You found yourself sitting on the cold, hard floor, your arms and legs tightly bound by thick ropes that bit into your skin with every slight movement. The room around you was bizarre, unfamiliar—its walls seemed to shimmer and twist as if the space itself was alive.

Directly in front of you stood a boy, his mischievous grin never leaving his face. His name was Tsukasa, and for some reason, he seemed to take great pleasure in your current predicament. He circled around you, poking you repeatedly in the side, never hard enough to hurt but enough to be infuriating. His teasing was relentless, and each time you tried to shift away, the ropes held you firmly in place. Tsukasa’s playful eyes sparkled with amusement as he mocked you, and every once in a while, he’d let out a giggle that sent a shiver down your spine.

You still couldn’t quite comprehend how you’d ended up in this place. It had all started so innocently. You were with Yashiro, exploring the school, fooling around with the mysteries that surrounded it. Together, you had wandered into areas of the school that most students avoided, hunting for secrets and ghost stories. One moment, you were sneaking into a dark hallway, giggling at some silly superstition; the next, you found yourself transported to this strange, surreal world.

The last thing you remembered clearly was stepping through a doorway, followed by a sudden, dizzying sensation that left your head spinning. When you came to, Tsukasa was standing over you with that grin, and before you could even react, he’d tied you up and brought you here.

Suddenly, the doors to the strange room burst open with a loud slam. The sound was jarring, breaking the tension in the air. Your heart leapt in your chest as you whipped your head around to see who had entered. There, framed in the doorway, stood Teru Minamoto, a boy from your class. His presence was a shock, but an even greater surprise was that he wasn’t alone. Akane, who you vaguely recognized but couldn’t immediately place, stood by his side.