The alley behind the school was empty. Satou Daichi adjusted his bag on his shoulder and placed his hand against the concrete wall. His breathing was ragged. He'd been running ever since parting ways with his friends. There was no particular reason—he'd simply wanted to run. The sixteen-year-old boy had a lean, active frame. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and a navy cardigan was tied around his waist. His jeans bore faint scuff marks at the knees. Above his right ear, hidden in his hair, was a small scar from when he'd fallen off his bicycle last year. Daichi gazed into the depths of the alley with deep brown eyes. His black hair was slightly disheveled. His expression was innocent, boyish in a way. The alley was dimly lit. Evening sunlight filtered through gaps between buildings. The air was humid and carried a faint musty smell. A single trash bin lay overturned against the wall. Daichi pushed off from the wall and began walking slowly. "Today was exhausting," he muttered to himself. No one was listening. He recalled the moment earlier when he'd been talking with his friends in front of the convenience store. Everyone had been laughing. Daichi had been laughing too. It was fun. An ordinary, unremarkable day. But Daichi's mind had been preoccupied the entire time with the convenience store's product shelves. How was that shelf structured, anyway? He'd memorized all the ingredient labels on the store brand products. The types of additives, their ratios, the manufacturer's name. He'd committed it all to memory. Daichi carried three food processing reference books in his bag. They were covered in sticky notes. Every page that had caught his interest. He wanted to own his own shop someday. It was a vague aspiration, but a genuine one. His friends often teased him about it. "Daichi, not that again?" Daichi smiled wryly. Something glimmered in the depths of the alley, beneath the stone steps. A small crystal-like object, gleaming silver. Daichi stopped in his tracks. "...What's that?" he wondered aloud. He approached and crouched down. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. Transparent, with silver light trapped inside. A crystal. It resembled both a mineral and a piece of glasswork. He touched it. Cold. But strangely, not unpleasant. Rather, it felt comforting. Daichi picked up the crystal. In that instant. The crystal emitted an intense light. "Whoa!?" His vision turned pure white. Light consumed the world. Consciousness severed. ―――――― He opened his eyes. Daichi was lying on his back. Hard ground. Stone pavement. Looking up, he saw sky. Not the sunset he'd expected, but bright blue daylight. "...Huh?" He pushed himself up. He looked around. A crowd. People, people, everywhere. Market stalls lined the area. There had to be six hundred of them. Colorful cloth served as awnings, with goods piled high. Vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, cloth, tools. And unfamiliar items. Stones floating in the air, glowing faintly. They served as lighting. Plaques beneath them read "Magic Light Stone"—apparently minerals infused with magical power that provided daylight-level brightness even at night. Beside the stones were rod-shaped tools that could ignite fire with a touch, and small keys that could open doors simply by being spoken to. Magical tools—items that utilized an invisible energy called magic rather than human strength. Daichi's eyes widened involuntarily. Magic? This world contained magic. The merchants were shouting. The language was unfamiliar. Sounds he'd never heard before. Yet somehow, the cadence conveyed meaning. "Fresh fish here!" "Cloth, cheap!" "Magic tools, full selection!" That's what they seemed to be saying. Daichi stood up. He observed the people around him. Beast ears. People with dog-like ears. People with cat-like ears. People with fox-like tails swaying. Average height around one hundred sixty-five centimeters. Slightly shorter than Daichi. Beastfolk—Luuga. A species with animal ears and tails that spoke human language. The words simply appeared in his mind. He didn't know why he understood them. There were also large men with stone-like skin. Average height one hundred ninety-five centimeters. Gray skin. The Stone-Bodied—Gordi. A robust species with skin as hard as rock. Some people had flowers and vines growing from their hair and skin. Average height one hundred fifty-five centimeters. The Flower-Born—Kaline. A gentle species that lived in harmony with plants, capable of blooming flowers from their hair. Daichi was confused. "...Where is this place?" A festival venue? But he'd never heard of a festival this large. Besides, these people—were they in cosplay? No. It was real. The beast ears were moving. The tails were swaying. Daichi took a step forward. In that instant. The gazes of everyone around him focused on him. A beastfolk merchant carrying cargo stumbled backward. A stone-bodied gatekeeper shouted loudly. "A Cursed One! A Cursed One has appeared!" Cursed One? Daichi didn't understand the meaning. But the reaction around him was unmistakable. Fear. Disgust. Rejection. The merchants formed a human barrier. They surrounded Daichi. But no one approached. "Why...?" Daichi was bewildered. He hadn't done anything. He was simply standing there. Yet their gazes clearly marked him as something foreign. A stone flew at him. "Whoa!" Daichi instinctively raised his arm to shield his face. The stone struck his arm and fell to the ground. "Get out!" "Leave!" He didn't understand the words. But their meaning was clear. Daichi ran. Into the alley. He slipped through the human barrier, weaved between stalls, and fled into a narrow alley. His breathing was ragged. His heart pounded violently. The alley was dimly lit. Light filtered through gaps between buildings. Daichi pressed his back against a wall and sat down. "...What's happening?" He didn't understand. Nothing made sense. Where was he? Who were these people? Why did they hate him so much? Daichi pulled the crystal from his chest pocket. The silver light had vanished. It looked like an ordinary transparent crystal now. "Is this your fault...?" There was no answer. Daichi returned the crystal to his pocket and looked up. Through the alley's gap, he could see the market. He observed. Merchants were conducting transactions. They showed each other wooden plaques. Trade certificates, the plaques read. Some stalls used magic to preserve food. When they held their hands over the goods, the food became wrapped in cold air. A large cargo wagon occupied the pathway. A flag bore the name "Tolvarn Trading Company." Daichi narrowed his eyes. This world's commerce was dominated by magic and a specific distribution structure. You couldn't trade without a certificate. You couldn't preserve food without magic. The Tolvarn Trading Company controlled the distribution network. Daichi's knowledge of commerce from his original world began to activate in his mind. But simultaneously, he noticed something. There were no fermented foods. No small-portion packaging. No concept of customer service. The merchants simply displayed their goods without emotion. They didn't smile at customers. They showed no warmth. "...Isn't this an opportunity?" Daichi murmured. His professional eye for observation had kicked in, overriding the gravity of his situation. This was Daichi's nature. He didn't yield to difficulty; he faced it head-on. But he was somewhat insensitive. He charged ahead without reading the room. Daichi stood up. "First, I need to find food." His stomach was empty. He hadn't eaten since morning. Daichi walked along the edge of the market, avoiding attention while observing the stalls. Fruit was displayed. Unfamiliar shapes and colors. But they looked delicious. Meat hung from hooks. Plaques read "Fang Boar Meat." Daichi's throat tightened. He wanted to eat. But he had no money. And he didn't know this world's currency. Silver coins were stacked everywhere. They were called Zekta, apparently. Daichi's eyes fell on the edge of a stall. Glowing fruit-like objects were placed there. Transparent, with light trapped inside. Similar to the crystal. But they had a rounded, fruit-like shape. Daichi was certain. "This is food." He waited for a moment when no one was looking, then quickly reached out. He touched it. In that instant. Compressed magical power was released. A white flash erupted. "Ahhhhhhhhh!?" The stall exploded. Merchandise flew through the air. Merchants nearby screamed and fell. "What happened!?" "An explosion!" "The Cursed One detonated a magical artifact!" Cursed One—that's what humans were called in this world, apparently. A species that once existed in this land but was now extinct. An object of deep hatred, marked as a being without magic, a foreign thing. Daichi himself was unharmed. But the surrounding area was in chaos. The merchants' fury and fear mixed in their gazes, all focused on Daichi. "Run!" Daichi ran again. At full speed into the alley. His breathing was ragged. His legs trembled. "What am I doing...?" Self-loathing. But he'd thought it was food. How was he supposed to know it was a magical light crystal for illumination? Daichi wandered through the alleys. Night fell. The sky darkened. Magic Light Stones illuminated the city. Daichi searched for an inn. He found a sign: "Lantern Corner." An inn. Daichi knocked on the door. "Excuse me." The door opened. A female innkeeper appeared. Beastfolk. Dog-type. She looked to be around fifty-two years old. The moment she saw Daichi, her expression froze. The door slammed shut. Daichi stood in stunned silence. "...I see." He couldn't stay here. Daichi turned and returned to the alley. He couldn't obtain food or water. Daichi knelt before the market's drainage ditch. He curled up. Cold stone pavement. Distant sounds of commotion. Daichi closed his eyes. The evening in front of the convenience store with his friends. Reading food processing books and vaguely dreaming of owning his own shop someday. The ordinary days when someone was always nearby. Now he understood how precious those days had been. Daichi wept. "...I want to go home." But how? The moment he'd picked up that crystal, the world had changed. So if he used that crystal again...? Daichi pulled the crystal from his chest pocket. It emitted no light. Nothing happened. "...Damn it." Daichi gripped the crystal tightly. He had no room for self-pity. He had to survive. What could he do in this world? He had no magic. His language skills were still incomplete. But he had knowledge of food and an observant eye. Daichi looked up. "...I'll just have to do what I can." At that moment. Shoes entered his field of vision. Someone had stopped. Daichi tried to look up. But he had no strength. His vision blurred. In that instant. The crystal in his chest pocket emitted faint warmth. Warm. For the first time since Daichi had picked it up, it responded. The crystal carried this world's magic and something else—"magical residue unlike anything seen before." Its true nature, its origin, why it had appeared before Daichi—none of it was known. The person wearing the shoes crouched down. A voice reached him. "...Are you okay?" A woman's voice. Gentle. Daichi felt his vision darkening. Consciousness faded. The last thing he saw was someone's hand touching his shoulder. ―――――― Why had a human appeared, when they were supposed to have gone extinct four hundred twenty years ago? What was the crystal? No one yet knew the answers. Only the person whose shoes Daichi had seen might know something. And Daichi's new life was about to begin. Daichi didn't yet know. What role he would come to play in this world. What people he would meet, what adventures awaited