There are cracks in the walls, a few gaping holes here and there, an odd lack of windows, along with a general dreary aura within the building. Most important of all, there's nobody here.

This section of town has long since been abandoned. There's not a single person in sight around.

My mind replayed what little interactions I had with people that day.

"This looks like the garbage bin. Let me toss my trash right here."

Another classmate came up to me during lunch and proceeded to dump the waste on his tray onto my meal. I didn’t get to eat anything at school that day.

"Oh, Hayashi. You’re on cleanup duty today as well? Well, I’ve got karaoke to go to with my friends. I’m sure you have plenty of free time, so I hope you don’t mind taking care of my part of cleanup as well. See ya~."

The other classmate who was supposed to help me on cleanup duty bailed out. As a result, the whole ordeal took twice the amount of time it normally should.

"We made it look just like you. You should thank us."

I went to the art room after finishing cleanup to find my project vandalized and a note left behind. Black smudges blotted the image that was now hidden behind them. Scratches from scissors further obfuscated the piece. Art never really was my thing anyways.

Needless to say, my position in school isn’t the best. In fact, it’s one of the worst. For some inexplicable reason, I’ve been the target of persecution by many within the school. Some would directly bully me whether it be name-calling, stealing, or just sabotage. Of course, nothing ever to the point of physical violence, in school that is. Outside of school is a different story.

The bullying in school is nothing compared to out of school. Kids seem to think they’re above others when outside the jurisdiction of a teacher or parent, and that’s exactly when they become the most violent.

As a result, I've recently coming over to this desolate building in this desolate area as a means of finding a peaceful spot to rest. Someplace where the others won’t persecute me. Someplace where I can stop thinking about the world for a bit. Someplace where I can be alone. At this point, I've welcomed all the odd quirks and imperfections in this crumbling building. It's not in the best condition, but at least I can call it my own.

Currently, I couldn’t do any relaxing though. I heard the sounds of rumbling, clashing, and some overall rambunctious noises are coming from outside.

I thought that they would go away after a while, but that didn’t seem to be the case after several minutes of them continuing.

Perhaps I’ll need to directly confront the matter if I want to end the clamour.

I slowly approach the front door, hoping that perhaps the noise would end before I turn the doorknob. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

I open the door just a crack, expecting a demolition crew or something of that nature, but instead only see one person.

Namely, a blonde girl in some bizarre pink outfit wielding a bow. She didn't seem to notice my presence.

That wasn't the important part though. Standing in front of her was some kind of...blob? That's the best way I could describe it. It’s this blue, translucent lump of gel that seemed to have a tiny red orb inside it.

“It's time to end this. Arrow of Light!”

As the mysterious girl said that, a large spear of white light soon readied itself into her bow. As she let go of the bowstring, the light intensified as it soared through the sir. In an instant, it struck directly into the slime, encapsulating it with a white aura. With a flash, the light then disappeared, as did the blob. The only thing left in its place was that small red orb.

The girl fetched out a pair of gloves and a surprisingly high-tech looking container from seemingly thin air. She put on the gloves, grabbed the orb with them, and placed it into the container.

The girl then pulled out a crystal as well and proceeded to speak into it as if it were a phone.

“I've subjugated another slime that escaped into Earth. Please report this to the head and launch the transfer portal.”

Is this some kind of film shooting? Where are the cameras? Are people really interested in these kinds of scenarios?

It didn't take long for me to find out what she was doing. A few seconds later, a blue spinning cloud instantly appeared in front of her. The girl was pulled in as if she were attracted by a magnet and disappeared from the scene.

……

Well, that was odd to say the least.

I was about to close the door and then attempt to forget about this experience, but I suddenly found that I was being dragged along across the floor. I soon noticed that I was being sucked into the vortex as well. I attempted to move against the pulling force, but it gradually strengthened and I could no longer oppose it. I began sprinting for dear life, but even then I couldn't outrun it.

In a matter of seconds, I was enveloped by the vortex. Reality around me rapidly shifted as I felt like I was spiraling downwards into the nothingness.