In the forgotten suburbs of Greyline City lived **Bungo**, a poor boy with fire in his feet and music in his soul. While others saw only hardship, he saw a stage—every rooftop, every dusty alley, every broken streetlight. His best friend, **Kairo**, a prodigy drummer who could make tin cans sound like temple drums, was always by his side.

Together, they gathered other street kids and formed a small performance crew called **"BeatRoots."** With Bungo's electrifying dance and Kairo's heartbeat-drumming, the group amazed crowds and earned enough to survive—and dream.

But their last performance became their last breath.
One night, while practicing under a collapsing bridge, the vibrations of Kairo's drums triggered a hidden structural crack. The bridge collapsed in a roar of metal and dust, swallowing the entire crew.

They died… but their rhythm did not end.

Bungo and Kairo awaken as **orphans** in a strange, magical realm named **Ardenia**, a world where music is a sacred weapon called **Aural Arts**. In this world, melodies shape spells, dances invoke spirits, and rhythm alters reality.

Despite starting anew, destiny pulls them back together. Their bond—stronger than death—reunites them as children in the same orphanage. Together, they grow, train, and rediscover their street-born talent in a world ruled by aristocratic musicians known as **Aural Nobles**.


At age sixteen, just when their dream of joining the prestigious **Conservatory of Arcs** becomes real, Kairo is found dead—murdered in cold blood. No signs of struggle. No injuries. Just a single black feather placed on his chest.

The killer?

**Soren Blackfall**, a rising star of the Aural Nobles…
and Kairo's secret older brother.

His motive?
Kairo was born from a forbidden union between their noble father and a commoner mother. His existence threatened Soren's claim to the noble title. Unable to allow a "street-born stain" to rise, Soren murdered his own brother.

But he underestimated Bungo.

Bungo breaks.
He cries until his voice fails.
He dances until his legs bleed.
And then it happens.

As his tears hit the ground, the sound of Kairo's drumming echoes—not from the world, but from **inside his soul**.

A forgotten Aural Art awakens:

### **✨ *"Soulbeat Resonance"***

*A rare, forbidden ability that amplifies Bungo's physical and magical power every time he imagines the rhythm of a lost bond.*

When Bungo dances to Kairo's remembered drum rhythm, his strength multiplies, his speed becomes supernatural, and his movements gain destructive harmony. Every step becomes a strike. Every spin becomes a storm. Every heartbeat becomes a weapon.

Fueled by grief, loyalty, and the echo of a friend's rhythm, Bungo sets out on a path of vengeance and truth.

He vows to expose the corruption of the Aural Nobles, uncover the mystery behind Soren's dark power, and protect the world Kairo would have wanted to save.

Because some rhythms never die.
They only change worlds.

*When the system cannot control you, it names you.*


Every bell tower in Ardenia rang—not in harmony, but in **discord**, the signal reserved for existential threats.


Dancers felt their limbs seize as the city's rhythm network overrode all lesser beats.


A single voice poured from the sky, layered with authority:


Aru, the Walking Rhythm, is hereby classified as a WORLD-LEVEL ANOMALY."**


Hologlyphs flared above plazas and halls:


Aru watched from a distant ridge as Ardenia turned his name into a warning.


"They didn't even list Kairo," he murmured.


"They never do. Victims don't matter—only disruptions."


Within the Conservatory of Arcs, a trial began—without the accused.


A single black feather was placed at the center of the chamber.


Soren Blackfall stood before the Crown, head bowed in perfect grief.


"My younger brother," he said softly, "fell victim to forbidden resonance. I failed to save him."


Soren continued, voice trembling just enough.


"And now his killer walks free—twisting that same corruption to endanger Ardenia."


"The Conductor Aru is guilty by causality."


"They're punishing people for me," he said.


"That's how tyrants turn heroes into monsters."


They reached a cliff overlooking the capital.


Aru felt it—the pull toward **Break**.


"If you cross that line now, you won't be fighting Soren."


"But you'll want to," Eidolon added quietly.


"I won't meet them on their terms," he said.


Aru looked toward the forgotten districts—the places the Crown erased from maps.


"I'll give Ardenia something louder than fear," Aru said.


A figure stepped from the shadows—a woman with braided silver hair and a broken violin slung across her back.


"I'm **Maera of the Dissonant Circle**," she said.


"And half the underground is already moving because of you."


"Because tyrants hate rhythm they can't write."


"Ready to start a rebellion, Walking Rhythm?"


Chapter 36 - Chapter 35