1 Chapter 1: The blue fan on the table is far too conspicuous

~Brrr, ~Brrr, ~Brrr.

Not this again. Once again Ren Ri groaned and got up. He took a quick peek at his phone and saw "6:04 Sunday, September 22".

Ren quietly got off his groaning bed and slipped on his B brand slippers before heading to the lounge.

"~Brr, ~Brr, ~Brrrbrrbrbr. What the hell is wrong with this stupid roommate of mine. Who snores like a shivering pigeon in the middle of the morning. Aghhh why am I so unlucky. First I was separated with my original roommate after mustering up all my courage to make friends on B book, and then I get stuck with this wacko. Then the disgusting restroom is leaking so that it smells like a fermenting bladder. And now I can't even sleep because he KEEPS GOING ~BRRRR ~ BRRR ~ BRRRRR"

With a great sigh, Ren plopped himself down onto a couch in the lounge.

Because it was early in the morning the lounge was empty. It was almost eery, to see the usually lively place devoid of any activity. Almost as if for a split second, Ren was the only one to exist.

Of course, Ren knew he wasn't. The crushing reality of his daily pressures brought him out of his daydream.

"I need to find a passion."

Once again, Ren sighed. Yesterday, Ren went to a career fair and was shocked to see that B company was recruiting at his University C. His University only barely made its way into the top 50 by charging students three times the amount his parents made in a year and was built on the premise of the one 'honorable President Brin Ann Humphrey'.

In reality, this president became a joke between students as the oh so honorable president. A president with over 50 degrees, and a leading female in the world of science and technology, indeed this president was without a doubt honorable. However, to the just ambitious enough kids at University C, presuming the title of honorable and pasting it on posters and notifications all over was much too arrogant.

Tired of this train of thought, Ren took a look around at the state of the lounge in its dead silence. A crooked chair barely besides the table. A small and messy kitchen with an empty bottle of dish soap by the sink. A mini-fridge no doubt full of someone's old milk, and surprisingly a mini blue fan on a coffee table beside the TV.

"Huh, this fan looks like the mini fan I have in my room."

With a closer look, Ren realized it didn't just look like his fan. It was his fan.

"What the hell? Why is this here?"

Just then, the door to the lounge creaked open and Ren turned his head. There was no one there. Confused Ren went closer to take a look. He was sure that he had heard the door open.

Suddenly, Ren heard a young girls voice, "~Sigh. ~Sigh. ~Sigh. Stop SIGHING! You wanna find a passion. Find one! You wanna stop being a nobody. Be somebody! You're so useless that you haven't even figured out what I can do all this time! ARGH, it's too frustrating! I'm not even supposed to reveal myself but at this rate, you would never find out!"

The sudden voice left a sinking feeling in his stomach. Ren could feel the blood rushing into his face from the embarrassment that someone might have been there to see him muttering to himself. Nonetheless, Ren quickly composed himself and turned around to see who it was. Confused Ren suddenly realized that things had changed. The door behind him had disappeared and he was somehow still in the same room but cut off from any exit or entry of some sort.

"What the actual f*ck is going on? This is something straight out of an anime or novel except I'm in the real world. Holy shiet, this isn't some isekai where magic and skills or cheat systems exist... right? Feeling more and more convinced that his big breakthrough had come, Ren decided to throw caution to the wind.

"Holy shiet, holy shiet, this is it. Something incredible is happening and I'm right in the middle of it."

"Thump, thump, thump."

Ren's heartbeat was erratic and a tingling and needle-like sensation coursed throughout his body.

However, Ren didn't lose his composure too much. He had simulated this situation in his mind thousands of times hoping that it would one day happen to him. Ren had no bigger wish than to be reincarnated into another world when he died. Excitedly Ren's thoughts began running wild. This is it. I'm finally becoming something more than a mob character. With increasing excitement, Ren began looking around the room for something.

"What changed. Why am I here now? Why not in the past? Does my phone work?"

Ren checked his phone. "No service". Unsurprised Ren began inspecting the room. Just then Ren heard a slight giggle followed by the same young girl's voice from earlier.

"Hey, right here dumbo. Look down."

As Ren heard her voice, his heart inexplicably began beating slightly faster. For some reason, Ren felt a little embarrassed and shy in the presence of her voice. However, overwhelmingly, Ren felt lost and saddened at hearing her voice as well.

"Thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump."

Ren's heartbeat quickened.

Nonetheless, Ren looked down. He realized then. The only strange thing here was his blue fan! The blue fan that he got in some shady market when he went to H land during the summer after his 7th year in school. Except as far as he knew, ... it was only a normal fan! It blew wind to keep him cool on a hot summer day! It wasn't some magical talking contraption! It was powered by a battery and certainly didn't include voice functionality!

"Gosh, how dumb are you. I'm not the fan, Ren. I'm everything. I'm everywhere. But more importantly, I'm here to tell you that the council has decided. You will be given the power to read minds."

Ren once again felt the familiar sensation of shock spread throughout his face and move downwards. He thought carefully about what he had just heard. He had so many questions and no answers. What council? The power to read minds? What kind of use was such a stupid power for an introvert like him? It wasn't like Ren was gonna try to manipulate people into doing shady things for him. Ren was raised with proper and honest convictions by his hard-working parents! He didn't steal, and he hated lying!

"Ren I'm sure you have so many questions. But there is too much for me to tell you right now. More importantly, everything will be revealed in due time. Just know Ren, I'm on your side. I always was. Be careful Ren. Please, ... be careful."

"Wait, WAIT, I don't understand. what do you me-"

And just like that Ren was back. Back in the lounge. Back in the quiet of the early morning hue. His blue fan was gone, but Ren had already lost all sense of laziness in the morning. He couldn't be pressed to care about his missing blue fan.

"The power to read minds?! What is this council that is giving me powers? And who's the person behind that voice. She was always on my side? What does that mean? Why did her voice make me want to cry? Just what is going on?"

Ren got up and headed back towards his room. Once inside he decided to try out his new power.

"How do I do this anyway? The power to read minds? Could I see what ~Brr, ~Brr, ~Brr man is always dreaming of?"

Ren decided to close his eyes and concentrate his mind, focusing on his roommate. As if willing something to appear out of nothing, Ren suddenly heard the voice of a child and saw the scene of two people besides a cliff.

"A mother with her child? Is this what Rayne is always dreaming of? A scene from his childhood?"

"Mom, I'm cold, can we leave yet?"

"I'm sorry honey, we have to wait for someone really important. Just bear with it for a little longer, ok?"

"Mommy, we've been standing for an hour and there's no one here, who are you going to talk to?"

With a slight smile that seemed all too sad, she said, "someone very important honey. I'm sure you two will become really great friends you know!"

Excited the slightly pudgy child began jumping up and down as he said "Really, Really? Wow Mom I can't wait! Woohoo, I'm gonna have a friend, I'm gonna have a friend, I'm gonna have a frieeeend!"

Suddenly the mother's voice tensed up as she said, "Alright he's here now. Mommy needs to do something, can you behave yourself?"

Clear confusion was on the child's face as he looked around to find whom his mother was referring to. Finding nobody, but seeing his mother so serious he went up to his mom and hugged her leg before running along the cliff to look for bugs and worms.

Suddenly the child's mom turned to Ren. Her loving and caring aura retracted and replaced with a stern face and critical eye. Her aura tolerated no cowardice.

"So you've finally come Ren. It took you quite a while you know. Everyone else has already woken up. You're the last of the 13."

Surprised Ren stared at her in confusion until he realized she was indeed looking at Ren himself.

"Wait you can see me? This is a dream. A false reality. I should be reading Rayne's mind. Just who in the world are you?"

"Technically this is another landscape. Time and space are far more complex and yet simple than you know Ren. You have a destiny that for Lady Demura's sake, I hope is strong enough. Truthfully I don't see what she could ever have seen in you, but so be it. I have no influence on her choice. Child, here you go. This is left to you by the Lady herself."

The mysterious women handed Ren a small item wrapped in cloth.

"A stopwatch...?", muttered Ren.

"Wait, wait, is Lady Demura the woman who gave me this power? What do you mean by the last of the 13? And you didn't answer my question yet! Who are you?! Hey, wait, WAIT!"

And in an instant, Ren was staring into the face of Rayne.

AGH, with a start Ren stumbled backward.

"Hey, are you ok? You were sweating and you looked so serious? That's not like you.", said Rayne

Ren replied, "I'm fine, I'm fine. I just had a bizarre dream. Hey, I know this is kinda out of the blue, but do you know you snore when you sleep?"

Embarrassed, Rayne replied "aha... sorry, is it that bad? My foster parents at the orphanage used to tell me that I would sweat and cry out in my sleep sometimes. I guess snoring is a way of helping me sleep at night."

Surprised, Ren sheepishly replied, "Sorry I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"Don't worry about it. I'm over it now, but I guess sometimes the habit comes back. It's weird, I always have these fuzzy dreams of seeing someone that I feel like I should know. Whenever I think about it, my chest and throat tighten, but I just can't seem to remember who they are. Anyway, I've gotten over it for the most part. We gotta move on you know. We can't stay who we were forever."

"Ya, you're right. You know, I think I'm gonna skip class today. I just have a lot of my mind, and there's some stuff I want to do.", replied Ren.

"Alright, man. I'll see you later then. I got classes in 15.", said Rayne.

"Sure, see ya later Rayne.

Left alone, Ren decided to go through the events that had happened this morning.

"Council, 13, mind-reading, mysterious past, ... alright. Bring it on. Lady Demura? The women at the cliff? If you wanna play a game with me then lets play. Mind reading huh. Let's go find out just what I can do with it."

In another place, perhaps not even on the same planet, a group of beings gathered. Donned in full-body robes, neither their faces nor identity could be seen or known. In fact, if anyone tried to look at their faces they would find themselves completely unable to see anything.

"Welcome everyone. I'm sure you have all heard the news. The 13 have awoken at last so allow me to formally announce the beginning of the greatest game in history. A new era shall soon begin."