0 . Prologue boy's departure

A light shines through the room's curtains and the boy sleeping in his bed wakes up with a dazzling glow.

His name is 【Azuma Ren】 and he is 16 years old this year. He's an ordinary boy who could be anywhere.

He gets up from bed. He changes into his uniform and heads to the kitchen. He opens the refrigerator and arranges the ingredients in the kitchen. Ren makes breakfast and lunch.

Good morning, big brother, what are you doing up so early?

Good morning, Hikari. You're on a field trip today, and I packed your lunch.

Azuma-Hikari. She is Ren's younger sister. Her parents are working abroad. They only come home during the holidays. Hikari and Ren are the only two people who live at home.

Hikari looks at the breakfast she has prepared for them at the table, and Ren takes off his apron. Hikari and Ren take a seat at the table.

'Itadakimasu,'

I'll take it! Big brother.

Hikari ate from her favorite food, and Ren grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

'Latest breaking news from ZouRube News! and video streaming. Press the play button on the remote control.

The video plays a weather report and a video of him covering an exotic restaurant nearby.

Ren eats bread with butter and vegetables with ham and eggs between them.

'Here's the news that follows. A few minutes ago, a mysterious glow appeared at a school. As soon as it stopped, more than 200 students and teachers at the school went missing, and the police have been investigating their whereabouts, but haven't been able to find any clues.

That's a lot of scale for a godsend.

She saw Ren watching the video intently. Hikari tugged at Ren's clothes.

'Big brother, the news is boring! In another!

Okay.

Video streaming. Hikari is glued to the TV when they change it to a children's cartoon. Ren finishes his breakfast and grabs his bag.

'Hikari! Brother, I'm going to leave first, the key to the house. Please, last one.

Roger that. Have a good day!

I'm out.

Wren has been in high school for a few months now, heading to school, and she's already settled into her classes. When he entered the classroom, he felt something behind him.

'Oh! Azuma, why don't we go to the mall after school? There's a new store.

'Good morning, Yuina. I'm sorry my sister is coming home early today.

Oh, yeah. So I'll invite you back!

'Oh...'

Yuina talks about going to visit her friends. Everyone she was close with in middle school had gone to another high school.

'Genzai. I am a loner at school. What a joke.

Then the class began. Time went by, classes were over and it was after school. I went to school, went to class as usual, and the day ended as usual, and I went out of the classroom to go outside. Wren boy.

(School is over safely. Let's get some groceries on the way home. I'll stop at the grocery store and read some light novel in my room afterwards.

I was about to go to the supermarket when I heard a woman's voice near a traffic light. I sneakily checked and saw one girl. Two boys from the same school. They were being tangled up with students from another school.

'Picking up? But it's incredibly overpowering!

The two guys, whose haircut makes them look like bad guys from the end of the century, are grinning at the girl they don't like.

'Hey! Why don't you go have a cup of tea with us?

'No! Let me go!

She can't get away as a student at the end of the century grabs her arm.

'Boss! She's lovely, this little girl, let me accompany you.

Sure. Hey, hey! Come on!

No!

'Officer! This way! I heard a call for help.

Then the silent sound of a police car echoed from nearby, near the turn-of-the-century student. The man called the boss paled in the face.

'The police are coming! Two! Let's get out of here!

Hee! Wait, boss!

The student at the end of the century immediately runs away at full speed. Leaving her alone.

'Um, are you okay?'

Yeah, and the police? I thought I heard a silent sound coming our way earlier.

Len takes out his phone and makes the sound of the police car's silent sound.

'I used my phone to make that silent earlier. I hit a play...'

She laughs when she takes a moment to look surprised. Len is a little nervous.

'Was it that funny?'

Mm-hm. Thank you for saving me, I'm a 'himari' and you're a.........

If Ren wasn't there in front of me, I could already see him running towards the other side. Himari calls out to Ren in a loud voice

Hey! I haven't heard your name yet!

Sorry! We're about to start a supermarket time sale!

Don't go! Wait!

Himari chased after Ren from behind, but he was too fast and lost him in the middle.

◆ ◆ ◆

The boy Ren made it to the time sale by running fast. He has a bag of groceries in his hand.

I rescued that boy earlier, but if you stand out too much, you might not be able to lead a normal life. I'd better be more careful next time.

As he thinks about it, he walks through the "Tamasakura (Sakura) Shopping Street" in the third city. Ren passes by an electronics store and sees a man on the TV screen.

It's the recently released game 'Sammon Gate Online', also known as SGO. Thanks to the support of the [Leon Foundation], I succeeded in developing goggles that apply Full Dive technology. And with Full Dive technology, we're going to create a whole new game that allows you to feel all of your senses in the game world!

The man on the stage is eager to explain the game. Ren leaves for the electronics store and goes straight home.

"It's rare that a pretty big company like [Leon (Leo) Foundation] is involved in game development. More than that, it's a game, huh?

It's commonly known as SGO. This game is

There are various professions, swordsmen and wizards and can use guns and so on. It's a good thing that there are so many different professions that there is no one who can keep track of them all.

(I haven't done it recently, but I'll try again)

That's what I'm thinking; a couple of high school girls are talking and walking. I walk past them.

'Hey, have you written down what you're going to submit tomorrow that you're going to be in the future?'

I'm not writing. There's nothing I want to do.

They were talking about the future of two high school girls who were passing by. Ren thinks about the future, but nothing comes to mind.

'....The future, huh...what do I want to be...hmm?

That's what I always do on my way home from school. That's when I was thinking about it. There was a big gate in front of me.

"Did I see a gate like this on my way to school this morning?

The gate door was closed, I turned around behind it, but it was the same door.

'A gate in a place like this ... it wasn't there in the morning ... but ... oh!

I heard a girl's voice as the closed gate door opened. A sensation of something pulling at me permeates my entire body.

'I, Serena, command you! Do me a favor and summon me!

A girl's voice? Huh? Wow!

The bag that he was holding fell off and Ren was sucked straight into the gate. And the gate that was there had vanished cleanly.