Invitation

"Huh? Where am I?"

I murmured in a low voice, the words barely escaping my lips.

"I can't see anything"

I was surrounded by an impenetrable darkness, and I felt as if I'd lost my vision. While I was grasping the situation In the midst of darkness, I heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind me. As I turned, wondering what it was, I saw a man wearing a white coat. He approached me and started speaking

"Why-"

His voice sounded like a faint murmur, as if my ears were struggling to catch every word, or perhaps my hearing was impaired in the darkness.

"Why don't you have any d- beep beep beep"

As I heard the blaring sound of my mobile alarm, my eyes slowly opened. I reached over, woke up, and promptly silenced it, muttering to myself.

"A dream? Whatever"

I couldn't remember the dream clearly, but it felt like I had a long conversation with someone talking about something important Even though the details were fuzzy, His face appeared blurry in my mind. but it left me with a strong sense of connection. Either way it doesn't matter cause it's just a dream. I approached the curtains and pulled them apart, allowing the light to flood into the room.

"Here we go, off to another boring day."

With a sign, I resigned to the prospect of facing yet another uneventful routine. I took a quick shower, changed into my school uniform, and headed off to school.

[September 5th,2025]

My name is Araki Ryota, a 16-year-old ordinary high school student. It has been five months since I started attending high school in Tokyo, and It has been five days since our summer vacation ended and I returned to Tokyo from my hometown. Incidentally, ever since I began high school, I have been living on my own. I reside in an apartment that is a ten-minute walk away from my school. As you can expect, I don't have the luxury of preparing my breakfast, so on my way to school, I usually stop by a convenience store to buy my breakfast and lunch.

After a quick two-minute walk from the convenience store, I arrived at the school. The hallways echoed with the lively conversations of students, filling the air with the sound of their voices. Without stopping anywhere, I proceeded directly to my classroom, avoiding any unnecessary detours, and took my seat at the back by the window, From the left corner far from the back door. my position allowed anyone entering the room to easily spot me.

"Good morning"

A guy entered the classroom through the backdoor, greeting as he made his way inside. I couldn't help but notice his gaze directed towards me.

"Eh? Is he perhaps greeting me? why?"

Feeling a bit confused by his greeting, I decided to return the gesture and greet him back.

"Go—"

"Good morning"

Before I could finish my greeting, another voice interrupted me. It came from a boy seated diagonally across from me. I realized then that the initial greeting was not meant for me. Ofcourse it's not, it's already weird enough that someone is talking to me because I am known for my cold demeanour, a guy who never smiles or speaks, and always eats alone and stays alone—a true loner.

At that moment, I was just glad that my voice was low. I silently acknowledged that it would have been awkward if he had heard my voice, maintaining a cool demeanour.

"friends?"

For as long as I remember, I've never had any friends, and I've never felt the need for them. I am certain that from this point onward too, I won't make any and I don't need any. Friends invade your privacy, demand your time, and it's exhausting to deal with their selfishness. In my opinion, the downsides outweigh the benefits. friends often use you and then discard you once their needs were met.

"There are some honest friends out there?" give me a break! Instead of finding one, I prefer to be alone, because they are like a drop in a ocean. That's why I've abandoned the concept of friendship and decided to be alone. It feels so peaceful and comfortable when I am alone by myself.

"Girlfriend?"

The school day came to an end, and as I made my way to the shoe rack on the ground floor to change my shoes, I discovered an envelope in my designated slot. while wondering what is it, I retrieved it and held it in my hands. To my surprise, it was a love letter—a proclamation of affection addressed to me. The note requested that I meet the sender behind the main building.

Regarding your previous question, it's better to show you my answer rather than telling you.

[Behind the main building]

"Araki kun, I-I've been in l-love with you for a long time. P-please, go out with me."

There she stood, the girl who had been waiting for me, confessing her feelings. It put me in a bind. She had a bob-cut hairstyle and was properly dressed in her uniform and upon closer look, I recognized her as my classmate. No wonder I felt a sense of familiarity. If I recall correctly, her name was...

"I really like how cool and reserved you are, that's why-"

"Umm...Thank you for expressing your feelings towards me. But...Your name....What was it again?"

"Eh?"

"Uh"

Upon hearing my words, she turned and retreated to a corner, her figure disappearing from sight. A moment later, a muffled sob reached my ears. It seemed that my response had left her in tears.

Her name is Sanehara Kasumi, my classmate. Of course, I already know her name, and I did it on purpose to reject her without bothering to come up with an elaborate response. There's no need for you to remember her name; I'm certain I won't be involved with her again.

As you can see, I don't want to spare my time with friendship's so having a girlfriend seems like a far-fetched idea. Even if I were to date someone, I anticipate that the relationship would end within a week, she would definitely get sick of me because dating someone demands a lot of time and I would definitely don't want to waste my time on these things.

There are three reasons to why I rejected that girl. First, I simply don't have any romantic feelings towards her. Second, I don't want to waste my time and energy in a relationship. And third, perhaps the most significant reason of all...

"She isn't even qualified to be my girlfriend"

With that thought firmly in my mind, I made my way home. Along the way, I stopped by a vending machine and purchased a can of DLightcola, a popular beverage that had gained popularity in recent times. It offered a refreshing taste, and it seemed to be like many people are buying this you can able to spot at least five people per hour drinking this near convenience stores and vending machines.

Thanks to the meaningless confession, it was already past 6 o'clock, so I hurriedly bought cup noodles at the convenience store and made my way home, eager to cool off and relax.

As I walked, holding the cover that contains the refreshing cola and cup noodles in my right hand and I held my phone in my left hand, glancing at Zwitter on the screen. Accidentally, I got bumped by a guy who is coming from the opposite direction at the crossing, as a result causing my smartphone to slip from my grip and fall to the ground. With a sinking feeling, I watched as the screen cracked a little upon impact.

"S-sorry," the stranger stuttered, his voice filled with genuine remorse.

"No problem," I replied, giving the impression that everything was okay despite the inconvenience.

I crouched down to retrieve my phone and then *blink*

 I noticed a notification blinking on the screen. So I stood up and clicked on the notification. It was an invitation and a strange e-mail It read: "WE INVITE YOU TO TURN YOUR DREAMS INTO REALITY: DreamLink Corporation - Selected Participant."

"Turn your dreams into reality?" The phrase sent a jolt down my spine, causing my eyes to widen as I read it.

The email continued, saying, "Araki Ryota-sama, you have been invited to participate in our experiment. Through our innovative technology, you will have the ability to remember your dreams and control your actions within them. We greatly value your assistance in this experiment, we are awaiting for your reply and in return,

we are pleased to offer you to..."

"MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE"

When I spoke those words Everything around me seemed to freeze in that moment, as if time itself had paused.

"Is this-"

*beep*

The sudden sound of a car horn bought me back to reality, breaking my distraction caused by that email, and reminding me that I was standing in the middle of the zebra crossing. The pedestrian light had turned red, indicating it was time to hurry to the other side. I quickly made my way across and continued on my path towards home.

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but wonder about the email. What was that email actually? spam? Even for a spam, it looked surprisingly official. Well, Either way, whether it is just a spam or not, it's clear that I won't be taking part in this play. "Make your wishes comes true?" No matter how I look at it, that seems so suspicious and besides it's just a waste of time. To think about it, It's not like me to take these things too seriously based on just an email. For now, I will just go home, relax, and forget about it.

Quickly dismissing the strange email from my mind, I returned home while exhausted and I don't have the energy to make my dinner, so I ate the cup noodles which I have bought at the convenience store earlier and went to sleep.

The next day arrived, and as I expected, I completely forgot about the email and proceeded with my daily routine.

Soon,

Days turned into weeks, As I continued my normal lifestyle, October is in the corner, However, it didn't take too long for me to notice a change in my routine. Amidst the repetitive days, I began to sense an irregularity entering my lifestyle, a feeling began that something was off.

However,

Over the course of three weeks since September 5th, I finally realised what that irregularity is.

[September 26th, 2025]

Due to my cleaning duties and errands, I found myself walking home late at 6:45 PM. As I made my way, I began to feel that something was off.

It's faint but I can sense it. There is no mistake.

Unbeknownst to me, my uneventful and peaceful life is about to collapse, and going to take an unexpected and drastic turn in some moments. because..

"I'm being followed".

To be continued........Next time chapter 2:Encounter