[2027, Mar. 27, 11:45 PM
Japan Standard Time]
The light from Nagi Kashiwagi's phone screen burned into his eyes as he tapped away, fingers moving faster than his thoughts could catch up.
"The crimson gate burst open, and from within stepped a figure cloaked in starlight…"
He stopped. Backspaced. Rewrote it.
"From within stepped a figure cloaked in golden light, followed by the scent of burning ozone."
Better.
He looked up from his bed—blanket tangled around his legs, school bag unopened in the corner, dinner untouched on his desk.
His fingers cramped from typing nonstop for hours.
Another chapter today. Again.
Nagi wrote this novel first as a hobby for two years now. But as his family struggle financially, he thought of a way of earning; uploading it online.
Within just two months, half of the entire unfinished novel of his was posted in the internet.
He sighed, rubbing his eyes. 180 chapters uploaded to WebZone Novels in just sixty days. His genre tag read:
#ModernFantasy #WorldFusion #DyingEarth #OriginalWork
Totally unedited. Barely outlined. He just… wrote.
"Please get popular," he muttered, refreshing the page.
The first chapters had a hundred viewers at the beginning. But as the chapters goes by, it's popularity decreases, even though it's not actually popular.
Zero comments. Six views. One like—probably from his own alt account.
He leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
I don't even care about getting famous. Just enough to earn something. Anything.
His mother worked two jobs. His sister skipped meals sometimes and lied about it.
If writing stupid magic stories online could help a little, then he'd give it everything.
Even if no one read it.
Even if it hurt.
The next morning, Satou blinked sleep from his eyes as he stepped into his classroom.
He travelled to school as usual, by foot, as it was only a few minute walk from his home to there.
His classmates were buzzing—not the usual gossip, but the urgent kind. That tone people get when something unbelievable happens.
"Did you see the news?"
"Yeah, that's probably another fake news."
"A whole continent just… appeared?"
"Yeah, *chuckles* like straight from a fantasy novel"
He continued to walk down the aisle of the room, towards his seat at the very back.
He just sat there, listening to his surroundings silently.
Someone had pulled up a livestream on their phone. Satellite feed.
The ocean looked normal—until it wasn't.
A vast landmass now floated where there used to be only waves.
No explanation. No warning.
From the speakers of the phone, a voice was heard:
"—repeat, an unknown landmass has appeared in the Pacific. Aerial footage incoming—"
He caught a glimpse of the screen—just a second, just a frame—and his stomach dropped.
A helicopter was flying over the ocean.
On the edge of the screen, the tip of a continent came into view.
Strange. Wild. Completely untouched.
But then—
Something flew past the camera. Fast. Too fast.
A shadow—no, a creature.
The livestream shook violently.
The helicopter spun.
Screams cut through the feed before it went to stop.
Nagi stood up without thinking, his hand snapping forward.
He grabbed his classmate's phone.
"Wha—hey!?" his classmate yelped, startled.
Nagi didn't even hear him. His eyes were locked on the screen.
His heart hammered inside his chest.
In the prologue, chapter 1 of his novel, he had written:
"The Emergence began with a ripple in the Pacific, followed by a continent resurfacing from beneath the waves.
They soon called it 'Aurenveil.' "
He froze.
A cold sweat ran down his back.
It's just a coincidence.
Just a coincidence.
Right?
He went home in a daze. Didn't write that night.
The next day, another event hit the headlines.
The sky above the Pacific wasn't as calm as it used to be.
It turned unusually dark. Almost like a thick, swirling storm was gathering—only it wasn't just a storm.
It was exactly how he had written it.
Chapter 3.
The sign that two different worlds had fully connected.
And the birth of magic into the modern world.
Nagi stared blankly at his screen.
News sites. Social media. Livestreams.
All saying the same thing.
His hands trembled slightly as he scrolled through the articles.
The dark clouds, the magnetic interference, the strange reports of energy spikes...
This wasn't a coincidence anymore.
This was his story.
Coming true.