Meanwhile, the rest might have come from worlds that appeared peaceful—school-themed anime, slice-of-life stories, ordinary daily lives that seemed normal on the surface. Worlds that looked safe, yet stood upon foundations that were anything but secure.
"Hey, kid!" the man's voice finally snapped me out of it. "Don't just walk in like that and take someone else's seat. That's bad manners, you know?"
I flinched, as if I had just been yanked back into reality by force. My gaze tore itself away from the screen, my heart beating a little faster than before.
I stood up.
"I'm sorry," I said briefly, bowing. The movement was reflexive, filled with politeness even though my head was still a mess of tangled thoughts. I walked out, stopping to apologize to the internet café attendant as well, then left without looking back.
Damn it.
This world was far more dangerous than I had thought.
A damned, cursed world.
Haah… if that was the case, then I had no other choice. I had to become stronger. And I had to do it faster than I should have. There was no time for hesitation, no room left for naïveté.
Not long after, I arrived at the entrance of the orphanage. My steps slowed on their own. My eyes were drawn to the children sitting in the yard, chatting with innocent expressions—some laughing softly, others simply swinging their legs in a relaxed manner. Their laughter sounded light, almost untouched by the dark reality I had just begun to understand.
I stopped for a moment.
A faint smile formed on my face, appearing naturally, without any effort.
Yeah… at the very least, I had to be strong enough to protect these children.
I went inside and closed the gate behind me, the sound soft yet firm. Then I walked toward the main door of the orphanage. The moment I stepped inside the building, the aroma of warm food greeted me.
I saw Yukina preparing dinner. The woman looked tired, clear lines of fatigue visible in her eyes, yet the calm she radiated made my chest feel a little lighter, as if this world still had a place where one could breathe.
For now, this was the safest place I had.
…
…
…
"You're back? That's good. Go take a bath and come down soon. You didn't eat breakfast this morning, did you?" Yukina said with a gentle smile. Her voice was calm and warm, as always—a tone that never seemed to change, as though all the exhaustion of the day could melt away just by hearing a single simple sentence from her.
That smile wasn't a polite formality, but one filled with genuine concern, as if Yukina truly paid attention to every small detail of my daily life.
"Ah."
That short utterance made me freeze for a moment. My mind went blank for a few seconds before awareness finally caught up. Only now did I truly realize it.
Because I was too shocked and shaken by this world—by all the strangeness and facts that kept surfacing without giving me time to breathe—I had forgotten many trivial things that should have been the most basic. One of them was eating, something I usually did without even thinking about it.
Damn… my stomach immediately felt hollow. The hunger came late, but it was fiercer because of it, like a wave crashing down suddenly after the sea had receded for far too long.
My stomach churned softly, as if demanding attention all at once, reminding me in a rather embarrassing way that this body was still that of an ordinary human, not some monster without biological needs.
That was probably true. When someone thinks too much, when they sink into chaos of thoughts and are battered by shock after shock, a person—especially a man—won't even notice how hungry he really is. The mind can deceive the body, dulling hunger beneath anxiety, confusion, and excessive vigilance.
Only when things calm down a little, when there is nothing urgent forcing the brain to keep working nonstop, does the body begin to demand its due—food.
Now, it would be better for me to take a bath and get ready to eat, before my head filled up again with unnecessary thoughts and made me forget simple things once more.
I then went up to the second floor with light steps. The wooden stairs creaked softly beneath my feet, a familiar sound that had long settled into my ears, as if greeting my return every single day.
Once upstairs, I entered my room and immediately closed the door, making sure no one was peeking or following me. From there, my gaze drifted toward the window without conscious thought, as if my body instinctively sought something calming.
The late-afternoon view of Akiruno City looked beautiful from here. The sky was painted in shades of golden orange, blended with soft streaks of pink that slowly faded toward the western horizon.
The shadows of trees and buildings stretched long, forming dark, quiet silhouettes that stood still in the distance. For some reason, the scene felt peaceful, a calm that stood in sharp contrast to the chaos and pile of questions swirling inside my head.
I then placed the book on the triple bunk bed. My bed was on the very bottom, and without hesitation, I slid the book behind the mattress.
My hands moved carefully, making sure its position was truly hidden. From here, it would be far harder to notice, even if someone were cleaning the room.
With this, it would be more difficult for others to find my notebook. A small action, perhaps excessive at a glance, but it felt important to me. After all, that notebook contained my various notes about my own development and my understanding of this world.
A crossover world of the anime Jujutsu Kaisen and High School DxD, along with the possible existence of various slice-of-life anime like Kaguya-sama. All my assumptions, observations, and fragments of logic were stored there, far too valuable to be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.
I placed the pen neatly on the desk, aligned straight, a small habit I always did without realizing it, before finally stepping toward the bathroom.
Water flowed over my body, washing away the sweat, dust, and fatigue that had clung to me since earlier. The sensation of warm water made my shoulders loosen slightly, my breathing becoming steadier, as if some of the weight in my mind was being carried away along with the stream.
After finishing my bath, I quickly put on clean clothes and headed downstairs. My body felt lighter, though the hunger was now even clearer, no longer buried beneath tangled thoughts.
On the ground floor, the other children from the orphanage had just come inside as well. The sounds of footsteps, small conversations, and faint laughter filled the space.
They soon scattered, each heading toward the bathroom to take turns cleaning themselves, filling the house with a simple, warm sense of life—something that, without me realizing it, gradually soothed me.
Meanwhile, I walked casually toward the dining table and pulled out my chair. The wood scraped softly against the floor before I sat down. I waited calmly, both hands resting on the table, my back leaning lightly against the chair.
My stomach churned again, but this time the sensation wasn't entirely unpleasant. There was a strange sense of comfort mixed in, like waiting for something that was certain to arrive, something that didn't need to be doubted.
Not long after, the other children came out of their rooms. Their small footsteps sounded in sequence, accompanied by light chatter and unforced laughter.
They sat neatly in the dining area, taking seats that seemed to already belong to them. The atmosphere gradually grew lively, yet remained orderly, like a routine repeated so many times that it now felt natural.
Shortly after that, Yukina came in from the direction of the kitchen, carrying various dishes. One by one, she placed them on the table with calm, practiced movements.
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