The year 2024, somewhere in the observable universe.
[22 hours, 32 minutes, 43 seconds remaining]
Sigh!
"I suppose there's no other way."
In a softly illuminated space reminiscent of on-campus housing, a solitary black wooden chair adorned with delicate flower carvings occupies the center. Surrounded by darkness on all sides, creating an abyss-like ambiance. Seated upon the chair is an elderly man with a white beard, his hand gracefully extended upward.
"Forgive me, humans..."
He ceased talking to himself and began chanting something.
"^I*!~^_>*<.."
Suddenly, a strange sphere of light started to float above his middle finger.
"...But sometimes sacrifices must be made."
He promptly directed his middle finger downward, guiding the sphere of light to a destination seemingly distant within the abyss-like darkness.
"...For the greater good of mankind, as this is the sole viable path forward."
He stared blankly with emotionless eyes in the direction where the sphere of light had gone.
*********
The year 2024, Jan 13. Shinjuku City, Tokyo, Japan.
Ding! Dong!
"....Ryu...He.."
"...Dude..."
'What... who?'
"Wake up, Ryusui."
"Eh?..."
A teenager with a fair complexion, a subtle blend of brown and black hair, complemented by dark brown eyes. Sporting a well-maintained curly fade haircut, he stands at a height of 176 cm, presenting a notably attractive appearance.
The boy stared up from his desk at his friend in a daze.
"Jeez, sleeping in class on the first day of school, Ryusui?"
"I was just feeling a bit odd today, Haruto," Ryusui said in a drowsy tone.
Observing him was Haruto Asahi, a teenager with a fair complexion, dark brown hair, and black eyes. Adorning a slightly disheveled fade haircut, he stands at a height of 178 cm.
"Are you okay, Ryusui? Do you want me to call the nurse?"
"Nah, there's no need to do that. I just need to get a good sleep."
"Ha! You've been doing that science project all night, haven't you?"
"Yeah... kinda."
Sigh! Haruto sighed.
"Seriously, you need to take a little rest once in a while, you know?"
Ryusui stood up from his desk, and after rubbing his eyes, he said.
"I want to become a scientist. If I just laze around, I won't be able to accomplish anything."
Haruto stared at him for a moment. He could see an image of a young Haruto overlapping with the current one. While rubbing his head, he said to himself with a slight smile.
'You haven't changed one bit, huh?'
Ignoring the slight smile Haruto was giving him, Ryusui walked past him out of the classroom and said.
"It's time for the science lab, bud. I'm already late, so I'll be going ahead first."
"Oh! Okay!"
Soon, Ryusei was walking in the hallway and noticed a shadow behind him.
'Who is it?'
To get rid of whoever it was, he started to walk fast and soon came in front of the science lab door. While opening it, he turned back and said.
"What is it, Haruto?"
Haruto was standing, fiddling with his finger, giving off a nervous expression.
"Well... I ah..."
"Just say it," Ryusui said while walking into the classroom.
Haruto walked behind him and stood next to him while he was going through the drawers of his table.
"Ryusui, you know about the girl Asuna, right? I've decided to finally confess my feelings for her!"
As Haruto shouted, everyone in the science lab stared at him, except Ryusui, who was taking out a flask.
"After six long years of having feelings for Asuna, I'm ready to tell her how I feel!"
"Alright, I get it, you simpleton, but I won't be cheering for you, so stop yelling."
Ryusui shouted back at Haruto.
"B-But why?"
"A fool who takes six whole years to confess is the epitome of absurdity."
Ryusui then took out something from his drawer.
"Allow me to provide a rational method."
He took out a blue liquid and poured it into a flask, showing it to Haruto.
"What is that?"
"This will significantly boost your pheromone production, acting essentially like a love potion. Your success rate is guaranteed at 100% if you choose to utilize this."
Ryusui said with a menacing smile and handed it over to Haruto.
Though the mouths of the spectators were drooling after hearing about a love potion, Haruto, with a confused expression, stared at it for a moment and then started pouring all of it onto the ground. Seeing that, some of the onlookers started to cry.
"Appreciate it, Ryusui, but I'd rather not resort to shortcuts to win her over."
Haruto looked at him and said.
"I will propose to her on my own!"
After saying that, there was a brief silence, but Haruto chose to break it.
"Oh, and Ryusui, today drinks are on me! Come to Kozue after school is over."
"You simpleton, we're not old enough to have those kinds of drinks."
"Ah! No, that's not what I meant. I meant that we're gonna have lunch there!"
"Sure..." Said Ryusui.
"Okay then! I'll be there waiting for you at 4:30."
Haruto, after saying that, rushed out of the science lab.
"Hey, Ryusui?" said a friend named Kazuya who had witnessed the whole event unfold.
"Yeah?"
"Was that really a love potion?" Kazuya said with a confused tone.
"Of course not, that was just ordinary gasoline. I produced it from plastic bottle caps."
Ryusui said with an uninterested tone.
"Just think about polyethylene's atomic structure, you fools! It's basically long gasoline molecules with a few hydrocarbons mixed in. It's pretty simple to understand."
'Simple enough for you, I guess,' Kazuya thought while giving a light confused smile.
"But wouldn't Haruto have died if he used it on himself or anybody else?"
Pfft!
Ryusui laughed lightly.
"I'm a hundred percent sure he wouldn't drink it; he's an upright fool."
*****
4:00 pm
Ding! Dong!
The school bell rang as Ryusui walked out of his class to the exit of the school. He put down his school shoes in the locker and changed to outdoor shoes. After exiting the school building, he checked the time on his watch.
"I guess it's almost time to meet up with that simpleton."
Ryusui then went to the cycle parking area and took a cycle ride to Kozue.
"The sun is unusually bright today."
After Ryusui arrived at the restaurant, he walked in without delay and started looking for Haruto.
'Where is he? He better not be gone somewhere else.'
"Hey, Ryusui! I'm over here!" Haruto shouted.
Ryusui replied while putting his hands on his ears.
"I get it, so stop shouting!"
As Ryusui walked over to the table Haruto was at, he noticed a feminine figure.
'So he brought Asuna here too? What is that guy planning?'
Thinking that, he looked at Haruto. As soon as Haruto felt the stare, he pointed toward Asuna.
"Oh, so you want me to help you with this?" Ryusui whispered to Haruto as he sat next to him.
"Please," Haruto answered.
"Fat chance, you deserve it for deceiving me."
Soon, the conversation was cut short by Asuna.
"Oh, so you are Ryusui. Haruto talks a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you."
Asuna said with a smile. She had a fair complexion and brown straight hair reaching down to her chest. She had brown eyes and a height of 176 cm. Anybody could tell from just looking at her that she was a beauty.
"It's nice to meet you too. Haruto also talks about you a lot," Ryusui said.
"Oh, does he?" Asuna said with an awkward smile while blushing.
'I guess the feelings between these two are mutual,' Ryusui thought.
"Hey, Ryusui, I ordered your favorite cola before you got here."
Hearing that, Ryusui looked down at the table. He could see a cola poured into a glass.
Sigh!
'I guess I'll go along with this for now at least,' Ryusui said to himself.
As he lifted his hand to pick up the glass, he noticed something off.
Thud!
He suddenly got up from his seat, shaking the table and spilling every drink on it.
"Ryusui!?"
Ryusui looked at him with eyes filled with terror.
"I-I is this a hallucination? It must be, right?"
"What happened!?"
"M-my arm."
"What about your ar-"
Haruto stopped talking, and his eyes were also filled with terror along with Asuna's.
"Hey, calm down, Ryusui. This must be something wrong. Let's go to the doctor!"
Ryusui looked back at him.
'Wait, so this isn't a hallucination but reality!?'
Ryusui accidentally took a glance at Haruto's legs.
"Haru-... Your legs?"
"My legs?"
"Y-you legs, they're turning into d-dust!"
Ugh!
Haruto instantly got up after hearing that.
"M-my legs."
Soon, Ryusui looked around. It wasn't just them.
"M-Mom!"
"Waa-aah."
"Someone save me."
What is happening!?
"Is this a hallucination!?"
"Is this CGI!?"
Ryusui could see it. It wasn't only just the three of them experiencing it, but possibly everyone.
'No, this isn't CGI. It is too real to be artificial.'
Ryusui soon looked back at his body.
Huh!
Most of his body had turned into dust, leaving only his neck.
Though his body had disappeared, he couldn't let go of one fact.
'How can I still stand with my body gone!?'
Ugh!
'Is this how I die? I couldn't even be a scientist,' Ryusui said while most of his mouth was turning into dust.
As he was about to close his eyes from exhaustion, he had to suddenly open them after hearing a loud voice.
"Ryusei, don't worry. I'll..."
Umph!
"Find a way to save you somehow!"
'Eh!?'
Ryusui was shocked by Haruto's tenacity.
'Even in a situation like this...'
Ryusui smiled widely while closing his eyes.
'You're still thinking of others.'
Ryusui closed his eyes entirely.
'You really are a simpleton...'
Soon, the others started to talk.
"Look! The high schooler just vanished!"
"Help!"
"Don't wanna die! Don't wanna die!"
"Someone get an ambulance."
"Help! Mom! Dad!"
Honk! Honk!
"Is that an oil truck!?"
"It's coming straight for us!"
"Run!!"
Screech! Thud!
Boom! The truck explodes.
***
Jan 13, Prime Minister's Residence, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.
'Is this a terrorist attack!?... No!'
"I can't die yet! There's still so much to..."
Ugh!
'To think, I, the prime minister, will die like this...'
Vroom!
'Is that a plane?'
Vroom!!
'I feel sleepy...'
Boom!
***
Jan 13, International Space Station.
*Moments before current events.*
"Sir Kazuto!"
"Yeah?"
A middle-aged man in an astronaut suit replied.
"W-why is the Earth covered in white light?"
"Eh?... What are you talking about?"
Kazuto proceeded to the shuttle side to inquire about the ongoing discussion among his colleagues. However, his intentions were thwarted as an intense, blinding white light suddenly emanated, rendering him temporarily unable to perceive his surroundings.
'Eh!?'
"Ugh, what was that light!?"
"Sir!"
"Huh?"
"Y-your body!"
"My body?"
Kazuto stared down at his body, but what he saw next left him speechless.
'What's going on!?'
"I..."
Kazuto tried to talk but.
'I can't move and talk.'
'Am I having a stroke!? or is this Sleep Paralysis!?'
Ugh!
'I feel sleepy, I can't stay...'
Before he could even realize it, Kazuto had already closed his eyes.
'Is this... Death?'