The narrative follows Gentha Takashita, a second-year university student working part-time at a convenience store near his campus. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the store's sales, leading to Gentha's temporary suspension of work. He accepts this with understanding, valuing the considerate nature of his employers, the Harada couple.
After his shift, Gentha, a pragmatic and frugal individual, heads to a 24-hour supermarket, anticipating discounted goods due to a recent storm. He successfully procures a large haul of discounted food, including sashimi, bulgogi, and bread, planning to stretch it for over ten days to manage his reduced income.
Upon returning to his apartment, a sudden, intense thunderstorm erupts. While watching the news about the storm's impact, Gentha experiences a powerful lightning strike nearby, causing a blackout. In the ensuing darkness, he retrieves an LED light from his walk-in closet. It's then that he discovers an anomaly: the back wall of the closet displays a serene, moonlit landscape of a grassy plain, seemingly a portal to another world. Initially dismissing it as a dream or hallucination, Gentha decides to ignore it and go to sleep, prioritizing a peaceful life.
The next morning, the landscape remains. Driven by curiosity and a lack of other activities, Gentha cautiously touches the wall, which ripples like water. He pushes his hand through, finding no resistance, and then steps through entirely. He finds himself in a vast, open grassland under a starry sky, a stark contrast to the rainy weather back home. A system prompt appears, asking if he wishes to enter this world. After some hesitation and a peculiar loop of the prompt, Gentha resigns himself to the situation and prepares to explore, packing some of his discounted bread and supplies.
He steps through the closet door, which remains accessible, allowing him to return. He finds a path and begins walking, the terrain challenging for someone accustomed to modern city life. Soon, he spots a distant building, which turns out to be a fortified gate leading into a town. As he approaches, the landscape transitions to cultivated fields. The town is surrounded by a fence and a river, serving as both a water source and a defensive moat.
At the gate, he encounters two guards armed with spears. To his surprise, they speak Japanese, though their lip movements don't quite match. They question his unusual clothing and ask for an entrance fee of ten "hakudouka" (white copper coins). When Gentha fumbles with his wallet, his Japanese coins transform: a 500-yen coin becomes a larger, unadorned coin, which the guards recognize as "Daihakudouka" (Great White Copper Coin), equivalent to five regular white copper coins. He pays the fee with two of these transformed coins.
Entering the town, Gentha is struck by its vibrant atmosphere, a stark contrast to the subdued mood in Japan due to the pandemic. He observes bustling markets and people engaged in various activities. He notes the town's structured layout, with a large brick building identified as the "Commercial Guild." He also observes the distinct social stratification, with poorer areas and the disdain for "seido-ka" (bronze coins), also known as "the currency of the poor." He learns that currency here is valued by its material rather than a standardized unit.
Later, while exploring, Gentha encounters an elf-like woman named Maon, who is mourning the loss of her home to a fire. He offers her a jam-filled bread roll from his backpack. Maon is astonished by its softness, flavor, and the quality of the ingredients, particularly the jam, which she describes as rare and superior to anything available locally. She explains that bread in this world is typically hard and difficult to make, often requiring significant effort to consume. Maon reveals that the fire was caused by magic used during a fight between two men, one of whom fled the scene. Gentha also shares details about his home country, Japan, including its education system and customs, which differ significantly from this world. He learns that Maon's home was destroyed by magic, and she is now homeless. The chapter ends with them sharing the bread and discussing their respective worlds, highlighting the vast differences in technology, culture, and daily life.
