TOKYO METRO STATION
"Attention, please. The train from SINISH has arrived at Tokyo Station. The train departing from Tokyo to Osaka will leave in 10 minutes. Please proceed to the platform and mind the closing doors."
The doors hiss open, and Akos, Riko, Jin, Ronika, and Yuzana step onto the platform. The sheer scale of the station is overwhelming—thousands of people moving in a synchronized blur, neon signs flashing, and the constant hum of the world's busiest city.
Akos: "Oh... so this is Tokyo."
Jin: "Is this your first time here?"
Akos: "Nah, huh... just saying it."
Riko & Yuzana (screaming like tourists): "TOKYO! TOKYO! WE'RE FINALLY HERE!"
Ronika stares at them with a deadpan, icy expression. Why am I always with idiots? she thinks. I just wanted to be with serious people. She glances to her right to find some sanity with Akos and Jin, but they have completely vanished.
She spots them a few meters away, standing in front of a street vendor like two little kids.
Ronika: "Are you serious right now? Balloons? You're buying balloons with that other moron? What is wrong with all of you?!"
Akos and Jin walk back toward the group, laughing and clutching a bunch of colorful balloons.
Riko: "Wait, why did you buy balloons?"
Jin: "We don't even know. We just saw them and bought them."
Riko: "Give me one!"
Akos: "Nah, huh! Get lost! Go buy your own."
Riko: "Buy my own?! You bought every single balloon the man had! You're driving me crazy!"
Yuzana (adjusting his glasses): "Are you really going to fight over balloons? I'm the only serious person here."
Akos, Riko, & Jin all turn their heads simultaneously, staring at Yuzana with cold, piercing eyes. "What did you just say?"
Yuzana: "Ehhh..." He turns his head forward only to freeze. Ronika is also staring at him with a look that could freeze fire.
Suddenly, the screech of tires echoes through the station's loading zone. A massive truck pulls up with a loud CRUNCH of the brakes. A girl with short red hair and glasses leans out of the window, shouting at the top of her lungs.
Red-Haired Girl: "AKOS! JIN!"
Ronika looks at Akos and Jin, her hand moving toward her katana. "Do you know her?"
Akos & Jin (in unison): "Ehhh... no."
Red-Haired Girl: "You idiots! You don't remember me?! Ronika! It's me! Come on!"
Everyone freezes in their tracks. Who is this girl? Ronika tilts her head, squinting as she studies the girl's face. Suddenly, her eyes widen.
Ronika: "Wait... Vanessa?! Is that you?!"
Ronika shouts her name and runs toward the truck.
Akos: "Eh? What the hell is going on with those two?"
Jin: "I don't know, but wait, you moron!"
Akos: "What?!"
Jin: "The balloons! Why did you let them go?! How stupid can you be?!"
Akos: "I-I didn't let them go!"
Jin: "Catch them, quick!"
But it's too late. The balloons drift higher and higher, disappearing into the vast Tokyo sky.
Jin: "Ugh... you must be blind to just let them fly away like that."
Grumbling, they walk toward the truck to find out who this mysterious girl is. One by one, they climb into the back of the vehicle as the engine roars to life.
The truck roars to life, and as it gains speed, the group looks around the trailer in disbelief. This isn't just a transport vehicle; it's a high-tech, mobile blacksmith's forge.
The interior is lined with strange skeletons, racks of experimental weapons, and jagged swords. In the center sits a comfortable sofa and a low table, surrounded by piles of iron, steel, and raw crafting materials.
Ronika leans back on the sofa, looking completely at home.
Akos: "Ronika... who exactly is she? How does she know our names?"
Ronika: "You knew her once, but your memory is gone. She was a close friend to all of us back in the Real World. The 'restarting' of the world wiped her from your mind, but not from mine."
Yuzana: "Wait, wait... what do you mean 'our' memory? What are you guys talking about?"
Jin (glaring): "Shut up. Sit still. The adults are talking."
Yuzana: "Adults?! We're the same age!"
Riko (with a cold, murderous stare): "Will you close your mouth, or do we have to toss you out of the truck while it's moving? What's it going to be?"
Yuzana immediately goes silent, shrinking into his seat.
Suddenly, Vanessa climbs from the driver's cab into the back. She's casual, popping open a bottle of alcohol and taking a long swig.
Riko: "Wait! If you're back here... who the hell is driving?!"
Vanessa (grinning): "Autopilot, haha!"
Riko: "Autopilot?! This is a truck, not a Boeing 747!"
Vanessa: "Relax. Now, listen. I know you don't remember me, but I'm Vanessa. I'm not a sorcerer, but I'm the one who builds the toys you use to kill things. Ibaraki told me everything—he knew you were coming."
Akos: "Ibaraki? You mean that creepy guy with the blank stare?"
Vanessa: "That's the one. Now, listen carefully. I don't give orders, but I know the score. Here is the current situation of active sorcerers: there are 14 in Sinish, 35 in Tokyo, 16 in unknown locations, and 5 in specific spots we are tracking. Plus, there's your group of 6."
Riko: "Six? Who are the other two?"
Vanessa: "Sora Haze and Majo."
Akos (freezing): "Majo? But he told me he was a Hunter Devil!"
Vanessa: "No, he's not. If he told you that, it means someone is controlling him or he's playing a role. Why didn't you bring him?"
Ronika (annoyed): "How were we supposed to know?!"
Vanssa: "Forget it for now. We have a bigger problem. Tokyo is currently covered by a massive barrier that protects it from devils, but that barrier is weakening. Our enemies have planted cursed objects across the city that act as 'anchors' for devils. Basically, if we don't move fast, Tokyo is going to turn into a bloodbath just like Sinish."
Jin: "What's the solution?"
Vanessa: "We have to hit different sectors of Tokyo. We've just reached the first sector. I need you to find and destroy the cursed scripts."
Akos: "Cursed scripts? What the hell does that mean?"
1: Vanessa: "Listen. There are three types of supernatural objects in our world:
2: Weapons: Your swords, staves, etc.
3: Barriers: Two types—the 'Fake but True' (like this world) and the 'Normal' (simple shields).
The Cause: Things you can't see but whose results are everywhere—like the Fake World itself."
Akos: "I still don't get it. Are these 'Scripts' devils or what?"
Vanessa: "They are words taken from ancient books that carry a curse." These curses don't have a physical body of their own, but they manifest physical forms—which you know as devils."
Akos and Jin stare at her, their brains beginning to smoke from the information overload. They look like they're about to pass out from the sheer complexity of it all.
Vanessa looked around the mobile forge, her eyes sharp despite the alcohol. "Alright, listen up. Who's going to clear out the Devil's Nest in this sector and incinerate the Cursed Script? We need that anchor destroyed before the barrier collapses further."
Akos took a long, steady breath, feeling the weight of the mission settling on his shoulders. "I'll go," he said, standing up with a grim determination.
As he rose, he reached for his primary weapon. Vanessa suddenly froze, her glass stopping halfway to her mouth. Her eyes widened as they locked onto the blade at his hip.
"Oh... wait... what?! How do you have that?!" she stammered, pointing a trembling finger.
Akos frowned, his hand resting on the hilt. "Is there a problem?"
Vanessa: "That katana... it's the KATANA TOTSUGEKI FIELD. How did it find its way back to you? That blade is designed specifically for a user with the Infinite Eyes—the 'Infinite Sight' ability. But the last time we were in the real world, you rejected it. You hated it. You said you only wanted to fight with your bare hands and your own raw energy. You threw it away!"
Akos looked down at the weapon, a fragment of a memory flickering in his mind like a dying spark. "Ibaraki gave it to me. He said I'd need it."
Vanessa shook her head, still stunned. "If Ibaraki handed it back to you, then the gears of fate are turning faster than I thought." She reached under a heavy workbench, pulling aside a soot-stained tarp to reveal a weapon locker. With a heavy clack, she pulled out a massive, intimidating firearm.
"Here. Take this: the DRAGON SLAVE SHOTGUN. It's one of the most powerful kinetic-energy weapons I've ever forged."
Akos stared at the beast of a gun. "Eh? Why are you giving me a cannon?"
Vanessa: "Because the Nest has a core nucleus. Your blades are good for the small fry, but this shotgun is designed to shatter a core in a single blast. Also, listen carefully: the Nest is made of a rare material—a pulsing, black-and-red substance. I need you to bring some of it back. If I melt that down, I can forge weapons that make your current gear look like toothpicks."
Akos sighed, reaching out to take the weapon. Vanessa quickly tossed him a heavy-duty leather holster. "Put it on. Don't just carry it like a sack of potatoes."
As Akos strapped the holster over his red jacket, he felt the true weight of the gun. The barrel was intricately carved to resemble a dragon's roaring maw, finished in a deep crimson and matte black.
Vanessa (winking): "Suits your style, doesn't it? Black and red, like a dragon. Once you've burned that place to the ground, head north to House 45. That's our rendezvous point. Don't die, Akos. I'm not finished with your upgrades yet."
Akos remained calm, his gaze hardening. "Goodbye."
He stepped off the back of the truck as it slowed down. The heavy vehicle roared away, leaving him standing in the middle of a desolate Tokyo street.
Looming before him was a massive, decaying structure—the Grand Imperial Hotel. It was a relic from the era of World War II, its stone walls scarred by time and its windows staring back at him like the empty eyes of a skull. The air around the building was thick, vibrating with the sickly sweet scent of rot and Nature Energy.
Akos walks slowly through the iron gates, his boots crunching on the dry, brittle earth. He enters the garden, but there is no color here; everything is a skeleton of what it once was.
He kneels, touching a withered flower with a trembling hand. The petals turn to soot the moment his fingers graze them, dissolving into the wind.
Akos: "These plants have been dead for a long time... Nora."
As if responding to her name, the kitten pokes her head out from the collar of his red jacket. Her amber eyes scan the desolation with a predatory stillness.
Akos: "It looks like a fire swept through here years ago. The soil is still black with charcoal and burnt wood."
He approaches the massive main entrance, the wood scarred and ancient. He doesn't bother with the handle; he delivers a sharp, powerful kick to the center of the frame.
The door flies inward, but there is no sound of it hitting the floor. It simply vanishes into the heavy darkness as if swallowed by the building itself.
Akos freezes. He steps carefully to the threshold and looks down, his breath hitching in his throat.
There is no floor. The entire lobby of the hotel has been hollowed out, leaving a terrifying, bottomless pit that plunges deep into the earth.
From the depths, the distorted shrieks and whispers of thousands of Devils echo upward like a cold, wet wind. The sound vibrates against his very soul.
He looks up—the upper floors are mangled and broken. The ceilings have been torn away as if a giant beast had taken massive bites out of the building's skeletal frame.
Covering the walls and hanging from the rafters are strange, pulsating Grey Vines. They glow with a sickly, rhythmic light of deep crimson and obsidian black.
This was exactly the material Vanessa described. It throbbed like a heartbeat, fueling the nightmare within the hotel.
Akos (gripping the handle of the Dragon Slave Shotgun): "I hope there aren't too many of them down there... I'm starting to get really hungry."