Welcome to the Absurd

I open the door. A forest.

I close it. Open it again. Still a forest.

One step forward.

The door slams shut behind me—then vanishes.

…No choice. No turning back now.

I’m standing alone, surrounded by silent trees.

No roads. No signs. No landmarks.

A misjudgment. I should’ve paid more attention to the signs.

Maybe a leftover trace of naivety. Or just a bad instinct.

Staying here would be an open invitation to die.

Passive beings are always the first to disappear.

I need to move.

I start walking, in silence.

Just me, the night, and this unfamiliar forest. Nothing else.

As I move forward, I see… fairies.

Small, glowing, floating in the air like they simply belong there.

I blink. Nothing changes.

A hallucination? Sleep deprivation? Maybe.

But at this point, I can’t cling to the logic of the world I used to know.

Fairies. Storybook creatures.

The kind we saw in fairy tales books as kids.

It’s absurd. And yet, they’re here.

I keep walking.

The silence is heavy. Too heavy.

Then a sound. A deep, muffled growl.

Probably an animal.

A wolf? That’s what I told myself, just to stay calm.

But the sound comes again.

Louder. Closer.

No.

It’s not a wolf.

I started running. Basic instinct: flee.

Mistake #1: I looked back.

I wanted to see what was chasing me. Result: I slowed down.

Classic. Misplaced curiosity.

— Survival instinct near zero, I thought.

I was half-mad at myself, but it was a little late for that.

I glanced back again.

Immediate regret.

Something.

A humanoid shape.

But it was running… on all fours.

That’s not normal.

Nothing here is normal.

And of course, my brain picks this exact moment to start panicking.

I screamed while running. Fear took over.

No thoughts. Just flight.

But it was faster.

Way too fast.

It leapt.

Impact.

I hit the ground, pinned by its weight.

— “Hey, listen… we can talk about this, right? I’ll give you cookies if you want,” I blurted out, completely desperate.

I knew it was ridiculous. But I had nothing left. No cards. No escape route.

The creature stared at me, confused.

Of course. It didn’t understand a word.

Then its mouth opened.

Wide. Too wide.

It was about to eat me.

And in that moment, I simply shut my eyes.

I think I accepted it.

Dragged into another world by a door, and eaten by a monster four minutes later…

It’s ridiculous.

My only real regret, right now,

is not being by Yoruhime’s side.

A bitter smile escapes me.

Absurd. Pathetic, even.

One minute. Then two. Then four.

Still alive.

Why’s it taking her so long to eat me? I thought, cracking one eye open.

What I saw froze me to the core.

The creature… was headless.

Literally decapitated.

And next to it—a figure.

A girl. Blood dripping from her fists.

Didn’t take a genius to guess who stopped the thing.

I stayed down, unmoving.

My eyes scanned her carefully, discreetly.

Long blonde hair.

A hat way too big for her. Stranged Clothes…

She looked like a witch—straight out of a fantasy manga.

One who forgot she was supposed to be from an isekai.

But what unsettled me the most…

was her silence.

She just stood there. Staring.

I stared at her without moving, still lying on the ground.

She’s probably just a cosplayer who knows how to fight…

Maybe she had the same door issue I did.

She slowly turned her head toward me and smiled.

A wide, honest smile—way too cheerful for the situation.

“Oh, hi there!” she said, with unsettling enthusiasm.

…She had just obliterated a nightmare creature barehanded, and she was acting like we’d bumped into each other at a coffee shop.

“Uh… hey,” I replied, still confused.

I sat up slowly.

“Thanks for saving me.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” she said, waving it off like she’d just swatted a fly.

“Was just a weak little critter.”

She narrowed her eyes. And suddenly, her tone shifted.

“Alright. I’ve got some questions for you. And you’re going to answer. Honestly.”

I nodded. “Alright. Go ahead, ask away.”

She crossed her arms, leaned in slightly, and shouted:

“FIRST OF ALL—WHO EVEN ARE YOU!?”

I flinched.

“And WHAT’S with those weird clothes?! That’s not Yūgen-wielder gear! AND WHY CAN’T I FEEL ANY YŪGEN COMING FROM YOU?!”

…She was yelling so loudly I almost felt like curling up into a ball.

“Uhm… what’s a Yūgen?” I asked, hesitantly.

“And my clothes… what’s wrong with them?”

She took a step back, as if I had just committed a sacred taboo.

“YOU’RE TELLING ME—YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT YŪGEN IS!?”

She screamed so loud I had to cover my ears.

I stared at her in silence for a moment, wondering if I was dreaming… or if I had just met the loudest person in this other world.

“I… I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied, still lost.

She puffed out her cheeks, crossed her arms, and let out a loud “hmph.”

“Fine! Come with me, then.”

“Where to?” I asked.

She raised an eyebrow, as if the answer was obvious.

“My place. Unless you’d rather stay here with the Némésis?”

“Némésis…?”

She looked at me like I had just crash-landed — which, to be fair, I kind of had.

“You know, the ugly hungry things like the one that was about to eat you two minutes ago,” she said, waving a hand vaguely behind her.

“Oh… that.”

I gave a nervous chuckle. “Hehe. Lead the way. I’m not in the mood to get eaten today.”

Then she pulled out a broom… and dropped it on the ground.

I was ready for a lot of things. But not that. Okay—almost everything.

The broom slowly started to float, like it was just waiting for a signal to take off.

A flying broom. Sure. After a door that teleports me to a random forest and a headless monster, this actually feels… logical.

She hopped on it in one smooth motion.

“Come on, hop on!” she said with an excited smile.

I stepped forward, hesitated, then climbed on behind her without asking questions.

I sat there, as if I was just on a slightly weird bus ride.

The broom started to vibrate.

And the very next second, it launched into the air with brutal force.

Wind slammed into my face. The ground rushed away beneath us like it was in a hurry to disappear.

My heart started pounding like crazy, but I stayed quiet. I had only one thought in my head:

I just hope… I don’t lose my mind.