"Was New York always this bustling?" I muttered, leaning my head against the cold bus window.
Maybe it was just me, but the city felt extra alive today — like it knew something I didn't.
The crowds were thicker, the honking louder, and the smell of burnt pretzels and exhaust fumes somehow even more potent.
Then again, this was Manhattan. Being busy was in its DNA.
I boarded the bus at exactly 7:03 a.m., right on schedule, because punctuality is my one (and only) adult trait.
I glanced at my watch — thirty minutes to work. More than enough time to plug in, zone out, and pray the Wi-Fi didn't drop again halfway through the ride.
I popped in my earbuds and let the bass of my usual playlist thump through my skull.
It was the kind of music that made it easier to ignore the city around me — metallic, heavy, and fast enough to drown out thought.
Just what I needed right now.
I was halfway through a track called "Digital Afterlife" when the bus door wheezed open and a very pregnant woman climbed on.
She looked tired. Tired in the way only a woman carrying an entire new human could be.
There were no seats left, but before I could even react, a young woman in a hoodie popped up like a jack-in-the-box.
"Take mine," she said with a warm smile.
The pregnant woman looked like she might cry. "Thank you, sweetheart."
New Yorkers may yell at pigeons and fight over bagels, but when it counts? They show up.
The driver, a broad-shouldered guy with a salt-and-pepper beard, threw me a nod as he started driving.
We weren't friends, but I'd taken this bus so many times we shared that unspoken "I see you, fellow cog in the capitalist machine" respect.
I worked at Ian.Co, a mid-sized tech company trying to punch way above its weight in the gaming world.
We'd been secretly developing a full-immersion MMORPG — Ascension Online.
I wasn't supposed to say the name out loud, under threat of being fired, sued, and probably publicly shamed.
But trust me: if that game launched, it would redefine gaming.
Like, VR would look like Pong in comparison.
Everything felt like it was finally coming together. I was twenty-six, not completely broke, had a job I liked, and my NPC lookalike boss had only yelled at me once this week.
That's when the universe apparently decided, "Y'know what? Let's kill this guy."
We were halfway across the bridge when a car from the opposite lane swerved into ours.
I caught the blur of movement too late — an old sedan cutting across traffic like it had a death wish.
The bus jerked hard to the side. People screamed. My earbuds flew out.
We spun once but it was enough to make my stomach twist in knots and my heart do a double backflip.
The driver regained control, barely, and we skidded into the middle of the highway. Horns blared. A baby wailed. Someone threw up.
Then came the sound.
Not just a crash. A bone-rattling, soul-punching, mind-splitting BOOM.
A freight truck slammed into us from the right — massive, fast, and completely unstoppable. I saw the logo on its grill for half a second. "EverGreen Freight."
Ha. Green no more.
Then fire.
Then black.
I died. No tunnel of light. No angels. No last-minute credits scroll. Just silence, then pain.
And dirt. So much dirt in my mouth.
I coughed hard and spat something red. Not sure if it was blood or... something else. My ears rang like church bells on a caffeine bender.
Every inch of my body felt like it had been rearranged by a sadistic IKEA employee.
When I opened my eyes, the sky above me was not New York.
It was purple. Like a bruised sunset, swirling with unnatural hues. And it had two moons. One full, glowing white.
The other cracked and red, like it had been hit with a cosmic baseball bat.
"Okay," I rasped, coughing again. "Definitely not Queens."
I sat up. Bad idea.
Pain shot through my ribs like a thousand angry bees had taken up residence in my lungs. My clothes were scorched, torn in places, and my hands were covered in cuts.
And beneath me... was blood.
Not just mine.
A puddle stretched out in the cracked earth, dark and steaming.
Around me was a crater — an actual crater, like something had fallen from orbit and left a mark.
Was it me?
Had I fallen into this world?
I doubt it.
"Awesome," I muttered. "Isekai via bus explosion. Very original."
And then I saw it.
Towering above the crater, about ten feet away, stood a gnarled, leafless tree. Its bark was dark and slick, almost metallic.
And impaled at the top of it, like some kind of sick ornament, was a massive skull.
And I mean massive. Bigger than a car. Humanoid, but twisted — jagged teeth, six eye sockets, and horns curling backward like a ram's. It was looking directly at me.
Okay, it wasn't actually alive. But something about it... felt alive. A presence. Like the thing was watching, even in death.
"Right," I said to no one. "I'm clearly concussed. Or in hell. Maybe both."
I pushed myself to my feet.
My legs worked, somehow. I had shoes on… though they seemed very different from what I was used to.
"What the hell is going on?"