*CREAK... CREAK...*
The elevator shaft of the old apartment building let out a deafening, metallic screech.
*CLICK!*
The doors slithered open. A young man stepped out into the dimly lit corridor. His face had sharp, refined features framed by slightly messy black hair. Faint dark circles under his eyes only added to his naturally sluggish aura. It was honestly a bit of a waste that his cheap, short-sleeved white shirt and faded jeans held back his true visual potential.
The youth—Kitahara Akira—walked toward one of the apartment units. He shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out a cluster of keys, his fingers quickly sorting through the metal stash.
Akira’s gaze briefly swept over an old trinket hanging near the metal pile. He pulled out a slightly worn brass key, inserting it cleanly into the lock.
*CLICK!*
The wooden door swung open. Akira stepped inside, immediately pulling the door shut behind his back until it locked tight.
A cozy room spanning a few dozen square meters opened up before his eyes. The single-bedroom layout, which packed a living space and a cramped bathroom together, felt a bit tight. Yet for someone living completely solo, a modest place like this was more than enough to give a sense of security.
*CLICK!*
The light switch snapped down, banishing the darkness. Akira tossed his keys onto the coffee table without looking. He shifted his steps toward the kitchen counter, grabbing a cup of instant noodles from a drawer, then poured the remaining hot water from the thermos to brew his simple dinner.
*SLURP... SLURP...*
Akira hunched over on the sofa, resting both elbows on his thighs as he enjoyed the rich, savory broth of the instant noodles in his hands.
*THUD!*
The empty noodle cup was set back down on the coffee table about ten minutes later. Not a single drop of broth remained.
*BURP!*
A loud belch escaped his lips completely uninvited.
Akira stared blankly at the empty noodle container. A bitter smile tugged at the corner of his lips, expressing a deep sense of self-deprecation.
"A whole year after graduation, and my life is still stuck in the exact same place. They’d definitely be disappointed if they knew..."
Akira’s hand moved under the coffee table, feeling a hidden bulge underneath. He pried at the spot with all his strength.
*SNAP!*
A small wooden box clattered onto the floor. Akira leaned down to pick it up.
Inside the wooden frame, a cream-colored women's beret lay neatly preserved. Its pristine condition proved its owner had taken meticulous care of it. Even so, time had still left its mark. The edges of the hat had started to yellow and look frayed in several spots.
Akira carefully placed the beret onto his head. Even though the size didn't fit him at all, a wave of warmth and safety suddenly washed over his chest.
The corner of his eye caught the keys lying messily on the table again. He reached out to grab them.
*CLICK... CLICK...*
He pulled an old plushie keychain out from the pile of keys.
Most of the paint on the plastic trinket had peeled off horribly. It only left a faint, patchy black-and-white scheme around the head, barely showing its original shape as a panda.
Akira traced the surface of the small panda charm with the tip of his finger. A fierce, unwavering determination sparked in his eyes.
"I will definitely find you guys..."
After a few moments of soaking in nostalgia, Akira set the charm down and pulled the beret off his head. He arranged both items neatly on the coffee table, then walked out onto the balcony. Leaning against the metal railing, he pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his contacts.
Suddenly—
"Ryota! I went through so much trouble to take a day off just to celebrate your birthday, and this is how you treat me?!"
A woman’s screech, shaking with held-back tears, abruptly echoed from the floor right above him.
*SLAM!*
A heavy thud reverberated as something solid hit the concrete floor. Since the construction of this old apartment building had terrible soundproofing, every single bit of the drama leaked straight down into Akira's ears. Within seconds, the argument between the man and the woman heated up.
"Are you insane?! You crazy bitch!" the man upstairs roared back.
*SMACK!*
A sharp slap sliced through the night air.
"I was just joking around, and you take it seriously?! Get the hell out!"
"How could you... Just you wait!! You're going to regret this!!"
The girl, sobbing hysterically, stormed off in a rush, slamming the apartment door so hard that the vibration shook all the way down to Akira’s floor.
Akira shifted his gaze up to the ceiling, letting out a weary sigh. "There’s always some kind of drama every single day."
He forced his focus back onto the screen in his hand. After scrolling through the list a couple of times, the target he was looking for finally popped up.
[Orphanage Director Sato]
Seeing the name on the screen, Akira pressed the call button without hesitation. The line rang a few times before a voice finally connected on the other end.
"Is that you, Akira?" A raspy yet firm voice greeted him from across the speaker.
"Yes, it’s me, Gramps. How has your health been lately, Director Sato?"
"Hahaha! This old man is still kicking! My appetite is amazing, I could easily bet on living another twenty years without a problem!" A hearty, cheerful laugh echoed back playfully.
"Glad to hear that. By the way, Gramps Sato, any updates on the archive search I asked you about last time?"
Silence dominated the phone line for a few seconds. On the other end, the sound of paper rustling frantically could be heard.
"I'm sorry, Akira. I checked every single physical record and adoption file from that year, but..."
Akira tightened his grip on his phone. "What did you find?"
"Nothing. Absolutely no clues whatsoever. No photos, no contact information, even the actual name of the guardian in the file is completely blank. The guardian column only leaves two mysterious characters. It’s incredibly bizarre, almost like someone deliberately used massive influence to wipe out every trace of their existence. Legally speaking, an adoption procedure with documents that empty should have been impossible to pass, but I honestly don't understand how it went through back then..."
"Wait. Gramps, you mean there are only two characters written in the guardian's name column?"
"Yeah. There are only the characters for 'Ame' and 'Kokoro'." A heavy sigh leaked through the receiver.
"Ame... Kokoro?" Akira furrowed his brows deeply, trying to connect the dots behind the meaning of those two words.
"Akira? Akira?!" Gramps Sato’s voice broke the silence after Akira stayed quiet for too long.
Akira blinked, snapping out of his brief daze. "Ah, sorry. I just spaced out for a second."
"Considering they went to such lengths to hide their identities, maybe they just don't want you to find them, Akira. Besides, you don't even have any memories of what they look like. Drop it, don't torture yourself anymore."
Akira turned his body around, staring at the yellowed cream beret and the peeled panda charm on the coffee table. "I’m sorry, Gramps. But there’s an intuition in my gut that keeps whispering that they are incredibly important people to me. I can’t just give up."
The line fell into another long sigh, giving up on trying to persuade him any further. "Fine, do whatever you want. Just make sure you take care of yourself."
"I will. It’s getting pretty late, you should get some rest too, Gramps Sato." Akira immediately cut the call right after finishing his sentence.
Akira set his phone down, letting out a long sigh to release the built-up tension. He shifted his steps toward the bathroom to clean himself up before finally tossing his body onto the bed and closing his eyes.
***
"Get out of here! We don’t want to play with you! Your dad is a murderer!"
"Yeah! A murderer's kid will always grow up to be a murderer!"
The mocking screeches of young children echoed viciously through his nightmare.
"Is this boy really the son of that killer?"
"Yeah, absolutely. His dad lost a bet, accused the other guy of cheating, and they got into a fight. He bashed the guy’s head with a rock until he died."
"I heard the victim's family harasses their house every single day. The mother couldn't take the pressure and ended up taking her own life."
"My god... Poor kid."
The sharp whispers of the neighbors kept spinning in circles, piercing his ears.
"Akira, you can talk to me about absolutely anything."
The dreamscape abruptly shifted, revealing the warm figure of the orphanage director.
"Isn't what we're doing wrong? The director will definitely punish us if he finds out."
"Who’s going to know if we keep our mouths shut? He clearly got bitten because he was messing with a stray dog on the street! Serves him right! Besides, the director isn't coming back tonight, so what are you scared of?"
Two shadows of young children laughed gleefully deep within the darkness.
"Do... Um... Please don't cry anymore."
"I never imagined Akira's life could be this miserable."
"Yeah, he never mentioned any of this to us... Hey, why don't you come live with us instead?"
A new pair of voices—a boy and a girl—suddenly broke through the darkness of the dream, carrying a rare spark of warmth.
"How old even are you two? You're still students! There is no way minors are allowed to adopt another child!"
"Is there really no exception we can apply for?"
"No! This breaks the rules and will cause massive legal issues!"
"Ah, if that’s the case, let me handle it..."
"What are you planning to do..."
"You two are processing the adoption for this kid, right? Haha! Just fill out this blank form. Ame? Kokoro? What a unique alias!"
"I remember he really likes mangoes."
Another random piece of memory flashed through the void of his dream.
***
"Happy birthday, Akira!"
"Happy birthday! Here's the cake, let me cut a piece for you."
The cheerful cheers of his childhood echoed all at once before the visuals slowly began to blur.
***
"I’m sorry, but we have to leave now... Here, wear this hat. A real man doesn't cry in front of a girl."
"And this one is for you. His name is Mr. Panda. Take good care of him, okay? Don't be sad anymore, we'll definitely meet again someday."
***
*COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!*
Akira snapped awake from his sleep. A pungent, burning stench instantly invaded his nose, triggering a sharp pain in his chest.
He lunged out of bed and threw the bedroom door open. A thick wave of black smoke was rushing in through the window cracks and vents, filling every corner of the ceiling.
His feet moved on instinct toward the main door. The moment it swung open, the view of the corridor was already swallowed by soaring flames and choking smoke. The piles of trash left abandoned in the hallway of the old building for years had now turned into the perfect fuel for the raging fire.
"Hahaha! Burn it all down! Let's all die together!" A woman’s hysterical screech echoed from the floor above.
Akira balled his fists tight. Without wasting a single second to think, he spun around and dashed through the emergency stairwell. Fortunately, his unit wasn't too high up, allowing him to burst out into the open air within seconds.
Standing in the courtyard, Akira stared blankly at his apartment building as the massive fire consumed it. His emotions swirled into a chaotic mess. All around him, a few fire trucks were just pulling up to the scene, firemen frantically unfolding massive water hoses.
Suddenly, Akira's steps halted. His entire body trembled violently as a sudden realization hit his brain. Taking a sharp breath, he turned on his heel and dashed back into the burning building.
"Hey! Kid, what are you doing?! Get back out here!" a fireman bellowed as he caught sight of Akira's silhouette recklessly plunging back into the danger zone.
Akira didn't slow his pace at all. He bounded up the concrete steps one after another, breaking back into his smoke-filled apartment. Inside, tongues of fire had already started licking the wooden surface of his coffee table.
Hunching his body as low as possible, Akira forced his way through the heat to reach the table. His hand shot forward, snatching the keys and the cream beret lying there.
The plastic panda charm on the keychain had already started to melt from the extreme heat, releasing a piercing chemical smell. His precious cream beret was now riddled with several charred holes.
With both items secured in his grip, Akira spun around to run back down.
*THUD!*
The blinding smoke completely ruined his depth perception. Akira tripped and hit the steps hard, sending the keys and the beret flying forward. He reflexively took in a massive gulp of the thick black smoke, triggering a burning agony all along his throat. His vision began to warp.
He coughed violently, his remaining strength completely draining away.
"Captain Li! We have another victim trapped up here!"
The beam of a bright flashlight sliced through the heavy smoke, illuminating Akira's prone body from a few meters away. The heavy thuds of the firemen’s boots drew closer, but Akira’s consciousness was already fading fast.
'It's too late... Am I really going to die here?'
Akira forced the absolute last ounce of his strength to raise his head, staring straight at the panda charm and the cream beret lying helpless on the concrete floor.
'I... don't want to die like this...'
His vision plunged into absolute darkness. His consciousness cut out completely.
***
In the middle of a vast expanse of stars.
"Milotiffany! This is already your 31,872nd Goddess Trial! If you fail again this time, you can pack your bags and go straight back to where you came from!"
An elegant, beautiful woman wearing a long, majestic robe stood tall, glaring sharply at the small girl sitting on a massive chair in front of her.
"Hehe... Y-Yeah, I know. I promise I’ll get it right this time!" The little girl named Milotiffany replied, looking down as she nervously twiddled with the hem of her shirt.
The older woman turned on her heel and swept out of the room, leaving Milotiffany entirely alone in the grand hall.
"Phew~ Alright, I can do this this time!" Milotiffany pumped her small fists into the air, trying to hype herself up.
Her gaze then locked onto a massive holographic screen floating in front of her, displaying death records from various corners of the universe.
"Hmm? Why is this list packed with Japanese high schoolers again? Didn't management already warn the truck drivers over there to tone down the body count? Talk about a total lack of variety." Milotiffany clicked her tongue in annoyance, frantically scrolling through the holographic display.
Her tiny fingers abruptly halted over a specific row of data. "Hmm? A soul that died in a fire... now that’s a bit different. He has an incredibly powerful obsession burning in his heart, so his success potential must be off the charts. Alright, I pick you!"
Milotiffany tapped the holographic screen, her fingertips deftly tracing out a complex magical circle pattern in the air.
"Let’s customize his look... He definitely needs to be handsome, and of course, he needs to be hooked up with a system..."
"Waaaaah! Oh no!" Milotiffany suddenly let out a panicked shriek, clapping both hands over her mouth. "I—I accidentally deleted a huge chunk of his important memories... But hey, it should be fine, right...? Ah, whatever! To make up for it, I’ll just throw in a little bonus gift as compensation. I really am an incredibly smart and benevolent goddess, hehehehe."
Milotiffany nodded repeatedly, thoroughly satisfied with her own makeshift solution. She slammed her hand forward against the screen. "All preparations are complete. Launch!"
A massive beam of brilliant light erupted from the surface of her holographic screen, tearing through the vacuum of space at an unimaginable speed as it shot toward a whole new dimension...