The week was finally over. Another five days of dragging himself through Hell for the sole purpose of... Well, what was the purpose, exactly? Getting into a decent university and then [i]not[/i] using whatever degree he managed to get? No, thank you. Of course, it wasn't like he had any choice. His parents would disown him if he said anything negative about his ongoing education.

Kaito shed his uncomfortable uniform and donned a pair of black sweatpants and a white tee-shirt. His only obligation tonight what dinner with his family. Outside of that, he was going to settle into his computer chair for a long night of Apex Legends. Bloodhound wasn't going to win all of those games herself.

That's when everything turned on its head.

[i]"Can you hear me, O Savior?"[/i]

The voice danced through his ears like a dream, and a brilliant light coursed around him, causing him to throw a hand up and shield his eyes. He looked around wildly for the source before glancing down. His heart leaped into his throat as he realized the floor had vanished, and he was literally [i]floating[/i] downwards.

He flapped his arms wildly, trying to grab at his desk behind him, but that had disappeared as well. All there was was light. Pure, dazzling light. And that voice. Ethereal and musical, yet loud and slightly terrifying. He called out desperately, not really forming words as much as just making noise. A woman appeared before him, looming ominously and cloaked in that same bright light. Her features were impossible to discern, but her voice was as clear as ever.

Kaito stared, transfixed by her words. They made no sense. He was pretty sure a couple of those words were completely made up. Had he fallen and hit his head? Was he asleep? Had someone drugged him? This was clearly a very vivid hallucination. There was no plausible explanation other than that.

The woman's voice began to flicker and fade, and its captivating essence wore off immediately. Once again, Kaito realized he was falling into emptiness. A long, drawn-out yell left his lungs as he waved his arms again. There was a flash and the light disappeared.

Kaito crashed into the hay softly before rolling off and coming to a rest on the ground. He blinked rapidly, spitting straw from his mouth and fighting off a sneeze that was triggered by the hay. The world around him seemed to spin slowly to a stop. He sat up and took in the unfamiliar surroundings with a surprised expression. Kaito was fairly certain he had never seen this place before.

The young man patted at his torso and face quickly, making sure his senses were not betraying him. This seemed too real to be a dream or hallucination. What was going on?

[i]Phone...[/i] he thought suddenly.

Kaito fished his mobile from the front-left pocket of his joggers and turned on the display. The screen came to life, but the words 'No Service' were prominently displayed above the time, which had reset itself to 00:00. Even as he stared at this newest bit of craziness, he noticed the battery-level indicator tick down five percent in the space of seconds. The phone was dying at an alarming pace, as if the life was being drained from the battery cells by some unseen force.

"Shit!" he murmured to himself exasperatedly, running a hand through his thick black hair and looking around wildly once more.