Chapter 2

John stood in a room. It had white walls and white floors, no seams in any of the surfaces. In front of him were two chairs and a wooden desk in between, much like the desk in his former boss’s office. One chair looked like the expensive, comfortable sofas seen in a high executive’s office. The other looked like some cheap, regular wooden chair.

… What?

John approached the chair and touched it. It creaked as he pushed the chair’s backrest.

What room is this?

Curiosity filled him. John sat down. The chair shook. He felt uncomfortable and stood back up. Still, sitting down made him even more curious. This chair looked so out of place. Did someone put it in here by accident?

Curiosity got the better of him, and he sat down again. The chair creaked, this time louder than before. It didn’t feel solid, prompting him to stand back up.

John tried sitting down again. This time, the chair didn’t hold. It broke into pieces, and John fell to the ground with a loud thump. Immediately, he regretted letting his curiosity run wild. He shouldn’t have played with that chair.

Who still uses that chair anyway?

Sitting on the floor would be better compared to a chair that could break at any time. He was lucky that a part of it didn’t pierce his behind. The door to the room opened. A girl with long, bright green hair and green eyes entered the room. She wore a beautiful white dress.

“Sorry for the wait,” she said with a bright smile. “I-” The stacks of paper fell onto the floor when she saw John sitting there, the shattered chair behind.

“... The hell!?” she screamed, the smile disappearing into the void. “My chair! What did you do to it!?”

She rushed to the floor, picking up the parts that had spread after his fall.

“No…” she picked up the parts with tears in her eyes. “No no no! Wh- What!? Why!?” she screamed her questions, glaring at John. John stared at her, unsure what to say.

The girl didn’t take his silence well. “What the hell did you do!? Answer me!”

“I just sat down-”

“That’s not where you’re supposed to sit!”

“There’s no note saying I’m not supposed to sit here!”

“You…!”

“Besides, it’s just a chair-”

“Just a chair!?” she screamed. “Infuriating! How dare you!”

“It’s a wooden chair! An ugly, old one at that! You’re overreacting!”

“Over… reacting…” The girl clenched her fist, then sent it straight at John’s face, knocking him into the wall.

“Akh…? I’m not hurt?”

He didn’t feel anything despite smashing into the wall. Now that he thought about it, he didn't feel anything when falling off the chair, either. He thought he was just lucky.

“Hey, where am I!?”

“You…” The girl glared at him. She stood up, ready to send another punch at John, when the door opened and a different girl entered. This one had long purple hair and purple eyes. Unlike the other girl, she had an air of maturity and calmness around her. She looked around before coming to the other girl and holding her back.

“Ah, you’re John, aren’t you?”

“Let me go!”

“My name is Kei, and she’s Leyla. Nice to meet you,” Kei greeted, ignoring the complaints coming from Leyla. “Leyla, calm down a bit.”

Leyla stopped flailing her hands, but she refused eye contact with him. Instead, she stared at the remains of the wooden chair.

“Where am I?” John asked Kei.

“Well, to put it simply, you’re in space between worlds.”

“... Huh?”

John looked around. This room did look similar to a room in a regular building back on Earth. That said, there was some weirdness. The only exit and entrance was the door. The room lacked any windows or ventilation. It didn’t have air conditioning, either.

“This is where people who have died come to. This is where we decide which world they’re going to next. Leyla here is supposed to help you.”

The girl in question refused to say anything. She acted as if John didn’t exist.

All that because of a regular chair… It’s probably something cheap anyway.

“But… well… I guess things happened.” Kei chuckled. “Since we're on the topic of chairs, I have a proposal.”

“Proposal?”

“Yes. Recently, an accident happened, and we've lost some magical chairs.”

Even more chairs? John thought. He had enough with the chairs.

“I don't think I like where this is going.”

“If you help us gather them, we'll give you one.”

“No, no thank you.” John could already tell that this would be trouble. He wouldn't go out of his way just for a new chair. “I could buy my own chair.”

“Oh, no. They're not regular chairs. They have special magical abilities.”

“Magical abilities…?” Now he was intrigued.

“Yep. One of them could get you a lot of money just by sitting on it. Well… all of them need you to sit on it to trigger the ability.”

“I see. Is… that all?”

She did mention seven.

Kei smirked. “Interested, aren't we? Well, I'll explain the seven abilities, then. You'll find out more when you sit on them.”

To put it simply, each chair had different abilities. The first one would give him romance, the second one limitless good food, the third respect, the fourth would allow him to not work, the fifth would make everyone fear him, the sixth would give him every skill he ever wanted, and the seventh more money than he would ever need.

A lot of money. Everything he wanted would be within reach.

“And Leyla, you'll help him.”

“Me!?”

“Yes. She built another chair, remember?”

Leyla fell silent.

“Well, if you help him get the seven chairs, we'll look for a way to get that other chair for you. What do you think?”

“Fine.” Leyla scoffed, not bothering to hide the annoyance on her face.

“Good. Now, here are a couple of things you'll need.” Kei swung her hand, and a sling bag appeared out of the air.

“This is an infinity bag. You can store anything here, as long as it fits the opening. Here you have a bit of money to get you started.” Kei handed over the bag. It looked very much like a normal bag people used back in his world.

John slung the bag over his shoulder. Kei then gave him a necklace with a key on it.

“And this is a magical key. It allows you to use the magical chairs. Tap on it, and it'll point at a chair. When you find it, hold it tight to call me, and I'll come to pick it up.”

“Alright.”

“I'm going to send you over right now. Good luck. Oh, by the way, before I forget.” Kei looked toward Leyla. “Leyla, make sure you don't use too much magic, okay? You went overboard the last time.”

“... You're telling me to make things harder for myself?”

“You can use magic, but if you use too much, you know the consequences.”

“Whatever.”

A dark blue magic circle appeared underneath them. It looked stunning, painted with many small symbols.

“See you after you recover the first chair.” Kei waved her hand. John's consciousness faded away.

•••

“... You won't send me?” Leyla asked. John's body had disappeared, leaving the two of them there.

“I need to talk about some things. I know you disliked him, but please try to keep it peaceful, alright?”

Leyla rolled her eyes. “You're really asking me for that?”

“You never know. He might be a great partner after all.”

“Impossible.” Leyla spat. What kind of good partner broke her stuff, then made fun of it in front of her?

It's not just a chair. How stupid can you be?

“Oh, and that bag and the money in it are his. It's to help him in this world. Don't take it.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Kei fell silent. Her expression turned serious. “Leyla, did you remember the rule?”

She sighed. “... Don't overuse magic. It might upset the balance.”

“And the consequences?”

“I’ll run out of magic, and it will take a while before I restore it.”

“Good. Remember that, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Leyla nodded her head lazily.

“Alright, off you go, then.” Kei clapped her hands. “Don't forget, okay?”

Leyla sighed. “I'm not a human child.”

She then disappeared, leaving Kei alone.