The Sin of Sloth
Laziness lingers, a thief of time,
A silent, creeping, clinging crime.
It robs the will, it dulls the mind,
Leaving dreams and toil behind.
Oh, rise! Break free from sloth's cold sin—
The soul must strive to live, to win!
Kento Akari, a college student. He spends most of his time in the house, either playing games or scrolling through his phone endlessly. Kento doesn't have many friends, neither does he try to make one. He lives alone nowadays. It was a sunny morning, but Kento was still sleeping because he was playing games the whole night. Kento somehow managed to open his eyes. He stretched his hands, took his phone, and started scrolling again. Unaware of what was about to happen to him.
Kento saw a message on his phone saying, "Wake up." It was an unknown number. "Huh! Whose number is this?" he whispers. "Is this some kind of prank?" Another message came: "No, it's not." Kento's eyes widened. He didn't type anything, he didn't send any messages, so how did the person on the other side of the screen reply to what he just said to himself? Kento stood up and started searching everywhere. What is he looking for? He messed his bed up, checked under the table, the corners of the room, but found nothing. No mic, no hidden camera—so how did the person hear his voice? He looked at the screen again and saw another message popping up: "I see you." Kento understood it's not a game, not a prank, neither is someone spying on him. So what was it? Kento slowly sat down and looked at the phone. After a moment, he looked at the screen and says, "Who are you? Or should I ask, what are you?" A laughing emoji popped up in the message. Kento was confused, but he knew something was about to happen.
The next message came: "Knock knock." Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. This time, Kento became nervous; sweat dropped from his forehead, his hand became numb, but he held the phone tightly. Again, someone was knocking on the door. Kento stood up and looked at the screen, but no message came this time. He opened his drawer and pulled out a knife, then slowly reached the door. The continuous knocking didn't stop. Kento held the door and says, "Who's it?" The knocking stops. A message came again. Kento looks at his phone, and it says: "Don't worry, open it. If you don't, we will." Reading it, Kento becomes more nervous at that point. He finally opens the door and sees a person standing in front of him—black jeans, a red jacket, messed-up hair, a boy the same as his age. The boy has a scar on his face. Kento and the boy looks at each other, not saying anything. The boy then asks, "Are you Kento Akari, the Sloth?" Kento felt surprised and asked, "What... Sloth? What are you saying, and who are you?" The boy smiles and leans towards Kento and says, "I see the system isn't working now, that's why you didn't noticed anything." Kento was surprised and shocked at the same time. What was he saying? And what is a system? Hundreds of questions were in his mind. Kento says, "What system? And what's wrong with my phone—is it your doing?" The boy puts his hand on Kento's shoulder and says, "You're really lucky, you know. If you were sentenced to death, I would've killed you by now." Kento slammed the door closed and was breathing heavily. "What was that? What did he mean by that? What the hell is it?" he says to himself. The boy knocked again and says, "Relax, I won't kill you. Just let me in."
Kento backed away from the door and rushed to his room. As soon as he opened the door, he saw the boy sitting on his bed. Kento was absolutely stunned. He looked back—the main door was still locked, so what happened? He constantly looked both ways to ensure it wasn't a dream. He looked at the boy and says, "How did you get in?" The boy picked his manga from the floor and said, "So you read manga too. Cool." Kento yells at him and says, "Answer my goddamn question—who are you?" The boy sighs and says, "My name is Shiro." Kento backs away from the door and closes the door of his room. He now runs towards the main door. He opens the door and sees Shiro standing in front of him. He panics and shuts the door closed. He runs towards his room again and sees Shiro sitting in the chair. "How are you doing that, and what do you want?" As he was shouting, he notices Shiro was gone, and he feels a cold sensation behind him. He turns his head behind and sees Shiro was standing behind him.
Shiro puts his hand on his shoulder and says, "If you keep running like this, I can't guarantee that I won't kill you." Kento's whole body freezes, but now he understands that whoever this boy is, he is far more capable than him. Kento steps back and says, "Fine, I will listen to you. But what do you want from me?" The boy steps back and says, "The fragment you hold inside you." Kento's eyes widened. What fragment? Kento and Shiro both look at each other. Both of them thinking: What is about to happen? Who makes the first move? Who runs? Who tags? Kento, ready to reach for the knife on the floor. Shiro's eyes locked into Kento's soul, waiting for him to make the first move. The situation gets more and more intense for them as both of them stood there quietly. Kento asks why he was here. Shiro says, "I told you, I am here for the fragment, nothing else. Let me have it, and I will go away." Kento took a step towards Shiro and asks, "What's the system?" Shiro says, "None of your business. Consider yourself lucky that you are not facing the system." Kento refuses to cooperate if he doesn't tell him. Shiro, losing his patience. Kento slowly takes his steps back, and Shiro follows him. As Kento reached the point he wants to be, he noticed the knife right next to his left leg and prepares to make his move. Shiro prepares himself—he knows what is about to happen. Shiro says, "If you think you can get away with that, you are wrong." Kento smiles and says, "Let's dance, shall we?"