Kazuto "Kaz" Hoshino was about to die. Again.
This time, it was a vending machine. Not a normal one. A massive, neon-lit, flying vending machine. And it was falling right on top of him.
Kaz rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed. The machine hit the ground with a loud THUNK and bounced a little, like it was laughing at him.
"Really? Again?" Kaz muttered. He brushed off dust and picked up a glowing tofu that had fallen from the machine. Yep. That was his life.
Neo-Kyoto, 2147. A city that never slept, never stopped screaming, and never gave a person a chance to be normal.
Neon signs blinked nonstop. Flying taxis honked at pedestrians. Drones delivered everything from ramen to illegal cyber-arms. And everyone—everyone—had a personal HUD flashing missions directly into their brains.
Kaz's luck? Legendary. For being awful. His HUD pinged loudly:
MISSION ALERT: Pick up neon tofu from Vendor #742. Reward: 200 credits. Penalty: embarrassment.
Kaz squinted. "Embarrassment? That's the penalty? I've had worse from vending machines."
He sprinted through the crowd, knocking over a three-armed man carrying a holo-cigarette, tripping a street performer juggling live grenades, and sending a stray cyber-cat screaming into a fountain. Somehow, he survived. Again.
Then his vision flickered. A huge pop-up appeared in his HUD:
SYSTEM UPDATE DETECTED. UNLOCK GLITCH MODE?
[Accept] [Decline]
Kaz blinked. Glitch Mode? Dangerous, illegal, insane? Probably all three. But curiosity won. He clicked Accept.
Bzzzt!
The city shivered. Lights flickered. Drones buzzed in confused circles. A cat in a cyber-suit turned into a toaster for half a second. And the tofu Kaz was holding… floated in the air like it had suddenly gained opinions about gravity.
Kaz stared. "Uh… did I just cheat reality?"
Before he could ponder, a gang of cyber-punks appeared. Purple hair, glowing implants, and scowls like broken streetlights.
"CHEATER ALERT!" they shouted.
Kaz held the tofu like a shield. "I'm just… borrowing it!"
The gang ignored him. They lunged.
Kaz zig-zagged through the streets, knocking over a hover-bicycle, dodging exploding trash cans, and narrowly avoiding a street performer whose juggling sticks had turned into flaming swords. Chaos everywhere.
His HUD pinged again:
GLITCH UNLOCKED: RANDOM PHYSICS MANIPULATION. USE WISELY.
Kaz flicked his wrist casually. The street warped like a funhouse mirror. The gang tumbled, tripping over themselves like clumsy cartoon characters. Kaz zipped down an alley, laughing and gasping for breath.
He ducked behind a noodle shop. The tofu floated in front of him like a tiny, glowing trophy.
"Okay… I think I like this glitch thing," he said.
His HUD pinged again.
NEW MISSION: Survive 24 hours in Neo-Kyoto.
Kaz blinked. "I can't survive five minutes. Now 24 hours? Great."
Suddenly, a giant mech stomped into the street. Imagine a coffee-colored teapot with rocket arms and a single red glowing eye. It aimed straight at him.
Kaz shrugged. "Alright… glitch mode. Let's see what you can do."
He flicked his wrist. Reality hiccupped. The mech's legs sank into the street like jelly. Kaz slipped under it and ran, tofu still floating in front of him.
He turned a corner. A neon cat hissed, then morphed into a tiny dragon that sneezed fire. Kaz jumped back, tripped over discarded hoverboards, and landed in a dumpster full of neon slime.
"Glitch mode: 1. Kaz: 0," he muttered.
He peeked out. The gang was back, covered in paint, still angry, and trying to get up.
Kaz sighed. "Alright, tofu. You and me, we're officially a team now."
Above him, a neon billboard blinked:
WELCOME TO GLITCH CITY. RESPAWN OR DIE LAUGHING.
Kaz grinned. "Let's see how funny it gets."
He ran again, sprinting through the streets.
A vendor shouted at him: "Hey! That's my tofu!"
Kaz waved. "Borrowing! Maybe returning later!"
The vendor shook his head. "That's it. You're cursed."
Kaz shrugged and kept running. Somewhere, a drone zoomed past him carrying a box of exploding ramen. He ducked. It exploded anyway, leaving noodles raining down on him. The tofu was fine, though. Floating, smug, probably judging him.
He rounded a corner and saw a kid flying on a hoverboard, being chased by three robotic dogs. Kaz jumped on a nearby trash can to get a better view. The kid swerved, the dogs crashed into a streetlight, and the whole scene was illuminated by neon sparks.
Kaz laughed. "This city hates order. I like it."
Suddenly, his HUD flashed another warning:
WARNING: Enemy players detected. CHEATER STATUS: HIGH. RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE ACTION.
Kaz groaned. "High? Really? I just got the tofu!"
Before he could think, a group of cyber-ninjas dropped from the rooftops. Laser katanas glowing, eyes scanning, obviously very angry.
Kaz held the tofu like a battle flag. "I… have powers now?"
He flicked his wrist. Gravity reversed under the ninjas. They floated helplessly in the air while Kaz ran past them, giggling.
Finally, he ducked into an abandoned alley. Panting, he leaned against a wall, tofu floating beside him. He looked at the glowing chaos of Neo-Kyoto streets.
His HUD pinged one last time for the night:
MISSION UPDATE: Survive… and figure out Glitch Mode.
Kaz looked at the tofu, then at the city. Then he shrugged.
"Alright… Glitch City. Let's see who laughs last."
And with that, Kaz Hoshino ran into the neon-lit chaos, chaos chasing him, tofu in hand, glitch powers active, and no idea how to survive… or maybe, how to have fun doing it.
To be continued...