1 Confusion

Jan 29, 2026.

1:37pm

It was a cold day in Yellowbell, as I strolled around the small bustling city.

I was wandering around aimlessly, trying to find something interesting to do.

Arriving at one of the more crowded districts of the city, I could see all kinds of shops and people around me, carrying on with thier own complicated lives.

People tended to avoid me when I walked pass them.

I couldn't really blame them though. If I saw someone with my own appearance I would probably avoid such a person as well.

I was wearing a worn out, black leather jacket with a plain black shirt underneath. This was accompanied with some jeans and thick leather gloves covering my hands.

I had sharp facial features with long, black hair, tied up in a pony tail. My lifeless eyes were dark brown and my face had some short, unkept faicial hair.

Needless to say, I was covered in black.

Standing at 6ft and 2in tall, tan skin with a muscular body, I would actually be considered quite handsome if it wasn't for a small problem.

A long scar that stretched over my throat gave me quite an intimidating look.

Coupled with my dead eyes and height no one would want to come near me.

The scar in question covered almost the entirety of my throat. It was more than an inch thick in the center, with a thickness of around half an inch on its ends. One could easily spot from far away.

I could cover it with a scarf or grow out my beard but it was just too much work.

I didn't really mind being ignored though, infact I liked it.

I was an 'ex shut-in' so I enjoyed being left alone.

Honestly speaking I didn't like people. At the end of the day most people were selfish and only thought of personal profit.

I wasn't ignorant enough to say that you can't trust 'anyone' or 'all' humans were egocentric and so on,

but it was too hard to find good and trustworthy people so I would rather ignore everyone.

Anyhow, ignoring everyone just like they ignored me, my aimless walk came to a halt.

'This looks intriguing.'

I could see a small arcade at the corner of the district.

It had been a while since I last visited such a place so I thought It would be the best option to kill some time.

Arriving at the entrance I was greeted by the noise of people laughing and giggling as they spent their time playing games.

It was an old fashioned video arcade with all kinds of video games and machines neatly lined up in four short rows.

It looked intriguing but the number of people irritated me.

There were a lot of people and being a small building the arcade was rather crowded causing my 'shut-in instincts' to kick in.

I didn't want to interact with anyone thus I gave up on going in.

I observed the people for a little while and with a sigh turned around and began to walk away.

I was still a little a disappointed, when something happened... something unusual.

I was at my fifth step when I heard a loud bang from above and right before my eyes, the blue sky turned dark in a matter of seconds.

A thick, purple colored mist appeared out of no where and engulfed me, like I had stepped into another world.

I couldn't see anyone nor could I hear anything.

It seemed like time had stopped.

My heart started beating faster as I began to digest what just happened.

I surveyed my surroundings and moved my hands through the mist but I couldn't feel any resistance... like it wasn't there in the first place.

The mist emitted no odor and the only thing I could see around me was an endless purple.

My body trembled as I tried to make sense of the situation.

'Am I hallucinating?'

I rubbed my eyes a few time then pinched my self just to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

Surely enough I wasn't.

The mist was so thick that I was barely able to see my own hands.

I could feel cold sweat all over my back and my fight or flight instinct kicked in.

I was in utter confusion but my body tried to move on its own. Influenced by pure adrenaline I started running toward whatever direction I could.

Well that was what I intended to do but my body wouldn't budge.

I wasn't frozen because of fear or anything alike.

My feet were literally glued to the ground.

I just stood there, frozen, in the eerie silence, covered in purple mist.

I felt a mixture of emotions, fear, confusion, loneliness, sadness.

'Am I dead?'

I wasn't sure what to make of the situation nor did I know how long I was frozen but nothing was happening.

Everything was just still.

'Don't tell me I'm in a coma or something.'

'Wait did I finally lose it?'

Just when I was about to come up with another crazy explanation for this crazy situation I heard a voice.

It was a cold yet beautiful voice.

"Yessss! I'm finally here!"

It was a voice of a woman and it felt like she was only a few feet away from me.

Relieved that I wasn't alone, I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I was about to reach out to her when a sudden flash of light attacked my eyes.

It was like being hit with a stun grenade.

I took a few minutes rubbing my eyes and fighting back the pain the light had caused.

When my vision restored I looked around, expecting to be greeted by the same thick mist, but miraculously it seemed as though it had gotten lighter.

I still couldn't see more than 7 feet around me but now I was able to make out the woman that had saved me from my own thoughts a few moments ago, but...

'huh?'

I blinked a few times then lightly pinched myself again not believing what I was seeing.

5 feet away from me was a tall, beautiful woman floating in thin air.

'Yup, I've lost it.'

Confirming my insanity and filled with confusion I did the only thing I could do.

I just stood there and stared at the woman.

The frst thing I noticed were the two white fox ears on her head and the long flufy tail accompanying them.

At this point I just acted like it was common to have such traits to put my headache at ease.

She was about 6ft tall and had delicate facial features.

She also seemed to be wearing a plain white yukata and her long white hair reached her waist giving her a somewhat unearthly appearance.

'A cosplayer... fox girl... or... god?'

This only added to the chaos inside my head.

I kept observing her trying to find any clue to help reduce my confusion.

Trying to take a look at her face one more time caused our eyes to meet.

If eyes could kill I would have already died a million times.

Her cold, silver fox eyes pierced through me like I was an eye sore.

"Hello human."

"..."

I just started back with a puzzled expression on my face.

She glared at me waiting for a response but was only greeted by my silence. Her left eyebrow twitched a bit as she continued to speak.

"Tch, this is why I dont like humans."

Her glare became even more intense as she move her small pink lips.

"Well suite yourself and dont talk, your world is about to go to hell anyway~"