Welcome to Reality… I Think

“Where am I?” I muttered, looking around.
Darkness. Just darkness.
And not the cool, mysterious kind. No. The cheap kind.
The one that looks like the default wallpaper when the universe crashes.
“Don’t tell me… did I die again?”
“But this time… it feels like I actually died.”

A few seconds passed in total silence.
Nothing.
Just me and my misfortune floating in the void.

And then…

FWOOSH!

A light sucked me in like I was being vacuumed by some OCD god.

“Wha—?! AHHHHH!”

I opened my eyes wide, gasping like I’d just run a marathon in flip-flops.

“Ugh, my head...!”

I held my temples and blinked a few times. Something wasn’t right.
Something was very not right.

“Am I… in my room?” I asked out loud, almost afraid to move.

Yep. I was back.
On the floor of my room.
Computer on, blinking its little blue light.
The infamous DIABOLIC SOUL can lying next to me, as if mocking me.

“This can’t be…” I said, scratching my head, still trying to process things.

I stood up awkwardly. The whole room spun.
I looked at the clock: 10:01 PM.

“The same time…?”

Does that mean it was all just a dream? I thought, still dazed.
No. It couldn’t have been a dream.
It felt way too real...

I stared at my hands, expecting some glowing mark or magic tattoo.
Nothing. Just regular fingers. And nails that desperately needed trimming.

I bent down and picked up the can, inspecting it like it owed me answers.

“Evelyn? Can you hear me?” I asked… the can.
Nothing. Obviously.

“So it was just a dream, huh…”

I said it under my breath.

I let myself fall backward onto the floor, arms spread wide like the lead in some school drama who just got dumped.

A mix of sadness and frustration filled my chest, hard to put into words.
Like someone had stolen something from me… and I didn’t even know what.

Not long after...

I fell asleep.
Right there.
On the floor.
With a broken back, crushed soul…
And that cursed homicidal soda can as my only companion.

The next morning, life had returned to normal.
No sexy goddesses.
No fantasy worlds.
No Norwenthia.
Nothing at all.

Just the glorious return to earthly routine.

In a way, it wasn’t so bad if it had all been a dream. I mean, a world on the brink of demonic invasion wasn’t exactly the ideal place to reincarnate.

But then again… it hadn’t been that bad…

Yes. Kurosawa Ren was officially admitting that the “dream” he had the other night—being chased by monsters, humiliated by a sexy goddess, and eaten by a dog named Princess—had been more exciting than the last few years of his actual life.

“Well… back to the routine,” I muttered with a yawn as I got up like nothing had happened.

As usual, the house was empty.
I had breakfast alone. Again.
Then left for school.

The walk there was about as thrilling as watching paint dry on a towel.
Same streets.
Same shops.
Same old man complaining about a car blocking his driveway.

And when I got to school… same old story.
Boys doing boy things.
Girls doing girl things.
And me… trying not to fall asleep while standing.

I really don’t feel like explaining it, okay? You wouldn’t believe me anyway.

Boring classes.
Teachers with the vocal range of an air freshener.
Final bell. Freedom.

And then, I decided to visit my sacred temple.
The corner store.

“Here for more of those weird drinks, Ren?” the old guy at the counter asked with a smile.

Even the store geezer was the same. Nothing ever changes in this world...

I sighed.
Headed straight for the energy drinks section—my last spark of hope.

I scanned the shelves top to bottom...

“…It’s not here,” I muttered, disappointed.

No DIABOLIC SOUL.
No trace of the sexy demon girl.
Not even a single can to serve as a souvenir.

Defeated, I grabbed a soulless, generic drink, paid, and went home.

“I’m home…”

Silence.
Same as always.

Yep. My life was officially back to its boring, monotonous default setting.

I went up to my room, dragging my feet.
For the first time in years, I didn’t even turn on the computer.
I just sat at the edge of my bed and stared at it…

There, on my desk...

The can.

DIABOLIC SOUL.
With that sexy demon girl on the label, staring at me like she knew what I’d been through.

I don’t know why… but my chest hurt.
And it wasn’t the sugar.

The next morning...
Another day.
Same routine.
Same yawn. Same laziness. Same jam on toast.

Days passed like that…
Specifically: four.

There I was.
Head propped on one hand, staring out the window like I was waiting for something magical to happen outside.
Spoiler: nothing did.

Meanwhile, the teacher was droning on about some magical physics formula.
I was off in my own world.
Literally missing another world.

I’m so bored…
I wish I could live that dream again...
At least things exploded over there once in a while.

I sighed so hard it fogged up the glass.

And then…

RRRRRIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGG!

The bell once again became the MVP of my day.
MVP = Most Valuable of the Planet.

I left class like a ninja dodging a pop quiz.
Slipped past the same old students, passed the usual group of girls who always glance at me...

And made it to the store.
My temple.

“Hey Ren, we’ve got a new energy drink flavor today,” said the old clerk, winking like he’d just revealed state secrets.

Suddenly...
Something inside me lit up.
An instinct. A spark. A flicker of hope.

“New flavor? Don’t tell me...”

I ran to the fridge.
Scanned it top to bottom with the desperation of a mad scientist.

…

Tsk.

Nothing.
Still no DIABOLIC SOUL.
Just a new flavor of the same boring drinks.

I grabbed a can in defeat.

“Flavor… watermelon.”

Great. Just what I needed not to return to another world.

“Guess I’ll take this one…”

I paid, soullessly, and headed home.

“I’m home…”

...I should probably stop saying that every time I walk in.

I entered my room with the energy of someone who’d lost all faith in the universe.
Tossed my backpack onto the bed, like always.

“Oww!”

…

Wait.
Did the bed… complain?

I blinked.

“Hey Ren? Is that any way to treat a goddess?”

...No way.

“E-Evelyn?!”

“Yup~ It’s me. What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

That voice. That tone. That completely illogical smug face.
It was definitely her.

“B-But this can’t be! You don’t exist! You were just a dream!”

“I don’t know what kind of dreams you’ve been having about me, Ren… but maybe tell me about them sometime~” she teased with that unmistakable naughty grin.

Yep. Definitely Evelyn.

“But how...? How are you here? I don’t understand.”

“Mmm… it’s a long story.”

She stretched out on my bed like she owned the place.

“After Princess ate you—which was hilarious, by the way…”

“LIKE HELL IT WAS!”

“After that, it seems you got sent back to your old world. This one, I mean.”
“I didn’t know what to do, so I asked Cynthia for help.”

I nodded like an idiot, hanging on every word.

“My sister said you’d returned here, so… I decided to come find you~” she added proudly.

“Was it hard to come to this world?” I asked, already neck-deep in this madness.

“Hmm… not really.”
“Cynthia brought me over with a snap of her fingers.”

…

“Then why did it take you four days to get here?”

Evelyn averted her eyes.

“Ahhh, that… well…”
“First I went to collect the mission reward. I used it to buy food and wine. Lots of wine.”
“When I ran out of money… I did a quick quest.”
“But a goddess like me shouldn’t be doing stupid missions, so I thought: ‘I’ll go find Ren and make him help me.’”

She said it with the confidence of someone explaining basic math.

…

Why do I even ask? I'm an idiot.

“Alright, enough talk. Let’s go! We’ve got a Demon King to defeat!” Evelyn shouted, leaping to her feet.

“Nope.”

“Wha?! What do you mean ‘nope’?!”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

I looked her straight in the eyes.
No jokes. No dodging.

“You only came to get me because you ran out of money… and because you need me.”
“So I’m not going back to Khaelym.”

“Heyyy! But I came for you, didn’t I?!” she protested, making a puppy face.

“Yeah. But you can leave now.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

I walked behind her and gently started pushing her toward the door.

“B-But Reeeen…” she stammered.

Push. Step. Push. Step.

Finally, she was out.

And without a second thought...

SLAM!

I shut the door in her face.

Silence.

“…At least think about it, Ren,” she murmured from the other side.

I slid down against the door and sat on the floor.

I wasn’t angry.
Well… maybe a little.
But more than that… I was disappointed.

I’m not going back.
Not this time.