"Correlation probability," the AI stated, its voice calm but unyielding, "is... high."
My blood ran cold. Physics incompatible with this dimension. An arrival. Something from another world was about to appear. Nearby. And it was getting stronger.
I scrambled to my feet, adrenaline surging back into my system, momentarily overriding the exhaustion. My eyes were glued to the AI display in my hand. The symbol marking the anomaly three kilometers away was pulsating, growing brighter. The "localized distortion of spatial reality" wasn't just increasing; it felt like it was ripping.
"What... what does 'high probability' mean in this context?" I stammered, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. "Is it... happening now?"
"Energy accumulation nearing critical threshold," the AI reported, its voice faster now, a purely informational tone but laced with urgency. "Spatial distortion signature accelerating. Estimated arrival... imminent."
Imminent. Right now. My gaze was fixed on the display, on the symbol that marked the rip in reality. It felt unreal. Like watching a movie scene, but knowing it was happening just a few neighborhoods away. I gripped the AI device so tightly my knuckles probably turned white.
The display flickered, briefly showing a chaotic swirl of colors around the anomaly symbol before snapping back to a stable point. The symbol itself changed, resolving into a new, solid bio-signature marker.
"Event complete," the AI announced, the urgency draining from its voice, replaced by its usual level tone. "Interspatial transference detected. Entity arrival confirmed."
It happened. Just like that. Something, or someone, had just popped into this reality, a few kilometers away, heralded by a tear in space.
My breath hitched. "What is it? What arrived?"
The AI's digital face was back on the display, its expression unreadable. "Analyzing biological and energy signatures. Initial data suggests a human-like entity. Energy profile... high but contained. Further analysis required."
A human-like entity. Contained energy. Not, like, a rampaging monster then. That was a small mercy.
"Can you see it?" I asked. "Describe it."
The AI's display zoomed in on the point of arrival on the map. It overlaid schematic information, processing. "Visual confirmation not currently available via standard sensors," the AI stated. "Location is within a residential park area. However, kinetic energy signature detected. Indicates... repetitive, high-intensity physical activity."
Repetitive... physical activity? My brow furrowed. What, were they doing jumping jacks the second they landed?
The AI's analysis completed. A profile picture and name popped up on the display, overlaid on the map location. My eyes widened.
Lee Yuri.
And next to her name, a small snippet of data: "Originating Narrative: 'The Girl From Random Chatting!'"
My brain stuttered. Lee Yuri? Her? The tough, athletic best friend from that manhwa? What in the actual hell was happening? It wasn't just Hori and Nami. It wasn't just Kazuya sniffing around. Now Lee Yuri was here? Popped out of a spatial distortion in a park?
And she was exercising? The kinetic signature... she was probably doing push-ups or something. The sheer absurdity of it all hit me. Someone just ripped through the fabric of reality and their first act was to get a workout in?
"Lee Yuri?" I whispered, my voice incredulous. "From Random Chatting? Here? But... this is Japan! Her story is in Korea! What... why her?"
The AI offered no explanation for the choice of character or location. "Entity 'Lee Yuri' is now registered within the local environment," it stated. "Current status: Engaging in physical conditioning protocol."
Physical conditioning protocol. While the universe apparently unraveled around us. Typical Yuri.
My mind raced, trying to connect the dots. Hori, Nami, Kazuya's signal, now Lee Yuri and a spatial distortion. This world, this Rent-A-Girlfriend reality, was becoming a magnet for characters from other series. Was it random? Was it connected to me somehow? Was it the AI? The transmigration?
The AI display shifted, presenting me with a direct prompt:
Entity 'Lee Yuri' detected at Proximity Level 3. Options:
[1] Initiate Contact
[2] Maintain Distance
Interact or leave alone? She was only three kilometers away. I could probably get there on my beat-up legs in... forty minutes? Maybe fifty, given how sore I was. What would I even say? "Hey, Yuri, nice spatial distortion, wanna spot me?"
Before I could even form a coherent thought, my phone buzzed, vibrating on the couch beside me. I picked it up automatically, my eyes still glued to the AI display showing Yuri's location. It was a text message. From Nami.
Nami-chan: ne ne Chi-chan lets go on a date! (´∀｀*)
My eyes scanned the words, then went back to the AI display showing Lee Yuri exercising three kilometers away, then back to the text message.
A date? With Nami? My face felt hot, a blush instantly blooming across my cheeks. The hell?! Nami-chan asking me for a date?! We were both girls! And this was Nami we were talking about! A member of the Straw Hat Pirates, a legendary navigator, a certified badass who could probably con the clothes off your back and clock you with a staff if you crossed her. That Nami wanted to go on a date? With me? Chizuru Ichinose (who was actually a guy)?
The universe wasn't just throwing dimension-hoppers at me; it was apparently throwing bewildering social situations involving them too.
My thumb hovered over the text response field, my mind a chaotic mess of spatial distortions, exercising manhwa characters, and a pirate asking me out.
Me: A date? (・・;)
Nami-chan: Yup! Just us! (人´∀｀)．☆．.．:*･° Come on it'll be fun! We can get crepes!
Crepes. A date involving crepes. With Nami. While Lee Yuri did push-ups three kilometers away. This was my life now.
Me: What about Hori?
Nami-chan: Nah she said shes busy drawing or something boring lol 😜 Its our girls day out!
Our girls day out. Which she called a date. Okay, maybe "date" meant something different? Or maybe... maybe it didn't? The blush deepened.
Nami-chan: And btw your treat right? 😉
...Yeah. Sure. Of course. It was a date alright. Nami was many things, but she was notoriously stingy when it came to her own money.
Me: Yeah... sure. Where should we meet?
Nami-chan: Meet me at the cafe near our school at 1 pm see you there Chi-chan! ❤️
I typed a quick "Got it" and put the phone down, my hand still trembling slightly. I looked back at the AI display. Lee Yuri's dot was still there, the kinetic energy signature indicating she was still going at it.
Interact with the newly arrived anomaly, a tough girl from a Korean manhwa currently doing calisthenics in a Japanese park? Or go on a "date" (complete with me paying) with a pirate from a shonen manga?
My new life offered the most insane choices.
My gaze swept between the AI device showing Yuri's location and my phone screen showing Nami's text. One represented the escalating, potentially dangerous, reality-bending nature of this world. The other represented a bewildering, awkward, but strangely appealing chance for connection, however confusing its implications.
The juxtaposition was stark, almost comical. The universe was busy tearing itself apart, and a pirate wanted crepes.
Part of me, the pragmatic, survival-oriented part, screamed to go check out the spatial distortion source, maybe gather intel on Lee Yuri. The other part, the part still reeling from being a guy trapped in a girl's body, exhausted from training, and utterly confused by everything, just... wanted a break. And maybe to figure out what exactly Nami meant by "date."
My eyes settled on the AI's choice prompt. [1] Initiate Contact, [2] Maintain Distance.
And then I looked back at Nami's message, the little heart emoji prominent.
"AI," I said, making my decision, a strange mix of dread and anticipation swirling in my gut. "Maintain distance for now. Log Lee Yuri's location, monitor energy signatures. But... don't initiate contact."
The AI registered the command. "Directive accepted. Passive monitoring protocol active for Entity 'Lee Yuri'. Alert threshold...?"
"Just... alert me if anything changes," I said, my mind already shifting gears from spatial distortions to navigating a potential date. "Or if she starts moving towards the building." That seemed important.
"Acknowledged," the AI stated, its holographic display shrinking back into the dormant blue glow on the device in my hand.
My focus was entirely on the phone now. On the time Nami had set. On the cafe she'd mentioned.
This world was insane. It was dangerous. Anomalies were popping in left and right. Kazuya might be snooping. The workout was killing me.
But Nami wanted to go on a date. And Kyoko wasn't coming.
What was I even supposed to wear?