A brown-haired child was walking through a crowd alongside a black-haired young man.
"We're almost there. Hang in there,"Lunas said as he pulled my arm along, wiping the sweat from his face in exhaustion.
"Ugh… slow down. I can't see anything,"I protested, struggling to push through the dense crowd.
Seeing how difficult it was for someone my size to move, Lunas chuckled softly and lifted his bread to take another bite.
We were poor—hadn't earned any money yet—so we had no choice but to make do with plain jam bread. Compared to the orphanage, it was barely a snack.Well… I couldn't really complain.
"Hey, Lunas, are we there yet?"I scanned the area anxiously, waiting for a familiar figure—but saw nothing.
"Give it a moment. It's my first time here too, you know,"Lunas frowned and squinted into the distance, then suddenly spotted someone far away.
"She's probably over there."He pointed ahead and tugged me along, excitement clear both in his expression and his movements.
We ran toward a massive tent filled with colors and balloons like moths drawn to flame, caring about nothing else.
"…You two are so late! What were you dragging your feet for?!"The girl shouted the moment she saw us, then turned and stormed off.
"Wait here for a bit. I'll tell you later,"Emma said irritably as she walked toward several large crates in the distance.
I looked around, only now realizing where we were.
"…A circus? She wants to celebrate my birthday at a circus?"
Today was my birthday.I was turning fifteen—of course it should be celebrated.But at a circus?
Not to mention… we were supposed to talk about something else too.My face twitched slightly, the corner of my mouth lifting.
"Hey… are you really going to tell her about the plan?"Lunas nudged me lightly and whispered nervously.
"…Are you scared?"I laughed at his troubled expression.Still, I couldn't blame him.
"Relax. Worst case, we get treated like uneducated lunatics. Same as always,"I joked. I never really cared about my reputation anyway.
Still… it is risky. I really am worried about the future.
"COME OVER HERE!"A shout echoed from afar, and Lunas and I hurried over.
We passed through a red-and-blue curtain into a dark room. Inside, dolls were scattered everywhere, balloons of every color filled the ceiling, and at the center sat a table with three chairs and a birthday cake topped with a single large candle.
"Th-that… is that a birthday cake?"Lunas stared at it, drool almost forming like a starving dog.It looked like he'd never seen one before.
Well, the orphanage was always short on money. None of us ever had a birthday cake.Seeing the candles made me strangely happy. Even in my previous life, I rarely attended birthday parties—especially my own.
"Hey, why don't you look surprised at all?"Emma entered behind me, clearly startled by how calm I was.
"What, you think I live in a cave like this guy?"I nudged Lunas into the room and laughed. Emma laughed too.Only Lunas looked like a starving wild animal.
"Sit down. We'll keep it quick,"Emma said gently, drawing the curtain closed and taking a seat.
She raised her hand lightly. The candles that had been burning suddenly went out—leaving only the single candle on the cake slowly lighting itself.
"Wait… is this really how birthdays work?"Lunas looked uncomfortable in the darkness but still smiled awkwardly.
"Alright—three, two, one. Sing!"Emma led us, and the three of us sang the birthday song, cut the cake, and played a few small games.
The atmosphere was wonderful.
We acted like children.I couldn't even remember the last time I'd felt this happy.
…
As he wiped cream from his face, Lunas looked at me, patted my shoulder, and asked,
"It's your birthday today. Is there anything you want to share, Ron?"
I smiled awkwardly.
Something I want to share? Plenty. I just can't.
Then it hit me—Lunas was hinting at something.I glanced at Emma, who was eating her cake quietly, and spoke up.
"Ah, um… Emma, Lunas. There's something I want to say. It'll be quick."I smiled, already imagining her expression afterward.
"I have a plan. A big plan. A groundbreaking one."I raised both hands dramatically like a child trying to get attention.
"…Oh? You can think and plan now?"Emma teased lightly, glancing at Lunas, who was licking the remaining cream off his plate.
"Relax. It's going to be long. Okay?"And just like that, I explained my plan—forming an underground group, future strategies, necessary information.Naturally, I chose my words carefully and hid the most critical parts.
…
"So… you want to stop terrorism with another act of terrorism?"Emma asked, half amused, half skeptical.How could she trust a fifteen-year-old saying things like this?
"Didn't I explain it clearly?"I frowned deeper. Ever since I started explaining, she'd been interrogating me relentlessly.Lunas was useless—discarded to the side.
"…I'll go get some drinks,"Lunas said uneasily. He didn't understand anything we were talking about anyway. He always treated my plans as jokes that would fade away.
"…Then why don't you tell me more about yourself?"Emma asked, staring straight at me, almost mockingly.
"…We've known each other this long. Why?"I asked honestly.
"There are questions that keep circling in my head,"she said softly."Can I ask about your name? Your real name."
"My real name? Ron Irus, obviously. What do you mean?"
"No—not that one. I mean… your name from your previous life."
"…My real name?"I shrugged."You can call me Joe. Just call me that."
"…Oh? Then tell me about your previous life. It sounds interesting."She leaned closer, eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"Um…"I took a deep breath, leaned back, and put my hands in my pockets.
"I had… a normal family. I liked working out, playing some games…Oh, and I wrote a fairly popular book."
"Oh? That's interesting. Tell me more about it."Emma leaned even closer, excitement clear in her eyes.
"…Well… it wasn't anything special, just—"I stopped mid-sentence.
I looked down at my hands.
In my right hand was a pistol.In the other… a coin.
"…That's strange—ugh!"
A sharp pain split my head. I clutched it and slammed my forehead onto the table.Emma's cheerful expression instantly turned cold.
Her black hair spilled downward, growing longer, covering her face and body.The dim room made her look grotesque.
Soon, her hair turned into a jet-black veil, wrapping her entirely.
Her face disappeared into shadow.
"Come on. Tell me more. It was getting good,"she said—still curious, still cheerful.
"Ugh—"I didn't know what was happening.But my hand holding the gun turned toward my own temple.
"Don't go yet. The party isn't over."Emma—or whatever she was—raised her hand.
The dolls began to move.
Cute, innocent dolls sank into darkness—then emerged wearing black veils, their heads missing.
Then the balloons above fell.
They slammed into the floor, the table, my body.
Looking closer, I realized—
They were my heads.RON IRUS.
All of them rotten, crawling with maggots.
"Ha-ha…"I exhaled weakly as the headless dolls approached.
I looked back at Emma—
No.Now she was the wraith guardian I had seen before.
Without a word, I pulled the trigger.
My brain burst apart, blood and pulp splattering everywhere.
BANG—BANG—
The entire room shook violently, like an earthquake born of pure rage.
Everything collapsed—like a shattered mosaic,like a glass breaking into hundreds of fragments—
then dissolving into nothingness.
"Welcome back."
A voice echoed in the void.
A man in a white suit stood there, facing another dressed in black.
"HAHA—YOU SON OF A BITCH."