Dante leaned back in the chair which he took from his parents house. He couldn't wait to use this chair. He just moved across the country and packed up a lot of stuff including this chair.
Although it was the second time he moved, the process still drained his body.
"Just a few more hours. I will sleep for a few hours." he said to himself, looking away from the pile of boxes lying across his bedroom.
It was a little let down that he couldn't get the old apartment. He even asked the owner to do him a favor but in the end, that man gave his place to a new tenant.
It was an act of betrayal but Dante couldn't blame the man. In this economy with war going on, every penny was worth it.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated on the cheap wooden desk. Dante opened his eyes with annoyance etched.
He let out a sigh and picked up the phone.
"Wanna hangout?"
Dante read a message from his friend. He suppressed a groan and typed.
"Sure. Time and location." He wrote it short and simple. He didn't like communicating with texts.
"Now and the usual bar."
Dante looked at the time, it was 3 pm. Not a ideal time for alcohol.
"Too soon for that, Juli."
"I see no problem. Come, please. I am so lonely without you."
Dante squinted his eyes. He didn't believe in Julius' words all. The man was a natural magnet for people.
And he was certain that the man was setting up some sort of double date. He was that kind of guy.
"Ok. Wait for 30 minutes." Dante answered. He decided to change his lifestyle. He won't avoid the social stuff anymore. He made a promise to himself.
"Sure. I will order a drink for you." Julius texted.
Dante was puzzled by this.
"Idiot. It will be warm by the time I get. Just order a light meal for me." With that, Dante turned off the phone and place inside his pocket.
He stood up from the chair and stretched his body. He looked around his room and found a box he was looking for.
Quickly, he took out a gray hoodie and wore it. He thought about dressing up nicely but gave up the thought process.
Dante knew his own appearance.
He was an average looking guy, so plain that you could lose track of him in a crowd. It was his superpower during his cringy teenage years as a nerdy kid but now it was a curse.
He was neither handsome nor ugly, the only thing he got going was his above average physique.
He didn't go to the gym religiously but his genes carried him a lot. Also his time with his father also helped that.
Dante grabbed a key on the wall and closed the door to his small apartment. He went downstairs and grabbed his bike he rented.
He unlocked the bike and started pedaling.
After doing unwanted exercise, he arrived at the destination.
Their usual bar wasn't a particularly impressive-looking bar. Just a simple building beside a small book store.
But the atmosphere was cozy and cool. It was really a blessing that they both found during their first year.
He opened the door and inhaled the smell coming. It was mixed with alcohol and sweet.
"What's up, Dante." A familiar sound greeted him.
He turned around to the counter and saw a huge man with an impressive mustache, wiping the glass with a white cloth.
Dante nodded at the bartender and said. "Good to see you, Thomas. Looks like you shaved off your beard."
Thomas scratched his chin and smiled cheekily. "Yeah, I want to try a new look."
"The mustache looks good. Keep up the good work." Dante gave his word to Thomas.
Thomas was a dropout college student. He won't tell the reason but apparently things got heated with the teacher and he caused a huge fight with students.
All he heard about Thomas was that he was a cruel guy. Julius and him didn't believe that at all.
After all, they knew Thomas personally, not just the story the teachers talked about.
Dante glanced inside the bar and noticed a group of people sitting in the corner.
He felt Julius' aura oozing from the group.
"Yo. Long time no see. Come here." Julius noticed him and gestured to him.
Dante walked and grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. He quickly scanned the group.
Two pretty girls. He noted.
He never saw these girls before.
Just as he was bout to introduce himself, Julius said.
"He is Dante, my best friend. A bit of oddball but he is super smart."
"Dante, that pretty girl with blond hair is Jenny. She is a first year student, majoring in art. And the other girl is called Reiner, the same as Jenny."
Dante nodded. "Nice to meet you guys. I hope Julius didn't say anything weird about me."
"Oh no. We are talking about college." Jenny reassured.
Dante observed the two girls. They were both pretty in their own way. Jenny screamed like your neighbor's older daughter. An unreachable crown.
While Reiner was a nerdy girl who finally decided to change her appearance after high school.
They were both pleasing to look in the eyes.
He gave a look to Julius and squeezed into the conversation. Surprise, surprise. The flow of the conversation was smooth, thanks to Julius.
The man was very talented in that regard. It was like he was born with the talent.
As for Dante, he only became a talk machine after drinking a few beers. But he tried not to let his instructive thoughts get out.
They mostly talked about college. After all, Jenny and Reiner are first year students. They asked a lot of things related to that.
They both left when the night came.
Dante had a pleasant conversation with the two but secretly hoped that they wouldn't meet again.
Because he wasn't sure how he would make a conversation with the two without Julius.
"So how is your summer?" Julius asked, taking out a cigarette. He didn't smoke the entire time.
Dante grabbed a piece of grape and threw it inside his mouth. "Not terrible. I mostly spend my free time in the forest."
To avoid my family. He added to himself.
"So that is why I can't reach you." Julius got up from the chair and stretched. They had been sitting for hours.
"What are you doing in the forest? Slicing off animals?"
"What? No. I go camping. You don't understand how hot my hometown gets. The shade of the tree under the sun is unmatched."
"Any progression in your love life? Any Secret childhood lover?" Julius teased him with a grin.
Dante gave Julius a light smack in the back. "What love life? I am a changed man."
"Sure. Sure. I still have videos of you venting about her."
Dante's eyes widened and shook Julius's shoulder. "I told you to delete that."
"Haha. I am just joking, man."
"Sure hope so."
Dante grabbed an unfinished beer and chugged down straight.
"I don't think I can forg…." he began to talk but the ground rumbled.
Dante gave a soft laugh, "I forgot, we get tremors here all the time. I sure hope those two aren't in panic."
Julius was about to say something.
But the tremors didn't stop as they should have. It even intensified to the point that plates on the table fell to the floor.
Then the ground bucked and rippled.
Dante immediately went sober and got up from the chair. Julius grabbed his hand and tilted his head to the outside.
Along the way, Thomas also followed then.
When they reached outside, the tremors stopped. No. It vanished.
The only thing remaining was a panic spreading through the people.
Strangely, Dante didn't feel anything regarding the situation. He was trained to be calm and collected under stress by his father.
As he was contemplating his life, Julius nudged his shoulder. Dante looked at his friend.
There was terror etched onto his face.
Confused by this, he followed Julius's eyes and looked up at the sky.
Impossible. What he saw broke his entire world view into pieces.
A giant palm falling from the sky slowly.
Impossible. There shouldn't be such a large lifeform to exist in outer space.
The palm was falling, falling.
Dante sighed and looked at Julius, putting on a soft smile. "Well, I have a fun time with you, my friend. I don't think the supernatural would be real."
It seemed like his words reached Julius because the man rolled his eyes and let out a defeated laugh.
"Is it a love confession?"
Dante punched at Julius with a laugh as well. "Heck, no."
Thomas looked at the two banter and sighed. "You guys are really strange fellows." He paused and looked around, people were panicking now even more.
Some were praying at the palm, hoping to stop. Some worshiped their own gods.
Thomas shook his head at the sights and took out a pack of cigarettes. He took out one and put it in his mouth.
Thomas tossed the pack at Julius. Julius caught and took out a cigarette as well, he then gave it to Dante.
"Nah." Dante declined the offer.
Julius shrugged off with a smirk. "You know, this is the end. You should experience new things at least."
Thomas nodded and let out a smoke in the air.
"The end, huh?" Dante looked at the incomprehensible horror at the sky and shook his head.
He didn't know why but his gut was telling him that this was not the end yet.
The three friends enjoyed the moment, waiting for the palm to come.
Suddenly, it stopped. Everything stopped. Dante noticed that and looked around.
He squinted his eyes, trying to see a better look at the palm. 'Strange.'
He then noticed that the palm wasn't the only thing that stopped.
[Detecting a Low level Grade mortal planet.]
[Assimilating mana to the planet core.]
[3..2..1…..error! Error.]
[The planet core is beyond recovery.]
[Finding alternative route.]
[Found 2.45 trillion possibilities to save the planet.]
[Choosing the best possibilities.]
[Leave the planet to ****]
[Teleporting every intelligent being to the Tutorial plane.]
[3..2..]
Dante saw a series of words forming in the sky. He was confused but somewhat understood the meaning behind those words.
Before the countdown reached zero, he grabbed his friends.
[1..0.]
With that, the world around him vanished.