The second floor of KFC was warm, noisy, and smelled like
everything unhealthy and perfect.
Our table was a battlefield — wrappers everywhere, fries
disappearing at a criminal rate, Azlaan complaining that his
drink was mostly ice.
Mebzy nudged my elbow.
"Baroodie, if we ever get isekai'd, I want it on record that I
expect dramatic music. Don't let me go out like some side
character."
I laughed. "Bro, if anyone's getting side-character energy, it's
me."
Equan looked up from his fries. "Statistically, group disasters
don't allow time for dramatic music."
Azlaan groaned. "Why would you say that?"
It felt like a normal night.
The kind of moment you don't realize is important until it's
already fading.
Then the floor trembled.
A faint, deep vibration — not enough to scare anyone, but
enough to make us all look up.
"Generator?" I guessed.
"No," Equan said softly. "Too heavy. That was—"
The glass wall in front of us flashed with white headlights.
Time didn't slow.
It didn't give us grace.
It hit all at once.
A truck — an actual truck — came flying upward toward the
window, tilting like something had thrown it into the sky.
For one impossible second, I thought it might miss us.
Then it crashed through.
Glass exploded inward.
Chairs flipped.
Tables shattered.
Air filled with a deafening roar of metal and destruction.
I didn't feel the moment the truck hit me. Just a violent jerk —
my body yanked off the ground — Mebzy's fingers barely
brushing my sleeve before he vanished into the blur of chaos
beside me.
Azlaan shouted my name.
It sounded muffled, distant.
Not panicked — desperate.
Then everything went dark for a heartbeat.
The impact didn't feel like pain at first. It was like every
thought I'd ever had was suddenly knocked out of me at once.
The world went white…
then black…
then snapped back into shards.
I was lying on my back.
Not on the chair.
Not on the floor where it used to be.
On broken tiles. Glass digging into my shoulder. Cold air
rushing in from the hole where the window used to be.
I blinked. Something warm trickled down my forehead, slow
and sticky.
Blood.
My blood.
The lights above flickered, one dead, the others crackling like
they were moments from dying.
Dust swirled through beams of weak fluorescent light.
The truck's front half was embedded in the floor, engine
coughing, headlights still burning.
And over everything — someone screaming my name.
"Baroodie! Baroodie—hey—HEY!"
Azlaan.
He wasn't dead.
He wasn't fine either. Blood streaked down the side of his
face, his arm bent at a wrong angle, but he was moving —
crawling toward me, dragging himself over broken chairs and
spilled food.
"Stay awake—stay awake, bro—just look at me—"
He reached me, hand trembling as he tried to wipe the blood
from my eye.
My vision doubled.
Behind him, I saw Mebzy.
And I knew.
No movement.
No breath.
The way his arm lay — it told a story no one wanted to hear.
My throat tightened. "...Mebzy..."
The word barely left me.
Azlaan flinched like the syllable stabbed him.
Equan appeared on the other side, almost falling as he knelt.
He was breathing so fast he could barely speak. His phone
was already at his ear.
"Yes—yes—there's been a crash—second floor—KFC
Fortress—please—PLEASE—send someone—my friends—"
His voice cracked violently, barely recognizable.
Flashing red lights danced across shattered glass.
The truck's hazard lights blinked harshly, painting the room in
pulses of red and darkness.
Red.
Dark.
Red.
Dark.
My chest rose once. Shallow. Barely.
Azlaan saw it. He pressed a hand against my ribs, trying to
force my lungs to work.
"Don't close your eyes. Don't—don't even think about it."
His voice shook on every word.
I tried to speak, but blood filled my mouth. Warm. Metallic.
I coughed weakly.
Azlaan's eyes widened in panic.
"Stop—don't move—help is coming—okay? They're
coming—just—just hold on—"
Equan's words blurred together as he shouted into the phone:
"There are multiple victims—two not breathing—one
barely—please hurry—please—"
The room kept fading in and out. Sound bending. Vision
narrowing. Like someone was dimming the world one switch
at a time.
My fingers twitched once. Azlaan grabbed them immediately.
"I've got you. I'm right here. Don't go anywhere. Just stay with
me."
His voice broke completely.
Something flickered in the corner of my eye — a white glow.
Like a thin line of light tracing itself along the floor.
I blinked hard.
The glow thickened, curling into a circle beneath me, faint and
pulsing… almost like breath.
I'd lost too much blood to think clearly.
Another wave of weakness hit. Harder.
Azlaan's face blurred into two. Then three.
My chest felt heavy. Breaths shallow.
A cold numbness crept from my fingertips inward.
Equan's voice shook so badly now he could barely speak into
the phone.
"Please—please—they're dying—hurry—please—"
He wasn't talking to the operator anymore. He was begging
the world.
The glow under me brightened. I tried to lift my head — but
strength abandoned me instantly.
It dropped back onto the floor.
Azlaan caught me so it didn't hit the tiles.
"Hey—HEY—look at me—don't do that—don't—"
He was crying. He didn't even realize it.
The pulsing light rose around my body, thin strands curling
like smoke.
My last breath rattled in my throat. Everything dimmed —
Azlaan's voice distant, Equan shouting through tears, sirens
somewhere outside, lights flickering, blood cooling on my
skin.
And then the light consumed everything.
Not bright. Not warm. Just absolute.
A voice, soft but unmistakably not human, whispered through
the void:
"Life signature terminated.
Soul transfer begins.
Two souls detected. Both being sent into Unregistered
Universe (Model Fiction)."
The world went completely black.
And something pulled me out of it.
The wail of sirens cut through the chaos, sharp and relentless.
Red and blue lights splashed over broken glass, overturned
chairs, and spilled fries. Azlaan felt hands gripping him, lifting,
stabilizing, pulling him from the wreckage. Every breath rattled
through bruised ribs; every heartbeat throbbed with fear and
shock.
Equan was next, carried like a fragile shadow, phone still
clutched in one trembling hand. His eyes darted wildly over
the ruin, but he couldn't focus, couldn't speak, couldn't
process. Panic and guilt etched every line of his face.
Paramedics moved with brisk efficiency. They checked vitals,
whispered instructions, prodded, pressed, probed — their
calm professionalism a strange contrast to the chaos around
them. Azlaan barely registered the voices, barely heard the
reassurances as his body fought to stay upright.
And then there were the others. Baroodie. Mebzy.
The paramedics glanced once at the still, lifeless forms, and
looked away. Nothing more could be done here. Their
absence pressed heavier than the cold air, heavier than
broken glass or blood.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
High above, in the still expanse of the Imaginary Tree, Su
hovered, calm and silent. Among countless branches and
endless leaves, one in particular drew his attention: a new
leaf, glowing faintly, appearing where there had been nothing
moments before. Its edges shimmered like starlight caught in
glass. For a heartbeat, he simply stared.
He tilted his head, brow furrowed, a quiet frown forming.
Curiosity tugged at him, pulling his hand toward it. Where did
this come from…? he thought, reaching out instinctively,
fingertips brushing the faint air around the leaf, careful not to
disturb it.
The leaf pulsed ever so slightly, alive in a way that made Su
pause. A subtle resonance hummed beneath the branch,
almost mechanical, almost sentient. He studied it, fascinated,
conflicted between understanding and awe. Somewhere deep
inside, he sensed a pattern — a ripple of events far beyond
his perception — yet its meaning remained just out of reach.
Su lingered, silent and contemplative, letting the strange new
presence speak in the quiet language of the universe.
A new leaf, unconnected from the Imaginary Tree? How
fascinating. He'd have to monitor its progress closely — see
what set it apart from the others. Perhaps this would finally
offer the solution that could defeat the Honkai.