Date: 2742-08-26
Time: 10:12 JST
Location: Tokyo Central Hospital – Room 404 (Because of course it's 404.)
Ren blinked at the ceiling as if it owed him money.
His body felt like pudding — if pudding could feel pain. The last memory was fuzzy: bright light, stone fists, interdimensional eyeball rage, and collapsing like a majestic sack of trauma in front of a spooky-ass shrine.
"Cool. Recovery arc," he muttered, staring blankly. "What could possibly go wrong?"
Then he noticed it. A small, thin black device hovering quietly beside his chest, humming like a polite demon. Right next to it — a glowing indentation in his skin, faintly pulsing.
AETHERIUM CORE (low, smug tone):
"Good morning, Sparkle Sleeper. It's time to install your destiny plug."
"…Excuse me?"
CORE:
"I've activated the anchoring slot in your chest. Please insert the mini-core. Gently. Like a USB."
"YOU WHAT?!"
Aito walked in, holding a bag of juice boxes and hospital jello like a champion. "Yo. You look like a microwaved otter. Did the glowing rock try to mate with you yet?"
Ren held up the device. "It said 'insert gently like a USB'—what the hell does that even mean?!"
"I don't know," Aito said. "But I do know you shouldn't be naked from the waist up when you say it."
Cue awkward silence. Cue the nurse walking in. Cue the worst possible timing.
"Excuse me, just bringing your chart—OH SWEET CELESTIAL TAP-DANCING CHRIST—"
Slam. Door shut. Sound of terrified running echoing down the hallway.
BLAZE (clearly amused):
"Was it something we said?"
FROST:
"Or the fact that Ren looks like he's about to dock with alien technology on hospital linens?"
"Please," Ren groaned. "Just shut up and help me install this… thing."
He did it. Against all personal dignity, Ren pressed the mini-core to the glowing mark.
There was a click. A soft whirr. And then—
CORE:
"INSTALLATION COMPLETE. WELCOME TO LEVEL TWO OF REALITY."
Aito blinked. "Did you just… level up?"
"No idea," Ren sighed. "But I think my sternum just got Bluetooth."
Later That Day – The Return to Kyoto
Ren had zero interest in sticking around to become a hospital science exhibit. After Aito helped him sneak out with two juice boxes and zero paperwork, he boarded a local line back to Kyoto.
He didn't notice the emergency broadcasts playing silently on the station screens.
He didn't see the headlines scrolling on the monitors:
"UNNATURAL SPECIES CLASSIFIED: New Encounters Rise Across Cities."
"GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES TASKFORCE 'SPECTRAL HAND.'"
"CIVILIANS ADVISED TO REPORT ANOMALIES."
Ren just wanted to get home, take a nap, and maybe—maybe—make it a full day without being chased by something that glows.
He stepped into his house.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
"Anybody here?" he called softly. "Uhh?…Random time ghosts?"
No answer.
He took a step into the living room.
Still nothing.
Then something dropped from above.
A blade scraped air.
A blur of pale motion struck down—Ren threw himself sideways just in time.
"Wha—?!"
Standing in front of him: Lirael. Eyes glowing. Blade in hand. Face blank. Ready to kill.
Just as the blade came down—
CORE (cold and direct):
"[STASIS MODE: INITIATED]"
Time stopped.
Everything froze mid-movement — even the falling dust.
Ren stood, heart pounding in frozen time. A crimson-blue haze surrounded him.
FROST (wide-eyed):
"Did… Did you do that?"
BLAZE (shocked):
"Not me. That was the Core."
CORE (unbothered, godlike tone):
"Time is a thread. I just tugged it."
FROST:
"Okay, I like this guy."
BLAZE:
"We're not replacing me, you smug popsicle."
Ren stood still. "Okay, okay… what do I do now?!"
CORE:
"Open a portal. You need to leave. Now."
"I don't know how to open a portal!"
CORE:
"Ugh. Mortals."
Without warning, Ren's arms moved on their own.
The Core pulsed through him, guiding his limbs.
Fingers drew symbols into the air — ethereal lines forming a triangle with a spiraling keyhole in the center.
A portal tore open in front of him. Clean. Sharp. Glowing like a star cracked open sideways.
CORE:
"Don't say I never do anything for you."
The portal flickered open like a glorious, swirling interdimensional mouth ready to swallow consequences.
Ren: ready to bolt.
Everything: absolutely not ready to cooperate.
With a gut-twisting sound like a Wi-Fi router giving up on life, the portal glitched—crackled—imploded.
CORE:
"…Oops."
Time violently snapped back into motion.
Lirael's blade SLASHED down through the air—Ren barely twisted away, the blade skimming his shirt with terrifying precision.
"DUDE! THAT'S MY FAVORITE SHIRT!"
She didn't answer. Her eyes were like glass—clear, unreadable, and just as likely to shatter.
Ren stumbled back, panting. "Can we not do the surprise knife thing today?! What the hell is going on?!"
Lirael stepped forward, but this time, her blade lowered slightly.
"I heard the broadcast," she said, voice low. "You didn't, did you?"
"…Is this about the new government team? Spectral Hand? Creepy name, 8/10?"
Lirael nodded, jaw tight. "They've confirmed unnatural species. Dimensional invaders. And try to kill every other species other than humans and you are the one who know secrets so maybe they will target you aswell.""
Ren froze.
"What—me?! I'm barely a person with a working sleep schedule!"
Lirael's gaze wavered. "I couldn't stop them. Couldn't warn you in time. So the only thing I could do..."
She raised the blade again—but slower this time. As if it weighed more now.
"…was kill you myself. Quickly. As a mercy. And also die with you a self-sacrifice."
There it was.
The heartbreak.
The guilt behind the glass.
CORE (suddenly whispering in Ren's head):
"Oof. That's rough, buddy."
FROST:
"Didn't see that confession coming."
BLAZE:
"How the hell did we go from glowing eyeball drama to 'stab me as a favor' friendship arcs?!"
Ren slowly held his hands up.
"I saved you once. So your logic is to… return the favor by committing honorable anime murder?"
Lirael looked away.
Ren's eyes twitched.
He felt it. That hum. That familiar buzz just beneath the skin.
And then—
CORE (sultry and sarcastic):
"She wants to kill you, sugarbutt, but I want you alive. Priorities, hmm?"
"…Stop calling me sugarbutt."
CORE (giggling):
"Focus. You want answers? You want to survive? Then find it."
Ren blinked. "Find what?"
CORE (voice dropping to a whisper):
"The last Core. The Final Pulse. The one we buried where reality forgot it."
FROST:
"I suddenly love treasure hunts."
BLAZE:
"I suddenly hate Core riddles."
Ren lowered his hands, breathing easier. "Lirael. You don't have to kill me."
She stared, uncertain. "Why not?"
"Because apparently, I'm a goddamn walking key to the universe," he said. "And also—because I haven't figured out what this Core-shaped thing in my chest actually does yet."
A beat.
Then Ren's Core pulsed once more.
CORE:
"Step One: Don't get stabbed. Step Two: Find the last piece. Step Three: Maybe save the world. Probably trip on your way there."
Ren stared ahead, blinking like a raccoon caught in fridge light. "…I feel like that's how my entire life's been outlined."
FROST:
"Step Four: Rename the world 'Ren-topia' and declare pants optional."
BLAZE:
"Step Five: Divorce both of you from my cerebral cortex before I become a brain tumor with sarcasm."
Lirael blinked, clearly not hearing the chaos in Ren's skull. "You okay?"
Ren scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, yeah. Its just my regular brain stroke now I'm used to it."
"…You say that like it's normal."
CORE (softly, almost amused):
"She's cute. Can I keep her?"
FROST:
"What is this? Some magical girl romance subplot? Can we get back to the part where we don't die?"
BLAZE:
"Focus. The pulse from that Core… It's getting stronger. I'm syncing a map—hold on—"
PING
A small crimson-red hologram blinked to life in front of Ren's eyes, floating midair. A twisting spiral—coordinates highlighted. It pulsed like a heartbeat.
CORE:
"There. Your next breadcrumb. The final Aetherium Core's echo. If you want answers, that's where they'll be."
Ren stared at the map only he and the eyeballs can able to see.
"Cool. So… anyone else feel like this is the part where we all die and/or become demigods?"
FROST:
"Statistically? Yes. Spiritually? I've already checked out."
BLAZE:
"Let's just hope we don't end up as cosmic fertilizer."
Lirael looks confused and worried.
"Well whatever you wanna do, do it with precaution if you get in my way maybe ill leave you but other species wont. I'll guide you if you need my help"
Ren gave her a tired thumbs-up. "Great. Hope you didn't scare me again."
CORE (snickering):
"You're finally assembling your party, Ren. Just in time for the final dungeon."