The hidden cave behind the frozen waterfall had, for once, piqued Mika’s sense of adventure. She wanted to go outside and explore the surroundings right away.

She wanted to… but…

“I should head back soon, or they’ll worry.”

Checking the time on her phone, it was almost 6 PM. Had Ryouhei and the others managed to eat their curry safely?

Remembering the TV show starting at 6, a wave of intense anxiety washed over Mika, and she hurriedly decided to return home.

The cave curved, making it impossible to see all the way to the end at a glance, but it was only about 50 meters long.

She inserted the violet-ribboned key into the door at the far end and, without paying attention to anything else, opened it—revealing a scenery subtly different from the otherworld she had just been in.

Before her was a grassy slope, vines tangled around the trees. Though winter had left some withered grass noticeable, it was a mountain with no paths, one she had no desire to climb.

In front of it stretched a gravel road, devoid of people, extending to the left and right.

Turning around, she saw a fence with a mesh gate on the other side—a parking lot. It seemed she had emerged from this fence gate.

“Oh, this is…”

It was the mountain behind her school, about a 15-minute walk from her house.

Despite being close to the school, it wasn’t a place where many children played—partly because of frequent notices about monkeys or bears appearing.

To think that such an ordinary-looking fence gate could lead to another world… Not even a light novel-loving middle or high schooler would have imagined it.

And so, with her flattened backpack on her shoulders and a shovel in hand, Mika returned home.

“I’m hooome—”

“Ah, Mom’s back—!”

Kouhei’s voice was followed by a panicked Ryouhei.

“Oh crap.”

“Ahahaha! Bro, you’re so screwed!”

The living room was a mess—backpacks tossed aside just as they were when they left, uniforms left strewn about, curry uneaten even though it was nearly 6:30, game controllers and TV remotes scattered on the floor, and the TV still on.

“Clean this uuuuuuuuuup!”

As usual, Mika shouted again today.

And then she thought:

…The other world was way more peaceful.