The police sirens wailed in the distance, pierg the silence of the night. I reflexively stood up and walked to the window, slightly opening the curtains to look outside. Red and blue lights fshed rapidly oreet below. A small crowd had gathered, mostly women, whispering to each other.

  I swallowed hard. "A murder?"

  Azami Yuki—the female version of me—nodded casually, leaning ba the sofa as if this were an everyday occurrence. "Yeah, I guess so. Not surprising."

  I turo her with a furrowed brow. "Not surprising? This is a murder! The police are here! Why are you so calm about it?"

  She sighed, looking at me with a tired expression, as if I were a child who had just discovered how the world worked. "Because it’s not the first time. This apartment is close to the red-light distrid a high-crime area. If you live here long enough, you get used to it."

  I was stunned. "Wait a minute… Are you saying murders happen often around here?"

  She shrugged. "Not just around here. Almost everywhere. This world isn’t as safe as you think."

  I couldn’t accept that fact so easily. "But… in my world, murders don’t happen this often. The media would go crazy if even one murder occurred iy."

  She let out a small ugh, but it was devoid of emotion. "Ah, I fot. You e from a peaceful world."

  I didn’t like the tone in her voice when she said that.

  She took a sip of coffee that had somehoeared in her hand at some point, then looked at me with a serious expression. "This world… has never been truly peaceful. Murders, kidnappings, human traffig—they all happen on a much rger scale pared to the world you came from. Missing persos e in almost every day. You ’t walk alo night without carrying something to protect yourself."

  I felt the hairs on the bay neck stand up. I had truly been transported to a different world—not just in terms of the male-to-female ratio, but also in terms of crime.

  I looked back out the window. The police were setting up yelloe, blog off the street. A woman was screaming hysterically while an officer tried to calm her down. Blood… I could see blood staining the asphalt.

  I swallowed hard. "Have you… ever witnessed a murder before?"

  Azami Yuki—the aused for a moment before answering in a ft tone.

  "Yes."

  I froze. "Are you… okay after that?"

  She gave me a sideways smile. "I didn’t have a choice."

  Her answer made something unfortable settle in my chest. She said it so lightly, as if she had bee too aced to death. As if seeing a corpse oreet was no longer shog to her.

  I sat back down on the sofa, trying to process everything. I felt like I was in a pletely different world, even though everything looked familiar.

  But there was ohing I had to ask.

  "How do you live in a pce like this?"

  She chuckled softly. "You think I just move to a safer area? Apartments in safer neighborhoods are ridiculously expensive, especially for a woman living alone."

  I frowned. "But aren’t there fewer men here? Shouldn’t that make women more valued and safer?"

  Azami Yuki paused for a moment before finally answering.

  "That’s true… to aent. But precisely because there are fewer men, this world has developed differently. Laws and culture have shaped a society that’s much harsher than the one you left behind."

  I thought bay iions oreet earlier. I did see more women, but they all seemed wary.

  "This world… might not be a good pce for a man like you."

  I stared at her ily. "What do you mean?"

  She set her cup down oable and leaned forward. "If you’re not careful, you could bee the victim."

  Her words cut deeper than I expected.

  And for some reason, I felt a bad premonition hanging in the air.