𝖭𝗘𝝦𝘏ꔋ𝘏𝝪𝗦, 𝝤𝙍 𝖭𝗘𝗙ꓴ-Ⲥ𝘏𝖠𝖭

Nephthys, or Nefu-chan as her Japanese friends affectionately called her, was an Egyptian exchange student at Waseda University, and she was definitely feeling like the odd one out. Sure, she stuck out with her radiant smile and wild curls, but what really made her feel out of place was that she was, well, Nyarlathotep. Yeah, that Nyarlathotep—the cosmic entity with a résumé that included interdimensional mischief and scaring humans for fun.

But right now, Nefu-chan wasn’t exactly worrying about cosmic wars. Nope, she was worrying about getting through her theoretical physics class without completely embarrassing herself in front of Professor Yamada. Or worse, without totally blowing her cover as a timeless entity from another dimension. No biggie.

The real drama started when Professor Yamada was found mysteriously missing, leaving behind his coveted coffee mug and a half-eaten onigiri. The whole university was in a panic, but Nefu-chan was just trying to figure out if she’d left any accidental portals open during her midterms.

Enter Kazuo, the overly enthusiastic and hopelessly nerdy classmate who had somehow become Nefu-chan’s lab partner. With his signature plaid scarf and encyclopedic knowledge of H.P. Lovecraft (seriously, how did he not figure out her true identity yet?), Kazuo was convinced there was a secret Cthulhu fan club on campus—he just didn’t realize they might actually be summoning cosmic horrors during study breaks.

Meanwhile, Nefu-chan’s love life was becoming as complicated as her interdimensional past. On one hand, she had a bit of a crush on Kazuo. He was adorably awkward, always tripping over his own feet, and she couldn’t help but enjoy their accidental hand brushes while pouring over physics equations. On the other hand, Shiori, her hyper-efficient student council president friend, was suspiciously perfect and maybe, just maybe, secretly in love with Nefu-chan too.

Between Kazuo’s bumbling attempts to ask her out on a ramen date (while debating the existence of Yog-Sothoth) and Shiori’s intense study sessions that always ended with long, meaningful glances, Nefu-chan was caught in the middle of a love triangle. And honestly, figuring out which crush to focus on was way more stressful than fighting Elder Gods.

Things came to a head when Kazuo’s big “Cthulhu Society” theory turned out to be shockingly accurate. During the annual school festival, a secret group accidentally summoned a real Shoggoth while trying to reenact a scene from one of Lovecraft’s novels (whoops!). Chaos ensued, of course, but Nefu-chan, with her millennia of experience as Nyarlathotep, just rolled her eyes, snapped her fingers, and sent the creature back where it came from—leaving everyone to think it was all part of the show.

In the aftermath, Kazuo—sweaty and flustered—finally confessed his feelings in the middle of the university quad, stammering about cosmic energies and black holes as metaphors for love. Shiori, ever the composed one, gave Nefu-chan a small smile, a knowing look that said, “Go for it,” before quietly bowing out of the race.

As the semester drew to a close, Nefu-chan realized that maybe, just maybe, she could have a little fun being human. Cosmic battles and ancient rivalries could wait—right now, she was enjoying late-night takoyaki runs with Kazuo, teasing him about his bizarre theories, and occasionally, just occasionally, reminding herself that she was Nyarlathotep, cosmic trickster extraordinaire.

But hey, if the Outer Gods showed up, she could handle them. After all, she had midterms to study for.