The narrow alley stretched quietly beneath the fading light of evening as Yuro, Rin, and Raino made their way home from the Shell District.
Their footsteps echoed softly against the worn stone.
Rin broke the silence.
"I've been thinking… maybe it's better if I leave. Start somewhere else."
Yuro stopped.
He turned his head slowly, his gaze locking onto Rin—sharp, almost offended.
"Leave?" he said. "You want to walk away from us?"
Rin hesitated, caught off guard.
Yuro's voice hardened, but there was something deeper beneath it.
"We're not just friends. We have people, yeah… but we chose each other."
He stepped closer.
"We're brothers. No matter what happens… we don't split. You understand?"
For a moment, Rin said nothing.
Then… he smiled.
"…Yeah. You're right."
They continued walking.
The alley grew narrower. Quieter.
Too quiet.
Then—
Everything stopped.
No sound. No movement. No wind.
Time itself froze.
Before them, space twisted.
A gate… began to open.
It didn't appear all at once—it unfolded, slowly, like reality itself was being pulled apart.
On the right side, a blinding white glow pulsed softly.
On the left, a deep, consuming black swallowed the light around it.
And in the center—
White and black danced together… twisting, merging, separating in an unnatural harmony.
But something about it was wrong.
Each section of the gate… was rotating.
Not randomly.
As if everything was circling—
something unseen…
at its core.
Yuro's eyes narrowed.
"…What is this—"
Before anyone could react—
The gate pulled them in.
No resistance.
No escape.
Just silence…
as they were swallowed whole.Darkness swallowed them whole.
Then—
Impact.
Yuro hit the ground hard, the air knocked out of his lungs. Grass bent beneath him, damp and cold.
He forced his eyes open.
Green.
Endless green.
A vast field stretched in every direction, covered in wild grass that swayed unnaturally. Sparse trees stood scattered across the land… twisted, as if they had grown in the wrong world.
And then he saw them.
Creatures.
Shapes moving between the grass—too large, too distorted to be animals.
Raino pushed himself up. "Where… are we?"
Rin didn't answer.
None of them could.
They had no time to.
A voice echoed behind them.
Calm.
Too calm.
"Welcome… to your new home."
They turned instantly.
A man stood there.
Still. Composed.
As if he had been waiting.
As if he already knew they would arrive.
Yuro's expression darkened.
"Home?" he repeated. "What home? What did you do to us? Who are you?"
The man didn't react.
Not even a flicker.
"Why the rush?" he said quietly. "You'll understand everything… in time."
He stepped forward slightly.
"My name is Shiron."
A pause.
"Your guide in this world."
Yuro's fists clenched.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," he snapped. "Send us back. You're the one who brought us here, aren't you?"
Shiron tilted his head… just slightly.
"Back?" he said.
"To that world?"
His voice remained calm—but something in it felt… cold.
"Tell me, Yuro… do you truly call that place a home?"
Silence.
Yuro froze.
For a moment, he couldn't answer.
Images flashed through his mind—things he didn't want to remember.
His voice dropped.
"…No."
A beat.
"…But how do you know that?"
Shiron cut him off before he could continue.
"That doesn't matter."
He turned away.
"Follow me."
Then, as if remembering something—
"First… your names."
Yuro hesitated… then spoke.
"My name is Yuro."
He glanced at the others.
"And these are my brothers—Rin… and Raino."Rin suddenly stopped.
"…Wait."
Raino turned. "What is it?"
But Rin wasn't looking at him.
He was staring behind them.
Yuro noticed the change in his expression… and slowly turned as well.
His breath caught.
There was nothing.
Where the field should have continued…
There was only a vast emptiness.
A hollow void stretched endlessly behind them—no ground, no sky, no horizon.
Just… nothing.
It wasn't darkness.
It wasn't light.
It was absence.
Raino took a step back, his voice trembling. "What… is that?"
No answer came.
Even the wind had stopped.
The world felt cut in half—life in front of them…
and absolute nothingness behind.
Yuro clenched his jaw.
"…So there's no going back."
Shiron didn't even turn.
"Of course there isn't."They followed Shiron.
One day passed.
Then another.
And by the third day… the world had already begun to feel wrong.
Completely wrong.
They saw things that shouldn't exist.
Massive black beasts roamed the land—creatures far larger than anything from their world, moving with terrifying speed and unnatural precision.
Others… were even stranger.
Distorted beings that split their own bodies apart, multiplying, reshaping… as if their forms had no rules.
Some of them struck the ground—
And the earth itself shattered.
Rin whispered under his breath, "What kind of world is this…?"
No one answered.
Even Yuro remained silent.
Then—
They came across it.
A statue.
Old… worn… barely standing.
Its surface cracked and eroded, like it had been abandoned for centuries.
Raino stepped closer, curiosity pulling him in.
"Hey… look at this—"
Suddenly—
A faint glow.
White light spread across the statue's broken surface.
Yuro's eyes narrowed.
"Raino… don't—"
Too late.
The statue moved.
In a single motion, its arm shifted—
A blade formed instantly in its hand—
And it swung toward Raino's neck.
Fast.
Too fast.
Before the strike could land—
A blur.
Shiron vanished.
Then reappeared in front of Raino.
A single movement.
A single strike.
The statue shattered into pieces.
Silence.
Raino stood frozen, his breath uneven.
"…What was that?" he said. "How did you even get there…? That speed…"
Shiron lowered his hand calmly, as if nothing had happened.
"A neglected guardian," he said.
"One of the lowest forms in this world."
He glanced at the shattered remains.
"Even something like that… would have killed you instantly."
His gaze shifted back to them—cold, steady.
"If this frightens you…"
"…then you've seen nothing yet."
A brief silence followed.
Then he turned, continuing forward.
"We're close to a city."
"We'll rest there for the night… then head to the capital."The city finally came into view.
Tall walls surrounded it—old, worn… yet standing with an unnatural firmness, as if they had endured far more than time itself.
Yuro slowed his خطوات.
"…This is it?"
Shiron didn't answer.
They stepped inside.
And everything changed.
People rushed toward them.
Not with hostility—
With urgency.
With anticipation.
"Shiron!" one of them called out. "Did you bring them?! Where are they?!"
"Are they the ones?!"
Voices overlapped. Questions piled over each other.
But Shiron said nothing.
He simply raised his hand—
And pointed behind him.
At them.
Silence.
Instant.
Every gaze shifted.
Dozens of eyes locked onto Yuro… Rin… and Raino.
The noise vanished.
The air grew heavy.
Yuro felt it immediately.
"…Why are they looking at us like that?"
No one answered.
A man stepped forward from the crowd, his eyes narrowing.
"These… are the ones who will save our world?"
His voice carried doubt. Almost disbelief.
"I can't sense anything from them," he continued.
"No light… no darkness… no balance… not even a trace of central energy."
A murmur spread across the crowd.
"They're empty…"
Shiron finally spoke.
"They have no energy."
The whispers stopped.
"Because they are not from this world."
A pause.
"But their bodies…"
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"…are far beyond the level of ordinary warriors."
Silence fell once more.
He looked directly at them.
And in that moment—
Something changed.
Yuro's heartbeat spiked.
Fast.
Too fast.
A pressure settled over them… invisible, suffocating.
Rin swallowed hard.
Raino took a step back.
They exchanged glances—
Fear.
Pure, unspoken fear.
None of them understood it.
But they all felt it.
They were being… seen.
Measured.
And whatever was judging them—
Was not human.