Kaido sat in his room, illuminated only by the faint glow of his computer screen. Outside, the muffled laughter of his classmates could be heard as they walked home from school. Kaido ignored it. He always ignored them. It was easier this way. No expectations, no disappointments.

His fingers tapped away on the keyboard, the world around him dimming as he lost himself in the endless scroll of online forums and video games. He liked it here, in his bubble, where things made sense. Reality was just an inconvenience.

School had always been a chore. It wasn’t that Kaido struggled with academics, he didn’t. He could ace most tests without much effort. But the social dynamics? The endless small talk, the cliques, the forced interactions? He was tired of it all. He had no friends to speak of, and that was fine by him. His classmates treated him like a ghost, and he preferred it that way.

Every day after school, Kaido would stop by the convenience store on his way home. It was a small, dimly lit place, not far from the school. It was his routine, a brief escape from his quiet home. He could always count on the familiar smell of instant noodles and the faint buzz of fluorescent lights. There worked a guy called Mark Martini.

Mark worked at the counter, usually wearing a faded apron and with a bored expression on his face. Kaido didn’t know much about him, only that he was always working there. He was a few years older than Kaido, and every time they passed, Kaido would nod politely, calling him “Mr. Martini.”

“Hey, Mr. Martini,” Kaido would say, the words coming naturally. after so many times of saying it.

Mark would glance up, offering a small smile.”Hey, Kaido. Same as usual today?”

Kaido would nod, picking up a pack of chips and a soda, sometimes an energy drink if he needed something to keep him awake through the night.

Their interactions were short, but that was fine with Kaido. Kaido thought there was something comforting about the routine.

Then, one morning, everything changed.

It started like any other day. Kaido dragged himself out of bed, ate a cold breakfast, and walked to school with his hoodie pulled over his head, eyes on the ground. He slipped into his seat at the back of the classroom just as the first bell rang, blending into the background as he always did.

The teacher, Mr. Takeda, entered the room, looking more tired than usual. Kaido barely noticed as he pulled out his notebook, half-listening to the lesson on historical events. He was already tuning out, lost in his own thoughts, when it happened.

There was a low hum, at first so quiet that Kaido thought he might have imagined it. Then it grew louder, filling the classroom, buzzing in his ears. He looked around. No one else seemed to notice. His classmates sat at their desks, listening to Mr. Takeda drone on as if nothing was wrong.

The hum became a vibration, shaking the walls and floor. Kaido’s heart raced. He tried to stand, but his legs felt heavy, as if something was pinning him down. His classmates still didn’t react. Why weren’t they reacting?

Then, without warning, the room flashed bright white, blinding him. The hum reached a deafening pitch, and for a moment, Kaido thought his ears would burst. He squeezed his eyes shut, clutching his desk as the world seemed to warp around him.

And then… silence.

When Kaido opened his eyes, the classroom was empty.

His breath caught in his throat. The seats around him, once filled with his classmates, were now vacant. The teacher’s desk stood unmanned, the chalkboard half-covered in notes, abandoned mid-sentence. There was no sound, no movement. The room felt hollow, like a forgotten relic.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Kaido stood, his legs trembling, and stumbled toward the front of the class. He called out, his voice weak at first.

“Hello? Mr. Takeda? Anyone?”

Nothing. His voice echoed off the walls, swallowed by the silence.

He rushed to the hallway. The school was deserted. No students, no teachers, not even the usual hum of the fluorescent lights. Panic rose in his chest. What was happening? Had there been an evacuation? An emergency?

But no. There were no alarms, no signs of a rush. It was as if everyone had just… disappeared.

Kaido’s pulse pounded in his ears as he sprinted through the halls, checking every classroom, every office, every corner. The entire building was empty, abandoned in a way that felt unnatural. Like something had plucked everyone away in an instant, leaving only him behind.

He collapsed against a wall, panting, his mind racing. He wasn’t the kind of person who believed in the supernatural or bizarre occurrences. But this… this was beyond explanation.

As he sat there, the silence pressed in on him, thick and suffocating. He was alone. Truly, utterly alone.

Hours passed. Kaido wandered the empty school, searching for any clue, any sign of what had happened. He checked his phone, no service. The clock on the wall still ticked, the hands moving forward, oblivious to the absence of life. He made his way outside, but the streets were just as deserted. There were no cars, no pedestrians, not even a stray bird in the sky. It was like the entire world had simply blinked out of existence.

Except for him.

The next day was no different. The day after, the same. Kaido’s world had become a ghost town, a hollow shell where he wandered aimlessly, consumed by the silence. He had no idea how long he spent in that void, time blurring into meaninglessness.

Then a few weeks later, one evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Kaito saw something. A flicker. Just at the edge of his vision, like a mirage.

He turned toward it, heart racing. There, in the distance, stood a shimmering figure, barely visible. It was like looking through heat waves on a summer’s day, the air rippling and distorting around the shape.

Kaido caught his breath. He ran toward it, desperation surging through him. The figure remained still as he approached, and as he got closer, he could make out more details, a figure draped in dark robes with a hood that obscured its face. But what struck Kaido the most was the sense of wrongness that radiated from it.

This wasn’t a person. It was something else.

“Who are you?” Kaido demanded, his voice cracking from weeks of disuse.

The figure didn’t respond. Instead, it raised a hand, and the air around Kaido began to shimmer, just like the figure itself. The ground beneath him seemed to shift, warping and twisting like a reflection in disturbed water. The figure took a step forward, and as it did, the world around Kaito began to blur, dissolving into a swirl of light and dark.

For a moment, he felt as though he was falling, not physically, but as if his very being was slipping through the cracks of reality. The sensation was overwhelming, and then, just as quickly as it had started, it stopped.

Kaido found himself standing in a different place. Gone were the empty streets and silent buildings. Instead, he was in a vast, open field, and the sky above him streaked with vibrant colors he’d never seen before. Strange creatures flew overhead, and in the distance, he could see towering structures that defied the laws of physics.

He wasn’t alone.

Before him, standing in clusters, were his classmates. They looked different, stronger, more confident, each one holding weapons or surrounded by auras of power. Their clothes had changed too, now resembling those of fantasy warriors or mages. And standing among them was Mr. Takeda, his once tired expression replaced with one of authority and determination.

They didn’t seem surprised to see him. In fact, they didn’t seem to see him at all.

Kaido tried to speak, but no sound came out. He tried to approach them, but his legs felt heavy, as if he were wading through water. He looked down, and to his horror, he realized that he was fading, his body growing translucent, as if he didn’t belong here.

“Why…?” he whispered, though he knew no one could hear him. “Why wasn’t I chosen?!”

As the world around him shimmered again, threatening to pull him back into the void, Kaido felt a presence behind him.

“Because,” a voice said softly, “you were meant to find your own way here.”

Kaido spun around, and there, standing calmly with a slight smile, was a man in his mid-thirties, dressed in the robes of a scholar. He held an ancient book in his hands, the pages yellowed with age. His eyes twinkled with amusement.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the man said, his voice smooth and gentle. “You’ve come a long way, Kaido.”

Kaido stared at him, his mind reeling. “Who… who are you?”

The man smiled wider, turning a page in his book. “You can call me the Curator.”

And with that, everything went black.

Kaido jolted awake, his body drenched in sweat, his heart pounding. He was back in his room, the familiar hum of his computer filling the air.

Had it all been a dream? Or was it something more?

As Kaido stared at the blinking cursor on his screen, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the Curator was still watching. And that his story was far from over.