It started with a sneeze.
That's the worst part.
Kazuki sneezed—and disappeared.
[System Alert: Echo Dive Malfunction][Temporal Anchor Lost]You have been forcibly projected into a potential future. Try not to scream too loud.]
Kazuki blinked and found himself standing in a ruined city under a blood-red sky.
The buildings were cracked. The air hummed with divine static. A crowd marched below, chanting something in a language his body understood and his brain didn't.
They chanted his name.
Not just his name.
His title.
"He Who Broke the Cycle! The Vessel Unchained! The End That Chose Itself!"
Kazuki: "Okay, nope. No no no. Why do I have fans in the apocalypse?!"
A giant banner unfurled on a crumbling tower.
His face.
Or rather: his face if it had zero morals, glowing red eyes, and wore a crown made of bones and bad decisions.
"OH COME ON."
Suddenly: a flash of power.
Kazuki ducked behind rubble as a glowing figure landed—dramatic, regal, terrifying.
Future Kazuki.
Let's call him Kazuki.exe.
He looked like a JRPG final boss in phase two. Long coat. Floating sigils. Voice like thunder doing slam poetry.
He addressed the crowd:
"They tried to make me choose. I broke their board. I stole their game. I rewrote the rules."
"And now... we burn the sky."
The crowd roared.
Kazuki whispered, "Why am I always the villain when I'm cool?!"
Then Kazuki.exe looked directly at him.
"You're watching, aren't you?"
Kazuki froze.
"I remember standing there. Doubting. Hoping. Bleeding. Thinking maybe I could save it all."
Kazuki.exe stepped forward, through the crowd, through time, toward him.
"But the truth is... we were never the hero."
He smiled.
"We were the rewrite."
Kazuki screamed and popped back into reality like a time-soggy raisin.
Darin caught him mid-fall. "Welcome back! You were gone for five seconds but looked like you saw tax season!"
Mistral climbed onto his chest.
"You good? You look like you just watched yourself ascend into villainy while giving a TED Talk."
Kazuki groaned. "I was wearing bones, Mistral. Bones."
Kaelith: "Whose bones?"
Kazuki: "...I didn't ask."
[System Note: Future Possibility Logged. Alignment Drift Accelerating.]
[Unlockable Path: Rewrite Class – ??? (Corruption Recommended)]
Mistral licked his paw.
"Congrats, idiot. You've now seen your true potential... and it terrifies you."
Kazuki: "I miss when my biggest problem was being stabbed by goblins."