"Is My Hero Academia popular lately?"
Sitting on the bed of his apartment with his phone in hand, Ren scrolled through the Power System Fanfic rankings on Webnovel, only to find a My Hero Academia fanfic planted at the very top. Several other MHA stories were ranked surprisingly high as well, far above works from other series. It left him wondering why.
"Why are you asking?" someone replied. "That series only ended not long ago. It's no surprise it's still buzzing."
Ren shifted his attention to the other person in the room. A guy was currently sprawled against the bed, casually playing Doki Doki Literature Club! on the TV.
His name was Ishigakure Ken, the athletic and handsome captain of the school's soccer club. Not a day went by without girls confessing to him. Who would have guessed that someone like him was a hardcore otaku?
Ren sighed. Unlike his friend Ken, his facial structure carried an unintentional sense of hostility. It wasn't that he was unattractive—objectively speaking, his proportions were well-balanced. The problem lay in the angles. His cheekbones were pronounced, his jawline narrow and sharply defined, and his eyes slightly upturned at the corners, giving his gaze a constant sharp edge.
"I didn't know that," Ren admitted. "Or rather, I forgot. It's been a long time since I last watched anime."
"Didn't we watch the Chainsaw Man movie together just a few months ago?" Ken countered. "You even binged the manga right after, finishing it in just a few days."
"That's true, but after that, I didn't really keep up anymore. Try counting how much our anime talk has dropped compared to three years ago."
"Well, a lot."
"See?"
At the very least, Ren still remembered that he had followed My Hero Academia up to Season 5, then continued with the manga until the arc where Deku fought the rest of Class A. If that hadn't been the most recent chapter at the time, he probably would've kept reading all the way to the end.
His gaze drifted back to his phone screen. The fic dominating the fanfic rankings by a wide margin was titled My Hero Academia: Blink. "You're reading the fanfic that's monopolizing the Power Stones on Webnovel?"
Ken paused his game and sat upright on the bed.
"Yeah. It's good. I like his dynamic with Nejire. The power is unique, too. And there's no AI bullshit."
Ren let out a snort.
"Right. AI really is ruining everything."
"There's nothing wrong with using it for grammar checks, brainstorming ideas, fact-checking, that kind of stuff," Ken said. "But letting it write the whole thing for you is too much. Like—its writing style is just a slog to get through."
Ken was always intense when talking about things he liked—or hated—unlike Ren, who tended to stay more subdued and detached. Still, even he got irritated when authors leaned too heavily on AI and forced readers to push through pages of lifeless prose.
"Yeah, that always pissed me off. I bet readers would rather read a fanfic full of grammatical errors than wade through that kind of slog. At least in the former, the writer has a clear direction and actual emotion."
"Haha, I wouldn't be surprised."
Ken suddenly pushed himself up from the bed and stretched.
"Well, I should head home. My mom's going to be pissed too if I'm late."
Ren stood as well and glanced out the window. The sky had already begun to darken.
"I was planning to stop by the supermarket anyway. We can go together." His gaze then dropped to the piles of food wrappers on the floor. "But don't forget to clean up and turn off the TV and everything. You always bail before cleaning…"
"Hehe, sorry about that. I'll be sure to do that."
Ren stepped out onto the balcony while Ken was starting to clean the room. He checked the laundry he'd hung earlier and quite a few pieces were already dry, but he didn't feel like bringing them in just yet. Instead, he leaned against the balcony railing, looking down at the buildings that seemed small from several floors up, and at the busy street below, crowded with moving vehicles. His expression remained neutral as his eyes slowly scanned the scene.
He was lost. In just a few months, he would be graduating from high school. What was he supposed to do after that?
His parents would support whatever path he chose, he was certain of that. Even though they were rarely present in his daily life, they cared deeply about him. If he decided to go to college, or to work instead, they would do everything they could to help and support him. Ren understood that they were busy with their jobs, so he held no resentment. In fact, both sides had felt a sense of relief once Ren became independent enough to live on his own.
But for them to support him, he would first have to tell them what he wanted, which he didn't know himself.
He felt like someone being carried along by a current, drifting without any idea where it would eventually lead. And he hated that feeling.
"Hm…?"
As he continued scanning the scene, Ren raised an eyebrow when something on the street caught his attention. A crowd had gathered, and traffic was backed up for dozens of meters in both directions. At the center of it all were two vehicles. It seemed an accident had just occurred, one where a truck had collided with a small car, judging by what Ren could see.
Well, that's unfortunate, he thought dismissively, snorting under his breath. Come to think of it, doesn't the main character usually die after getting hit by a truck while reading fanfic? Lucky me—I'm on the fifth floor. Truck-kun could never reach me up here.
After a while, Ken finished cleaning up, and the two of them headed downstairs and out onto the street. Along the way, Ren told him about what he'd seen from the balcony earlier.
"Huh, that's unfortunate," Ken replied sympathetically. "I hope they're okay. I heard there've been a lot of accidents around here lately, for some reason. You should be careful too, Ren."
Ren briefly considered joking about someone getting sent to another world by Truck-kun, but Ken wasn't very good at handling jokes that crossed into that level of dark humor, so he held back.
"Yeah," he replied simply.
They eventually reached an intersection, stopping on the right side. Across the street was the convenience store where Ren usually bought his daily necessities.
"This is where we split up," Ken said as he turned to the right. "See you later."
"Be careful."
"Will do."
While waiting for the traffic light to change, Ren glanced around at the road. It was quiet. There was no one else around but him. He could see vehicles in the distance, but he could've crossed without worrying about danger.
Deciding that might be a bit reckless, he chose to wait and passed the time by pulling out his phone.
He booted up the Annihilation mode in Arknights—and was struggling even with the very first stage.
They weren't lying when they said this game really makes you think… Ren thought, mildly annoyed. He didn't hate it, though. The sense of victory after testing countless strategies was satisfying enough to keep him playing.
Shaw goes here. Defender close to her. Ah—Senior Caster spawned. Wait, since when was there a big enemy there? Shit, I'm fucked.
He was so absorbed in his phone that the blaring horn only registered after it had already been violently assaulting his ears for a good few seconds.
When reality finally caught up, Ren snapped his head up—just in time to see a massive truck hurtling straight toward him, having swerved past the cars waiting at the traffic light.
"Are you fucking serious—?!"
Without hesitation, he jumped aside. There was barely enough time—barely enough space—but somehow, it worked.
SCREEEEEECH—!!
The truck missed him by a hair and plowed into a nearby structure instead, sending chunks of debris flying through the air.
Ren yelped and scrambled back, dodging as best he could. Somehow—miraculously—none of the larger pieces hit him.
The horn continued to blare, loud enough to rattle his thoughts.
Oh, shut up.
He jumped back to his feet, heart pounding, brushing dust off his clothes. He spared the truck a quick glance before turning toward the side of the road.
People were climbing out of their cars, shouting something at him. He couldn't make out a single word over the horn, but their faces were pale, frantic, and way too animated for comfort.
Ren frowned, confused.
What are they yelling about? And instead of screaming at me, shouldn't someone be checking if I'm alive? I almost got isekai'd back there. Show some concern.
After a moment, he noticed something off. Their expressions were urgent, their hands frantically gesturing toward his back—as if they were trying to warn him about something.
Ren blinked in confusion.
What are they trying to warn me about? What, is there a second truck?
Yes.
Yes, there was.
Unbeknownst to him, between the noise of the horn and his attention fixed on the people by the roadside, Ren completely failed to notice the second truck speeding straight toward him.
By the time he realized something was wrong and turned around—Truck-kun sent him to another world.
***
A/N: Meh.
Any opinions or questions about this chapter are welcome.