I'm in a new world but I'm purposefully trying to be a side character

Chapter 2: The Anomaly and the Time Traveler

The tension in the air was palpable, and the situation would only worsen for anyone present. A mere proximity to the area was enough to sense the overwhelming pressure within seconds.

At this moment, Yūki Sato found himself under interrogation by an enigmatic figure who had appeared out of nowhere.

The stranger continued to fixate on Yūki with an intense gaze, his grip on Yūki's arm unyielding.

"Okay, man, this is where it ends. I don't know what you think I did, but it's none of your business," Yūki asserted, his annoyance growing with the situation's oddity and the unnerving vibe emanating from the individual.

The man remained silent but released Yūki's arm, providing a slight reprieve from the discomfort of his firm hold.

"Sorry about that. I didn't intend for our first encounter to be so abrupt," the man apologized, acknowledging his earlier rudeness.

"It's okay, I guess," Yūki responded, massaging the spot where he had been grasped.

"Sorry for being rash. Given the current situation with the monster, we've seen a surge in suspicious activity. We're investigating to ensure public safety..." The man launched into an extensive explanation about his actions and the law, but Yūki's attention had already drifted, his intuition signaling that something was amiss with this stranger.

As the man prattled on, oblivious, Yūki scrutinized him, searching for the source of his unease. Although nothing overtly unusual surfaced, Yūki detected an anomaly-the man was enveloped in a peculiar matter.

This matter, while originating from this universe, didn't seem to belong in the conventional sense. Yūki couldn't pinpoint the anomaly's nature, but his 'cosmic awareness' hinted at a deeper significance.

'Side effects,' unlike special powers derived from meta-genes, are unintended byproducts. When meta-genes activate, they transform an ordinary human into a superhuman, awakening abilities tied to their meta-genes. Typically, this includes enhanced physical attributes like strength, speed, endurance, and heightened senses. However, occasionally, a meta-gene's unique nature can induce a physiological 'side effect,' altering the individual in unexpected ways. These side effects rarely confer advantages, often presenting more drawbacks than benefits.

Yūki Sato, however, was fortunate to experience a beneficial 'side effect': 'cosmic awareness.' This ability granted him an intrinsic understanding of the universe's mechanics, allowing him to sense everything from cosmic distances to the subtlest forces on Earth.

It was this power that alerted him to the abnormality of the matter clinging to the man. The substance, while originating from their world, seemed out of place, as if from a different point in the universe. Yūki's 'cosmic awareness' revealed the matter's spacetime distortions, suggesting its origin from the future, causing dissonance in the current timeline.

Realizing the implications, Yūki felt a twinge of concern. Such substances could only exist in their timeline if they were from the future or brought in by someone else-a notion more troubling than he cared to admit.

Yet, Yūki's analysis was far from over. After observing the man for a few moments, he discerned subtle variances in the matter-eighteen distinct types from eighteen different timelines of the same universe. Some dated back merely 1.1 to 3-4 years, others 5 to 8 years, and the most distant, a staggering 12 years into the future.

"Damn, eighteen," Yūki muttered involuntarily, stunned by the revelation that this individual, presumably a time traveler, had traversed back at least eighteen times-an excessive number by any standard.

The words 'eighteen' struck the unknown man like a bolt, halting his speech as he stared at Yūki with a mix of confusion and surprise. It was as if he recognized the significance of the number, yet couldn't fathom how Yūki could be aware of it.