It was a big day for Kazuya, as he had finally saved enough money to buy the latest Full Dive VRMMORPG headset on the market.
He took the bus towards the game shop, went in, and took his sweet time browsing through all the latest titles.
By the time he stepped outside, evening had already swallowed the city. The air smelled faintly of smoke from the factories nearby.
He finally decided to hit the road, literally, as he had spent all the shit he had saved.
Still, he smiled.
I finally got it…
The latest Full Dive gear and that VRMMORPG I wanted to get my hands on.
Today is a good day!
It was when he was crossing the road that he noticed the sounds of the traffic that should have been present; the sound of people and the usual chatter of the staff as they were closing down were absent.
“…Huh?”
In front of his, for a moment, he had thought he had seen a...?
"Maybe I shouldn't have stayed awake the last night," he mumbled as he looked around the road.
It was empty, so he decided to cross it.
Then—
Tzzzzn
What was that?
Kazuya sighed. “I should just go home and sleep. The game can wait until tomorrow.”
And then he reached the other side.
There was no road here.
Stone streets stretched before him instead.
And somewhere in the distance, the city bells rang loudly, signifying that it was morning.
"What...?"