Content Warning:
This work may contain suicidal thoughts, violent scenes, realistic depictions of daily life, and negative emotions such as depression, fear, anger, and frustration.
It may not be suitable for some age groups or those with sensitive hearts.
If you're here looking for a light or romantic story, I strongly recommend leaving now and finding a book that better suits your taste.
(This work is intended for readers aged 17 and above)
***
The flames had reached their peak, devouring the trees all around, forming thick clouds of black ash, while the oxygen in the air was rapidly thinning.
He stood there… the brown-haired boy, as despair crept into his heart, spreading through his soul like the fire engulfing him from every side.
His knees buckled under the weight of pain crushing his shoulders, and bloody burns had left an unerasable scar across his face.
He looked around in panic, searching for any sign of life. His trembling voice cried out names into the choking air.
"Yami! Noroi! Minnie! Anyone… please!"
His eyes welled up with hopeless tears, and with every heartbeat, he felt it pounding against his chest like the drums of doom.
He stared around like someone lost, desperately looking for a thread of hope—something to pull him back to safety...
But what he saw next was beyond anything he could have imagined.
Some of the burning trees were shoved aside, revealing a towering figure behind them…
A massive skeletal being, ablaze with fire—not harmed by the flames, but instead made even more radiant and awe-inspiring by them.
It was bound in heavy chains, yet the shackles did nothing to dim its majesty—if anything, they made it more monstrous.
Its deep voice echoed mockingly.
"What's wrong, Haruki? Weren't you the one who always laughed and smiled?
Why so serious now?
Don't tell me I'm not funny anymore?"
Haruki's heart trembled, his entire being shaken by what he saw. He stumbled backward, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and the blazing creature...
"Stop!"
He screamed—and in that moment, the world froze.
Then… he turned his gaze to you.
Yes—you, the reader.
With puzzled eyes, he asked.
"What are you doing here?"
Haruki is asking you, waiting for an answer.
The whole world has gone silent, frozen—just to listen to what you have to say.
"You don't even know why you're here?"
He raised his eyebrow slightly, a nervous smile forming on his face.
"Oh, well... It's fine. But let's change the scene first, I'm choking on all this smoke."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small remote, pressed a button, and suddenly the scene around you changed.
Everything shifted into a mysterious bedroom, dimly lit in a dark red hue.
Haruki's expression immediately changed, and a pink hue began creeping onto his cheeks from sheer embarrassment.
"Oops... wrong one! Let me fix that quickly..."
But before he could press another button, the door to the room creaked open slowly... A white light seeped in from the other side, with a massive shadow slowly crawling inside.
Haruki's eyes widened in fear, and he quickly pressed another button on the device without hesitation.
In an instant...
You found yourself in a completely white space. White floor, white walls... and the only thing in it: Haruki, standing before you.
He sighed in relief, clearly unaware he had been holding his breath, his eyes still wide with tension.
"That was close... I don't even want to imagine what would've happened there."
Haruki took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair before turning his gaze back to you.
"Alright... Let's set everything right."
He said in a calmer tone.
"I'm the main character of this story, and you're the reader.
You don't know where you are right now, but... I'll fix everything, trust me."
He smiled faintly and lifted the remote control again, then pressed the rewind button.
The scenes shifted rapidly until time froze at a moment from the recent past — a school scene in broad daylight.
There he was, standing in his school uniform, flanked by two friends.
One was tall, muscular, with distinctive hair, black mixed with blonde strands, holding a sandwich in his hand.
The other, slender, with dark black hair, wearing glasses, standing quietly to the side.
Haruki stood between them.
He pointed at them, smiling faintly.
"Here... this is Fuji."
He pointed to the boy with the black and blonde striped hair.
"And this is Hiroshi."
He pointed to the boy with glasses and black hair.
Then he looked back at you, saying,
"Start from here... and you'll understand everything."
Then he whispered as if talking to himself... or to you.
"Or at least... that's what I hope."
"Goodbye..."