It was Tuesday.
11:00 AM.
January, 2026.
Los Angeles.
The city moved the way it always did. Cars hummed past, conversations thrived. The ordinary rhythm of a normal day carried on without interruption. Nobody questioned it. Nobody sensed anything wrong.
A seventeen-year-old boy stood at the counter in a sandwich shop.
"Haha, thanks! How much do I owe ya?" he asked, smiling at the cashier behind the counter.
The woman leaned forward slightly, eyes locking onto his.
"Hehe. You don't have to owe me a cent, lover boy."
The words hit him harder than he expected.
"S-Seriously?!" he stammered, heat rushing to his face. "Thanks a bunch!"
He hurried out of the store.
The bell above the door chimed as it shut behind him.
Outside, he slowed to a stop, gripping the paper bag a little too tightly.
'Did that actually just happen?' he thought. 'The cashier might have the hots for me. Maybe. Not guaranteed…'
He paused, replaying it in his head.
'She did call me lover boy…'
A faint grin tugged at his lips.
Up close, the boy looked unmistakably young. His white hair fell in messy, uneven strands, refusing to stay neat no matter what he did. It framed his face naturally, giving him an unpolished but striking look. His features were soft, still carrying the structure of youth, and his eyes was complex shade of light blue.
He wore a white hoodie with black stripes along the sleeves and torso, paired with loose black pants made of soft cotton. Comfortable. Ordinary.
Then everything changed.
A soft bounce echoed nearby.
The boy's attention snapped toward the street just in time to see a small rubber ball roll off the sidewalk and into the road.
A little girl, no older than seven, stood frozen for a moment.
Then she ran after it.
"Hey!"
His stomach dropped.
She stepped into the street, eyes locked onto the ball, completely unaware of the massive truck barrelling toward her. The engine roared, loud and deep, growing closer far too fast.
"What the fuck?!" the boy muttered.
The paper bag slipped from his fingers and hit the pavement. His body moved before his thoughts caught up.
"Hey! Kid! Come back right now!"
He sprinted.
The world narrowed. The truck's horn blared. The ground vibrated beneath his feet.
He reached her just in time.
Grabbing the girl around the waist, he twisted and hurled her backward with everything he had. She landed hard on the sidewalk but remained unharmed.
The boy stumbled forward.
The girl blinked, confused.
"Oh, are you going to get my ball for me, mister?" she asked innocently. "Thank you!"
Then she looked up.
Her eyes widened.
The truck filled her vision. Huge, unstoppablr and rushing straight toward the boy standing in the middle of the road.
Her face drained of color.
"M-MISTER!!!"
The boy turned.
For a brief moment, everything went quiet.
The engine's roar swallowed the world. The truck loomed impossibly close. His legs refused to move, locked in place as if the asphalt itself had seized him.
'So this is how I die?' he thought.
There was no panic. Only a dull, sinking acceptance.
'Dammit…'
Impact came instantly.
His body was thrown violently through the air. Pain flared everywhere at once before vanishing just as quickly. Blood spilled across the asphalt as his vision blurred.
Screams erupted from every direction.
People rushed forward. Voices overlapped. Hands shook him.
"Hey! Listen to me! Can you hear me?!"
He tried to respond. Nothing came out.
"Wake up! You have to wake up!"
The voice grew distant.
One by one, his senses shut down.
His heart slowed.
His breathing stopped.
'Wow…'
'So this is how I die, huh…?'
'How funny…'
Then there was nothing.
No sound.
No feeling.
No sense of self.
Time ceased to exist.
It felt like an eternity, yet also like nothing at all.
Then, far away, a light appeared.
Small at first.
Then brighter.
Closer.
Until it swallowed everything.
Fumi gasped.
Air rushed into his lungs as his eyes snapped open.
Green filled his vision.
He lay flat on his back, staring up at a wide blue sky framed by scattered treetops. Cool grass pressed against his skin.
"Where…" he muttered.
His throat felt dry.
"Where am I?"
Slowly, carefully, he pushed himself upright. His head spun as he knelt, then stood. He scanned his surroundings. Sparse trees behind him. Open land ahead. About twenty meters away stretched a vast green field.
His heart pounded.
"Am I… dead?"
He swallowed.
"No… this place…"
A strange familiarity crept over him.
"This kind of looks like…" he said quietly. "That open world adventure game…"
He frowned.
"What was it called again…?"
A pause.
"Open Frontier. Yeah."
Before he could process the thought, a faint pressure tugged at his attention.
His left arm.
Fumi looked down.
A translucent interface hovered just above his forearm. Clean lines. Icons. Text. It glowed faintly and moved with him, perfectly aligned.
His breath caught.
"W-What the fuck?!"
He staggered backward and fell onto the grass, scrambling away.
"What the fuck is this thing?! Get it off!"
He shook his arm violently.
The interface didn't move.
His chest tightened as a realization settled in.
"…Was I..." he whispered, "transported into Open Frontier?"