Haruto's eyes fluttered open to the dim, oppressive gloom of a cramped, decaying wooden shack. His head throbbed, and a dull, agonizing ache radiated from his midsection. He pushed himself up, his muscles aching with every movement, and stumbled toward the rusted, creaking door.
Pushing it open, the harsh reality of his surroundings hit him like a physical blow. Endless rows of leaning, overcrowded shacks stretched out as far as the eye could see. The air smelled of damp earth, cheap metal, and sewage, and all around him, tired, ragged slum residents moved through the narrow alleyways, struggling just to survive.
Haruto stared out in sheer disbelief. What... What is this place? Is this really where I'm supposed to be?
Trembling, he pulled back his tattered shirt to check his stomach. Thanks to his passive high-tier physical healing abilities, the flesh and muscle tissue had closed up, preventing the internal bleeding from killing him. But right there on his stomach, a harsh, circular scar remained—a permanent, undeniable brand where Lilith's bullet had torn straight through him.
It wasn't a nightmare. It had all actually happened.
Suddenly, the door behind him swung open. Toya walked into the shack, carrying a bundle of scrap metal and worn rags.
"You're finally awake, you idiot," Toya said, tossing the items onto a wooden crate.
Haruto's eyes lit up with desperate relief. "Toya!" He lunged forward, throwing his arms around his friend in a tight, shaking embrace. "You... you actually remember me! Thank God, what is going on—?"
Before Haruto could finish, Toya roughly pushed him back, his expression twisting into a harsh, angry scowl.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Toya snapped, glaring down at him. "How many times do I have to tell you?! Stay away from the upper sectors and those damn rich snobs! They don't care about people like us—they're ruthless, arrogant monsters who treat human lives like trash!"
Haruto staggered backward, his mouth hanging open in utter shock. "What... what are you even talking about?!"
Toya let out an annoyed sigh, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cheap, crinkled plastic wrapper containing a dry piece of plain bread. He tore off a small chunk, shoving it directly into Haruto's hand.
"What nonsense are you even rambling about now?" Toya muttered, breaking off a piece for himself.
Haruto stared at the bread, his hands trembling as a deep, suffocating panic clawed at his throat. "Toya, are you insane?! Lilith, Philo, Geeli, Daisy—all of them! They completely forgot who I am! What the hell is going on here?!"
Toya paused, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Haruto like he had just grown a second head. "Who the hell are you even naming right now, man? I've never heard of a single one of those names in my life."
Haruto's breath hitched. "Stop joking around! We've been through everything together! We're a team!"
"A team?" Toya scoffed, shaking his head. "Look around us, idiot. It's just been you and me living out here in the slums for as long as I can remember. Are you out of your mind? Did some upper-sector goon mess with your head, or did you take a hit to the skull too hard during that fight? Stop spouting this garbage first thing in the morning."
Before Haruto could argue back, Toya reached out, grabbing the hem of Haruto's tattered shirt and yanking it upward. "Anyway, quit whining and let me look at that wound. Let's see how bad you actually got hurt."
Toya pulled back the torn fabric of Haruto's shirt, staring directly at the harsh, circular scar where the bullet had torn through flesh only hours before.
A smirk crossed Toya's face as he let out a relieved whistle. "Oh... wow. Looks like you're already mostly healed up. Figures." He gave Haruto's shoulder a light, rough shove. "What else would you expect? You've always been special, haven't you? With your crazy-ass insane healing ability... though you're still just as cowardly as ever."
Before Haruto could process the bitter irony of Toya's words, a sharp, heavy knock echoed against the flimsy wooden door of the shack.
"Hey! You got anything to eat to spare over there?" a raspy, desperate voice called out from outside.
Toya frowned, marching over and yanking the door open. He glared at the emaciated old man standing in the doorway, his tone harsh and defensive. "The hell do you want?! Beat it, get away from here! We barely have enough scraps for ourselves, so stop begging!"
Haruto watched the interaction, a strange, hollow ache tightening in his chest. Looking down, his fingers brushed against the small, dry piece of bread Toya had tossed him earlier.
Without a word, Haruto stepped forward, holding out the piece of bread. "Here. Take it."
The old man's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. Trembling, he snatched the bread, dropped to his knees, and frantically grabbed Haruto's ankles, sobbing tears of gratitude. "Thank you... thank you so much, young man! Bless your soul—!"
Before Haruto could even pull away or tell him it was fine, Toya lunged forward. With a furious shout, he grabbed Haruto by the collar, violently dragging him backward into the shack and slamming the door shut.
"Are you out of your damn mind?!" Toya roared, his face flushed with rage as he shook Haruto by the collar. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! We're barely surviving out here! If you didn't want to eat it, you should've given it to me! Why the hell would you just give away our food like that?!"
Haruto stared at Toya, his voice quiet and uncertain. "I don't know... it just felt like the right thing to do. He looked like he needed it more than us."
Toya let out a long, heavy sigh, releasing Haruto's collar and turning away. Inside, a quiet wave of anxiety washed over him. Damn it... Haruto still isn't taking this situation seriously at all. If he keeps this up, Lilith's entire plan is going to fail before it even starts. I've got to keep the pressure on him.
Running a hand through his hair, Toya forced a sharp, annoyed tone back into his voice. "Whatever. Just go wash your face. We've got to get moving and find some work today. Thanks to your sheer idiocy, we now have to scavenge or hustle for extra food from scratch."
Haruto frowned, stepping back. "Wait, hold on—none of this makes any sense! Can you just stop and explain to me what—"
"Just go wash up, will you?" Toya interrupted, scratching his head in exasperation as he pointed toward a shadowy corner of the cramped shack.
Following Toya's gesture, Haruto walked over. Mounted against the rotting wooden wall was a jagged piece of a broken mirror, hanging crookedly right above a battered, rusted metal bucket filled with murky water.
Staring into the warped reflection, Haruto scooped up a handful of water from the bucket with his palms and splashed it directly onto his face, letting the cold sting shock his senses as he tried to wake up from this waking nightmare.
Haruto wiped the water from his eyes and looked up into the cracked, warped shard of glass hanging on the wall. At first, he just noticed the grime and exhaustion clinging to his face, making him look like a ragged commoner. But as he focused on his reflection, the breath caught entirely in his throat.
"Wait..." Haruto muttered, leaning closer to the mirror, his eyes going wide with absolute horror. "Where... where did my half-white hair go? And what happened to my left red eye?!"
He grabbed the sides of his head, staring in disbelief at the messy, jet-black hair staring back at him and the flat, ordinary dark iris in his left socket.
"Toya!" Haruto spun around, his voice trembling as he pointed frantically at the mirror. "Hey, Toya! Look at this! My white hair—where did it go?!"
Toya walked over, leaning against the doorframe with an unimpressed, deadpan expression. "Are you losing your mind again? Your hair has always been pitch black. Ever since we were kids, you've had jet-black hair and matching black eyes."
"Are you insane?!" Haruto shouted, his chest tightening with panic. "I had striking red eyes and split-colored hair! I was—I was the Star Child! This isn't normal!"
Toya let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his temples. "Okay, that's it. You've officially lost it. If you're going to keep babbling this absolute nonsense about being some 'Star Child' with red eyes and white hair, I seriously need to sit you down and explain reality to you from scratch."
Toya stepped closer, his expression deadpan yet serious. "If you want the cold, hard truth, let's start with your status. Open your HUD. You don't have the 'Star Child' title anymore—your active title is just Maze."
Haruto's breath hitched. With a trembling hand, he pressed against his right chest, invoking the mental shortcut to pull up his personal system interface. A bright blue holographic window flickered open in front of him.
His eyes widened in sheer disbelief. The sleek, high-end double-toned white and black system UI was completely gone, replaced by a standard, cheap, low-tier blue interface.
He stared at the cascading data lines:
Active Title: MazeLevel 18: his levels were Merged into a single baseline Level 18 (Gone were the dual-tracked Creation and Nothingness level trees that had previously been individually pushed up to high tiers).Credits: 3.00 Credits (A harsh plummet from the millions of Grand Credits he used to command).
The cold reality slammed into him with the force of a physical blow. Every single memory, every fierce battle, every triumph—it all felt real. It was real. But looking at the cold metrics before him, everything had been stripped away, reduced to absolute zero.
A hollow, suffocating dread pooled in his stomach. It wasn't a dream... everything is actually gone.
Toya watched him process the devastating realization, his tone softening just a fraction, though maintaining the firm edge required by the plan. "Look, I know it's a lot to take in. But think about it—we've been living out here in the dirt together since we were kids. Do you seriously not remember the Founders?"
Toya crossed his arms, leaning against the wooden beam. "Let me remind you about the three legendary Founders of this world to snap some sense into you. We live in the founder of cheats sector the biggest one"
As Toya spoke, the terrifying puzzle pieces began clicking together in Haruto's head. He realized that everything in this world is the same , just the things where Haruto had involved himself with the powerful team members are gone. Out of everyone he had ever known, trusted, or called an ally, Toya was the only person left by his side. Everyone else—Lilith, Philo, Geeli, Daisy, Seraphine, Marena, Ivory, Bellona, Lustra—had vanished from his life, replaced by this fabricated, miserable reality.
A deep, piercing ache tore through Haruto's chest. He stared at his empty hands, the bitter weight of absolute loss crushing him from the inside out. If this nightmare was real, and he truly had to climb back up from the absolute bottom... he had already lost everything that mattered.