Ren slowly opened his eyes.
"…Please tell me I'm on solid ground this time," he muttered.
Ami sat up beside him, coughing slightly.
"…Ren?"
He turned his head.
They were no longer in the ocean war.
No explosions.
No spaceships.
No monsters.
Just silence.
They were standing in a wide grassy field under a calm blue sky.
"…Huh?" Ren blinked.
Ami looked around carefully.
"…Did it finally stop?"
Ren slowly nodded.
"…I think the universe got tired."
For a moment, everything felt normal.
Too normal.
Birds were chirping.
A gentle wind was blowing.
It almost felt like school was just a dream.
Ren sighed deeply.
"…Finally. A safe save point."
Ami looked at him. "Save point?"
Ren quickly shook his head.
"Nothing. Forget it."
They started walking slowly through the field.
Ami stayed close.
"…Ren."
"Yeah?"
"…What is happening to us?"
Ren stayed quiet for a moment.
Then he answered honestly.
"I don't know."
Ami looked down.
"…We just keep getting thrown into different places."
Ren nodded.
"Sky war… space war… ocean war…"
He counted on his fingers.
"Honestly, I feel like we're in a broken game."
Ami gave a small nervous smile.
"…That's a strange way to describe reality."
Ren looked at her.
"I've been calling it reality. Reality disagrees with me."
Ami laughed softly.
For a moment, things felt calm again.
But suddenly—
The grass under their feet flickered.
Ren stopped walking.
"…Ami?"
Ami looked down.
"…It's glowing?"
A faint magic circle appeared under them again.
Ren's eyes widened.
"…No."
Ami stepped back. "REN?!"
Ren pointed at the ground.
"WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A CIRCLE?!"
The sky above them cracked slightly like glass.
A familiar voice echoed.
"Subjects located."
Ren froze.
"…That voice again."
Ami grabbed his arm.
"REN!! WHAT IS IT?!"
Ren slowly backed away.
"I think…"
He swallowed.
"…We are being tracked."
The ground began to rise with light.
The air shook again.
Ami shouted, "NOT AGAIN!!"
Ren took a deep breath.
"…Okay."
He looked at Ami.
"This time… I'm not surprised."
Ami: "THAT'S YOUR RESPONSE?!"
Ren: "I'm evolving emotionally."
Ami: "THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO EVOLVE!!"
FLASH!
Everything disappeared again.
Somewhere unknown… something finally spoke clearly.
"…Two anomalies detected."
"…Transfer sequence continuing."
"…Subject: Gate Breaker candidate identified."
And far away in the void between worlds…
Ren and Ami were falling again.
But this time…
It didn't feel random anymore.
It felt planned.
Ren opened his eyes slowly.
"…Finally… solid ground," he said weakly.
Ami sat up beside him, brushing dust off her clothes.
"…I think we're stable this time," she said carefully.
Ren looked around.
No ocean. No space. No strange war zones.
Just a wide empty desert.
Hot wind blew across the sand.
And in the middle of everything—
There was only one thing.
A single tree.
It had no leaves. Dry branches stretched like fingers into the sky.
Ren squinted.
"…That tree looks depressed."
Ami nodded. "It matches this place."
They walked slowly toward the tree.
The silence was heavy.
No explosions.
No teleportation.
Just wind.
Ren exhaled.
"…Maybe we finally reached a normal world."
Ami looked at him.
"Don't jinx it."
Ren immediately raised his hands.
"Right. Sorry. I didn't mean to summon disaster with my words."
They stood near the dead tree.
For a moment… it was quiet.
Too quiet.
Ren relaxed slightly.
"…Okay. Maybe we're safe."
Ami nodded.
"Yeah. Finally—"
WHOOOOSH!!
A portal suddenly opened in the sky above them.
Ren's eyes widened instantly.
"…I TAKE IT BACK!!"
Ami grabbed his arm.
"REN!! YOU JINXED IT!!"
From the portal—
A human figure was falling.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH—!!"
Ren tilted his head.
"…That scream sounds familiar."
The figure crashed straight into the tree.
CRACK!
Branches shook violently.
"OWWW!! WHY IS IT ALWAYS A TREE?!!"
Ren froze.
"…No way."
Ami blinked. "You know him?"
Ren pointed at the falling figure stuck in the branches.
"…That's my friend."
Ami: "Again?!"
The person slowly fell out of the tree and landed face-first in the sand.
THUD.
He lifted his head slowly.
Leaves somehow stuck in his hair.
"…Ren…?"
Ren crossed his arms.
"Sato."
Sato pointed at him.
"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS IN WEIRD PLACES?!"
Ren: "I could ask you the same thing."
Sato stood up, brushing sand off his clothes.
"I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT ANIME SEASON 2 AND THEN I FELL THROUGH A PORTAL!!"
Ami looked between them.
"…So this is your friend?"
Ren nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes."
Sato looked around at the desert.
"…So this is isekai?"
Ren sighed.
"Looks like it."
Sato paused.
"…Can I go back?"
Ren and Ami answered together:
"No."
Sato: "WHY IS THAT ANSWER ALWAYS SO FAST?!"
A cold wind blew across the desert.
The dead tree creaked slightly.
The desert sun was unbearable.
Ren wiped sweat from his forehead.
"…It's too hot," he said weakly.
Ami sat under the dead tree, fanning herself with her hand.
"…This place is like an oven," she muttered.
Sato lay flat on the sand.
"…I regret everything," he said.
Ren looked at him.
"You regret anime Season 2?"
Sato nodded slowly.
"…Yes."
Ami sighed. "Can we focus on what is happening to us?"
Ren sat down beside them.
"Yeah… good idea."
He looked around the empty desert.
"So first… we were in school."
Sato raised a finger. "Normal life."
Ren continued.
"Then I saw a weird gate."
Ami added, "Then we started teleporting everywhere."
Sato pointed at himself.
"And then I fell from the sky into a tree."
They all went silent for a moment.
Sato slowly said, "…That sounds like a very bad game update."
Ren nodded.
"Exactly."
Ami looked serious.
"So where are we now?"
Ren shook his head.
"I don't know."
Sato sat up slightly.
"…Do you think we're dead?"
Ren immediately replied.
"No."
Ami nodded.
"I don't feel dead."
Sato frowned.
"…That's not a convincing answer."
A strong wind blew across the desert.
All three of them squinted.
The dead tree creaked again.
Ren spoke quietly.
"…Something is definitely controlling this."
Ami looked at him. "Like what?"
Ren hesitated.
"…Like a system."
Sato blinked. "System?"
Ren nodded slowly.
"Yeah… like something is moving us from place to place."
Ami looked down at the sand.
"…So we're not in control."
Sato sighed.
"…Great. Even my life got patched without update notes."
Ren stood up slowly.
"Okay. First plan."
Ami looked up. "What?"
Ren pointed at the horizon.
"…Survive this heat."
Sato immediately fell back down.
"THAT'S YOUR PLAN?!"
Ren: "Step one is always survive."
Ami gave a small tired smile.
"…At least it's a plan."
The three of them sat under the dead tree, exhausted and confused.
And for a moment…
Even the world stayed quiet.
Watching.