Jikan Rei had always thought he understood loneliness.
The son of a wealthy family, heir to a vast fortune, yet left behind in an empty mansion after his parents mysteriously vanished. Servants filled the halls, but they could never replace a mother's warmth or a father's voice. Rei had money, more than he could ever spend, but money never laughed with you at lunch, never stayed up late to talk about dreams, never held your hand when the world felt heavy.
For a long time, he thought that was simply his fate—until he met them.
Five friends who brought light into his life.
Aika Tsunari, the bright girl who became his girlfriend.
Riko Amagiri, sarcastic but always quick to defend him.
Nami Kurobane, calm and sharp-tongued, but kind in her own way.
Toma Hoshizuki, big and brash, but dependable.
Renji Sazuki, the joker of the group who kept everyone smiling.
They were his everything. They made him believe he wasn't alone. For the first time, Rei thought he had a family again.
That illusion shattered the day the skies opened.
The Demon King's army poured into the world like a plague. Cities burned. People screamed. The ground itself shook. For hours, humanity despaired—until a blinding figure descended from the heavens.
The God of the Skies.
He raised one hand, and with a single strike executed the Demon King before the entire world. Cheers erupted, tears of relief spilled, and people fell to their knees in worship. But the god's voice thundered across the globe, cutting through the chaos:
"From this day forward, your world changes. Money is meaningless. Power is the only currency. I grant you all mana—the energy of the skies. With it, you will live. Without it, you will starve."
That very day, crystal orbs appeared in every city. Each person had to touch the orb, which would measure their mana and assign their rank. The higher the glow, the greater the privilege. Food, housing, education—every right of survival now depended on mana.
Rei lined up with his friends, nervous but hopeful.
One by one, they placed their hands on the orb.
It glowed with a blazing purple light, a color the examiner called Mythical Class. One million mana each. Hero-tier.
The crowd gasped in awe. To be blessed with such power was a miracle.
Renji smirked and clapped Rei on the back.
"Guess we'll be the strongest group in the world, huh?"
Rei's chest swelled with pride. For once, he felt like he belonged.
Then came his turn.
He pressed his palm against the orb, heart pounding.
…Nothing happened.
The orb stayed dull, empty, cold.
The examiner frowned. "Strange. Press harder."
Rei did. Still nothing.
The examiner's voice turned sharp, final.
"Mana-less. He has nothing."
The world tilted. Rei laughed nervously. "That… that can't be right, can it?"
Renji grinned weakly.
"Maybe you're too powerful for it to read, right? Like in those isekai stories?"
But the examiner shook his head.
"This orb was forged by the God of the Skies himself. It can measure infinity. If it shows nothing, it means you are nothing."
The words echoed in Rei's skull. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
But his friends wouldn't abandon him. They had promised—they were his family.
Days passed. The world adapted quickly to the god's system. Markets refused to sell to anyone below a certain mana rank. Clubs and schools closed their doors to the powerless. Even basic necessities required mana verification.
Rei tried to survive. He searched for his friends, desperate for help, certain they would take him in.
Two days without food later, his body trembled with weakness. His stomach ached with hunger. Finally, he found Aika by the vending machines near the hero academy. Relief washed over him.
"Aika… thank god. Please, I haven't eaten in days. Could you just… help me buy one drink?"
Aika tilted her head, expression unreadable. Then, slowly, she swiped her hero's card, bought a bottle, and held it up. Rei's hands shook with gratitude.
But she didn't give it to him.
Instead, she tilted the bottle and poured the liquid onto the ground.
Rei blinked in shock. "Wha… what are you doing?"
Riko crossed his arms, smirking.
"If you're thirsty, Rei… why don't you drink it from the ground?"
Rei let out a strained laugh, waiting for the joke to end. "Come on… stop messing around. We're friends, right?"
Before he could react, Toma shoved him, stomping his head into the wet floor.
"Drink it."
The taste of dirt filled his mouth. Rei gagged, struggling, eyes wide with disbelief. "What… what's wrong with you? This system—it's warping your minds! Remember how we laughed together? How we promised we'd always—"
Their laughter cut him off.
Nami's eyes were cold.
"You really thought we were your friends?"
Aika crouched down, her smile cruel.
"We were never your friends, Rei. We only stayed with you to steal your fortune. Don't you remember? The night before the Demon King's invasion, we drugged you. You signed everything over to us."
Renji chuckled. "We didn't even need to bother, though. Money's worthless now. You're worthless now."
They turned and walked away, their laughter echoing down the street, leaving Rei crumpled on the ground.
Rain began to fall. Cold drops mixed with the dirt and spilled drink beneath him. His body trembled, not from the cold, but from the crushing realization.
They were never his friends.He had nothing.Not mana. Not family. Not even love.
The world had taken everything from him in a single week.
And that's when Rei's tears stopped.
Because in that silence, deep inside his chest, something darker began to stir.