The day I died… started like any other.
I woke up five minutes before my alarm, stared at the cracked ceiling of my tiny apartment, and debated whether school was really worth the effort. Spoiler: it wasn't.
I'm Akiro Senzai, 17, average grades, average face, invisible to most girls, and mildly allergic to effort. You could say I'm the protagonist of nothing.
So how did I end up here? Lying in a glowing forest, with purple leaves falling from trees that hum?
Let's rewind.
It happened just after I left cram school. Rain started pouring like the gods forgot to turn off the faucet. I was crossing the street, headphones in, phone in hand, and then — boom.
No truck. No scream. Just a flash of white light… and silence.
Next thing I knew, I was waking up on soft grass. The sky was split into streaks of orange and violet, and I swear I saw a whale flying through the clouds.
Definitely not Tokyo.
Then came the popup. Not on my phone — in my vision.
[You have entered the Realm of Evalastra.]
[Syncing core attributes… 4% complete.]
A floating screen. Like a video game.
[Class: Unregistered. Magic Level: 0. Strength: 3. Luck: -2.]
[Status: Pathetic.]
"Wait. Pathetic?! Is that a real status?!"
"…Yes," a voice answered.
I nearly jumped out of my skin. A girl in a silver cloak stood above me, holding what looked like a crystal rifle mixed with a staff. She looked around my age, maybe older, and very, very unimpressed.
"You're the summoned one?" she frowned. "You don't look… useful."
"Nice to meet you too," I mumbled, brushing grass from my hair. "Do all fantasy worlds insult people on arrival?"
She ignored me. "I'm Lyra Veyrin, Knight of the Seventh Flame. I was assigned to pick up the summoned 'hero' from Earth. But… you don't feel like a hero."
I stood up, wobbled, then nearly faceplanted. "Maybe because I'm not one? I was just trying to cross the street."
"Strange," Lyra muttered. "The Oracle said the one summoned would 'shake the sky and bend fate.'" She looked me up and down. "You look like you'd struggle with stairs."
"Ouch," I said, then paused. "Wait. Did you say shake the sky?"
The popup blinked again.
[Core Sync Complete.]
[Class Assigned: ???]
[Unlock Conditions: Unknown]
[Warning: Your presence disturbs the balance of this world.]
Lyra's eyes widened. "That's… impossible."
"What? What is?"
"That class. I've never seen question marks before. And that last line — 'disturbs the balance'? That only shows up for gods, demons… or calamities."
"…Coolcoolcool. So I'm either gonna save the world or blow it up by accident?"
She didn't laugh.
Suddenly, the trees shifted. A low growl echoed through the clearing.
From the shadows stepped a creature — twice as tall as a man, covered in stone armor, with eyes like glowing coals. A Runebeast.
Lyra raised her weapon. "Get behind me!"
But before she could act, the popup flared again.
[Emergency Trigger Detected.]
[Class Lock Released: 0.1%]
[Skill Awakened: Spatial Severance (Dormant)]
The air warped.
A crack appeared between me and the monster — thin as a hair, then wide as a canyon. The Runebeast didn't even have time to roar. It was gone. Like it had never existed.
Lyra stared at me. So did I.
"…Did I do that?"
The popup blinked one last time:
[Cooldown: 168 hours remaining.]
[Current Power Level: Still pathetic.]
To be continued…