When Shichen came to his senses, he found himself standing in a room with no one else around.
Several neatly arranged… tables? The place was closed up tight, and there was a cashier's counter behind him. It looked a bit like a restaurant.
"Why'd I get teleported inside a building? What if people think I'm breaking in?"
Right then, the mechanical voice rang out in his mind at just the right moment:
[Detected number of fragments exceeding single digits!]
"What did you say?"
Shichen wondered if he'd misheard, but the voice in his head ignored him and continued:
[Quest: Obtain at least one Divine Fragment.]
[Once you complete this quest, the coordinates for the Frieren: Beyond Journey's End world will be unlocked. You may return there anytime.]
[As this world has too many Divine Fragments to pin down individually, it has been designated as the "Primary World." You have been granted ownership of this coffee shop.]
[Quest perks: Immunity to firearms, extraordinary reaction speed, extraordinary dynamic vision, mastery of both firearms and melee weapons, expert coffee-making skills, and comprehensive dessert knowledge.]
That was how Shichen realized he was currently in a coffee shop. No wonder his clothes were vaguely "manager-like."
He was wearing a white, long-sleeved dress shirt on top and black trousers on the bottom—a more mature style that didn't really suit him.
After all, he was basically 18 years old, still a kid—he hardly felt like a coffee-shop manager.
But if he was the manager, then he must own this place now. He just hoped there wasn't still a previous owner out there. He didn't want to be taking over someone else's shop by force.
He was also curious about whether the café had any staff, because running it alone sounded stressful.
Still, none of that mattered much right now. What mattered most to Shichen was figuring out what kind of world this was.
He walked over to the entrance, pushed open the door, and stepped outside.
Tap, tap, tap…
Rustle, rustle…
Footsteps, conversation, the bustling of people—all of it poured into Shichen's ears at once. He stared in a daze at everything around him.
It was nothing otherworldly, nothing he'd never seen before—just tall buildings, crowds of pedestrians coming and going, a mix of trendy and ordinary clothes.
Modern architecture, modern clothing… it was completely a modern city.
For a second, he thought he might have been sent back to his original world. Then he noticed the pedestrians had hair in every color imaginable.
And somehow, it didn't seem out of place.
The voice in his head hadn't said anything about which world this was. So he couldn't tell if this was yet another anime world or not.
Even if it turned out to be his home world, that would be fine. There was still stuff at his place he hadn't taken care of yet. Not that he needed it anymore, but it would've been nice to smash his old laptop just for fun.
After all, it contained files he didn't want anyone stumbling upon if he went missing for too long. If someone reported him missing, the authorities could end up searching his home, finding terabytes of… questionable files on his laptop, and that would be the end of his good reputation.
Couldn't let his unusual tastes be exposed to the public!
But the colorful hair of the passersby told him he wasn't back in his old world. And there was no telling if he could ever return. Maybe it was better not to know. He just hoped nobody discovered his computer.
Shichen shook off those worrisome thoughts and studied the crowd again, concluding that this time period looked pretty similar to his own. The buildings were all normal, not futuristic; there was no sign of hyper-advanced tech. People carried smartphones—touchscreens and even flip-phones—and he saw some brands he recognized.
That convinced him this wasn't some kind of ultra-high-tech or super-primitive world.
It felt like he might be in Japan. The people around him were speaking Japanese.
Then again, in many anime worlds—the "2D" kind—everyone spoke Japanese, so he couldn't be sure. Fortunately, he'd permanently retained the language perk from his time in Frieren's world, so communication wouldn't be a problem.
After watching the crowds for a while without spotting anyone he recognized, Shichen decided he might as well go back and check out his coffee shop.
He turned around and took a good look at the place that was supposedly his. One glance, and he was pleased. It was a three-story building—fairly large, so presumably he could live on the premises, too, and wouldn't need a separate apartment.
That was enough to satisfy him. Since living alone before, he'd been used to just a small studio apartment, and now he had a whole three-story building. Already, ideas on how to set it up were popping into his head.
He'd keep the first floor as the shop, use the second floor for living space, and maybe split the third floor between storage, an office, and a gaming room.
This world had been designated by the voice as the "primary world," so he guessed it'd become his base of operations. He wanted his personal space to be comfortable. After all, life wasn't just about completing quests and becoming a god—enjoying yourself along the way was important.
If he could bring Frieren and Master Flamé here, that'd be even better. He wanted them to see modern life.
He wasn't sure why that "thing" in his head had set him up with a coffee shop. Probably something to do with the Divine Fragments. Maybe the carriers of these fragments would show up here for a cup of coffee. That'd make approaching them much easier.
A perfect way to combine daily life and questing!
Nodding happily at his plan, Shichen was about to head back into the shop to get it ready. But suddenly, the mechanical voice spoke again:
[Target detected—Tohru!]
"Tohru?"
Tohru.
At first, Shichen was confused, then muttered the name a couple of times and immediately remembered who it belonged to.
He looked left and right, craning his neck, searching for that blonde-haired girl in a maid outfit with horns on her head and a big green tail—like a cosplaying dragon maid.
But he saw nothing. Such a flashy figure would stand out; it's not like you could miss her.
"Where is she? Where's Tohru?" he asked frantically.
[The target has inadvertently entered this world. Please go make contact.]
"Inadvertently?"
Shichen glanced upward on a hunch, and what he saw made his jaw drop.
There, in the sky, was a giant hole, pitch-black inside, its edges twisting like a dark swirling vortex that seemed ready to swallow everything around it.
Not far from the hole was a large green dragon, flying away unsteadily, wobbling as if it might drop out of the sky at any moment.
With his enhanced vision, Shichen could clearly see a sword lodged in the dragon's back, the wound stained with blood.
"It really is Tohru…" he murmured, staring at the green dragon in awe.
Strangely enough, everyone on the street kept going about their business, completely oblivious to the extraordinary sight in the sky.
As the dragon flew off, the hole in the sky gradually closed, and then it all disappeared as if nothing had happened.
But the moment the hole sealed up, the dragon seemed to lose control and plummeted out of the sky, falling behind a small distant mountain in the blink of an eye.
Snapping out of his shock, Shichen sprinted off in the direction of the mountain.
Some passersby noticed him running in his uniform, but paid him little mind. A few women, intrigued by his aura, glanced his way, but he was gone before they could get a closer look at his face.
He ran past storefronts, through the business district, out of the city, until he reached the base of the small mountain.
There, he stopped, panting, scanning the silent hills. Despite being a short mountain, it was perfectly calm, showing no sign of a dragon's crash. It was like the whole thing had been his imagination—once upon a time, he might've doubted himself, but not now.
Shichen took a deep breath and ventured onto the mountain path.
All the trees looked normal, lined up neatly, nothing out of place. He reached the center of the mountain without seeing any trace of the creature he sought. But at that moment, just as he stepped forward, the entire scene changed.
The perfect, untouched scenery vanished. Reality was revealed.
Now the surrounding trees lay destroyed, thick trunks snapped or toppled. Debris was everywhere, and up ahead, the ground was sunken in, the dirt cracked and converging on a single crater.
At the center of the crater lay a massive, terrifying green dragon.
"A human? Perhaps not…" The dragon opened its eyes, golden pupils fixed on Shichen, emanating a monstrous pressure. "How did you get in here? If you don't want to die, leave at once!"
But that terrifying aura had no effect on Shichen whatsoever.
He wasn't surprised that the dragon was speaking. He couldn't contain his excitement. Without hesitation, he slowly approached.
"Do not come closer!"
The dragon unleashed an even more oppressive force, but it still did nothing to Shichen. Step by step, he walked right up to that enormous head and reached out to touch its massive jaw.
It was hard like marble, coarse with no hint of softness, but Shichen was so fascinated that he couldn't help smiling like a fool.
The dragon stared at him, jaws parted, sharp fangs exposed, and asked in a dazed voice, "What are you doing?"