Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Yep, God has his favorites.
The city lay in ruins, buildings destroyed and streets empty. The sky was blanketed by a dark mass that seemed to swallow all light.
Floating above the city was a feminine figure resembling a beautiful girl, but completely corrupted. Her body was shrouded in black energy that warped the space around her.
Facing her were two magical girls.
One had black hair and wore an outfit that blended white and black. The upper portion was mostly white, with wide sleeves and elegant details, while the central corset was black. The short skirt combined both colors as well.
The other, with pink hair, wore a magical outfit in white, decorated with pink and blue details. At the center of her chest she wore a glowing heart framed by metallic ornaments, from which hung a small magical key. The dress had a short, layered skirt with ruffles and pastel-colored edges.
Both were injured and breathing with difficulty.
The black-haired girl clenched her fists.
"She’s too strong."
The pink-haired girl smiled.
"It doesn’t matter, Luna, we still have a chance."
"It does matter. I’m not letting you do that, Yume."
"You were always like this..."
Luna looked at her.
"Listen to me, if you try to use that technique, you’ll die!"
Yume’s smile didn’t fade.
"I know."
"Then don’t do it!"
"We don’t have another option."
"There has to be another way!"
Yume went silent, then walked toward her companion.
Luna’s eyes went wide.
"What are you doing?"
Yume took her face in her hands and kissed her.
Luna went completely still.
Time seemed to stop.
When the kiss ended, Yume pressed her forehead against hers.
"Remember me, okay?"
"No..."
"I love you."
Tears welled up in Luna’s eyes.
"Don’t you dare."
Yume stepped back.
She smiled one last time and launched herself toward the monster.
The corrupted entity extended one hand.
A sphere of light appeared around the pink-haired girl.
The energy began to compress more and more until everything disappeared.
A moment later, an explosion of light washed over the world.
The sky turned blue again, the dark clouds vanished, the threat was over, and humanity had survived.
People across the city began to celebrate. Some cried, others laughed, but everyone was happy.
Everyone, except one person.
Luna remained kneeling among the rubble. Crying, alone, staring at the spot where the person she loved had disappeared.
The screen went dark.
END.
"..."
A young man stared at his phone screen.
His eyes were red from crying.
"What a garbage ending."
He was quiet for a few seconds.
"After everything that happened in this story."
He looked at the screen again.
"After a hundred and fifty Chapters."
He gripped the phone tighter.
"All I wanted was for them to end up together."
The wind hit his face.
He was standing on a bridge, and below him stretched nothing but darkness.
The young man let out a hollow laugh.
"I can’t believe this is the last thing I’m ever going to see."
He pocketed his phone.
He took a step forward and let himself fall.
’All I wanted was for the two of them to be...’
The world disappeared.
’Happy...’
Everything went black.
He felt nothing. Heard nothing.
Until a female voice broke through the darkness.
"Wake up."
The young man frowned.
"You’re going to be late."
The voice came again.
"Are you planning to skip your first day of school?"
The young man opened his eyes.
A black-haired girl was leaning over him.
She was young, wearing a high school uniform, and looked annoyed.
"Finally."
The young man blinked.
"What...?"
"Move it."
The girl crossed her arms.
"If you’re late, you’ll make me late too."
The young man slowly sat up.
He looked around the room and didn’t recognize it.
He looked at the walls, the furniture, the window, nothing felt familiar.
’Where am I?’
The girl sighed.
"Hurry up, little brother."
The young man froze.
’Little brother?’
The girl walked out of the room.
It took him several seconds to react.
Finally, he got up and walked to the door.
He went downstairs.
He reached the kitchen and stopped dead.
There were three women sitting at the table.
The first was the girl who had woken him up.
The second looked to be in her early thirties, with short, wavy hair in a light chestnut brown with darker brown tips.
The third, around the same age, had long black hair with silver highlights, slightly disheveled, with strands that framed her face.
Both smiled when they saw him.
"Good morning, Noah."
Said the brown-haired woman as she served breakfast.
"Sit down, food’s ready."
The other woman, the one with black hair, kept reading the newspaper while sipping her coffee.
Noah didn’t respond. He simply took a seat.
’What in the world is going on?’
He looked at the food, at the women, at the house.
Nobody seemed to notice he was completely lost.
The brown-haired one poured him a drink.
"Eat up, today’s going to be a very busy day for you."
The other one nodded and added something.
"And be careful when you go out."
The young man looked up.
"Huh?"
"With the stalkers."
The woman said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"And with strange women."
The other one continued.
"Let us know where you are every so often."
"If someone’s following you, call us right away."
"And don’t accept invitations from strangers."
Noah blinked several times.
"Sure..."
Both women seemed satisfied.
’What kind of conversation even is this?’
As he ate, he heard the TV in the background.
A news anchor was delivering a report.
"The male birth rate continues to decline."
"Authorities are studying new measures to incentivize the birth of boys."
Noah nearly dropped his fork.
’What?’
The report continued.
"Specialists warn that the gap between men and women keeps growing."
Noah stared at the screen.
’Wait.’
The anchor wrapped up the segment, and the weather forecast came on.
"And now the forecast for Star City..."
That stopped Noah cold.
His eyes went wide and his spoon clattered onto the table.
The family looked at him.
"Is something wrong?"
But Noah was no longer listening, because he knew that name.
He knew it very well.
’Star City? That means...’
The city where his favorite anime took place, where the pink-haired magical girl named Yume had died in the final episode.
Noah felt a chill run down his spine.
He looked at the TV, at the women, at his own hands, and finally understood.
’No way...’
He had died, and now he was inside the world of that yuri story.
The very same world whose ending he had hated, and for some reason...
He had just become one of the few men who existed there.
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