Kaizo and Meshi slowly walked through the back of the convenience store.
Behind the building lied a whole complex maze of alleyways, every time you turned a corner you could be faced with a dead end.
Visibility was hard as the alleyways were not lit up. The faint moonlight and what little neon lighting reached them, their only guide.
As they turned around from a dead end they heard footsteps behind them.
"Hello? Is someone there?" Meshi shouted, placing both of her hands on the sides of her mouth to enhance the volume of her voice.
"We pose no threat!" Kaizo shouted, raising his head.
Once more, they heard rapid footsteps behind them, both of them turning around in unison. When they did, no one was there, as if they were being teased.
Kaizo took two steps behind Meshi as he examined his surroundings. The moment he heard a single footstep from the distance, he shifted his leg slightly behind him.
The movement was just enough to make the mysterious person trip and fall on the ground, the action was accompanied with a thud and a small grunt.
"Ouch..." a young man's muffled voice could be heard from below.
Meshi turned around, aligning herself with Kaizo to look down on the mysterious man.
"Who are you?" She stated, her yellow eyes remained piercingly focused on him.
The man lifted his view up to make eye contact with both of them. He was wearing a plain black shirt and oversized gray joggers, giving him an athletic look. Along with long curly hair with a single white stripe, and a younger-looking face, barely an adult.
Meshi took a step forward, her knees slightly bending, hinting at her intentions of helping the young man up.
Before she could reach out for the man, he reacted. Rolling onto his back, frantically dragging himself along the floor, until he hit a wall.
"W-Who are you, let me go, please...!"
His eyes were almost glassy, and his voice cracked.
"Hey..." Meshi squatted down to the man's height. "I'm guessing you just transmigrated here, right?" Her voice was softer than usual, trying not to distress the man any further.
The man let out a small gulp. "Yeah... I was... I-I forgot... But I suddenly woke up here."
Meshi raised an eyebrow at the fact he had forgotten what he was doing before waking up here. Before appearing here she was... She was... wait, what was she doing?
She cleared her throat before speaking up again. "So, what's your name?"
"My name's Hisho... What about you two?"
"I'm Meshi."
"And, I'm Kaizo."
"How long has it been since you transmigrated...?"
"A couple minutes. We snooped around, no idea why we're here." Kaizo said, crossing his arms in disappointment.
"Yeah... We're still trying to figure out why we're here, you should come with us, c'mon."
Meshi reached her hand out, offering it to Hisho.
Hisho looked at either side before accepting Meshi's offering, grabbing her hand as she helped him up.
Kaizo shortly looked around before asking. "How extensive are these alleyways?"
The brick halls seemed to stretch out infinitely in all directions, if you looked further into the distance a white fog was visible.
"I'm unsure... I haven't been here long enough, a-and I'm kinda scared of investigating further. It seems really easy to get lost in there."
The three of them wandered their way out of the alleyways. Walking out to the convenience store's parking lot.
The flow of people along the sidewalks was as usual, blending in as a mass of gray. But sticking out from the crowd, a bright red crown of hair was stood still amongst the rest.
Meshi pushed her way through the mass of people, they seemed to move to water around her. No one bumped or brushed her side, they just automatically avoided her, like a constant pathfinding algorithm.
A woman was now standing before Meshi, she was glancing at her surroundings, looking particularly focused on the Detonator Sushi neon sign.
Her red hair was accompanied by white streaks that ran from the scalp to the tips on her locks. She was wearing a beige crop top below her brown vest, a thin, athletic form could be appreciated. Her black pants turned looser the further down you went, resembling the shape of bells.
Meshi gently grabbed the mysterious woman's shoulder, snapping her out of her focus.
"Hey, did you just appear here?" She asked.
The woman's eyes turned wide open from the sudden contact, she turned to look at Meshi, her eyes were the crimson color of her hair.
"Yeah. Woke up a couple minutes ago." Her tone was calm and collected, not a crack or stutter in her speech.
"So, what's your name?"
"I'm Sake, what about you?"
"I'm Meshi," Meshi turned towards the other two guys and pointed at them. "Those two are Kaizo and Hisho."
"How long have y'all been here?"
"Not much, just a couple minutes more than you."
"Why are we even here?"
"We do not know. We're still trying to figure that out." Meshi turned at the Detonator Sushi building. "But that restaurant... It gives me the creeps. It emerged from the ground some time ago. I'm sure it has something to do with us being here."
"Hey, we should go to the street, the crowd of people is seeming to get larger." Kaizo barged in out of nowhere.
The four of them reunited on the street, forming a circle as they stood facing each other.
"So to recap... We all woke up here, have no a-apparent purpose, and the world is the size of a single street" Hisho said.
"I mean, there's also the alleyways... But I see your point." Kaizo stated.
"That sushi place seems suspicious. It emerged out of nowhere from the floor, and its the only building we can actually see the inside of." Meshi crossed her arms as she spoke.
"The sign outside the building said it's open, yet it is completely empty." Sake glanced back at the restaurant.
A high-pitched sound resembling the jingle of a bell reverberated across the entire world. It's origin point coming from Detonator Sushi's doorstep.
In the group's vision a message appeared. It was written in a white console font in front of a translucent blue background, invisible to the others.
[ System Notification: Gather at the entrance (0/4) ]
"Gather at the... What the heck does that mean!?" Kaizo shouted, tilting his head and crossing his arm, his voice turned raspy for just a second.
"It could mean the place where we woke up... Or the convenience store entrance, or the alleyways or the-" Hisho rapidly rambled with his trembling voice.
"It's the Detonator Sushi entrance." Meshi interrupted.
"How do you know?" Sake asked, stepping closer to her.
Meshi pointed at the Detonator Sushi doorstep. "It's literally glowing."
In front of the wooden doors, a bright blue orb was standing there, statically floating, it's light being the only movement it produced.
"Oh!" The group vocalized in unison.
A counter appeared over the orb, it had the same font and backdrop as the previous system notification.
[ 0/4 ]
The group stepped close to the orb, just right before the sidewalk, examining it cautiously.
"Should we really obey that thing? I-I mean what if it's dangerous?" Hisho muttered, hiding himself behind Kaizo's taller frame.
"I vote for Meshi to get close to the orb." Kaizo stated, letting out a small grin.
"I also vote for Meshi." Sake replied, taking a small step back.
"I also vote!" Hisho cowardly declared.
Meshi looked back at her group with a face of disgust as they all collectively took a step back, leaving her alone. She had no other choice but to get close to the orb.
She took one step. As soon as she got onto the sidewalk, the orb's glow amplified for just a second, letting out a small tick sound as the counter changed.
[ 1/4 ]
"Seems safe enough." Meshi checked her body and surroundings. No change could be seen. She looked back at her group giving them a thumbs up.
Sake was the next to approach the orb, taking two steps.
[ 2/4 ]
Kaizo looked down at Hisho, he seemed to be almost trembling in fear. He shoved him closer to the orb, getting a small scream from him.
[ 3/4 ]
Kaizo was final, he just took a single step. The jingle could be heard once again as the counter maxed out.
[ 4/4 ]
The orb faded away and the system notification popped up on everyone's vision.
[ System Notification: All players have been gathered at the entrance. Please input your Group Name. ]
They all collectively pondered. A group name? What could be their name?
"I suggest Teleported1s" Kaizo stated, with a confident grin accross his face.
"No." The rest remarked.
Meshi looked into the restaurant's window. Wondering what they were gonna do. In her inner monologue she asked the system why they were here. And she finally got an answer.
[ System: It seems you're all having a rough time. Would you like an overview of what your goal in Detonator Sushi will be? ]
"Yes" They all said.
[ System: Here at Detonator Sushi you have a single goal. To run a succesful sushi restaurant. ]