The stick tore through the air with a sharp crack, the sound splitting the battlefield like a whip.
The force behind it was so violent that the skin along Ayanokouji's palm split, a thin line of red tracing across his knuckles. He did not loosen his grip.
The blow struck the Remorse Eater directly in the throat.
Bone and flesh collapsed under the impact. Blood burst from its mouth in a wet spray, and the creature staggered backward, clawing at its neck.
A broken, gargled plea slipped past ruined vocal cords as it dropped to its knees before him.
Ayanokouji met its eyes and brought the stick down again.
The second strike carried more than strength. It carried weight. Something invisible fractured alongside the creature's body, as though the Remorse Eater had been perched atop layers of memory, feeding upon them.
Each impact cracked through those layers like glass under a hammer.
The first vision surfaced without warning.
He saw himself sitting beside a quiet stream, the water flowing gently over smooth stones.
It had been one of his rare moments of unguarded silence, a fragile piece of himself that he had never meant for anyone else to see.
The stick descended, and the memory shattered into fragments of light.
Another blow followed.
This time he saw the conversation he once shared with the owner of thks body. Words spoken carefully. Hesitation. The Remorse Eater convulsed as the image fractured, the pieces dissolving into nothing.
He continued.
With every strike, another memory cracked apart.
Laughter that had felt distant.
A fleeting look of understanding.
A moment of weakness he had never forgiven himself for.
The battlefield echoed with the relentless rhythm of wood against flesh, and something deeper breaking beneath it.
The Remorse Eater could no longer beg.
Its throat had collapsed completely, crushed beyond recovery.
A dark red line split the center of its neck where the final blow landed, and the creature's body went limp.
The air seemed to hold its breath as the Awakened Terror fell forward and did not rise again.
Silence followed.
Then a cold message surfaced before his fading vision.
[You have Slain an Awakened Terror, Remorse Eater.]
The weight that pressed against his mind for so long began to lift.
The battlefield blurred, the ground tilting slightly beneath him. Only after the creature's death did Ayanokouji allow his eyes to close, the tension in his shoulders finally easing.
Darkness crept in slowly, almost gently.
Through it, a voice called to him.
[Wake up Kiyotaka! Your nightmare is over.]
The first time he had heard that voice, it carried something unfamiliar, edged with quiet resentment. Now it sounded different. Softer. Warmer. It wrapped around his fading consciousness with unmistakable familiarity.
He understood, dimly, that something irreversible had taken place.
What he destroyed would never return. What he gained would never leave him untouched. The price and the reward were bound together, inseparable.
Another message emerged from the void.
[Prepare for appraisal...]
The words lingered in the darkness as his consciousness slipped away, marking the true end of the nightmare and the beginning of whatever judgment awaited him next.
***
I slowly opened my eyes and flexed my limbs.
There was no trace of pain, and an unfamiliar sense of peace spread through me, gentle and intoxicating.
Every tension I had carried seemed to dissolve with each small movement.
I raised my palm in front of my face, and an eye opened from it. I watched myself, staring at my own features with quiet fascination.
My cheeks no longer clung to my bones, the dark shadows under my eyes had vanished, and the redness had fled from my gaze.
I was myself again, whole in a way I had long forgotten.
Slowly, I lifted my eyes upward.
The void stretched endlessly above me, deep and infinite, and beyond it lay countless stars. Between those stars, silver threads shimmered, weaving themselves into a vast, intricate net, forming patterns I could not name but felt deeply.
Nexuses and constellations pulsed within that weave.
Shapes emerged and dissolved before my comprehension could grasp them, yet the spectacle filled me with quiet wonder. Every glimmer, every twist of light was a note in a melody I had never heard but instinctively understood.
For a long while, I lost myself among the stars.
My gaze could not break free.
I felt myself drifting, falling through space yet cradled by something vast and divine.
Warmth enveloped me, gentle and unyielding, pulling me toward the rhythm of the cosmos itself.
A strange, euphoric happiness rose within me, unbidden and complete.
I felt the pull of the celestial artwork, the desire to become part of its flow. Every fiber of my being ached to merge with the luminous tapestry, to be absorbed into the perfection of its design.
One by one, I opened all of my eyes, surrendering to the hypnotic warmth that wrapped me.
The memory of suffering faded completely, replaced by a desire to dissolve into the art, to exist only as a fragment of the stars' endless dance.
Then, with a sudden motion, I forced my eyes shut. Goosebumps spread across my skin as the divine warmth vanished, leaving only the quiet echo of its presence.
I returned to myself, suspended between awe and disbelief, unsure if I had truly been touched or simply hypnotized by the celestial vision.
What had just occurred?
Had the stars themselves bent their gaze upon me?
I had seen too much to be startled, yet the memory lingered with a kind of tender intensity, a quiet euphoric insistence that left me shivering and strangely alive.
***
I tried to sigh out loud after seeing everything that had happened.
Well, sadly, I didn't have a mouth.
Where even was I? Was this still part of the nightmare? No, it couldn't be. Spell had said it was over.
Speaking of Spell, when I had been in ANHS, its voice had sounded unfamiliar, carrying a hint of hatred. But now, it carried a trace of affection and felt strangely familiar.
Familiar to whom? I couldn't remember anyone with a voice like that.
[You have received a memory: Unforgiven Fragment]
The voice seemed familiar, yet I couldn't place whose it actually was.
What if it has tempered with my memory again?
I will have to look for clues for it later.
The memory, Unforgiven Fragment, must have come from the Remorse Eater.
Yet I can't help but question, Why had it been so weak?
I remembered my conversation with Dry Water, who had said that when the rulers of the village confronted the Remorse Eater, they had seen what God truly looked like. They had been so devastated that they had even agreed to make a vow.
Then why had it been so weak?
To find answers, I looked back into my own memories and soon found something.
["He is still a kid," he said. "He will try to show you your closest regrets. He will try to squeeze remorse out of you. Do not let him."]
It seemed the small amount of remorse I had let out could only give the creature the form of a child.
So after the wars between villages, it must have grown gigantic and powerful, hence the wording "God".
Was the Awakened Terror its actual power, or the power it could fall the most to?
There were far too many questions.
But one thing was certain, I had gotten lucky with the boss monster.
If it had been a brute, I might have had to change my plans. A creature that grew stronger with remorse had given me the upper hand.
As I reviewed the situation, I heard my own story playing back.
[Asiprant! Your nightmare is over.]
[A discarded exile was given the body of a false Penitent. Unwanted even by the Fate, he walked the path of graves, and those who had offered everything fell by his hand. He uncovered what should have remained and lived. Both righteous and wicked perished alike. He entered the Tree none had survived and left it right beside. The Fate had hated him. And now, it loves him.]
There were far too many things to cover.
What did it mean by discarded and exile? Why would something specifically exile me from Earth? And if it exiled me, why didn't Fate want me at first?
Was this what [Hated by Fate] meant? Apparently, I was no longer hated, but loved.
[You have defeated one thousand seventy-seven dormant beasts: Remorse Water's Vowalker.]
[You have defeated three dormant humans, Perla, Eichiro, Shirou.]
[You have defeated an Awakened Terror: Remorse Eater.]
I stayed silent after the kill count. It was more than I expected.
I went on a rampage, didn't I?
I wondered if I would get some stage-clear award. Isn't that how games are supposed to go?
[You have achieved what was supposed to be an impossible trial to clear!]
I went quiet. My eyes slowly turned cold. I didn't like how casually the Spell threw the word "Impossible." The trial might have been total insanity to clear, but it was still clearable.
I came from an impossible stage. I knew what impossible really was. Impossible leaves you alone in a world full of people. It shapes you and makes you regret living. It makes you want to die a terrible death.
Why was I getting so worked up over a word?
The Spell continued, indifferent.
[Final appraisal: Peerless. You have gone beyond the standard for evaluation.]
I just stood there, letting it continue.
Spell was praising me now. I didn't know how to react. All I felt was disrespect. It reminded me of the White Room others watching me suffer, rating my performance.
The chains might have changed, but I was still a slave. I wished to break them.
[Dreamer Kiyotaka, receive your boon!]
No longer Asiprant? That must have been only for the first trial.
[You have been bestowed a True Name: Untold Ruin.]
I went silent for a moment, trying to make sense of what I saw. True Name? In Earth mythology, a true name is a being's deepest essence, their soul, the secrets that define them.
In tradition, knowing someone's true name gives complete control over them.
Does that mean if someone learns my true name, they control me?
A cold feeling rose inside me.
Others might kill for their goals. I would die for mine.
If someone tried to enslave me, I would destroy everything connected to them. I wouldn't care, I would tear their entire being to ruin. I would make them wish to be dead but death would not come.
No… Stop. I need more information to make sense of this.
Something was wrong, I was getting emotional too easily...
Breath and think.
Well I can't even breath right now.
Just think, I guess.
I have some ideas as to what Untold Ruin is referring to, The White Room, My Past. My entire being is indeed a Ruin that can't be told.
...
This entire evaluation… I don't understand any of it.
I will understand it more once I gather some information about how this spell functions.
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
So it's like a power up system, I agreed.
[Dormant Aspect Fraudulent Penitent is evolving…]
I watched it with curiousity, What would it evolve into? I do have some ideas of myself.
[New Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine.]
I felt euphoric again, as if I was on top of everything. What was happening to me? Is it the spell's doing?
Rank divine... I can't help but believe it is the highest. After all, this entire rune is revolving around religions.
Divine should be close to the top.
I really need information, It's like i am shooting arrows in darkness.
[Aspect Name: False Prophet.]
Never mind, I didn't think it would evolve into that. I had thought that it would just become an advanced variant of Penitent. I mean, it did evolve... but quite too much.
***
Aspect: [False Prophet].
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Description: [You are a voice born of insincere prayer, and yet the divine incline toward you. As a false prophet, you possess many subtle and terrible gifts. You are a living masterpiece balanced between grace and ruin, neither blessed nor condemned. Others kneel in faith, but you remain standing without it. In the quiet that follows your sermon, something vast stirs, as though a name was spoken that should have remained untold.]
As Ayanokouji read the description, every one of his eyes widened. They trembled in their sockets as he took a step back.
Dry Water's warning echoed in his mind. He had been told not to understand too much about the world. Yet he had.
He had seen the truth, Existence was nothing but a doll, every string pulled by unseen hands.
He narrowed his eyes. It was simple. Everything was connected.
His first aspect, Fraudulent Penitent, had branded him a sinner who kneels in regret and swears to change but it had all been an act. Every word, every vow, false. A sinner kneels to something that does not exist.
False Prophet made others kneel to something that did not exist. Others required faith. He stood without it.
It might have been enough if it stopped there.
But the pattern revealed itself, and a chill crawled through him.
Everything moved in a series of steps.
He had been a Fraudulent Penitent, so he became a False Prophet. But what became of those who followed the false prophet?
That was the meaning of his true name, A ruin so vast no one could believe it.
Untold Ruin.
He was destined to bring a catastrophe beyond words, beyond memory, beyond record.
He narrowed his eyes further not for the ruin itself, but for what it meant to him.
He did not care for the catastrophe. He cared only for himself.
Emotions surged, too much all of a sudden. First hypnotized, then angered by the Spell, now shocked. He was in his own body, yet none of this felt real.
He waited. He waited for the Spell. He waited for the answer.
Innate Ability: [Divine Ledger].
Ability Description: [You will inscribe only what is true, and every word will flow into life itself. Those who touch your writing will walk within its echoes, feeling the weight of what was lost and the truths the world refused to see. Nothing false may dwell here, yet every line will bear the quiet sorrow of what only you have witnessed, a ruin kept alive in the shape of memory.]
A thick book appeared in his hands. He opened it, narrowing his eyes once more.
In flawless, beautiful script, his first nightmare sprawled across the pages. As he touched the words, he was drawn back into the memories themselves.
He poured water over the patched sections, Soon he willed himself to step out, and eventually he did.
He did not know how to feel. It was as if he had become a tool for someone else's amusement.
And this… this violated the essence of his true name, Untold Ruin-
Before he could process further, something interfered…
***
[The First Seal is broken.]
[Awakening dormant powers…]
Ayanokouji staggered slightly, clutching his chest. He felt no pain, no unpleasant sensation. Instead, his eyes burned less and less as time passed.
A feeling stirred within him, something he could not comprehend. He tried to locate it, Was it in his head again? No. He could not find it.
Warmth spread through every fiber of his being. From his chest to his brain, his palms, his feet under that warmth, his body seemed to rebuild itself. He could feel it happening.
It was as if he had been born in the White Room again, returning to his original state without training.
The same strange awe he had felt before, against the stars, returned.
He was already a force to be reckoned with, yet now he was becoming deadlier.
As the heat faded, a coldness took its place, erasing every discomfort.
That should have been the end. It should have been enough. Yet it was not.
[Your ink is beginning to flow.]
Ayanokouji froze. Another strange message, another string of incomprehensible words. He could not make sense of it.
Ink? What even…
[Your ink is staining the world.]
He dropped to his knees, all eyes wide open. He should not have felt anything, yet everything resonated.
His soul itself seemed to tremble.
A core inside him splintered as he tried to make sense of it. Was this another trial?
Countless questions flooded his mind.
His body felt as though it were being burned alive.
Then the pain ceased abruptly.
[Your story is complete.]
Strength returned gradually as the agony faded. Yet he did not like how the Spell described him. First his innate ability, now this. He felt as though he were becoming part of someone else's writing.
A line appeared across his vision a colorless, dividing line.
One side remained the void of stars. On the other side stretched a world of paper. A massive paper star hung in the sky. Ayanokouji could not understand it.
He stared directly at it. It felt like he was staring at his own power. Confusion gnawed at him.
Everywhere he looked, he saw only paper. Crumbled sheets swirled around the paper star.
He walked to them and touched the pages.
Three memories unfolded: [Vow of Life & Death], [Whisper of Malice], [Unforgiven Fragment].
He sensed that there was something written, scattered across countless pages. He could not see them, but he could feel them.
Where even was he?
A sound drew his attention to the other side of the line. He focused there.
[Awakening Aspect Ability…]
He had no idea what was happening. One second, this, the next, that.
He moved forward, going with the flow, trying to understand. He could not. Aspect, innate… which came first? Some power from within?
He had never been so clueless.
He opened his runes.
Name: Kiyotaka.
True Name: Untold Ruin.
Rank: Dreamer.
Class: Monster.
Ink Cores: [2/7]
Ink Fragments: [92/2000]
He stared. Dumbfounded.
What even was this?
It was like trying to play chess without knowing the pieces.
Where had the ink fragments come from? The messages spoke of ink flowing, staining the world. Yet he only held 92. The maximum, 2000.
He formed a theory. Perhaps the ink that flowed and stained the world, the breaking of the core inside him these were connected.
The pain had coincided with the messages. The reasoning made sense, yet he did not trust it. He needed more information.
[Aspect ability acquired.]
[Aspect ability name: Binding Vow.]
He tilted his head. So every ability tied to the aspect would belong to the prophet? Nothing yet reflected the falsehood in his title.
He checked his records again.
Memories: [Vow of Life & Death], [Whisper of Malice], [Unforgiven Fragment].
Attributes: [Embraced by Fate], [Seeker of Reflection], [Witness of Fate].
Aspect: [False Prophet].
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Abilities: [Binding Vow].
Aspect Ability Description: [The vows you bind with others are witnessed by Fate itself.]
The wording intrigued him. Abilities. This was only one of many he might gain from the aspect. The description suggested a contract of sorts.
Yet the attributes commanded his attention.
Once [Hated by Fate], now [Embraced by Fate].
He tapped it.
[Embraced by Fate] Attribute Description: Once hated, now cherished. Fate has chosen to embrace you. It will test you with the harshest trials and grant the sweetest rewards. Every step you take will be watched, every path shaped by its will. Fate has claimed you.
[Seeker of Reflection] Attribute Description: You are the one all aspire to be, yet you do not yet know what you are, nor what you desire. Let this stand as the measure of your becoming.
[Witness of Fate] Attribute Description: You will bear the weight of what Fate unfolds, remaining the lone witness to all that passes unseen.
Ayanokouji felt as though he were drowning in helplessness.
Before him lay his entire destiny, mapped in cold clarity. Everything that would happen was dictated by Fate.
He had become its tool, with no idea how the strands would reach him.
Was there even a way forward?
His eyes hinted at certainty. There was a way.
Dry Water had escaped Fate's grasp and entered a trial no one else could. If Dry Water could do it, why not him?
All he had to do was observe. Remain unseen. Do what he did best.
Fate was another set of strings, meant to control him. He had escaped one. What was stopping him from cutting another?
Then a new message arrived, one that changed everything:
[All power has a price.]
[You have received a Flaw.]
[Your Flaw is: …]
Ayanokouji's eyes widened. Suddenly, the chaos of sensation made sense.
He stood, trying to understand. What was he supposed to do now?
His greatest asset had been taken. The calm he relied on in any situation gone.
Flaw: [Ruined Heart].
Flaw Description: [Any small feeling will grow, twisting into joy, sadness, or anger far beyond what it once was.]
At first, it seemed minor. But for Ayanokouji, it was hell. His ability to remain calm and observe, gone.
Now, every tiny emotion was magnified. Every situation became unbearable.
Normally, he barely felt anything. Yet here, in this place, even the smallest stirrings of feeling twisted into torment.
This was… bad. Really bad.
[Wake up, Untold Ruin!]
***
Sunless was wearing a clean police-issued tracksuit and heading for the cafeteria. Master Jet was waiting for him at one of the tables, with two trays full of steaming synthetic food in front of her.
"Help yourself."
Sunny glanced at the cheap gruel, which was not so different from the stuff he used to consume in the outskirts, and sighed. Somehow, he had expected his first meal after becoming a Sleeper to be more lavish.
Still, it was food.
He sat down and began to wolf down the gruel ravenously. He was very, very hungry.
In the process, his thoughts began to wander. Sunny stole a glance at Jet and wondered. The Spell told him to find a master, and the next thing he knew there was a woman calling herself Master right in front of him. He tried to imagine being an obedient slave to someone like her.
Weird thoughts started to appear in his mind…
'You know what, Sunny,' he thought with dark irony. 'Knowing your luck, this would be a perfect moment for her to ask…'
"What are you thinking about?"
Sunny choked on the gruel. He felt his mouth beginning to open, and put all of his will into staying silent. A second passed without him saying anything. Then a weird pressure appeared in his mind, which soon turned into blinding pain. He endured it for a couple more seconds before giving up.
"I was thinking that it would be a perfect moment for you to ask me about what I am thinking," he finally said.
Jet gave him a weird look.
As Jet was about to say something, not minding how Sunless choked on his own food, she was interrupted.
Several police officers rushed into the cafeteria, calling out for her. Their voices overlapped in urgency.
"Master Jet, there's another infected!"
At those words, Jet saw multiple officers carrying a teenager toward the same room Sunless had been in earlier.
She couldn't help but sigh.
It wasn't that another infected had appeared. That, unfortunately, was normal. The real problem was timing.
When Sunless had gone to shower, she had remained in the cafeteria. It was protocol to stay close to a Sleeper until everything was explained. If she left him alone and he accidentally used his Aspect without understanding it…
If something went wrong…
She would blame herself.
Jet exhaled quietly, then turned to Sunless.
"Follow me, kid. Let's show you how we work."
For some reason, she believed he would understand. Sunless was sharp far sharper than he pretended to be. Maybe it was instinct.
She knew he was from the outskirts. If he had survived there this long, he had to be twisted in some way. She understood that. She was from there too.
Perhaps that was why she felt a faint softness toward him.
As they walked down the corridor, Sunless spoke.
"Why are you taking me with you… Won't I just slow you down?"
Jet let out a muffled laugh. A Sleeper questioning an Ascended. Still, she approved of the logic. He was trying to avoid unnecessary danger. Sensible.
"I can't leave a Sleeper alone when he doesn't even know how to control his Aspect yet."
Sunless went quiet at that. She hadn't asked anything directly, so his flaw didn't trigger.
As she gained distance, she glanced back at him. He was catching up slowly.
Strangely, she had high expectations of him.
When they entered the room, the police officers were just about to tie the unconscious boy to the metal chair.
Then they froze.
"He's moving!"
The teenager stirred faintly. While that happened, one officer approached Jet.
"We found him unconscious on the other side of the road. He wouldn't wake up. We suspected infection and brought him here."
That explained why she hadn't been informed earlier. Work was work.
Jet gestured for the officers to leave. She and Sunless stepped closer.
And to say Jet was surprised would be an understatement.
She had expected another unfortunate child from the streets.
Instead, the boy lying before her looked… unreal.
Awakened girls she knew would fight each other for someone with a face like his.
[Uh here ig, ignore wtvr he is sitting on.]
Jet herself didn't care for such things. But even she had to admit that he was striking. Enough to make her question whether he was truly infected at all.
She glanced at Sunless's malnourished face.
Yes. That was how someone from the streets should look.
Not like this anomaly.
As if sensing the comparison, Sunless shot her a angered look as of silently cursing at her.
Jet ignored him and examined the boy's clothes. The jacket was high quality. Expensive. He didn't look poor. Quite the opposite.
So why had he been found on the road?
Families with money prepared their children. They took their First Nightmare at home.
His uniform didn't match any academy she knew either. The colors were too vibrant. Too unfamiliar.
Something was wrong.
As she studied him, the boy slowly opened his eyes.
Jet felt another quiet sigh of relief. At least she wouldn't need to draw her sword.
But his eyes...
She had never seen eyes like that.
There were multiple colours, almost luminous. Yet behind that brightness was something vast and dark. The same depth she had glimpsed in Sunless.
Sunless simply stood there. Silent.
'I'll look even better than him once I'm Awakened.' he thought stubbornly.
Jet was about to speak.
Sunny blinked.
And disaster struck.
Ayanokouji's eyes flew open as pain seized him.
His lips began to burn.
His nose dissolved.
His ears tore away.
From beneath his skin, new eyes split open one after another, blooming across his body in grotesque symmetry.
In a single breath, the beautiful boy was gone.
In his place stood a monster.
Jet cursed and summoned her sword instantly. Steel rang as it left the scabbard.
Dozens of eyes turned toward her at once.
They did not dart wildly. They aligned.
Pupils narrowed in perfect unison, each one locking onto her as if guided by a single, dreadful mind. There was no frenzy in them. Only a suffocating awareness that pressed against the skin like invisible hands.
The room grew still.
Some Awakened might have hesitated under that gaze. Might have felt their instincts whisper to step back.
Jet did not.
Her grip did not falter. Her breathing did not change.
If the creature wished to observe her, then it would observe the last thing it ever saw.
She stepped forward without the slightest pause and struck straight for its neck, the blade cutting through the heavy silence in one decisive arc.
***
At first, Sunless had thought it was going to be dangerous. So naturally, he decided the wisest course of action was to stay behind.
Heroic positioning, he called it.
From a safe distance.
Hardest descision requires the wisest of wills after all.
As he looked at the boy tied to the metal chair, he once again cursed how unfair the world was.
This man looked like he had been taken straight out of some alternate reality. Sunless had never seen someone that good looking in his entire miserable life.
It was insulting.
He noticed the way Jet was looking at the stranger and him, as if subconsciously comparing the two of them.
He shot her an offended glare.
'Why the fuck is an ascended judging a rat?' he cursed her mentally. He hadn't even begun his journey as a Sleeper and was already betrayed.
Damnation.
Under such humiliation, he made a solemn vow.
'I'll look even better than him once I'm Awakened.'
Yes. That was the correct priority in this life or death situation. Respect.
As Sunless continued cursing the unfairly handsome stranger, he blinked.
...
When he opened his eyes again, goosebumps spread across his skin.
Dozens of eyes were staring directly at him.
As his shadow shifted slightly along the floor, several of those eyes followed it.
Deliberately.
A cold sensation crawled up his spine.
He flinched for a split second, then forced himself under control.
'Damn [Fated].'
Sunless immediately retreated, jumping back toward the corner. In one swift motion, he tore a light bulb from the wall and raised it above his head like a crude weapon.
He stood in the corner now. Four shadows came out because of the way light bulb was positioned.
At that exact moment, Jet's sword descended at a speed a Sleeper could barely perceive.
Yet the monster moved.
Barely.
The blade grazed its shoulder instead of severing its head.
Jet did not hesitate. She attacked again, relentless.
The dozens of eyes tracked her every motion without blinking.
Staring directly at her soul.
She did not care.
The monster suddenly dashed toward a corner.
Jet repositioned instantly, placing herself near it and Sunless without a single wasted movement.
If it wanted the Sleeper, it would have to go through her first.
Sunless stared at the monster.
'That guy's not a corrupted, Damn did my curses give him such a flaw?'
Sunless when the fuck will you act accordingly to the situation.
***
What did I get myself into now?
As soon as I woke up, the first thing that greeted me was pain, overwhelming and absolute. And then it disappeared.
Losing the sense of touch swallowed it whole.
And then a sword came down at me at a speed that forced even all these eyes to move faster than normal.
Even after my body became stronger, that sword was fast.
It would be ideal to take that malnourished kid hostage, but that no longer seems possible.
The girl in front of me positioned herself perfectly. She would be able to reach me whether I dashed toward the door or toward the kid.
And let's not even talk about how that kid is an anomaly.
He looked directly into my eyes. He noticed that I saw his moving shadow. So he retreated to a corner and placed a light bulb right above his head, forcing four distinct absences of light to form around him.
Seeing that his shadow moved, If I rush him while dodging the girl from ground shadow would attack me, If i somehow rush from the wall the shadow that's on the wall will attack me.
Now I am not even sure which shadow will move and which won't.
But how would a shadow even attack me? Would it strike my shadow? Or would it attack me directly?
Too many unknowns.
I know this is a misunderstanding, but the girl in front of me seems fully intent on killing me.
How exactly am I supposed to convince them that I am not a monster?
Oh.
The girl slowly lowers her sword and raises one hand, gesturing for me to calm down. She probably figured it out.
Good.
I slowly raise both of my hands in surrender.
***
Currently, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was taking a shower in the bathroom while Jet and Sunless sat in the cafeteria.
Sunless was focused on his tray, eating with the seriousness of someone who had fought starvation long enough to treat every meal like a limited-time offer. He was gonna end the concept of starvation itself today.
He absolutely refused to acknowledge the gaze Jet kept directing at him.
He could not see it.
He would not see it.
"Your judgment was too quick."
Sunless froze internally.
He kept chewing. If he chews while ignoring her, He might become invisible.
"Is your Aspect related to shadows?"
Of course she saw it.
He swallowed.
"Yes. It is related to shadows."
He immediately regretted how direct that sounded.
Jet leaned her chin against her hand. "You controlled it pretty well for a Sleeper."
Silence.
Chewing resumed.
"Why didn't you tell me you could control it when I asked?"
'Take a fucking hint that I don't want to talk with you!'
His jaw stiffened.
"You didn't ask. You reminded yourself."
The words slipped out cleanly. Betrayal wrapped in perfect grammar.
Sunless stared at his tray as if it had personally ruined his life. Sunless thought the tray itself was laughing at him.
Jet blinked once. Then a small laugh escaped her.
"You're interesting."
He did not respond. He was trying to make her realise that he don't want to talk by not replying.
Jet tilted her head. "That kid dodged my strike. What do you think?"
NO NO NO NOT THAT
Anyth- No not Anything. Most of the thing but that question!
Sunless felt the trap close.
He exhaled through his nose.
"He simultaneously tracked your shoulder rotation and blade angle. He read the shift in your stance before the strike completed and was confident to keep dodging for few minutes."
The playful expression slowly dissapeared from Jet's face.
"He also noted that you had already cut off his escape routes, Saw that I had prepared a trap to not let him take me for an easy target.''
Sunless continued, because he had to.
Jet slowly blinked.
"He understood the difference in ability and chose surrender as the optimal outcome."
Jet narrowed her eyes.
She had already suspected that Sunless was trying to stay unnoticed, but this confirmed it. She clearly remembered that he had blinked at the exact moment the man transformed. He had barely been given any time to react.
Yet he had reacted.
Not only that, he had immediately positioned himself in a way that prevented him from becoming the obvious weak point.
That kind of thinking, in that short of a window, was not normal for a Sleeper.
If it had been anyone else, they would have frozen out of fear. Even Awakened might have hesitated way more than he did.
It was just that scary.
"You noticed all that?"
Jet watched him carefully. She could tell he wanted her to stop asking questions. The way he focused on his food was almost exaggerated.
"Yes."
The answer came clean and simple.
She saw the tension in his shoulders. He tried to keep quiet, as if silence could save him.
It could not.
"And?"
Sunless paused, then gave in.
"And he annoys me."
Jet's lips twitched. After all that careful analysis, after reacting faster than most trained adults, this was what bothered him?
She leaned forward slightly.
"Because he's smarter?"
Unknown to Jet at the moment, Sunless's play was just not deduction it carried it's fair share of deception too. He went all in using the man's reasoning against him.
Truly treacherous.
"No."
He did not even hesitate.
"Because he read you?"
"No."
Her smile widened. She understood now. For all his calculation and composure, he was still young. Sharp, observant, but young..
She tried to hold back her laughter while she asked.
"Because he looks better than you?"
Sunless slowly turned to look at her, clearly displeased that she had reached the correct conclusion.
"Yes."
Jet burst into laughter.
He stared at the wall, face blank, while internally suffering through the consequences of his own honesty.
"You're unbelievable."
He stabbed his food again.
"You know he still had dozens of eyes open on his face, right?"
"Yes."
"And you still think he looks good?"
A short pause.
"Yes."
Jet laughed even harder.
Truthfully, even she had to admit something unsettling. When the man had stood there with those unnatural eyes open across his face, it should have been purely disturbing.
It was.
Yet she could still remember what he had looked like before the transformation. The symmetry of his features. The calm expression. The way he carried himself.
Even layered with something inhuman, he had looked strangely composed.
The kind of presence that would draw reckless people in out of curiosity alone.
And some girls just liked dangerous things. Not her though.
Footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Both of them turned.
The man stepped into the cafeteria.
His hair was slightly damp from the shower. His posture was relaxed, his expression calm. There was something quiet behind his gaze, something observant and restrained.
Despite what they had witnessed earlier, despite the unnatural eyes and the oppressive atmosphere he had given off…
He still looked put together.
Jet glanced sideways at Sunless with a small, knowing grin.
Sunless did not look back. He simply took another bite of his food as if nothing in the world concerned him.
But when his eyes briefly shifted toward Jet, something colder moved beneath his calm expression.
'She knows.'
Jet indeed figured out his flaw.
***
This chapter ends here. I will try to keep the word count around 5–6k instead of going up to 18k like last time.
How was this chapter overall, as well as Ayanokouji's first Nightmare?
I realized that the first fifteen chapters were too serious, so I attempted to add a hint of humour in this one and combine it with intensity if I could.
Did Jet and Sunless act canonically, or should I focus more on developing them?
Might have realised that I am going for Sunless and Ayanokouji Dynamic.
That's all for now. GGs.
(From few hours into the future, Changed the ending a lil)