The sky felt like it could swallow me whole.
Wide, unbroken, a shade of purple that stretched farther than it should have. Something about it felt... wrong.
I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets and looked around.
The grass around me was tall, almost as if it had been left alone to grow for centuries. The blades shimmered silver, glinting like something straight out of a painting. There was an energy here — like the land was alive, waiting for something. Or maybe waiting for someone to break it.
The others — my classmates — were still scattered across the ground, struggling to get up. They looked like they'd just gotten tossed from a game of roulette, no idea what happened or why.
A couple of them started looking around like lost puppies.
They were pathetic, really. I could already see their panic setting in. They don't even realize yet… I thought, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of my lips.
"Is anyone gonna explain where we are?" Rose asked, brushing her hair from her face, her hands shaking.
"Welcome to New Horizons," I said, my voice flat. "Pretty sure we're all gonna figure this out together... or die trying."
She wasn't pleased with that answer. None of them would be.
And yet, I couldn't stop watching them scramble. Watching them panic. It was almost fun. It reminded me of the time in high school when I watched the underclassmen try to beat the first boss in Tales of Arise — they didn't even know how to dodge properly, just ran straight into an attack. Stupid.
Ayaka, from the Asian side, limped over. "This feels like a nightmare. Is this... like an isekai world or something?" She looked at the sky with a mix of awe and fear.
"Close enough," I said, scanning the horizon. "More like you've been rebooted, and it's not even a new game plus." The breeze stirred the grass, almost making it feel like a virtual world where everything could be reset at the drop of a hat. It reminded me of the wild open worlds in games like The Witcher 3 or Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Massive, open, untamed — with nothing to keep you from wandering straight into a monster's den. But unlike those games, there wasn't a quest marker to guide us.
I could see a shadow moving far off in the distance.
It was massive. Too big to ignore. Slowly, it drifted forward.
None of them noticed yet. Good. Let them think they're safe for a while.
Sofia, who hadn't said much, suddenly perked up. "Is that... a creature? Or a person?" she asked, pointing. But the shadow was already too far for us to make out clearly.
"Whatever it is, it's probably not friendly," I muttered. If this place had anything like the Demons from Dark Souls, we were in for a real treat.
Hana, one of the more nervous students, was clutching her phone like it could help her. "We need to find a way out. There's got to be some kind of—" Her voice trailed off, looking down at the screen. No service. Just static.
"Yeah, good luck with that," I said, rolling my eyes. "We're not getting out. Not unless someone seriously breaks the code."
A few of the others started forming groups. Jack, always trying to take charge, puffed up his chest. "Okay! First thing we do: set up a base camp, find water, fire... Maybe like in Minecraft, huh?"
I couldn't help but laugh, low and sarcastic. "Minecraft? Sure. But we're not building anything here. More like we're stuck in a sandbox with zero resources."
The wind howled, and I watched Jack get his hopes up like some NPC from Final Fantasy. Watching these idiots run around with no plan — it was almost like watching someone play Persona 5, pretending to be a pro but constantly getting caught in battle. You know they'll fail, but you let them do it anyway.
The creature in the distance moved again.
Closer. Bigger.
And now the others were starting to panic.
I leaned back, letting myself float an inch or two off the ground. The subtle shift in gravity felt natural, like something straight out of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I couldn't help but grin.
"Relax. If we're gonna die here, let's at least see what happens when we really break the rules."
I looked at the others again.
The tension was thick in the air.
"Let's just see if they can survive the boss battle," I muttered.
They didn't hear me, too busy yelling about plans. Too busy trying to come up with ideas that'd never work.
They still didn't get it. This wasn't a game.
I turned my back, my fingers brushing over the fractured edges of the air.
It buzzed with potential.
New Horizons was a blank slate. But it was mine to shape.
Let the others waste their energy trying to survive.
I chuckled, watching them all scatter, heads spinning. The shadows of creatures loomed.
The Fracture tugged at me, itching to break the rest of the world into something new. But for now? I had more fun to watch.
"Don't worry," I whispered under my breath, watching the chaos. "I'll let you figure out the rules soon enough."