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[Tokonosu city, Japan.]
[East district, 11:00 pm]
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"30 yen is all I've got. I spent the rest of it on a juice box earlier." A teenage boy muttered, a hint of embarrassment tainting his words.
"Seriously? Even in a situation like this? Cause of you, were now stranded here." Remarked a girl of the same age, her frustration evident in her voice.
"Tch, Alright, look! I'm sorry I'm not Hisashi, okay!" The boy retorted. His irritation stemmed from not living up to the standards of someone named Hisashi.
"You're seriously the absolute worst for bringing him up!" She exclaimed, her anger flaring at the mention of her deceased boyfriend. Her eyes narrowed in disdain as her bottom lip quivered. She was trying her hardest to keep the dam holding back her tears and sorrow from bursting.
In a sudden motion, he reached his hand out, gesturing for her to lend him some change. Her brows furrowed slightly at the action. Seeing her confusion, he raised his voice. "Money! You have to lend me some if we need to get out of here"
"I- I left my wallet in my school bag." she stammered, embarrassment flooding to her face and coloring her cheeks a bright pink color as she tried to avoid his gaze.
'This girl, is she serious? What the actual hell, and she was the one being snobbish about it.' He sighed at her response.
"Just wait here and scream if anything happens." He instructed before making his way to the convenience store. However, he noticed something strange beyond the glass door. It was pitch black, and hardly anything could be seen from the outside except for a small portion of the white floor reflected by the outside light sources.
'it's risky to go in. Who knows if I were to encounter those inside.'
He glimpsed at his newly acquired weapon in his pocket and glanced back toward his childhood friend, 'I don't want to be seen as someone who is weak and unreliable in front of her. I'm the only man here who can protect her.' Conviction ran through his veins and forced his legs into movement. That boost of bravery was enough to make him venture in.
The doors opened, and only a couple of seconds afterward, the darkness swallowed him whole. He turned back and found nothing but darkness; the entrance had disappeared. After a few seconds, a light shined behind him.
He was met with something bright, it resembled a door, seemingly attached to nothing.
'I must have blacked out. In no way this is real.'
He stood in place for a few moments, seeing no changes to the surroundings, he cautiously walked towards it. As he neared the door, it glided open, momentarily startling him.
There was a resounding beep sound that greeted him as he entered.
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Cool air, bright fluorescent lights from the ceiling, and seemingly endless rows of aisles that stretched out to the horizon welcomed him. He stared around in awe, gaping at all the products stacked on the shelves and the cashier counters, which stood empty. The whole store was devoid of any life. Everything was in order, with no mess or any wreckage at all.
'Just where did I step into? I'm sure the convenience store was not that big from the outside.' He took in the surroundings and considered the possibility of this happening.
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Tap. Tap. Tap
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'Footsteps!? Someone is here!' His eyes widened in shock as he glanced around frantically. His hand moved to hover above his recently acquired cop pistol, ready to fire if it happened to be a threat.
"Hello, is anyone there?" His voice carried through the strange domain.
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+POV End+
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The entity made his way to his destination. As he neared the end of the aisles, he began to hear the newcomer's voice, and their image became more apparent. The frightened human could do nothing but quiver in fear. His eyes widened at the sight of the dark figure. A shrill scream pierced through the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!"
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BANG, BANG, BANG!
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Shots were fired, aiming toward the tall store clerk; the firing stopped only when there were no bullets left.
The sound of the empty barrel trying and failing to release another bullet was heard. Click, click. The teen fell back down on his rear, scrambling to back away.
The entity traced his figure with his hand. No damage to his body; the bullets had all been repelled by a strange, transparent shield, or so it seemed.
The entity raised both hands at head level, trying to ease the terrified teen.
"You can rest at ease, for I bring no harm. You have my word." He said gently, bowing slightly and placing his hand on his chest, right above where a human's heart would be located, to show he meant no harm.
The frightened teen's shoulders dropped slightly as the interval between his breaths lengthened. The entity could tell that he was still on edge by how the teen's eyes flitted between him and where the exit was. He stood up slowly, shaking a bit from the recent scare.
"Welcome, how may I assist you?" The entity said as it stood upright from its bowing posture.
He did a once-over of the boy's appearance. He had brown eyes and spiky black hair. He was of above-average height for a human and had a build suited for a runner. His outfit consisted of a black uniform with a red shirt underneath.
"I. Just what are you? What is this place?!" The teen stuttered; he pointed his wooden bat towards his surroundings as he questioned about the place, ending the point towards the entity.
After observing the teen's stance, he decided to answer his queries. He clarified that he didn't know of his identity and gave a brief introduction that he was but a clerk, attending to this place. He also explained what this place is and how it functioned from his experience.
"Is there anything that you want to purchase?"
"Uh w- what? Uh Fuel! Petrol! Do you have that?" He voiced it out loudly; that was a quick reply, though still confused and hesitant from his tone.
The entity pulled out a device ready to type in the information about the product. That action made the teen flinch, unsure about the figure's movements.
"Any specifications are you looking for? Such as the type and how far of a distance do you plan on going." The entity stopped to ask before adding information about the product.
"Uh well, F- fit for a motorcycle and should have enough for a 100km." He lowered his bat downwards as he spoke of the details about the requested item. The entity sends a single nod and continues typing the newly received information, disbelief coloring the teen's expression as to how that thing complied with taking his order. However, his grip on his bat is firm, on edge, just in case.
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The device dinged.
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Xxxx
Items found: x18, aisle 48,
Initiating GPS, finding the best route...
Loading...
GPS initiated, follow the route.
Xxxx
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A blue line dimly shined on the floor, leading him to where the requested item was. "You can stay here or follow me. it is your choice." The entity offered, its voice echoing in the vast emptiness of the market.
With a mixture of apprehension and curiosity, the teen picked up the dropped handgun and chose to follow the store clerk. As they ventured deeper into the seemingly endless market, the school kid couldn't help but wonder about the true nature of this bizarre place, shrouded in uncertainty and intrigue.
"It's unbelievable for a place like this to exist. Judging by how nobody is here, am I the first to show up in this place?" The teen questioned.
"No, others came before you; you are the fifth to have stepped foot in here. I'm curious; mind telling me where you came from, and what shou-?"
"It's Takashi. Komuro Takashi, and where I'm from, wait. Why would you ask that?" The teen asked.
The store clerk hummed before replying. "During my stay here, I figured this place connects to different worlds. How did obtain this information? There's a machine that resembles a kiosk, using the machine provides you with information to the worlds of those that stepped in."
"A gate to worlds?" Takashi zoned out as that question lingered in his mind. Shaking his head, he turned to glance at the tall being "Then, is it possible to migrate? Or wait, I'm not dreaming am I? Is this even real to begin with? The whole thing?"
"To answer that, you may aswell step out and see if it's a dream or not." The entity replied.
Reaching aisle 48, the entity stopped and picked up the requested item. Appraising it to check the product's content using that device of his. Confirming its contents, they went back to the cashier counter. It was a quiet walk until they reached it; Takashi was too invested in looking around the mysterious place.
Placing the item on the counter, it displayed its price on the screen, 154.27 SC (store credits.)
Takashi seeing the price, got bummed out, confused on what the fuck is an SC, and he surely doesn't have that much currency on him to even convert it to that.
"You can either purchase it from your world's currency or trade it with any valuable items that you carry and place it on the selling side of the counter." He gestured towards the counter beside him. "However, with currency, I recommend that you convert it. Selling currency as an item may lower its initial value."
Takashi hesitated, knowing that he barely has any money on him, but eventually placed his hand on the handgun, even though it seemed foolish to trade it since it was a necessity for his survival. The teen sighed, realizing it was of no use to him now after wasting bullets on the store clerk.
He reluctantly placed the handgun on the counter, and it vanished after a few seconds. The display screen lit up, showing the receipt of the purchase to both parties.
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xxxx
Purchase complete...
Remaining store credit: 1314.89
Thank you for your patronage. Please come again.
xxxx
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'For a small gun like that, it sold for a lot of credits.' the entity thought. "Is there anything else you would like to buy?"
Sighing, Takashi replied, "Uh Sure, why not. A gum or two for the road." He reached for a small tray near the checkout counter, which was filled with a variety of treats, picked up two watermelon-flavored gum packets, and placed them on the purchase side of the counter.
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xxxx
Purchase complete...
Remaining store credit: 1306.39
Thank you for your patronage. Please come again.
xxxx
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"Would that be all?" the entity inquired as he cocked his head to the side.
"Yes, I must go now, I don't know if Rei is safe or not," Takashi replied.
As he was about to leave, a voice sounded from behind him.
"Wait, If you don't mind, can I see your world?"
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+Yagami Light POV+
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He left the mysterious place and found that the surroundings were just as they were before he entered that door. He checked his watch and realized that only 10 minutes had passed since he entered.
'So, time differs, I've only been inside for 5 minutes.' He glanced at his watch several times inside that very black door to check if there was anything off in that strange market.
The scene of subtle snow around provides a calming effect to the setting as a few drops of snowflakes land on his watch. The man glances back at the door hidden in an alleyway, which was a couple of kilometers away from the recent scene of Naomi's death.
"Isn't that interesting?" A raspy voice sounded from behind the man. Startled, he rapidly turned to view the owner of the voice.
"What is it, Ryuk?" A glare was directed towards the thing that was called Ryuk, a somewhat humanoid build, extraordinarily slim, and had light-gray skin, almost blue-ish in color, thin lips, pointed teeth, round yellow eyes with red irises; his limbs were abnormally long, and feather-like wings on his back. It chuckled.
"I'm curious to know what is behind that door." He used his long index finger and pointed towards the door.
'Was he not able to go in?' The man pondered.
"Tell me, Ryuk. Is there anything else that exists besides Shinigami?"
That sparked something in Ryuk. Knowing that something or someone is behind that very obsidian wooden door. "Angels, perhaps." He chuckled.
'I'm certain that thing was not an angel in terms of appearance that I know about. Let's head back for now.' He glanced around, checking if anyone was near the narrow alleyway.
Confirming that no one was there, he started making his way home, taking a final look at the mysterious door. He began thinking of ways to cover it.
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+POV End+
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Ryuk watched the young man's figure walk away. He turned to face the door once more. He reached for the doorknob, only to have his long hand pass through it once again.
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