Vol 1 Chapter 1 – The Betrayer at 4 A.M.【Vol 1: The Hero Awakens】 

Stab.

A dull ache—like someone had slugged me in the temple—dragged my consciousness back into reality.

“…Tch. Damn it…”

I was on my way home from my late-night shift. The time was a little past 4 a.m.

Under the sloppy glow of streetlights, I stopped on the asphalt without meaning to.

A chill surged through my whole body. I hugged myself in a single flimsy hoodie, shaking hard.

(Is this a cold…? Worst timing.)

The overnight convenience store shift was taking a bigger toll on me than I’d thought.

Especially today—there’d been way too many drunk customers, and it wore me down mentally, too.

I’d swallowed my pride and begged the manager to let me off an hour early, but… at this rate, I felt like I was going to come down with a real fever.

I pulled out my phone and opened my messaging app.

At the top of the chat list was the name of my beloved girlfriend.

“Sorry, I’m not feeling great, so I’m heading home first.”

The message I’d sent about an hour ago still wasn’t marked as read.

I tried calling too, but all I got was the empty ring tone echoing back at me.

(…She’s asleep already. Yeah—of course she is, at this hour.)

We’d been living together in my apartment for six months—me and her, Misaki.

Normally she’d at least shoot back a quick “Are you okay?” right away.

A small, thorn-like discomfort spread in the middle of my chest.

(No. I’m overthinking it. She’s tired from work too.)

I forced the thought away and started walking toward my apartment again.

Misaki was my kind girlfriend—two years older than me.

Unlike me, some pathetic part-timer, she had a real office job.

Whenever I said, “Someday I’ll get a full-time position and make things easier for you, Misaki,” she’d smile like she was troubled and go, “Fuyuya, you try too hard,” while patting my head.

That smile was my only support.

That warmth was the reason I could push through any brutal shift.

“…Man. I wanna see her already.”

Muttering to myself, I climbed the stairs of the worn-out apartment building.

Room 203. A small, humble, happy castle for me and Misaki.

I went to pull my key from my pocket—and my hand froze.

(Huh…?)

A key was still stuck in the doorknob.

It was Misaki’s keychain. A cat mascot dangled from it—the one she loved.

“…Seriously careless, that girl.”

With a wry smile, I gently turned the knob.

Click. With a light sound, the door opened.

(I’ll skip saying I’m home… I’ll wake her up.)

I took off my shoes and moved quietly down the hall.

In the entryway, a pair of men’s sneakers I didn’t recognize had been tossed off carelessly.

They looked two sizes bigger than mine.

Stab!

The headache hit again.

Way stronger than before.

Even I could tell my heart was pounding with a nasty, wrong kind of beat.

(What…? Someone’s here…?)

A friend of Misaki’s?

No—still, those are men’s shoes—

My thoughts wouldn’t come together.

Head foggy with fever, I passed through the living room and put my hand on the bedroom door.

A faint light leaked through the gap of the half-open door.

It was the glow of a small bedside lamp.

And along with that light, I heard a man’s voice that wasn’t mine… and Misaki’s sweet voice.

“…Mm, come on… Takashi, you’re so persistent…”

“Who cares, Misaki? He’s not back yet, right?”

“…Yeah. But he’ll be soon…”

My body wouldn’t stop trembling.

Not from the cold.

Something I couldn’t name rose up from the pit of my stomach and took over my entire body.

With shaking hands, I slowly pushed the door open.

Creeeak…

The hinge’s groan echoed through the room, absurdly loud.

“—!?”

The two on the bed whipped around, startled.

Sheets in disarray.

Clothes scattered everywhere.

And—Misaki, exposed in the arms of a man I didn’t know.

Time stopped.

My mind went blank.

I couldn’t even tell if I was breathing.

The first one to break the silence was the man on the bed.

He clicked his tongue once, then lazily propped himself up.

“…Tch. What the hell. You’re back early.”

A solid, muscular build. Sun-browned skin.

The kind of guy who looked exactly like you’d expect.

Misaki hurriedly hid herself with the sheet, her face gone pale as she called my name.

“F-Fuyuya…!? Why…?”

(Why…?)

That word flipped a switch in my head.

Why?

Are you kidding me?

That “why” was supposed to be mine.

“…Why is this happening?”

The hoarse voice scraped out of my throat.

I didn’t know if what was swirling inside me was anger or grief. I couldn’t tell.

“Explain it, Misaki!”

When I raised my voice, Misaki flinched, her shoulders twitching.

But the man beside her pulled her close and glared at me.

“Shut up. Can’t you tell what you’re looking at? It’s exactly what it looks like.”

“Don’t talk.”

“Hah? The hell you say, you—”

Misaki hurriedly stopped the man as he started to get off the bed.

“Wait, Takashi! I’ll handle this…”

As if she’d made up her mind, she stared straight back at me.

The panic from earlier was gone from her eyes.

What was there instead was ice-cold contempt.

“…Fuyuya.”

“…What.”

“Let’s end it.”

The words were so calm—so ridiculously light—that I couldn’t believe my ears.

(End it…? What…? Us?)

“Don’t screw with me! It’s been six months! We’ve been together for six months—!”

“Six months, huh. …I was already at my limit.”

Misaki let out a big sigh.

“You’re still a part-timer. All talk, and you don’t actually plan on becoming full-time, do you?”

“T-That’s—! I’m looking! I really am!”

“When? You say you’re tired from your night shift, then you spend the whole day sleeping or playing games!”

I couldn’t argue with that.

Because it was true.

“Arks Ende”—the one PC game I was obsessed with.

I’d been so wrapped up in it that I’d neglected my job hunting. That was a fact.

“Takashi isn’t like that. He thinks about the future, and he works hard. Compared to him, you…”

Misaki’s words stabbed into my chest like a sharp knife.

The man next to her—the one she’d called Takashi—snorted, smug as hell.

“E-Even so…! Betraying me—this is too cruel…!”

Misaki brushed off my desperate cry with cold contempt.

“Cruel? Which one of us is cruel, exactly?”

“…Huh?”

“You keep getting my hopes up, and then you never do anything. A spineless guy like you is the one who’s to blame for all of it.”

Spineless.

It’s your fault.

Those words destroyed my world completely.

Something crumbled away under my feet.

The things that supported me—the things I believed in—everything.

“…I see.”

Before I knew it, I was laughing weakly.

I didn’t feel anger or sadness anymore.

I was just… empty.

“…So I’m the one who was wrong.”

“Y-Yeah! If you get it, then hurry up and—”

“…Then fine. Whatever.”

I turned my back on them and stumbled into the living room.

I thought Misaki said something behind me, but I couldn’t hear it anymore.

Thud.

I leaned my back against the wall and slid down onto the floor.

(It’s over… everything’s over.)

I’d lost Misaki.

I’d lost the future I believed in.

I’d even lost the reason to live.

The only thing that told me I was still here was the cold feel of the flooring.

In the dark living room, one thing caught my eye—the only thing with color.

The computer monitor I’d left on.

On it was a game title screen I knew all too well.

“Arks Ende”

It was supposed to be nothing but a game—just entertainment, my escape from reality.

But that blue, glowing logo was the only light I had left.

Like it was calling to me—