The notification hit both of their phones at the same time.
[ALERT: Monthly Salary Deposited]
It didn't buzz. It didn't vibrate. It shouted — not audibly, but in their hearts. Because this was no ordinary number. This was grown-up money. The kind of money that made you sit down, blink twice, and ask the air if someone made a mistake in accounting.
Emily Cross stared at her screen like it was radioactive.
"Noah."
"Yeah."
"Did you get the number too?"
"Yep."
"Is it... real?"
"I hope so. Or we just hallucinated the same comma."
The Bank
They didn't trust digital banking. Not this time.
They marched to the nearest bank like people trying to cash in lottery tickets before someone changed the rules. The clerk smiled politely as they slid their IDs across the counter.
Emily's hands were trembling. Noah looked like he was about to confess a crime.
"We'd like to withdraw," Emily said, her voice a little higher than normal.
"How much?"
"All of it."
The clerk blinked. "In cash?"
"No, just... transfer it to our cards. Please. Now."
A few taps. A signature. And then it was done.
Their balance read like a science fiction number to them — not billionaire money, no, but the kind of salary two orphan kids dreaming of labs and wires never thought they'd see outside of fantasy.
The Sacred Decision
Outside the bank, the sun was shining. Birds were chirping. Somewhere in the distance, a truck backfired like divine punctuation.
Emily turned to Noah.
"You know what I'm thinking?"
"We buy a telescope and map the stars?"
"No. Food. The good kind."
"...Pizza?"
"Large pizza."
They locked eyes.
A silent understanding passed between them. It wasn't just about pizza. It was about freedom. For the first time in their lives, they had money, agency, and empty stomachs.
The Holy Grail of Cheese
The restaurant smelled like heaven opened a window.
It was one of those authentic pizza places where the menus were chalkboards, the sauce was a family secret, and the crust was allegedly hand-kneaded by a retired Italian wizard. The prices were steep. They didn't care.
They ordered:
1x Extra Large Pepperoni Supreme
1x White Garlic Mushroom Truffle Inferno
1x Double Cheese, Double Doom
2x Fizzy Apple Sparkle Blasts
5x Drinks and 3 Small Cheese Pizzas
"We're not going to finish all this," Emily said.
"Don't ruin it with logic."
They carried the boxes home like they were holding treasure chests. Emily had one stacked on each arm, and Noah balanced two more like a waiter at a five-star dream.
They didn't speak much on the way. The scent alone had rendered them spiritually weak.
Their apartment door clicked open.
Noah kicked off his shoes without looking. Emily set the drinks on the counter. Steam curled from the boxes.
They opened the first one.
"This. Is. Art," Emily whispered.
They each grabbed a slice.
Hot cheese stretched like a cosmic thread. The crust was golden. The pepperoni glistened with just the right amount of sin.
Then, mid-bite...
The ground shuddered.
Not a lot. Just enough to notice.
They both paused.
"Was that—"
"Earthquake?"
"Maybe?"
And then—
CRRRKKKKKKK
The entire kitchen floor ripped open like someone tore a page from reality.
One moment, they were standing.
The next?
Falling.
Emily's arms flailed — but she held the pizza box like her life depended on it. Noah screamed and bit down on his slice mid-air.
"NOT THE PIZZA!"
"HOLD IT! HOLD ITTTTT—"
Wind rushed past. Light turned green. And then—
THUD.
They landed.
On soft, springy grass.
In total silence.
Emily blinked. Her glasses were crooked. The pizza box was still in her hands, slightly smushed but intact.
Noah groaned beside her, a half-eaten slice stuck to his shirt.
"...Are we dead?"
"If we are, heaven has grass."
They looked up.
Bright blue sky. No ceiling. No clouds. Nothing Strange. The air smelled like mint and something metallic.
Noah sat up and looked around.
Then looked at his slice.
"I'm still eating it."
Emily didn't move.
"Should we... panic?"
"I'm not panicking until we finish the pizza."
"Agreed."
They sat there, surrounded by surreal alien beauty, absolutely lost, absolutely confused—
And absolutely committed to dinner first
The pizza was gone.
Four boxes. Crumbs. Garlic grease stains on their sleeves. Fizzy drinks drained.
Noah leaned back on the cool grass, eyes closed, hands over his stomach.
"This is the fullest I've ever been."
"Same," Emily murmured. "Even that time Sister Maureen made birthday stew."
A moment passed in satisfied silence.
Then—
A scream.
A real scream. Human. Echoing.
Followed by—
"AaaaaaAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"
"H-heLP MEeeEEee—!"
Both of them sat up, heads jerking toward the sound.
"That was not a bird," Emily said.
"Nope. And it's getting louder."
Suddenly, something wet slapped against Emily's boot.
She yelped and scrambled backward.
On the grass was a... blob. A pale-blue, semi-transparent blob. It wobbled like a bowl of cursed jelly and made a low, squelching sound as it slurped forward.
Noah reached down with a stick and gently poked it.
It made a delighted glorp noise and then—
CHOMP.
It latched onto the nearest pizza box corner and began eating it.
"OH MY GOD."
"IT'S EATING THE BOX!"
"MY BOX!! THAT BOX HAD CHEESE HISTORY!"
"IT'S A... it's a SLIME?!"
The two stared.
The thing glorped louder.
Another scream rang out in the distance, and now, distant thudding footsteps could be heard. Something big. Something coming closer.
Emily looked at Noah.
Noah looked at Emily.
Realisation.
"...Isekai'd," Emily whispered.
"No. No, no, no. Don't you say it."
"I S E K A I ' D."
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
Noah stood, fists clenched at the sky like a betrayed protagonist.
"WHAT KIND OF JOKE IS THIS?!"
"AFTER ALL WE DID TO GET A JOB!"
"WE MADE SPREADSHEETS!"
"WE HAD A ROUTINE!"
"I WAS STARTING TO ENJOY WAKING UP EARLY!"
Emily picked up a nearby rock and threw it at nothing in particular.
"I'LL FIRE WHOEVER ISEKAI'D US!"
"YOU DIDN'T HIRE THEM."
"I'LL FIRE THEM ANYWAY!"
"😭 WHY DO PEOPLE ALWAYS GET HIT BY TRUCKS, NOT PORTALS?!"
They were both spiraling.
Meanwhile, the slime was now trying to eat Noah's shoe.
... Silence....
Emily knelt on the grass and smacked her forehead against it gently.
"This is a dream. A vivid, cheese-fueled hallucination. We'll wake up, and it'll be Monday."
Noah was kicking his foot, slime still latched on.
"Emily. I'm being digested."
"Stay still. Maybe it's shy."
"It's halfway to my sock."
Emily finally peeled the slime off and yeeted it into a bush.
SPLORP.
The slime bounced and vanished.
Then—
RRRRAAAAGGGHHHHH!!
Something massive roared in the distance. Not human. Not animal. Monstrous.
Leaves rustled violently from the direction of the nearby forest. A tree cracked. Something heavy stomped the ground hard enough to jolt their feet.
Emily and Noah froze.
No more jokes.
Just the awful, skin-prickling realization:
They weren't alone.
They weren't safe.
And this wasn't Earth anymore.
Emily swallowed hard.
"We need to move."
"Yep."
"Now."
"I know."
They grabbed their bags — and instinctively, the last empty pizza box — and sprinted in the opposite direction of the sound.
Behind them, something roared again, closer this time.