Alessandro was the perfect son anyone could ask for.
Polite, intelligent, successful—everything people admired.
But because of that, everyone around him felt fake.
After finally achieving his dream, he walked toward a quiet mountain. At the top there was a small place where he could sit and watch the city below. The river shined under the evening light.
He sat down, took out a small bottle labeled **"Rat Poison."**
Without saying a word, he drank it.
Soon he started coughing violently and leaned against a tree. His vision blurred as he looked at the city and the river one last time. A gentle wind passed through the leaves.
When his breathing stopped, a small smile remained on his face.
For the first time in his life, he felt free—free from responsibility, loneliness, and everyone's expectations.
---
About **15,000 kilometers away**, there was a girl named **Shoko**.
Shoko was drowning in her own failures.
For years she had tried to ignore the voices of people around her. But they never stopped.
*"It's impressive someone can be this bad."*
Those words echoed in her head again and again.
She had no friends. People called her weird. Even her family sometimes told her she should just disappear.
Today she finally stopped fighting it.
She stood on the edge of a bridge, staring at the clouds drifting slowly across the sky. A small smile appeared on her face.
Then she stepped forward.
The cold river swallowed her.
As she sank deeper, she turned onto her back and watched the sky through the water until everything faded.
---
After some time, she felt something soft beneath her head.
Warm light touched her face.
Shoko slowly opened her eyes.
She realized her head was resting on someone's lap.
Her eyes widened and she quickly jumped up.
"Who are you? And why was I on your lap?!"
The boy blinked, looking just as confused.
He looked around before answering.
"Well… do you remember anything before we came here?"
Shoko squinted at him and made a pouty face.
"Oh yeah, like I would know—breaking news, I don—"
She suddenly froze.
"I… jumped into a river."
She whispered the words.
The boy sighed.
"Yeah… same situation here. I drank poison. So… if we both died, this must be Heaven. Or something like that."
Shoko crossed her arms suspiciously.
"If this was Heaven, I'd feel safe. And I don't."
She looked around at the empty land.
"No trees. No grass. Just empty ground."
She scratched her head.
"Maybe this is hell. I once read in a religious book that hell can be like a jungle or something… We should probably leave."
Neither of them really understood where they were, but staying still didn't feel safe.
So they started walking.
Suddenly two wolves appeared in the distance.
The wolves looked hungry.
"RUN!" Shoko shouted.
They sprinted in the opposite direction.
Hours later, deep into the night, Shoko had fallen asleep from exhaustion while Alessandro carried her.
"Hey, lady… wake up," he said quietly. "I think I see lights."
Half-asleep, Shoko whispered,
"I read somewhere… if you see a straight light in hell, don't go toward it… pretend you didn't see it and walk the other way…"
Alessandro sighed.
They had almost no information and no real plan.
Strangely, he still had a few chocolate bars in his pocket—the same ones he had before drinking the poison.
After wandering for a long time, they finally reached something unexpected.
A **city.**
People stood in long lines at the entrance.
Alessandro climbed onto Shoko's back from exhaustion.
"Well… looks like they're checking IDs or something," he muttered. "What should we do?"
Shoko glanced to the side and noticed two people walking alone.
"You know what I mean," she whispered.
They tried to attack them to steal their place in line.
But they didn't check carefully.
Those two people were **guards**.
The guards immediately arrested them.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Alessandro shouted.
"WE WEREN'T GOING TO HURT ANYONE!" Shoko yelled.
"YEAH! LET US GO, YOU FEATHER-FACED IDIOTS!"
The guards whispered to each other.
Then one of them suddenly spoke in surprisingly good English.
"You two aren't from here, are you?"
"Take them to the king. He will decide."
Before they could resist, the guards knocked them unconscious.
---
Shoko slowly woke up.
She and Alessandro were tied up.
Next to her, Alessandro was quietly counting.
"...100… 101… 102…"
"Hey!" Shoko said. "What are you doing? What's your name? And why are we tied up?"
He glanced at her.
"My name is **Alessandro**. And you?"
"Shoko. I don't use a family name."
"So you always say that when someone asks your name?"
Shoko pouted.
"Yeah. Got a problem, bitch?"
Alessandro rolled his eyes.
"Why aren't you scared? We're literally tied up in some unknown place."
Shoko looked at the ground.
"Why should I be scared? My whole life people judged me. I stopped talking to people years ago. I used sign language because my English was bad. I'm Japanese but I even failed Japanese kanji. My arms hurt from trying to improve… but nothing changed."
She laughed bitterly.
"I suck at everything. So I killed myself. Honestly I didn't think things could get worse… but now I'm tied up in another world."
Alessandro stared at her with wide eyes.
"Well… that's rough," he said slowly. "I guess I can't relate. I was always successful. I overachieved at everything."
The moment he said **"overachieved,"** something inside Shoko snapped.
Her thoughts spiraled.
*Overachieved… never failed…*
*Then why did he kill himself?*
*What kind of life is that?*
Her mind flooded with questions.
Suddenly the guards dragged both of them forward.
The large doors opened.
They were inside a grand **castle**.
On two massive thrones sat a **king and a queen**.
The queen leaned forward, studying them carefully.
"You two…" she said slowly.
"You are not from this world, are you?"