Chu-chu.

Within the dark confines of a rather messy room, a young man laid on the bed. The only blanket he had currently rested on the floor, alongside his pillow.

Limited amounts of moonlight would have poured in through the window, had it not been for the rising sun in the pink-ish skies: The same skies that, in spite of their beauty, elevated far above anyone else's struggles.

With a hand touching the surface of his brown hair, the young man lazily sprung forth from the comfortable palace. The phone resting in the night table ended in his hands.

"Five o'clock. Considering classes start at half past seven, I should be able to make it with plenty of time to spare."

His feet, shrouded in mystery thanks to a pair of white socks, brought the student over to the kitchen. That is, while he kept looking at the phone.

"Ah, looks like the others are celebrating Darkclaw's birthday."

He muttered that with a slight smile, though... it vanished quickly, instead leaving an empty, grim void in his expression.

The cry of a bird snapped him back to reality.

"Right, breakfast."

In spite of still appearing to be rather tired, he went over to the kitchen and prepared a simple breakfast. Assuming a glass of orange juice and a loaf of bread with fresh cheese counts as a breakfast, that is.

He also dealt with everything else: Preparing the bag he'd bring to his class, putting on some monochromatic clothes, and taking out a slightly tattered, deep blue scarf.

"Should I bring the coat...?" He mused to no one but himself. And perhaps his wardrobe, that happened to be standing in front of him.

In the end, he opened it and took out a spotless, black hooded overcoat. When worn, it reached his kneecaps with ease. The piece of clothing had some light gray trims around the lower pockets, the breast pockets, the cuffs and the buttons. As for the hood itself, a trim made with synthetic, chestnut brown fur decorated its edges.

A sigh left his lips. He took it out of the gigantic plastic envelope covering it all, and put it on.

With his bag on his right arm, he prepared to leave the place behind. At least for a couple hours.

Yet, his gaze was drawn to a neatly decorated trophy lying in the corner.

... He gazed at that trophy for a few moments.

"I suppose this is the last one," he uttered indifferently, before walking out of the department with his bag. The fresh air embraced his coat and the dusty trophy.

"Morning, Randall. Have fun in your first class," voiced one of his neighbors, an old man.

"Thanks, Landlord," he replied in kind, with a similarly silent voice tone.

His footsteps led him all the way to the exit.

Trails of the morning wings blew everywhere, similar to how nothing could truly escale from the morning sun's warm light. They both carressed Randall's expression, crumbling down the walls surrounding his mind slightly.

Yes, slightly. That did not stop him from leaving the building behind, and throwing the golden thing in a nearby trash bin. Afterwards, he walked on indifferently through the lonely, sun-bathed block.

"I'd take the train, but they don't seem to be running today... I think they were on a strike, or something."

Randall walked over the first set of rails.

Right when his feet stepped on the second pair, a long, yellow train appeared out of nowhere, clearly eager to start a new isekai.

"Chu chu, motherfucker."

"What the fu-"

The sentence remained unfinished, thanks to the strange train that was not meant to be there... Running over Randall.

Mercilessly.

...

In an unknown place, two humanoid individuals stood by the sides of a small, bloodstained bed, while maintaining their gazes on a sleeping human.

The first individual resembled a slouching blue haired male, while the second one looked like an upright red haired female.

Almost unconscious, Randall's body struggled to move around, while the two individuals stared at him in amusement. "Is this the one?"

"Maybe. Only time will tell."

"...So, we're sending this one, correct?"

"Affirmative. The Department Head ordered us to send him with the T3-."

Another being, with white hair and an average height, barged without any care into the room, slamming the doors with ease. "Nah, give him the T0," it boldly ordered.

Both of the humanoids looked at the newcomer with shock, the blue man's head bumping with the ceiling, which prompted him to go back into slouching.

Usually, the red one would have laughed at his misfortune, but today she had no time. 

"We understand, Overseer." She quickly heed the white humanoid's orders, and slammed a shining gray ticket onto the human's forehead. It vanished shortly after, leaving no traces of its existence behind.

"Now, leave. Both of you," commanded the light humanoid being.

And so, they did. 

The white one cast a glare towards Randall's body. A flawless reconstruction, even after the fatal accident he had earlier.

"... Wake up," it vocalized, its voice reverberating throughout the room with no major issues.

Sluggishly, the youth opened his eyes.

The humanoid created a small batton, and slammed the human's head with it.

"Your body was turned into a perfect salad of organs and rocks. Now, do us a favour and listen."

The strange figure told him about his luck, and how he was chosen by the world to be a "protagonist" on another planet. A magical, marvelous planet, totally devoid of any relevant conflict.

Then, he gave him a tablet. The screen showed a list of around fifteen or so items, with each having a tick box and a numeric value at their side. 

"You may pick 4 of the fifteen items in that list. However, pay attention to the number at its side. The total value must not surpass the 15-point mark."

The list fell to the scrutiny of Randall's two brown eyes. Though, he had to re-read most of the points multiple times.

His currently hazy vision was not making him any favours.

"Now, be mindful when picking, unless you want to get an early grave again," stated the fat humanoid, before taking out a cigarette and a lighter. "Want one?"

'Weren't you talking about an early grave just now…?'

Stunned, the brown haired man recomposed himself after two seconds, and shook his head. Then, he submerged himself into reading. 

His eyes paused on two options, for two different reasons. 

"What does this one mean?" he asked, pointing at a drawing.

A pink hue surrounded a human's covered body, with a reddish spear poking out of the mist.

"Your body will have an innate understanding of how the Ego works."

"Ego? You mean pride?"

"... You'll find out later."

"Alright... Why is it named 'SSS Tier Talent'?"

"... Too many people complained about the original term being hard to understand, so we dumbed it down a few notches," replied the man, before releasing a huff of gray smoke.

He kept on, analyzing the other doubtful one.

'Memory Repository... The fact that they're giving me this choice probably means that, if I were to skip this one, my memories would be tampered with, or even erased… I'm definitely taking it. Even if it costs a third of my budget.'

Ten minutes later, he finished.

"Done."

The smoking humanoid reviewed the four boxes. "Body augmentation, typical one among your kind… Oh, you're not going with the Q.H. System? That's new. Most youngsters I've seen in this facility take that one without thinking…"

The room stayed mostly quiet, until the humanoid snapped his fingers, and spoke again. "Alright kiddo, you're free to go. Just remember to test the exact effects of Time Alter, alright?"

The humanoid put out its cigarette, as it looked at him.

"Let's hope that reconstruction surgery went well," it told him, looking as stoned as always.

The human widened his eyes, as the stranger flung him into the cold nothingness of the universe. A small, blue-ish portal awaited for a brave traveler, but it pulled a slightly off-settled one instead.

"... Should I have told him about the fuel source for Time Alter and his Ego being the same?"

Two seconds later, it shrugged, knowing he was bound to find out if he chose to be reckless with either of them.