why is that?"
Butterfly Shinobu let out a muffled, "Mm," then scratched his head like a tomboy. "I wouldn't say I have a problem with him. It's just that his smile always feels fake to me. I've always found that kind of thing annoying—especially since he has such a good-looking face."
He mumbled the last part so quietly that even Butterfly Kanae couldn't hear him.
But his earlier words made Butterfly Kanae understand. The gentle girl's smile faded, replaced by a serious expression. "Shinobu, I don't know what Su-kun is carrying on his shoulders, but as we know, he's all alone now. Having to bear things alone is really hard."
"So sometimes people wear a mask to protect themselves. We've never experienced what it's like to be alone, so we have no right to criticize him. Don't say things like that about Su-kun again."
Butterfly Shinobu fell silent, then muttered, "All right, all right. I won't say anything about him anymore... Even though you have it hard, too, Sis..."
Butterfly Kanae's gentle smile returned, and she patted Butterfly Shinobu's head. "But I have you, don't I?"
"Mm... Sis, that's so unfair. You always say things like that..."
Faced with that tenderness, Butterfly Shinobu's cheeks reddened slightly, and he turned his head away.
Just as the sisters were having their sweet, close moment, they suddenly felt something. More accurately, everyone in the city, the country, and the entire world felt it at that instant and instinctively looked up.
There, the Light Screen that had appeared the day before had emerged in the skies above every corner of the world.
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