In a corner of a Japanese city, a young man with messy dark brown—almost black—hair had just finished donating blood. He had blue eyes and stood around 172 cm tall. Now, he was inside a room, sitting calmly after the procedure had ended.
"Here you are, Mr. Ritsuka Fujimaru. Please accept this small gift as a token of our gratitude for your blood donation. Your help will surely be of great value to humanity," said a nurse as she called his name. She then handed a small package to the young man.
"There's no need to say it like that. It's just my ordinary blood, and it's only natural for humans to help one another, right?" Ritsuka replied as he accepted the package. He then stood up, preparing to leave.
Suddenly, the nurse's voice was heard again.
"No, Mr. Fujimaru. Your blood will be extremely valuable… for the future," she said, her tone unclear to Ritsuka's ears.
Ritsuka didn't catch her words clearly. He turned to look at the nurse, confusion on his face.
"Huh, what—" he began.
But his words were cut off by another voice.
"Nurse, here's the next donor," said a man from outside the room as he escorted another donor inside.
Ritsuka glanced at the nurse for a moment. He wanted to say something, but seeing that she was already busy attending to the next donor, he gave up on it.
"Forget it," Ritsuka muttered softly.
He stepped out of the tent, the small package still in his hand. As soon as he exited, sunlight greeted him, signaling that it was already past noon.
"Wow, it's really hot," Ritsuka complained as he covered his head with his hand, trying to shield himself from the sun.
"With heat like this, it feels like enough to burn humanity to ashes," he joked as he walked along the sidewalk.
He continued walking without trouble until he finally arrived at his apartment. Once inside, Ritsuka immediately collapsed onto the sofa and drank some ice-cold water with relief.
After a few gulps, he placed the bottle on the table. He then opened the package he had received from the blood donation. As he peeled away the wrapping paper, a lion plush toy was revealed inside.
"A plush toy?" Ritsuka murmured as he turned it around in his hands.
"I guess I'll just give it to my cousin. She'll definitely love it," he said lightly.
He leaned back against the sofa, allowing himself to relax for a moment.
"Tomorrow's already Monday… school again," Ritsuka muttered softly. He then pulled out his bankbook from behind the sofa and stared at the amount of savings written inside.
"With this much money, it'll only last about two weeks. I need to find a part-time job soon," he said.
"There's no way I can ask my aunt for more money," he added as he stared up at the apartment ceiling.
Suddenly, the phone lying beside him began to ring. Ritsuka turned his head and looked at the screen.
He smiled faintly and picked up his phone.
"Alright, time for gacha," Ritsuka said casually, intending to open a game.
However, before he could tap the game icon on the screen—
A black hole slowly opened directly above his head. Ritsuka was completely unaware of it. His attention was fully focused on the phone in his hand. The next moment, his body began to lift slowly from the sofa, as if being pulled by something.
"Huh… what's going on?" Ritsuka said as he looked around in confusion. His gaze then shifted upward toward the black hole above him.
Plup.
In an instant, his body was completely sucked into the hole. His phone slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor.
Ritsuka slowly opened his eyes.
He was lying on his back. The first thing that entered his vision was a vast blue sky, filled with white clouds drifting lazily.
"The sky…?" Ritsuka murmured softly.
He tried to sit up. But when he looked to his left and right, his eyes widened in shock.
No matter where he looked, all he could see was the sky—and its reflection. It was as if he were standing on the surface of perfectly clear water, mirror-like, reflecting the clouds and the blue sky without even the slightest ripple. Ritsuka looked around, unable to see the edge of the place—only an endless expanse of repeating sky.
Confusion filled his face.
"W-where… is this?" he whispered.
He slowly stood up, his feet touching a surface that felt solid. His heart began to race.
"H-hello?! Is anyone there?!" Ritsuka shouted, his voice echoing far into the distance. But there was no response.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.
"Oh, our protagonist finally woke up."
The tone was light and cheerful, like someone joking around.
Ritsuka was startled and quickly turned around. Floating there was a ball of white light, shining softly in the air.
"Huh? What is this?" Ritsuka blurted out as he instinctively tried to touch it.
But as his hand approached, the light nimbly dodged away.
"Sorry, I don't like being touched," the light said cheerfully, laughing.
Ritsuka's face turned pale, and he immediately sat down.
"Waaah, a ghost!" Ritsuka shouted.
"How rude! I'm not a ghost, you know," the light said as it circled around Ritsuka.
Still panicking, Ritsuka tried to calm himself and spoke again.
"I-if you're not a ghost, then… what are you?" Ritsuka asked.
The light then began to form a body, transforming into the shape of an elementary-school-aged child.
"Hehehe~ me? I'm, hmm…" the light said, looking as if it were thinking.
"What do you think I am?" it continued.
Ritsuka frowned slightly.
"Why are you asking me? I don't even know what you are or who you are," Ritsuka replied.
"Oh right, sorry, I forgot, hehe~ Let's forget about who I am for now. Aren't you curious about where you are?" the light said.
Ritsuka suddenly realized it and immediately asked,
"Yeah, that… where is this place? Did you bring me here?" he asked.
The light smiled and answered,
"Hmmm… this place, huh… you could call this place an abyss. It's very close to other worlds. You could say it's the abyss that separates those worlds. And as for your second question—yes, I'm the one who brought you here."
Ritsuka looked utterly confused.
"What do you mean by other worlds?" he asked, then continued,
"Why did you bring me here, and what's your purpose?"
"Other worlds, huh… worlds different from your own. Places where time, location, geography, climate, stories, and people are all different," the light replied.
"My purpose? I'm trying to form a secret group, a place where extraordinary people from various worlds gather. And you are one of them. I've gathered four people so far, including you—so that makes five now," it continued, pointing at Ritsuka.
Ritsuka looked even more confused.
"What do you mean by extraordinary people? I'm just an ordinary high school student. I'm not some great person like you say," he protested.
"Oh, you're wrong, Ritsuka," the light replied casually.
"You will become a great person—someone who can defy fate. You might even become a king someday. You just don't know what your future looks like yet."
Ritsuka fell silent for a moment, then said,
"No matter what you say, I'm still just an ordinary human."
The light smiled.
"Not anymore," it said softly.
"And, Ritsuka… among all the people in this universe, you are my favorite. Whether it's Gudao or Gudako—if it weren't you, I wouldn't form this group at all," the light said.
Ritsuka looked even more confused.
"Why… why do you like me?" he asked.
"What are you really doing?" Ritsuka continued.
The light circled around him again.
"Why do I like you so much? That's a secret," it said lightly.
Ritsuka frowned slightly at the answer.
"And as for what I'm really doing…" the light-child paused for a moment, then smiled.
"Well, I'm just bored."
"Bored?" Ritsuka repeated.
"Yes, bored," it replied casually.
"I've been nothing but an observer here in the abyss. I've watched countless stories—especially yours. I've grown sick of it. I want to interfere in those stories myself. Besides, it's too lonely here. There's nothing at all. So I decided to do something."
Ritsuka asked again,
"Then… what exactly are you doing?"
"Hmmm… how should I explain it…" the light-child looked thoughtful for a moment.
"To put it simply, I travel to various worlds and negotiate with the rulers of those worlds. It's pretty exhausting, you know, until they agree to send extraordinary people from their worlds to this group. And I still have to explain all of this to the other four members as well," it said.
"Y-you can do something like that?" Ritsuka asked in shock.
"I can, but it's not easy," the light replied quickly.
"If a world doesn't have a ruler, I can only negotiate with the planet's will itself. And that's extremely unpleasant—they don't have any personal desires at all, they only want to exterminate humanity—"
Ritsuka didn't catch the last part clearly.
"Huh… what do you mean—"
But his words were cut off.
"Because you are my favorite," the light-child interrupted with a smile,
"later, I'll give you something special. It's simple, but over time, with it, you'll become strong. It comes from another world, but I've modified it and made it stronger. Give it time, and you'll grow without limit."
It looked straight at Ritsuka.
"Your fate has already changed. You will become a great person—perhaps even a great king someday, Ritsuka."
Ritsuka fell silent at the light-child's words. He wanted to say something, but the light interrupted him again.
"Well then, let's welcome the other members now. They should be done listening to the explanation from my other self," the light said as it grabbed Ritsuka's hand while he was still sitting.
"W-wait, I haven't—" Ritsuka said in panic.
But his words were ignored. The light immediately dragged him toward a door of light that appeared before them. Ritsuka reflexively shut his eyes as an intense brightness engulfed his vision.
After passing through the door of light, Ritsuka slowly opened his eyes. In front of him stood four figures, not too far away. The light that had brought him here slowly disappeared, leaving behind a cheerful voice in the air.
"Well then, the last member has arrived. Please continue your discussion," the voice said, then vanished completely.
Ritsuka looked at the people before him one by one.
The first was a young man with a slightly hunched posture.
The second was a black-haired man wearing a haori, his face covered in burn scars.
The third was a white-haired woman dressed neatly in white work clothes.
And the last was the most striking figure—a man who looked like an old gentleman, wearing elegant and dignified dark aristocratic attire.
The old man stared at Ritsuka. His eyes widened for a brief moment, then quickly returned to calm. A faint smile formed on his face.
"So even the last Master of humanity was invited," the old man said softly, then continued with clear interest,
"It seems… this is going to be very interesting."