episode 4

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sekai introduction ig

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'Hi!' replied 'Miku'. But instead of her normal outfit, she just looked like a recolored version of herself, with her somewhat iconic pigtails now significantly darker. They were closer to black than her teal-green hair color, and her outfit was more formal, as if she was a dealer in a casino. Ash glanced at the building behind her.

Obviously, with your current context clues, the building was a casino. Everything past that, behind him, beyond the walls making up the building was simply a white void, nothing more, nothing less. It was pointless to walk for what seemed like an eternity to search for other landmarks hidden in the void. Ash's only option was to walk into the casino and hope for the best.

Immediately he was greeted with an odd but somehow fitting color scheme for the casino, black, red, black, purple. Why did this remind him of something? Anyway, at the front desk, he was met with yet another dark-haired fictional person.

'Hi, welcome to SEKAI,' he greeted. He had black hair with neon-yellow streaks, it was rather weird.

That's a dumb name for a place. Anyway, he goes past the front room and runs into– Red? Again? Are you fucking kidding me? Isn't this supposed to be a magical fourth-dimensional plane where fictional characters are real? No matter where he went, Red seemed to always be there; it was like they were bound together. That's annoying.

Red was gambling. Not even on any of the good games, it was fucking slots. Seriously? That's so basic. There wasn't even anything at stake; they weren't in reality anymore.

'How the fuck did you get here?' Ash asked.

No answers. What if that Red was also a part of SEKAI? Assuming SEKAI was a figment of Ash's imagination, why would he be wanting to put Red in it? Still no answers, not that he expected any.

Ash decided to spend his time exploring the building. He noted that there were a lot of doors leading to god-knows-where. Once he walked deeper into the building, it seemed to be infinite. It couldn't be classified as a casino anymore once you walked deeper. It was more like a building with everything inside– it was more than a mall, or a hotel. It was like a fever dream.

The first door he messed with led to a well-lit room with a single desk in the center. There was a dangling light bulb right above the desk. It didn't seem to be the light source. He exited the room.

The door across was locked. He tried forcing it, to no avail. The third door was a bedroom, a very familiar one. It was all tidied up; at his first glance, nothing was off.

But this was his room, not someone else's. Everything seemed to be adjusted ever so slightly just to piss him off.

What doesn't help is that it was unsettling that a perfect replica of his bedroom was in a random building in a different fucking dimension. Be it a dream or not, he wanted to get out.

But a part of him wanted to stay, so he was rendered immovable for a few seconds. He went out the door.

Red, of course it's Red.

'Hi,' the redhead said. 'To answer your previous question, I just started listenin' to some music- why are you here?'

'You're not questioning the fact we're in a different fucking dimension?'

'Really? I'm pretty sure this is a casino. I was walking into one earlier.'

So the music part might be a factor as to why they were in this weird place anyway. After all, Hatsune Miku is linked with making songs. The last time Ash checked, she was a vocal instrument or something.

'Have you seen the fucking outside? Casino or not, white voids aren't normal anywhere. Also, why would I be outside willingly?' Ash said.

'Can I open the next door?'

'Wha- fine.' Ash rolled his eyes as Red reached for the doorknob. It was yet another room. Wasn't that room locked earlier? It was a simple bedroom, if not for the fact there was professional gaming equipment in one corner.

'Oh! That's my room, I think. It's a bit off but hey, this dimension's got the spirit,' approved Red. Wow, not one bit unsettling to him. He's very moronic, Ash muttered to himself.

'Isn't this like that one Roblox game?' Red pointed out. The next two doors were locked; Ash wondered why. Then there was a room with a purple fucking flame in the middle, another filled to the brim with plushies– they couldn't even get in; the stuffed toys were gushing out of the door, and one without gravity. It was fully black; they were in there for a good 15 minutes or so.

Shouldn't they be focusing on something else? Whatever, there were still so many doors left...

'Wai-wai, Red, how the fuck do we get out of here? We're so far out, I dunno if we can-'

'Hi!' Miku said, panting slightly. 'I've been trying to catch up with you guys, you've been here for a long time, y'know?'

'-get out. We want to get out,' finished Ash.

'Oh! You just gotta stop the music, and then- you're gone, yeah. Are you gonna go, now?'

'Sure,' Red replied. 'Bye, um, person.' With a bright flash of light and a sea of neon colors, Miku is alone. She has to walk back to the entrance, there are others waiting now.

—––––

'Red, are you mentally challenged?' Ash asked, immediately after they got back; the sparkly effects fading away.

'No! What the fuck makes you think that?' he protested.

'Well, I don't fucking know, the fact that it's 2:15 in the morning?' Ash shoved his phone directly in front of Red's face. 'How long would you have wandered in that place without my intervention?'

'A shorter while; we wouldn't have been distracted because of that stupid hallway you decided to explore.'

With a huff, Ash sulkingly went back to his room. Hopefully to get sleep, even if Red sure as fuck wasn't. Today was Saturday, though, so he allowed himself to be deprived of sleep.

'Ash?' he called out to the locked door.

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No response. He sighed; Ash was either asleep, dead, or just being petty and unresponsive.

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i did this instead of reviewing for my exams

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