Shin'ya's eyes widened.
For a moment, he simply stared at the boy in front of him.
What?
How did he—?
Wait, what?
No, hold on.
Why is he asking me this?
Did I do something?
No, that's stupid.
Am I getting dragged into another mess?
Please, God. No. Please don't.
"Hey."
Shin'ya blinked.
The boy was looking directly at him.
"I asked you a question."
"Yeah, I heard you."
Shin'ya rubbed the back of his head.
"Why are you asking me that?"
"Because you don't look like you're from here."
The boy's gaze remained fixed on him.
"Where are you from? Honestly. And why did you save me inside the forest?"
Shin'ya hesitated.
"Well... it's complicated."
"What's complicated?"
"My origins."
"I told you to answer me."
The boy suddenly reached behind himself.
Shin'ya's eyes widened.
"HEY! BRO, THAT'S A FUCKING GUN! WHY ARE YOU CARRYING IT WITH YOU?!"
"I told you to answer me."
"BRO, DO YOU WANT TO GO TO JAIL OR SOMETHING?! PUT THE GUN DOWN! ALRIGHT, I'LL ANSWER YOU!"
The boy slowly lowered his hand.
"Alright. Answer."
Shin'ya sighed.
"Gah... You might not believe me, but... do you know something called Isekai?"
The boy's eyes immediately lit up.
For the briefest moment, they sparkled with excitement.
Then they dimmed.
He rested his chin on his hands.
No way...
Could he be one too?
No. No, no, no.
If he was, he shouldn't have an external weapon.
"Hmmmm..."
Shin'ya's eye twitched.
What is this guy even thinking about?
He snapped his fingers.
"Oi, I just answered you. Anything else you want to know?"
The boy looked back at him.
"Oh, yeah."
He straightened himself.
"Sorry for my rudeness earlier. Ahem. I haven't introduced myself."
He paused.
"I am Aki."
Then he added,
"And like you, I got isekaied as well."
Shin'ya froze again.
Wait.
He's isekaied too?
Is he... like me?
Does he get isekaied every time he sleeps?
Let me ask him. What's the harm?
Before Shin'ya could say anything, Aki spoke again.
"So how did you come to this world?"
Shin'ya blinked.
"What way were you transported here?"
Aki began counting possibilities on his fingers.
"Mirror? Your own shadow? A door in the middle of a not-so-suspicious-looking forest that you opened just for the sake of boredom?"
He turned around slightly and whispered,
"Like me."
"I heard you, dude."
"Ahem."
Aki's cheeks turned slightly red.
Shin'ya stared at him.
So he isn't like me.
Seems my case is pretty unique.
"Well..." Aki began.
Shin'ya interrupted him.
"Let's discuss important matters somewhere else, maybe?"
He glanced around the library.
"And also, where's that girl that was with you?"
"Oh, Koharu?"
Aki looked around.
"She should be somewhere inside the library. She's, uh..."
He scratched his head.
"I don't know what she's doing. Maybe she went to the toilet or something."
"Makes sense."
Shin'ya sighed.
"Alright. Ugh, why is this so weird and awkward?"
He looked deeper into the library.
"Let's go a little further inside so we can privately talk about this."
"Hmm."
Aki nodded.
"Makes sense."
He turned around.
"But before that, let me get her."
---
A few minutes later, Aki returned with the girl from the forest.
Koharu stopped when she saw Shin'ya.
"Wait, isn't that...?"
"Yep."
Aki nodded.
"That's the guy who saved us."
He paused.
"Or, actually, he gave us a brief period of time to escape."
Aki looked at Shin'ya.
"His name is..."
He froze.
"Oh, I'm an idiot. What was your name?"
Shin'ya sighed.
"No, the idiot here is me. I didn't tell you."
He raised a hand slightly.
"Ahem. I'm Shin'ya. But call me whatever you like."
Aki blinked.
"Shin?"
Shin'ya stared at him. He then gave off a small smile
"You have awoken a past memory of me."
---
The three of them eventually moved farther into the library.
For some reason, they ended up near the History section.
Shin'ya wasn't entirely sure why.
It just made sense.
They found a few empty seats.
Aki and Shin'ya sat facing each other, while Koharu sat beside Aki.
Aki leaned forward.
"Well, Shin. What was your Medium that brought you here?"
Shin'ya looked at him.
"...You might not believe it."
He paused.
"Through sleep."
Koharu's eyes widened.
"Wait, what?! He's like you, Aki?! He also got isekaied!"
"Yeah, seems like it."
Aki looked at Shin'ya.
"Anyway, Shin, so—"
"But my Isekai isn't normal."
Aki and Koharu both went silent.
Shin'ya continued.
"I actually get isekaied... every time I sleep."
Aki's eyes widened.
He immediately stood up.
"WHAT?!"
"HEY! SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY!"
All three froze.
"Sorry."
Aki slowly sat back down.
Koharu was speechless.
Her mouth remained half open as she stared at Shin'ya.
"What the heck are you saying?"
She finally asked.
"Are you being for real?"
"Yes."
Aki leaned forward.
"So when you say you get isekaied every time you sleep, you mean you sleep, come back here, sleep again, and go back?"
"No."
Shin'ya shook his head.
"Actually, it's a new world every single time."
Aki stared at him.
"...How many have you currently crossed?"
Shin'ya started counting on his fingers.
"First was Yuki's world."
One finger.
"Then that deserted world."
Two.
"Then the sci-fi world."
Three.
"Then Sera's world."
Four.
"Then the parallel world of my world... but without me."
Five.
"And now this."
Six.
He lowered his hand.
"If we're counting this world, then I've currently crossed six worlds."
Aki stared at him.
"In the course of?"
Shin'ya thought for a moment.
"Currently, maybe one month."
He paused.
"No, sorry."
He corrected himself.
"Three weeks, probably."
Aki remained silent.
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Then opened it again.
He didn't seem to know what to say.
Unable to stay at a single place.
Getting taken away the second you sleep.
The thought alone was difficult to process.
Shin'ya noticed his expression.
"No, no. That's not how it works, Aki."
He gave a small laugh.
"Hehehe... recently, through some experiments, I figured out that I can sleep for up to forty minutes without transferring worlds."
Aki's expression changed.
"Forty minutes?"
"Yeah."
Shin'ya leaned back.
"That helped me stay in one world for a long time instead of getting thrown through twenty-one worlds by now."
Aki blinked.
"Ohh."
Koharu suddenly looked between the two of them.
"So now we're talking about Isekai like it's some normal Tuesday?"
Aki looked at her.
"Well, it is Tuesday."
Shin'ya stared at him.
"Wow. What a coincidence."
Koharu's expression slowly changed.
"...You two are ridiculous."
Aki ignored her.
"There is actually something else."
Shin'ya looked at him.
"What?"
Aki raised his hand.
"I have an ability too."
Shin'ya's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You do?"
Aki nodded.
"It's called Foresight."
Shin'ya waited.
"...And?"
Aki looked at him.
"I can see the future through my dreams."
Shin'ya's expression changed.
"You see the future... through dreams?"
"Yeah."
Aki lowered his hand.
"Sometimes I see things before they happen. But there's a problem."
Shin'ya leaned forward slightly.
"What?"
"If I change something I saw, the future changes too."
Shin'ya stared at him for a moment.
"The butterfly effect."
Aki nodded.
"Exactly."
Shin'ya remained silent.
He looked at Aki.
Then at Koharu.
Then back at Aki.
"Yeah."
Aki blinked.
"Yeah?"
Shin'ya pointed at him.
"It's cool and all, but HOW AND WHY DO YOU HAVE BETTER POWERS THAN ME?!"
Aki stared at him.
Koharu stared at him.
The librarian slowly turned in their direction.
All three immediately lowered their voices.
"Sorry."