They were arguing again.
Konata sat quietly in her room, trying once again to drown out the fight that was happening downstairs. This had become fairly common within the household, where Konata would try to emerge into lands far away in hopes to escape from reality. It usually never worked.
Until today when her cell rang in a strange way. Jolting upward, Konata grabbed the phone and looked upon the message that covered the screen. 'Do you wish to change your fate?'
Huh?
Under the text read "Yes" and "No". Konata listened again to hear them still shouting.
She pressed "Yes".
A voice suddenly rang, "Konata Hirasawa." What? "The path to change your destiny starts now." Destiny? What does that mean? And how did it know my name?! Another message popped up on the screen, 'Take the train from Jiyugaoka Station to Shibuya at 17:45'
Huh… Konata scanned the clock. 17:30…
"I'll make it if I go now…" she said to absolutely no one. She grabbed her phone and sweater and started downstairs. As she reached the bottom, she listened again. They were still at it. Slipping past the kitchen, she tenderly made her way to the front door, thankful that their arguing had deteriorated their sense of other sounds around them. Finally, Konata made her way towards the station.
It didn't take long to get to Jiyugaoka, a few people to dodge and weave from. But she still had to be on the lookout. Fortunately, the bustling crowd kept her mentality stable, and thus safe.
After buying the ticket and hopping on the train, she glanced at the time. 17:49.
Konata then glanced at her phone again. Another message had shown. 'Switch trains to the subway from Shibuya Station at 18:00'
"Argh! That's impossible!" someone shouted all of a sudden. Konata looked to see a young boy with goggles on his hat groaning in dismay. The train came to a slow stop, to which goggle boy ran out in a hurry. Konata came to a realization. Maybe he got the same message? As she started after the boy, she accidentally bumped into another. "Watch it" he stated before walking off. "I'm sorry" she cried before making her way toward the subway.
It was 17:58 when Konata finally found an elevator. She ran inside and took notice that she wasn't alone. A boy with long black hair in a bandana stared at her with icy-cold eyes.
"Um…" she tried to start a conversation, only to suddenly hear someone shouting. "Wait! Hold the doors!" Konata spun and saw the goggle boy jumping through the elevator doors as they were closing then falling face-first into the wall.
"Are you okay?" "Yeah…Thanks..." he answered while rubbing his nose. An awkward silence fell between the three.
"So…" goggle kid started, "Did you two get the message too?" So, I was right… "I did…" Konata replied.
They turned their heads to the other boy expecting him to answer, but he turned away with a huff, ignoring them entirely.
How rude! She thought to herself.
Suddenly the elevator started dropping faster, going beyond the bottom floor. "H-hey! How far down are we going?!" stated goggle boy. Konata felt too queasy from the speed the answer. Then the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, revealing an entirely new part of the subway lining with trains and other kids.
A voice suddenly came from her phone, "Now you must decide. Which one will you choose?" Swallowing the lump in her throat, she started towards the first train that caught her eye, a round bluish- green train. The clock struck 18:00, and the train door shut behind her. "Wha-?" The whistle blew and the train began moving, so Konata hurried to take a seat.
Sighing heavily, Konata sat down and stared out the train window. Nothing but black emptiness so far.
Another door opened. She turned her head to see the black-haired boy from the elevator walking in. He stared at her, almost surprised that she was there, before taking his seat on the opposite bench from her. A heavy silence weighed down on them again. Konata was about to open her mouth to say something, but he beat her to it. "Guess you decided to stay on" he said blandly.
She nodded and replied, "It's nice to hear you speak." His eyes then glared at her.
Was he trying to intimidate her? It was sort of working.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked angrily. "Nothing, it's just you didn't answer when that other boy asked you back then…" she replied honestly. He sighed, annoyed, then turned away from her.
Silence again. She tried to talk again, but the lights went out and the train started to go faster and faster, its whistle blaring. It hit a bump and knocked both of them off their seats. Their phone fell out of their pockets and started glowing. Taking it in her hand, the phone then changed it shape into a small pink device with orange outlines.
A voice came from it, "This is your D-tector."
What? "Welcome to the Digital World."
Digital… World?