Hana’s voice reached him first.

  Soft. Trembling. Close enough to touch.

  “Haruto… please… wake up already…”

  Darkness clung to his thoughts like damp cloth. Heavy. Slow.

  He stirred, groaning faintly, the sound barely leaving his throat.

  For a fleeting moment, everything felt normal.

  Like he was still in his room.

  Like Hana had come to drag him out of bed again because he overslept.

  Like that night… the screams… the blood… the impossible—

  Just a dream.

  His lips parted lazily.

  “…give me five more minutes…”

  Then memory returned.

  Not gently.

  Not kindly.

  It crashed back all at once.

  His eyes snapped open.

  “Hana!”

  Blue light pulsed through his vision. His breath came sharp and fast as he realized he wasn’t lying in a bed, but slumped against rough stone. A cavern wall. Cold. Unfamiliar.

  His hands trembled as they gripped his head.

  Something was wrong.

  He could feel everything around him.

  Too much. Far too much.

  The air. The stone. The faint vibrations in the ground.

  Even without looking, the entire room existed inside his mind in perfect shape, like a map forced into his skull.

  His breathing stuttered.

  But… he didn’t actually need to breathe.

  Panic crawled up his spine.

  Slowly, he raised his head.

  And saw her.

  A small girl sat in front of him, watching silently.

  A mask covered her face—ominous, expressionless—yet her posture carried a strange mix of curiosity and concern.

  Haruto tried to speak.

  Nothing came out.

  Then—

  “You’re finally awake! It’s about time!”

  A familiar voice.

  “Haru…?”

  The word slipped out before he could stop it.

  The masked girl flinched slightly. Confusion. Then realization.

  She hurriedly removed the mask.

  Pale green skin.

  Round black eyes.

  Long pointed ears.

  A goblin.

  Haruto froze.

  Every instinct told him to recoil. To fear.

  But she didn’t feel like a monster.

  She slowly held the mask out toward him.

  Offering it.

  Like something precious.

  For a second, he wondered if this was still a dream.

  A ridiculous, impossible dream.

  Yet his hand moved anyway. Hesitant. Careful.

  He accepted it.

  The girl spoke in a language he couldn’t understand, gesturing insistently for him to put it on.

  After a brief pause, he obeyed.

  The moment the mask touched his face—

  Relief.

  Pressure vanished from his senses like a storm suddenly silenced.

  The overwhelming awareness faded into something manageable. Stable.

  His body felt… whole again.

  Still strange. Still unfamiliar.

  But no longer breaking apart.

  “Are you feeling better now?”

  The voice echoed directly inside his mind.

  His eyes widened.

  “Haru… is that really you?”

  “Of course it’s me, dumbass. You can’t recognize my voice now?”

  Yeah.

  That attitude was unmistakable.

  Relief flickered across his face.

  “What… happened? Where are we? And where are you?”

  “Why are you looking around? I’m not out there,” she replied.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  A short pause.

  “I’m in the mask. Somehow.”

  “…You’re kidding.”

  “Do I sound like I’m kidding?”

  His brain gave up trying to keep up.

  “Wait. Transfer thoughts? Mask? What is going on?!”

  A sigh echoed in his head.

  “We died, remember? That beautiful lady said we were getting reincarnated.”

  Silence fell.

  “…We got reincarnated?” he whispered.

  “Why are you asking me? You’re the expert.”

  That shut him up.

  Slowly, Haruto looked inward—past the confusion, past the fear.

  Something pulsed inside his body.

  Not blood. Not energy.

  Something unfamiliar… yet natural.

  Then he noticed it.

  Resting quietly on his lap.

  A small orb of slime.

  His fingers trembled as he reached out and touched it.

  Soft. Warm. Alive.

  The slime suddenly wriggled.

  He jerked back in shock—

  “Haruto… you’re awake…”

  A weak, familiar voice.

  His breath caught.

  “Hana?”

  “I… I think so… I can’t really move…”

  Before he could respond—

  “Ooooh… looks like someone got a little greedy~” Haruki teased.

  The slime visibly shrank.

  “It’s not like that!”

  “Like what?” Haruto asked, completely lost.

  “Girl talk,” Haruki said casually.

  “Whatever. Just explain what actually happened.”

  Haruki let out a long, exhausted sigh for him to hear.

  “Alright… fine. I’ll explain. But if I miss something, don’t start yelling at me.”

  “When do I ever yell?” Haruto muttered.

  “Every five minutes.”

  “That’s because you talk nonsense every five minutes.”

  “See? You’re doing it already.”

  Before the bickering could grow teeth, a faint wobble came from his hands.

  The slime.

  Hana shifted slightly in his palms, as if protesting the noise without words.

  Both of them went quiet.

  “…Just explain,” Haruto said more softly.

  This time, Haruki didn’t argue.

  “I was on the dance floor,” she began.

  “Everything was... bright. Annoying. You know… normal party stuff.”

  Haruto could picture it too clearly.

  Music. Lights. People laughing like tomorrow was guaranteed.

  His chest tightened.

  “Then the explosion happened.”

  Her tone flattened. No drama. No exaggeration.

  That made it worse.

  “I don’t remember the pain,” she continued.

  “Just… white.”

  The cavern felt colder.

  “I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. I didn’t even know if I had a body.

  All I could do was see… and hear.”

  Haruto swallowed quietly.

  “And then,” she said, voice lowering,

  “someone spoke.”

  “Someone…?” he asked.

  “Yeah. A lady. Her voice was… weird. Cold, but gentle at the same time.”

  A pause.

  “She said I’d been chosen to be reincarnated in a new world… as a hero.”

  Haruto’s fingers tightened unconsciously around the slime.

  “…Hero, you?” he repeated under his breath, almost mockingly.

  “Don’t say it like that,” Haruki snapped.

  “I didn’t ask for it.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You were thinking it loudly.”

  He clicked his tongue but stayed quiet.

  “She kept talking,” Haruki continued.

  “But then things got complicated.”

  “When are they not?”

  “Do you want the story or not?”

  “…Continue.”

  A tiny huff echoed in his mind before she went on.

  “She said something about how my soul was bound to something by fate, and that it couldn’t be separated. Because of that,” Haruki said, “I couldn’t reincarnate normally. So instead… I was sent here in some astral form.”

  Silence.

  “…Inside a tool,” she finished quietly.

  “A tool that belongs to a warrior with the heart of a hero, she said. I didn't know what that meant but... it seems pretty cool, no?”

  Haruto slowly lifted a hand to the mask on his face.

  “…a warrior? this little girl?” He asked, glancing at the little goblin that sat before him.

  “I don't know? Maybe? The mask does belong to her.”

  His heartbeat felt distant.

  Muted.

  Like even shock wasn’t sure how to function in this body.

  “After that,” Haruki continued,

  “everything went dark again.

  And when I woke up… I couldn’t move. Still couldn’t speak.”

  Her tone softened, just a little.

  “But I could feel things.

  Not with eyes or ears… something else.”

  Haruto understood that part too well.

  “It took me a while,” she admitted,

  “but eventually I realized…”

  “…You realized that you were in the mask,” Hana finished.

  “Yeah.”

  A quiet pause settled between the three of them.

  “The first thing I noticed after that,” she said more gently,

  “was you two.”

  Haruto’s gaze dropped to Hana again.

  “You weren’t moving. Hana wasn’t moving.

  So, I didn't know what to do...”

  Her voice thinned slightly at the edges.

  “But then I realized… you're probably also reincarnated too. Just unconscious.”

  Hana trembled faintly in his hands, as if reacting to the memory.

  “That… helped,” Haruki admitted.

  “A little.”

  “So what did you do?” he asked quietly.

  “What do you think? I waited.”

  He blinked.

  “You just… waited?”

  “What was I supposed to do? I'm a mask, remember?”

  “You’re lazy even after death. Incredible.” he teased, just to lighten up the mood.

  “Excuse me?!”

  The tension sparked instantly—

  —and just as quickly—

  Hana let out a frustrated sigh.

  Both of them froze again.

  A wordless reminder.

  Haruto sighed. “…Sorry.”

  “…Whatever.” Haruki muttered, trying hide her satisfaction.

  “Anyway,” she continued, “after some time… the girl woke up.”

  Haruto’s eyes shifted toward the small figure still sitting nearby.

  She was watching him.

  Carefully.

  Like he might disappear if she blinked.

  When their eyes met, she straightened slightly, pretending she hadn’t been staring.

  Haruto quickly looked away.

  “…G-Go on,” he said.

  “She was injured,” Haruki explained.

  “Pretty badly. But when she put me on—

  the mask—

  her body started healing. Her injuries closed in seconds.”

  Haruto’s brows drew together.

  “That fast?”

  “Yeah. Freakishly fast.

  Like the mask had some healing magic or something.”

  That's when his mind explored the inevitable possibility that this is fantasy world, just like in novels and manga. It's not really impossible, is it?

  “She started talking to me,” Haruki said.

  “Out loud. Even though I couldn’t answer.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “How should I know? Maybe I have a friendly face.”

  “You’re a mask.”

  “Rude.”

  Despite himself, Haruto felt a faint warmth creep in.

  Familiar stupidity.

  Comforting, in a strange way.

  “I tried to respond,” Haruki went on.

  “But I didn't have any voice. It was weird.”

  A beat.

  “Then… something happened.”

  Her tone sharpened slightly.

  “My thoughts reached her.”

  Haruto stilled.

  “She reacted, and—” Haruki said.

  The goblin girl shifted again under his gaze, almost shy now.

  “So you talked,” he said.

  “Yeah. A lot. I told her to drag you two to the corner and keep watch.”

  Haruto glanced at the stone wall behind him.

  “…She did all that alone?”

  “Mhm.”

  He looked back at her properly this time.

  Small body. Thin arms.

  Probably exhausted.

  Yet she had carried them anyway.

  Somehow.

  Something inside his chest twisted quietly.

  “We talked for… some time, I think,” Haruki continued.

  “Hard to tell time when you’re a damn decorative equipment.”

  “Language.”

  “Make me.”

  A pause.

  Then softer—

  “She told me some strange stuff. You probably wanna hear it, cause according to her, outside world's kinda... dangerous. Cool, but i think it's better to be safe, right?”

  Haruto exhaled slowly.

  Nothing about this situation was likable.

  Silence stretched.

  Not empty.

  Just heavy with truths waiting to land.

  He could understand the story.

  Piece by piece.

  Logically, it all fit.

  But one fact refused to settle.

  They died.

  They were really, truly dead.

  And now—

  He was the only one still human.

  His throat tightened.

  He forced the thought down before it could break something.

  “…We can figure out everything else later,” he said at last.

  Haruki didn’t interrupt.

  Didn’t joke.

  Because his voice had changed.

  “Just tell me one thing.”

  A long pause settled over the cavern, quiet as falling dust.

  Haruto’s gaze drifted toward the darkness deeper inside the cave.

  Toward a memory that still felt too sharp to be fake.

  “…Where are we?”

  No answer yet.

  His fingers tightened slightly around the trembling slime.

  “…And I remember fighting some stone monster just when I woke up…”

  The air felt colder.

  “…it tore my arm off…”

  He looked at his arm, now intact.

  “…Was that all just a dream?”

  ...