"Let's go to my house. It's relatively safe there."
Sawamura Spencer Eriri glanced nervously at the approaching figures and quickly dashed into the villa.
Kawashima Toya followed her inside.
The spacious interior was clean and tidy, completely devoid of the absurd, yellowed atmosphere that permeated the outside world.
"Phew... Safe at last." Once Toya was inside, Eriri hurriedly locked the front door. "Follow me to the basement, Kawashima. It's not safe enough up here."
Toya followed her, slightly surprised. "Eriri, how long have you been surviving in this world?"
"You seem incredibly experienced."
Her sequence of actions was too practiced. Without a significant amount of time spent surviving here, she wouldn't have moved with such fluidity and caution.
"In this world?" Eriri paused while leading him downstairs, looking confused. "Didn't the world just suddenly change?"
"A few days after you defeated those kidnappers at Toyogasaki Academy, everything just... shifted."
Toya followed her into the basement.
It was spacious, though not quite as exaggerated as the underground vault in the Trash Fox Manor. The room was stocked with neatly organized supplies of food and water. In the center of the room, a large table was cluttered with messy sketches and manga drafts.
Noticing Toya's gaze on her drawings, Eriri's face turned bright red. She scrambled to gather the papers and hide them away.
The world suddenly changed? Toya mused silently.
Eriri has no awareness that she crossed over into another dimension. That explains why she thinks reality itself warped.
Eriri handed him a cup of water, her expression bitter. "Kawashima, has the world ended?"
"I've been searching for clues this whole time, trying to understand why everything became like this. But I haven't found anything."
"Sometimes the world is normal, and everyone acts like regular people. But then, for some reason, they suddenly change."
"They become emotionless... it's terrifying. And when they turn back to normal, no one believes me no matter how hard I try to explain."
"The world hasn't ended," Toya said gently, seeing her dejected state. "To be precise, you accidentally stepped into this world."
"I came here from the normal world, tracking a distress signal. It seems that signal came from you."
"The normal world?" Eriri looked puzzled. "Are you saying the world I'm in right now isn't normal?"
Toya chuckled and nodded. "I can't reveal too many details, but I can tell you a little. The real world is still peaceful. It doesn't have these anomalies, nor does it look like a faded, old photograph."
"I don't know much about this place myself, but for now, let's call it the World of the Past."
He truly knew nothing about this place—not even how to leave. But Eriri had been surviving alone in this "Past" for who knows how long. She needed hope. If he told her even he didn't know how to escape, she might fall into total despair.
Eriri listened, her confusion growing. "But I didn't do anything... It felt like the world just mutated around me."
"Everyone started acting weird. I tried to call you, but your number was always out of service. I asked so many people, but no one gave me an answer."
"And then today, I sent a message by accident... and you actually came."
Toya smiled softly. "Don't overthink it. You're spiraling a bit. Let's calm down first."
"I'll figure out a way to deal with this World of the Past."
"Let's drop the heavy talk for a second. Kawashima, do you play video games?" Eriri's eyes lit up as she pulled out a game controller. "It's been so stifling lately. Gaming is one of the only ways I can relax. Play with me?"
Toya gave a confident smile. "Of course I play. It'd be weirder if a guy my age didn't."
He took the controller she offered. Even though now wasn't exactly the time for games, taking care of Eriri's mental state was crucial. They could talk business after she blew off some steam.
Ten minutes later.
Eriri slammed her controller down on the table, her blue eyes glaring at Toya with indignation.
"In just ten minutes, you crushed me twenty-seven times!"
"Did you develop this game or something? I couldn't even touch you!"
Toya maintained a faint smile. "What a coincidence. I happen to be quite familiar with The King of Fighters."
"Maybe we should switch games. I don't really know how to hold back in this one."
"Didn't you say you wanted me to relax?"
Eriri huffed angrily. "No switching! We continue! I don't believe I can't win at least once!"
Thirty minutes later.
Eriri sat there, questioning her life choices, and tossed the controller aside.
"This game is trash! Even a dog wouldn't play this!"
"How can a basic character beat my boss character?!"
Toya grinned. "Just luck."
In reality, even if he was good, he shouldn't be able to crush her every single time. However, his overall increase in physical and mental capabilities as a Campione meant his reaction speed and predictive abilities were godlike. Every time Eriri pressed a button, he could predict the input and counter it before it even happened.
"I'm done! I'm going to eat!" Eriri stomped over to the food supplies like a sulking child.
Toya watched her retreating figure and thought to himself, She should be fine now.
The crushing pressure she had been feeling seemed to have dissipated. He didn't have to worry about her having a sudden mental breakdown.
"Kawashima, what do you want to eat? I have plenty of instant food."
Toya lowered his head, speaking gently. "Cup noodles are fine."
Eriri glanced at him, pouting slightly when he didn't even look up. "What are you thinking about so deeply? Whatever. I'll go make the noodles."
Soon, Eriri returned with two steaming cups of noodles.
While they ate, Toya asked, "Eriri, what was the point of tearing up those papers and scattering them around the villa?"
Earlier, he had seen her risk her safety to scatter white paper scraps in a circle around the house. There had to be a reason for such risky behavior.
"Oh, that," Eriri said nonchalantly between bites. "I discovered it by accident when I went out to scavenge for food."
"Those monsters seem to hate the color white. They subconsciously avoid white areas."
"So I tried scattering white paper around the villa to see if it worked. The results were surprisingly good. Ever since I did that, the monsters stopped crowding around my place."
"They hate white?" Toya nodded thoughtfully. "I can't draw any further conclusions from that just yet, but it's a start."