The harsh ringing of a clock filled the room. The loud sound made the alarm clock shake as if it were vibrating.

kuro , lying in bed, groaned. He reached out a hand, fumbling for the alarm and trying to turn it off. He finally managed to smack the top of it, but instead of shutting off, the noise simply faded to a low thrum before the alarm clock itself fell silent. The young man, who had been half-sitting up, fell back into his pillows, exhausted.

The peace didn't last long. The ringing started again, more insistent than before. kuro's hand reached out once more, finding the top of the alarm clock and turning it off, and he collapsed back into a deep slumber.

He finally woke up. He slowly sat up in his bed, running a hand through his messy hair. He looked around the room, bewildered.

"Was that all a dream?" he mumbled to himself. "But… it felt so real."

He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. "I shouldn't think too much about it."

He got out of bed, stretching and yawning. He walked to the kitchen, his bare feet padding on the floor. He glanced at an empty cup sitting on the table and then went to the refrigerator.

"Huh? This is empty too." He peered inside the empty fridge. "I think I swear I left some ramen there."

He scratched his head, confused. "how is it empty! ?"

"I guess I need to buy some at the... gro-cery store?" he said aloud, as he walked towards the front door.

The moment he stepped outside, he was met with a shocking sight. Everything was gone. His house, his neighborhood, the familiar scenery—all of it had vanished, replaced by a strange, empty void.

"HUHHHHHHH!" he yelled, staring at the empty space where his home should have been. "WHAT THA—"

"WHERE DID MY HOUSE GOOOO!!" he cried out, panicking. "WHERE DID EVERYTHING GO? WHAT ...JUST... HAPPENED."

 "Then that wasn't a dream."

From behind him, a voice echoed in the emptiness., calm and powerful, spoke. "Finally, we awake... Patchborn... or should I say Kuroshiraga Arufa correct."

Kuroshiraga found himself in a grand hall, standing before a large, ethereal-looking woman seated on a throne.

"Took you long enough..." 

"A hit from truck kun does take its toll...i thought you would never wake up "

"who are You and where am I?",kuro asked.

"you're in my pseudo realm...however...who i am is'nt important right now ..."

kudo added,"how did I get here?" 

"I redirected your path to this place ", the woman responded.

"Listen," the woman said, her voice echoing in the chamber. "I've got a task or favor I need to ask of you."

"A favor?" Kuroshiraga asked. "What do I gain from doing this?"

The woman showed him an image of a small, blocky artifact. "The last known location of the artifact, of course..."

she continued " There's an item I need you to collect from another world. The item was labeled "Artefact N.O. 47."

"How does..." he started to ask, but his frustration grew. "Why choose me? There are more qualified people than me."

The woman's expression remained serene. She replied, "Listen, kid... the chosen one is simple... I like you... you're different." 

kuro curious asked, "Either way... if you are capable of erecting a pseudo realm of this echelon... why can't you do it yourself? I'm certain you are powerful enough to do so."

"Simple,I too have my limitations," the woman explained.

Then kuro thought to himself, 

"If I'm not wrong, I was knocked out...by  an imitation of the infamous driverless truck ,dubbed Truck kun ..."

"...even tho that was my second encounter with the entity it doesn't count since it was just a mere mimic and not the real thing"

"... that was probably the creepy  hand mask guy's technique..."

 he continued, his voice trailing off. "Also, he might have used an artifact to send  me to a prison realm ..."

"...however doesn't traversing through different realm require an artifact that can increase its dimentions by one ?hmmm...anyways.."

"on my way to the prison realm she redirected  my path to here... but on the off chance that she made the a bridge...impressive."

"Can you give me some insight on this  other world and the item's exact location?" Kuroshiraga asked.

"If it helps, I'll tell you then," she replied.

"You are to be sent to a world called Kenikin Sekai," she began. "This is where you'll find the item I'm looking for... which is the key of Solomon."

The artifact she was talking about was labeled "Artefact N.O. 911."

"It was originally a pseudo realm meant to exile powerful Dreadspawn and kept them cooped up away from Earth, where humanity resides. However, due to unforeseen circumstances... the place is now inhabited by multiple sentient races and species. As a resultof this, chaos and conflicts arise between the sentient races. Because of this, Kenikin Sekai was split in two by a gigantic mountain range that stretches throughout the circumference of the planet."

She elaborated on the two sides of the world. "Dunes is mostly barren and has a 95% chance of death. This is where you are to find Artefact N.O. 911." She explained that the "Dunes" side was mainly inhabited by high-level Dreadspawn and demons

(a relative to dreadspawn). The other side, "Nede," was dominated by various other species and was the most populated.

"Artefact NO. 911 is specifically within the domain of Demon Lord Dezura,on the demon continent " she continued. "You'll find it in the capital,Maitairiku"

"This whole thing sounds familiar," Kuroshiraga mused. He then agreed, "Fine, I'll do it."

"One more thing," the woman said, "You're kind of weak." 

She offered him a deal. "So I'll give you some magic abilities if you want to stand a chance against the bottom of the barrel peasents ,later lone the Demon Lord. These new abilities are as follows."

But before she could finish, a portal opened beneath Kuroshiraga. "Pssssss... AS IF..." the woman said, smiling. "I'm sending you elsewhere for now. Have fun."

He fell through the portal, his body warping and twisting as he descended.

Kuroshiraga landed in a bizarre, desolate landscape. The air was heavy, and the ground was littered with strange, grotesque creatures. It was the  "DEMON REALM,MAKAI" Toxins fillled the air.

He found himself in a strange, dissipating room, his body in immense pain. He was inflated and his organs were being rearranged and compressed, only to regenerate.

"IT HURTS!" he screamed, gritting his teeth.

A voice, seemingly in his mind, responded. "Why was I just inflated, had my organs rearranged, compressed, to a mere... then regenerate while I'm conscious the whole time!"

He looked around. "The room is dissipating? Just like a membrane. What's this feeling?"

He tried to move, but his limbs were frozen. The voice in his head urged him. "GO. MOVE. RUN. MOVE. MOVE DAMN IT. MOVE."

He was still frozen. He saw a monstrous creature in the distance. "Why can't I move? Why am I frozen stiff?" He stared at the monster. "I'm gonna die. Is this how it ends... being Aerial..." He collapsed.

As he fell, his thoughts turned inward. "Why? Why do I keep doing this? Why? Why..."

He looked up at the gaping maw of a massive monster. "It's... DEATH. Because I keep hesitating." The number "89" flashed with the kanji for death.

"No... it's because of..."

He was consumed by a torrent of eyes, a form of Dread Faculty known as Scopophobia—the fear of being stared at. "I CAN'T BREATHE," he choked out.

The scene shifted to a memory. He was standing on a path, facing a friend and a shadowy figure of himself.

"Kuroshi, what are you so scared about?" his friend asked. "Going outside? Is it the stares?"

His friend continued, "You really don't like people's stares, do you? Even though it's not to do with that hair of yours."

He saw a flashback of himself, a child afraid of the stares of others.

The friend's voice broke through the memory. "Look, there's no need to be concerned about people's stares... to be honest, people don't really give a shit..." He added, "They have their own problems to worry about... and how you look is the least of their concerns."

"Let's go, Kuroshi. We're gonna miss the train," the friend said.

"OK," he replied, a small smile on his face.

The memory ended, and a new resolve filled him. "I remember now..." he said, staring at the giant eye of the monster. "I was afraid of the stares people make... but now is not the time... to dread."

"GATES. ONE TO FIVE..."

He opened a pocket watch, and with a powerful command, he unleashed his first ability. "First Intermediate Art: Accretion Disc Dialate." A powerful force exploded from his body, pushing the monster back.

He followed up with a second ability. "Second Intermediate Art: Super Nover Absolute." The world was rocked by a massive explosion in two stages.

When the dust settled, he was standing on a small piece of land in the middle of a massive crater. He was exhausted.

"I almost killed myself," he said, panting.

The woman's voice appeared out of nowhere. "I hope you're proud of yourself."

He looked down at his new, muscular body. The woman's voice was filled with satisfaction. "100%... kid."

A scene unfolded elsewhere, a conversation between two men, Oliver Kurosu and Noboru Tenjo.

"So you chose that realm to assess him?" Noboru asked.

"Yeah," Oliver replied, holding a tub of popcorn.

"It's the least harsh one I could think of," Noboru said. "Moreover, I need to have a cheap and thorough analysis of his abilities... his weaknesses, habits, or tendencies, strengths, and his methods."

"What do you think of him so far?" Oliver asked, offering some popcorn.

"His technique is sloppy and needs polish," Noboru stated. "The boy overthinks too much... his form is all over the place, and not to mention his excessive output that's bound to strain him."

"That's all I can say for now," Noboru concluded. "It's far too early to make a final verdict. But one thing is certain... the young lad seems to have a significant sense of discipline... although he still does need formal training."

Back in the Demon Realm, Kuroshiraga was a skeleton, his body tied up.

"It seems I respawn every time I die in this place... but I don't have that ability..." he thought. "I guess it's from that woman."

He was completely exhausted. "I'm... exhausted," he said to himself. "Though I'm not sure... I guess the pillar of light forming in the distance there... might be the next respawn checkpoint or whatever."

A pillar of light rose in the distance as the chapter came to an end.