The creak of the door behind him broke the silence like a snap of bone.
A figure stumbled through—skinny, brown hair, wild eyes, and around Haku's age.
Haku turned fast, instantly raising his arms and getting into a fighting stance, ready to defend himself.
The guy threw up his hands in panic.
"Hey! Hey hey hey! Chill—wait wait wait! I'm not here to fight, man! Please!"
He practically skidded to a stop. "I saw you down there!" You weren't fighting like the others—you were running, just like me. Then I saw you go into that building and I thought... maybe you're trying to stay out of all this too. So I followed you. I just—I'm not here to fight, okay? I swear!"His
breath was quick, his hands trembling.
"I'm Mika! Maybe you know me? From social media or something?"
Haku didn't lower his stance. He just stared. Calm. Cold. Quiet.
Then, without a word, he blinked—and activated his Eye Skill.
The world grayed out just slightly over Mika's figure, a faint glow shimmered
Haku read it instantly. Authentic. No Hostile Intent Detected.
"...Huh," Haku muttered. His muscles slowly untensed.
"...I believe you" he said, voice flat, but not unfriendly."Good observation too. Yeah. I came up here to avoid all that insanity."
He relaxed fully now, lowering his arms.
"I'm Haku."
Mika let out a breath that sounded like it'd been stuck in his chest for hours. His shoulders dropped. His whole body sagged like he'd just survived a car crash.
Mika laughed nervously, stepping closer. "You have no idea how relieved I am right now."
He stepped forward again. Now face-to-face with Haku.
He looked Haku in the eyes.
No, stared.
Unblinking. Intense. Like he was reading something written on the inside of Haku.
Haku blinked back, slightly weirded out.
The hell is this guy doing—
Then Mika's eyes widened—just a fraction too much. Like he'd seen something.
Something strange.
Something he wasn't supposed to.
And for the first time, Haku felt it—not fear, not confusion... but curiosity.
What did he see?
He didn't say it out loud. Just looked at Mika, puzzled. Waiting.
And Mika?
Still staring, eyes big as saucers, like a guy who'd just spotted a glitch in the Matrix.
Two new figures suddenly emerged from the stairwell—A man and a woman.
Mika and Haku dropped into defensive stances instantly.
The newcomers raised their hands."Hey, hey—easy. It's all good. We're not here to fight."
Their smiles didn't match their voices.Too smooth. Too wide.And Haku could see it—Not with his eyes. With the ones the others couldn't see through.Intention. Malice. Waiting to burst.
"Stop," he said, voice low. Sharp."Don't come any closer."
The two kept walking, hands still raised like peace signs.Their eyes gleamed. Their steps didn't slow.Haku narrowed his eyes.
"I said—STOP!"
Too late.
A flash of movement—The man snapped his fingers, and the air warped.BOOM.A pressure wave blasted out from his palm like a cannon.
Haku and Mika were thrown backward—Skidding across the rooftop toward the edge.Wind. Screaming steel. The fall yawning behind them.
Haku twisted mid-air—Ice. NOW.
He slammed a palm behind him, and a thin wall of jagged ice exploded upward—Just enough to catch his back.The edge cracked, but held.
Mika didn't have one.
"MIKA!"
He flew past him.
Haku's head snapped to the side.His eyes met his—Falling.Arms flailing.Terror in his throat.
His heart stopped.His brain didn't.
FLASHBACK.
A voice.
"I could've helped them. But I hesitated."
Another.
"Some people don't get second chances. You waste time, they die."
The cold. The blood. That kid crying for his mother in the tutorial.The ones who didn't make it.The ones he didn't save.
It's always the moment you hesitate.
NOW.
Haku moved.
He jumped.
Off the rooftop. No hesitation.
Wind screamed past his ears.Falling.Faster.Faster.
He shoved his palm behind him mid-fall—ICE!
A chunk of air hardened into a frozen ledge—He kicked off it mid-air, launching himself even faster downward.
There!
He caught Mika by the arm, twisting in mid-air.Mika gasped—eyes wide, mouth open.Then—
CRASH.
He used his last bit of energy to blast a sliding ramp of ice through a shattered window below.
They hit it.Slid.Skidded.CRASHED through glass and metal and into an empty hallway.
Haku landed on his back.Wind gone.Blood rushing in his ears.
He blinked.
"What… what did I just do…"
His hands trembled in front of his face."I… I actually did it!?"His voice sounded far away.
Then—
Mika.
He turned immediately, face flushed, breath ragged—and looked Haku straight in the eyes.
Tears clung to his lashes, and his voice cracked through the silence:
"You saved me… I was falling... and you actually saved me!!"
Haku didn't say a word.
He just stared at his hands.
They were trembling. Frost still clung to his fingertips like ash. His chest rose and fell like he'd just outrun death itself. And in his eyes—
Fear.
Of what he'd just done.
Like he hadn't decided to move—his body had. Like instinct had taken over.
Mika didn't wait. He hugged him.
Then he pulled back again, looked into Haku's eyes—and paused.
What he saw?
Shock. Disbelief. A kind of haunted stillness.
Like Haku was watching his own soul from the outside.
Like his brain hadn't caught up with his body, and now it was trying to file a police report.
His eyes didn't scream.They whispered: "What the hell did I just do?"
Like Haku wasn't sure who he was anymore.Like he was scared of his own heartbeat.
Then—
STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.
Footsteps. Fast. Heavy. Coming down the stairwell above—angry.
Mika froze.
Haku blinked out of the spiral.Grabbed Mika's hand, tight.
"Lets get out!"
And just like that—he launched forward.
His body still half running on panic, half instinct.Flying down the steps like the floor was lava, dragging Mika behind him as the air screamed from above.
Haku dragged Mika by the wrist, flying down the stairwell.
Their feet slammed every step. The entire skyscraper echoed with chaos.
Above them—footsteps. Voices. Laughter.
"They're coming," Haku muttered.
He threw his hand back mid-run—shhhkk—an ice wall sealed the floor above them.
"Go!" he barked, pulling Mika faster.
More stairs. Another floor.
More footsteps behind them.
Another wall—shhkkk. The staircase locked off with a blue frost that crawled like fire.
They burst out the front doors, gasping.
The sky above Tokyo blazed with lights. Explosions echoed in the distance. The night looked like a warzone.
Across the street—an old, half-destroyed house. Nothing special. But it had a door.
Haku didn't hesitate. He dragged Mika inside and slammed it shut behind them.
They found the stairs. Down into the basement.
It was damp. Dusty. Small.
Safe.
The moment they hit the floor, both collapsed—backs to the cold ground, chests heaving like they'd outrun death itself.
Their breath filled the silence. Everything outside was muffled now. Screams. Distant roars. The muffled chaos of a world on fire.
Mika's breathing got faster.
Quicker.
He sat up, hands shaking. His chest rose and fell in shallow bursts. Panic blooming. Eyes wide. He didn't know what to do with his hands. His mouth moved but no sound came.
Haku sat up slowly.
Turned his head.
Looked him dead in the eyes.
"MIKA."
Mika froze—then, slowly, his breathing steadied. The panic faded. Like something deep inside recognized Haku's voice and listened. Just like that… he calmed.
"I—"
"I don't care," Haku said.
"Please… don't cry. Don't let this game crush you."
His voice wasn't angry.
"I know you're overwhelmed. And sad. And maybe scared out of your damn mind. But…"
He leaned in, pulled him into a hug.
"I don't know why," Haku whispered. "But I don't want you to lose yourself. I'm not your hero, okay?"
Silence.
"…So please," he added. "At least try to not lose yourself. For me."
Mika's sobbing stopped. His eyes widened. He looked at Haku like he was seeing something holy.
A tear ran down Haku's face.
He looked away fast.
Embarrassed.
Looked at the ground.
"My brother and two other people who mean everything to me… they're here. In this Tokyo sector."
His voice broke a little.
"I need to find them. Fucking fast."
He wiped his face with his sleeve, breathing shaky.
"I'm… I'm 1% away from losing myself too."
He turned back to Mika, gaze softer now.
"Please… let's not let this system break us. Okay?"
Mika was still staring at him like he was in love.
"…No one's ever talked to me like that," he thought.
Then, out loud: "Y-Yeah. Okay."
Haku gave him the smallest smile. Just enough.
Mika didn't stop looking at him. Big eyes. Completely stunned.
They both just sat there. Let the stillness wrap around them for a moment.
Haku looked down.
Reached out to open his system window—when suddenly:
🔊 [ANNOUNCEMENT: FIRST EVENT LIVE!]
A deafening boom outside shook the building. Lights flickered.
Text appeared across every window:
[BOUNTY EVENT - ACTIVE]💀 1,000 Players have been marked. 💀Killing a bounty target will earn you +100 Skill Points for the Shop.⚠️ Only the first kill counts. Killing more won't multiply rewards.
A red-dot map flickered open with a thousand of points appeared—each one a bounty target.
Below, the player list scrolled.
Names. Faces.
And then—
[KAZE - Tokyo Sector - 82,000 Viewers - ACTIVE BOUNTY]
Haku froze.
His eyes sharpened.
"KAZE!!"
He stood up so fast the room shook.
The map zoomed. He saw where his brother was.
He turned to Mika—eyes burning.
"I have to help my brother. Please don't die."
And then—
He was gone.
Like he'd never been there at all.
Just air.