The world was wrong. Hikaru could feel it in the air—heavy, distorted, pulling at the edges of reality. This wasn't just a dream, wasn't just some illusion. They had been dragged into something deeper.
Hikaru adjusted his glasses, trying to process what he was looking at. Masks floated in the void, suspended like they were watching. Each one was unique—different carvings, different expressions, yet they all felt… aware.
And Budi?
Budi stood in the center of it all, frozen, his own mask flickering between states, as if struggling to decide what it should be.
A voice whispered through the space. Not loud, not forceful—but undeniable.
"Ah… You finally remember."
Budi winced, his breath sharp. His mask reacted again, pulsing as if something inside was waking up.
Hikaru grinned, but his usual confidence was forced. "Okay. So. We're in a creepy mask dimension. That's new."
Selene stepped forward, her silver eyes scanning their surroundings. "This isn't magic. This is… something else."
Aldric's grip on his sword remained firm. "This is a memory."
Hikaru flicked a card between his fingers. "A memory of what, exactly?"
The voice laughed.
Soft. Amused. Unsettling.
"A memory of what was. A memory of what could be again."
Budi gritted his teeth. "Who are you?"
The masks shifted.
Not physically. Not aggressively.
Just enough to make Hikaru's instincts scream run.
Then—one of the masks moved forward.
It wasn't floating anymore. It had weight. Presence.
It turned toward Budi, tilting slightly. It was studying him.
"You are not whole."
Budi stiffened. His hand twitched toward his current mask, like he was instinctively shielding it.
Hikaru immediately stepped between them. "Alright, we get it. You like talking in riddles. Very mysterious. Ten out of ten on the creepy ancient entity scale. But if you want to monologue, at least tell us who you are."
The mask's expression did not change.
"We are the Forgotten."
Selene inhaled sharply. "A piece of the Forgotten Ones?"
The mask did not confirm. But it did not deny.
"We are what remains."
Budi's voice was steady, but strained. "Why me?"
The masks moved again.
Not randomly. With purpose.
"Because you wear us. Because you are an echo of those who came before."
Hikaru's heart skipped a beat.
An echo.
Just like the shadows from the ruins.
Budi clenched his fists. "I don't even know who 'came before.'"
The mask leaned closer.
"But you will."
The void around them shuddered.
The masks began to shift again—this time, forming into shapes.
Not just floating masks. Figures.
Their bodies were vague, indistinct. But their movements? Too human. Too real.
One of them took a step forward.
Hikaru didn't like this. Not one bit.
His instincts screamed at him. This wasn't a fight they could win through normal means. This wasn't a fight at all.
This was something older.
Budi took a sharp breath. His body wavered—not physically, but like something inside him was reacting to the presence of the figures.
Then the mask spoke again.
"Choose."
The air grew heavier.
Budi hesitated. "Choose what?"
"Will you take what is yours?"
Hikaru's brain went into overdrive.
This was it. This was the moment.
If Budi accepted—if he took whatever the mask was offering—there was no going back.
Hikaru exhaled. "Budi, I know you hate when I say this, but think before you do anything."
Budi turned his head slightly. "I am thinking."
Selene's silver eyes were sharp. "This isn't a test. This is a trap."
The masks remained still. Watching. Waiting.
"A trap? No."
"A beginning."
Aldric finally spoke. "And if he refuses?"
The air shifted.
For the first time, the mask's voice lost its calm.
"Then he will remain incomplete."
Hikaru did not like that answer.
Budi's breathing was controlled. But Hikaru saw it—the tension in his shoulders. The way his fingers twitched.
This wasn't a simple choice.
This was something buried deep inside him.
Hikaru's voice was quieter than usual. "Budi."
Budi didn't look at him.
Hikaru knew that look.
It was the look of someone who knew the answer before the question was even asked.
Budi stepped forward.
Selene hissed, "Budi, don't—"
He reached out—
His fingers touched the mask.
The world collapsed.
Everything shattered.
Hikaru felt himself being pulled back, yanked through space and time, reality warping around them—
Then—
He was back.
The vault.
The ruins.
The weight of the real world settled around them again.
Hikaru staggered, catching himself before he fell. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. Selene was already moving, hands glowing, magic crackling at her fingertips.
Budi was on his knees.
His breath was ragged. Unsteady.
And in his hands—
The mask had changed.
No longer the old, dormant relic they had seen before.
Now, it pulsed with something deeper.
Something alive.
Hikaru's voice was quiet. "Budi?"
Budi looked up.
His eyes were different.
For a brief second, Hikaru swore—swore—they weren't his friend's eyes at all.
Then Budi blinked.
And he was back.
Normal. In control.
He let out a sharp breath. "That… sucked."
Hikaru exhaled, rubbing his temples. "You think?"
Selene's hands were still glowing, ready to cast something at a moment's notice. "What happened?"
Budi's fingers tightened around the mask. "I don't know."
Hikaru watched him carefully. "Do you feel different?"
Budi hesitated.
Then—he stood.
And Hikaru saw it.
The way his posture changed. The way his breath steadied. The way the air around him felt just slightly different.
Budi looked down at the mask in his hands.
Then he smirked. "Well."
He slid the mask onto his face.
The moment it settled, a pulse of unseen energy rippled outward.
Budi rolled his shoulders, adjusting.
And Hikaru saw it.
A new presence. A new weight.
Something deeper.
Budi grinned beneath the mask.
"Looks like I just leveled up."