A gentle spring breeze drifted in through the window.
Outside, the leaves rustled softly. Inside, the teacher continued lecturing seriously at the blackboard.
Ren sat in his seat, quietly watching.
It had been almost a week since he arrived in this world.
If you asked whether it had been fulfilling… he could only say—kind of.
Ren had already gathered most of the information available about this world. At least, everything that could be found on the internet. As for the hidden side of things, he hadn't bothered digging deeper.
Doing that would only give him a headache.
For now, he preferred to just go with the flow.
inside the classroom, Ren was holding a pale green fountain pen with a single red line running down its side.
He had been using this pen for several days, yet it never ran out of ink as he wrote his first novel.
This pen was one of his sign-in rewards.
[SCP-067 — The Artist's Pen (Anomalous Rank: Stable-Class)
Description: SCP-067 is a fountain pen produced by the German company Pelikan sometime between World War I and World War II. Despite lacking an ink reservoir, the pen never runs out of ink.
Subjects holding SCP-067 lose control over the hand that grips it. The pen will begin writing a detailed biography of the holder. It has also been observed to produce intricate works of art, even if the subject has no prior artistic ability. ]
Since this was an anomalous item he had obtained, Ren had full control over it.
Now, all he needed to do was command the pen to write whatever was in his mind onto paper.
His plan to become a novelist wasn't a joke.
Besides, with Marin in his class, he already asked her to introduce him to the otaku culture of this world. After all, relying solely on the internet wasn't ideal.
After a week, Ren had already become acquainted with most of his classmates.
The ones he was closest to were Kitagawa Marin and Kato Megumi.
With Marin, it was simple—she learned about his interest in otaku culture, she became fully supportive.
As for Megumi… well, Ren seemed to be the only one who consistently noticed her presence.
Because of that, it wasn't strange that they had grown close.
Overall, Ren's situation after one week could be considered quite good.
His recent sign-in rewards were:
Day 3:SCP-067 — The Artist's Pen
Day 4:SCP-2295 — The Patchwork Teddy Bear, A friendly entity. Instead of summoning it, Ren chose to merge with its anomalous traits. This granted him the ability to use fabric or similar materials to replace missing body parts. For example, if someone lost a kidney, he could sew a fabric "kidney" into the body, and it would function perfectly. However, there were limits such as being unable to repair brain damage.
Day 5:SCP-005 — The Skeleton Key, A key capable of opening any lock, mechanical or digital. Even if no keyhole exists, one will manifest so the key can be used.
Day 6:SCP-2030 — Laugh Is Fun, A cursed television anomaly featuring a disturbing host who interacts with real people. Prolonged exposure can cause viewers to be pulled into the broadcast.
The anomalous trait lies in the host, a reality-bending ability that creates "fun" based on its own twisted perception.
In the SCP world, reality-bending isn't rare. Even the Foundation has ways to utilize it.
However, SCP-2030 is different. Its power cannot be explained And that makes it far more dangerous.
No matter how strong someone is, even if they can destroy continents with a flick of their hand, without resistance to reality-bending, they are nothing more than meat on a chopping board.
Because of this, Ren chose to merge with SCP-2030's traits and gained a form of reality-bending ability.
unfortunately, it came with limitations, Like SCP-2030, his ability could only affect a single target at a time. Still, that wasn't a big problem. For large-scale attacks, he already had [The Red Sun].
At present, Ren's status looked like this:
[Name: Ren Aion
Summoned SCPs:
SCP-067 — The Artist's Pen, SCP-005 — The Skeleton Key
Anomalous Traits:
The Red Sun (SCP-001 & SCP-002 fusion), Patchwork (SCP-2295), Reality Bender (SCP-2030)
Anomalous Rank: Paradox-Class]
======================
Soon, the bell rang, signaling the start of lunch break.
Ren stopped writing and glanced at the thick stack of papers on his desk. After nearly three days of continuous work with the pen, his first novel was finally complete.
Plastic Memories.
As for why he chose it—after chatting with Marin before, he realized that most novels in this world were dominated by fantasy and isekai. That was exactly why he wanted to bring back everyone favorite.
With this, Ren start his journey of Knife Cutting Onion.
"Aion-kun! Aion-kun!"
A cheerful voice called out to him.
A blonde girl with sparkling ruby-like eyes rushed over to his desk, she is none other than Marin Kitagawa.
"Is it done? Your novel, I mean!" she asked, practically bouncing with excitement.
"Yeah, it's finished," Ren replied calmly. "Do you want to read it?"
"Wait—seriously?! I can?!" Marin's eyes lit up even more.
It was her first time being offered someone's original work like this. Even if Ren was just starting out, he respected otaku culture and that alone already earned her full support.
(…Though, she also had some cosplay ideas in mind after seeing his physique.)
"Here," Ren said, handing her the stack of papers. "You can return it tomorrow. I doubt you'll finish it during lunch."
"Got it! I'll take good care of it!" Marin said happily before hurrying back to her seat, already reading while eating.
As Ren watched her leave, he suddenly felt a small tug on his sleeve.
He turned around.
Standing there was a girl with shoulder-length hair and a calm, almost unnoticeable presence—Megumi Kato.
"Hm? Kato-san? Do you want to read it too? Are you into otaku stuff as well?"
"Um… not really," Megumi replied in her usual flat tone."I was just curious about what you've been writing these past few days."
Even with her expressionless face, there was a faint hint of curiosity in her eyes.
"I see. Then I'll show it to you tomorrow," Ren said. "Want to grab lunch together?"
"…Sure," Kato answered softly, nodding.
Ren stood up, and the two of them quietly left the classroom together.
=========
Time Skip
The final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day.
Ren packed his things and prepared to leave with Megumi Kato. Coincidentally, their houses were only about two blocks apart, so it had naturally become a routine for them to walk home together.
As for school gossip—there was basically none.
After all, Megumi's presence was so faint that most people barely noticed her. In everyone else's eyes, Ren was simply walking home alone.
"Aion-kun!"
A bright, energetic voice called out.
Ren turned to see Marin Kitagawa approaching with her friends, waving enthusiastically.
"Do you wanna come to karaoke with us?" she asked with a big smile.
"Thanks for the invite," Ren replied, "but Kato-san and I are heading home today. Maybe next time."
"Ohh, okay—" Marin paused, then blinked in surprise."Wait… Kato-chan?! Since when were you here?!"
"I've been standing here the whole time," Megumi answered flatly.
"…Eh?! No way, seriously?!" Marin laughed awkwardly, scratching her cheek.
The atmosphere turned a little awkward for a moment—but Marin quickly bounced back.
"Anyway! You guys have to come next time, okay?" she said cheerfully. "See you tomorrow!"
"Sure, if I have time," Ren replied.
With that, he and Megumi started walking home together.
========
On the way home with Megumi Kato, Ren frowned slightly as he noticed the sudden change in weather.
Just a moment ago, the sky had been clear and sunny. Now, dark clouds gathered overhead, as if rain would start pouring at any second.
"Kato-san, should we take a shortcut? It looks like it's going to rain."
Megumi glanced up at the sky, quietly observing the gloomy clouds.
"…Okay."
"Then follow me. I think there's an alley around here," Ren said as he walked ahead.
As they entered the narrow alley, the already dim surroundings grew even darker.
For some reason, Ren had a strange feeling.
Like something was about to happen.
A side quest, maybe?
After all—sudden weather change plus a dark alley… it practically screamed event trigger.
And sure enough—
"…Well, I was right."
Ren's gaze landed on a man crouched at the side of the alley.
The man was hunched over, clutching his stomach, giggling nonstop as if he hadn't eaten in days.
The moment he heard their footsteps, he froze.
Then slowly—
He turned his head toward Ren.
His face was distorted, his eyes a disturbing mix of black and red.
And his gaze locked directly onto Ren.
Why Ren?
Well… even ghouls couldn't seem to notice Megumi. Truly worthy of the title "Grand Assassin."
'A ghoul…' Ren thought, frowning slightly.
He glanced upward, but the alley was too narrow—no sunlight could reach them.
Which meant no Red Sun.
Still, it didn't matter.
He could force it—bend reality to create sunlight and activate his strongest ability—but that would be overkill.
And more importantly…
Megumi was right beside him.
As one of the few friends he had in this world, he wasn't about to let her witness something as grotesque as SCP-001 in action.
"…Why are you looking at me like that?" Ren said calmly.
"Also… do you have pink eye? want some eyedrop?"
The man only giggled in response, his laughter growing more unhinged.
At that moment, Ren felt a light tug on his sleeve.
He glanced back at Megumi.
Her expression was the same as always—calm and unreadable.
But her body told a different story.
She was trembling.
Just slightly.
Suddenly, Ren felt something.
A strange sensation—like something was probing him.
Scanning him.
Without hesitation, he activated the reality-bending power derived from SCP-2030, instinctively reinforcing himself while trying to trace the source of the intrusion.
But the sensation lasted only a second—
Then it disappeared.
Ren frowned slightly.
"…What was that?"
After a brief pause, he dismissed it and shifted his focus back to the ghoul in front of him, which was now crouching low, ready to pounce at any moment.
However…
What Ren didn't know—
Behind him, Megumi stood quietly, her expression as calm as ever.
But from her perspective, the situation was entirely different.
A translucent screen hovered in front of her vision, faint yet clearly visible—something she had long since grown used to.
At the top of the interface, a familiar line of text remained fixed:
[Mutual Aid Chat Group]
Messages continued to scroll steadily, more active than usual.
Unlike before she first join the chat group, there was no confusion or hesitation in her eyes. She recognized the names, the tone, the rhythm of their conversations.
Her gaze moved briefly toward Ren's back.
Still calm. Still composed.
And yet… whatever they were facing right now wasn't something she could fully understand on her own.
Megumi lowered her eyes slightly, focusing back on the chat.
Even in a situation like this, her expression barely changed—but her minds silently typing.
Not a question born from panic—
But a quiet, deliberate request for assistance in the chat group.