1 [1] An Unfamiliar Landscape

—This is a really odd situation, yep. It really is.

An androgynous-looking fellow stood in the middle of a bustling pathway in what looked like a lively marketplace. Rows upon rows of colourful stalls lined both sides of the pathway, creating a walkway for customers to easily access different stalls.

That's not really the weird part. Well, it certainly was a little weird.

"I don't recall there being a market around here. I'm sure this was the direction of my getaway point…"

What had led up to this point? He had almost forgotten due to the shock of suddenly being in a place he didn't expect to be in.

"Oh yeah, I was running away from the police just now and I ran off to get my bike, but after leaping through a window, I suddenly ended up here," he said as he continued to stand in the middle of the pathway, staring off into space as his eyes darted around to assess this strange situation.

Encountering a marketplace where he thought didn't exist was the least of his worries at this point. It was…

"Are those...animal ears?"

A lot of people walking past him possessed this odd feature. Cat ears, dog ears, sharp pointy ears, you name it.

Even worse, there were anthropomorphic animals casually strolling this place as well. Lizard people and straight-up furries were living and breathing in front of him.

"A dream...am I dreaming? Wait, is this because of those drugs I took?" he muttered, his fingers stroking his chin. "No, it can't be. This is real, I can tell."

Though there wasn't a way to find out for sure at this moment.

As he was standing smack at the center of a busy path, people steered away from him, walking to the left and right of him instead. They would give him a glare before walking past.

Was there something weird about him? Was there something on his face?

He was wearing an ordinary getup; a black tank-top and long, grey trousers. His long, blond hair was tied into a messy bun and his piercing green eyes were just a tiny shade brighter that it makes them really stand out compared to his rather average appearance. He wasn't too tall or too short, and his physique was quite lean and fit, but that's really it.

To an average passerby, he'd probably look like a regular jogger.

"That's right, I…"

Thinking back to about half an hour earlier, he remembered.

"I was posing as a jogger to get close to the target and I…ah yeah, I quietly jogged behind him and slit his throat while nobody was looking. I took a picture of the body with my flip-phone and mailed it to my client. They had paid me 50% in advance, so I was about to run away and claim the second payment but…"

That's right, he suddenly ended up here.

This man, Aku Nantokawa, was a serial killer.

And this situation which unfolded before him…

"I've been...transported into another world…?"