What the hell did I just listen to?Haku blinked. The system screen still hovered like a smug ghost above the endless sea of people.
Viewers equal power? The more people watching me, the stronger I get?He stared at the message like it had just insulted his entire bloodline.
So what? I'm supposed to outmatch some influencer with abs and a dragon transformation? With ice?
There are so many people… Can they all shut the fuck up? Lol, so loud…
I'm cooked bro... I'm cooked.
The white floor beneath his feet shimmered.
Suddenly—
[You will now be teleported to your Loadout Room. You have 5 minutes to finalize your gear.]
The world dissolved around him like static being sucked into a vacuum.
Pop.
He reappeared in a small chamber, white walls, no ceiling. A digital countdown ticked at the top of the room:
[4:59]
[Sector: Tokyo]
In front of him, a store interface exploded into view. Glowing item boxes. A search bar. Tabs. Prices. Quantities.
And a warning in obnoxious red text:[Limited Stock. Popular Items Will Sell Out Fast.]
"No pressure," Haku muttered, already scrolling.
His eyes caught one instantly:
[Eyes of the Unseen – 25 Points – S Rank – 100 in Stock]See what others can't. Predict movement. Pierce illusions.
"Huh," Haku whispered. "Sounds overpowered. Mine now."
He slammed the purchase button. The item blinked and disappeared from the store.
The next one nearly blinded him with gold trim.
[Room of the Time – 66 Points – S Rank – 5 in Stock]Teleport to a personal dimension. Fight a version of yourself: +25% evil, +25% stronger. 3 months of training. 1 hour real time.
His brain didn't even register the logic. Just instinct.Click. Purchased.
No hesitation.
"Let's get traumatized efficiently," he mumbled, diving into the rest of the shop.
He bought also some other stuff that sounded cool and were cheap.
The timer ticked down.
[0:10][Loadout Complete. Good luck, loser ^^]
Haku exhaled. A long, shaky breath.
"…What the fuck is really going on?"
[Teleporting in 3… 2… 1…]
The floor beneath him vanished.
He fell.
Straight down.
The sky above Tokyo was pitch-black, lit with the hum of neon lights and distant chaos.
Around him—no, everywhere—people were falling from the sky. Thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Maybe more.
It looked like rain. If rain screamed and flailed and sometimes did backflips.
Haku blinked against the wind, ice already starting to form around his hands by reflex.
[Don't worry, you won't take fall damage :P]
"Thanks, asshole system."
He spread his arms. The ground rushed up to meet him.
The game had officially begun.
Haku hit the ground middle of the street like gravity owed him money—one knee down, hand bracing, steam rising off his back.
Nighttime Tokyo glittered all around him like the world forgot they were about to kill each other.
He didn't even get a full breath in.
CLANG.
A fist came flying for his head.
His arms crossed instinctively—X-block. The hit shook through his bones but didn't break the guard.
The guy in front of him grinned. "Found one already. Easy points."
He looked normal. Too normal. Brown hair, cracked knuckles, a fake-ass smile.
Haku's left eye flickered—The Eyes of the Unseen activated.
Suddenly, the guy's body lit up like a cursed doll. Veins pulsing black. Thoughts printed in red across his form like subtitles.
[Intent: Kill. No hesitation.]
Haku squinted. No shit, Sherlock.
Haku's heel slammed into the guy's chest—bam—just enough force to launch him back a few feet.
He didn't even look to see if the dude got up.
"Nah. I don't want no beef. I'm out."
He turned and ran.
The second his feet hit the pavement, it was like the world couldn't keep up.
Streetlights blurred into long streaks of white.
"Holy shit—I'm so fast?!" he yelled, half laughing, half trying not to trip over his own legs.
Around him, the world was losing its mind.
People were screaming. Explosions lit up the streets like fireworks on drugs. One guy flew past his head with glowing wings—another got yanked into an alley by something with too many arms. Abilities were going off like confetti cannons. Ice. Fire. Gravity slams. A girl was crying behind a mailbox. A guy was laughing like a maniac while throwing knives at a tank.
None of it slowed Haku down.
His breath was wild in his chest, but his legs wouldn't stop. Couldn't stop.
Then he saw it—a skyscraper.
Tall. Empty-looking. Rooftop view?
Yeah. That's the move.
He darted through the broken glass doors of the skyscraper, boots skidding on the polished floor. No one inside. Just echoing silence and his own heartbeat trying to beat a speedrun record.
Stairs. Up. Fast.
He took them two at a time, breath short, legs burning.
Then—
RRAAHHHHKKK!
A sound like wet metal grinding through bone.
Haku froze mid-step.
A creature turned the corner from the stairwell above—lanky, pale, with too-long limbs and too many teeth. It screeched when it saw him.
"NOPE!"
He shoved himself backward, nearly fell, slammed the door shut between them—
KRASH-KRASH-KRASH—
The thing was already clawing at it.
And that's when it happened.
His body panicked before his brain could.
A freezing shock ran down his arms.
The doorframe exploded in frost. WHAM—solid ice sealed it like a vault.
The thing rammed into it from the other side—thud—but didn't break through.
Haku stood there, panting, hands shaking, staring at the cold mist curling from his fingertips.
"What the hell—?"
He looked down. Both palms still glowing faint blue.
"Okay… okay, that was cool."
He closed his eyes. Focused.
A tingle danced up his spine—there, again.
He exhaled slow.
Ice began to form—delicate, smooth—just floating over his hand like liquid glass turning solid.
"Weird… but kinda beautiful."
He turned his palm over, watched it sparkle.
His first real power.
His first control.
And now he was on the clock.
Haku shoved the rooftop hatch open and stepped into the wind.
And then he saw it.
The city was glowing. Burning. Screaming.
From up here, it looked like a video game gone completely off the rails.
Explosions. Screams. Powers going off like fireworks. People flying. People dying.
Monsters crawling out of alleyways. Towers rising in the distance with giant countdown timers floating above them. Total visual overload.
He was too high up to hear most of it, but he could feel the chaos in the air.
His system screen hovered in front of him—glitchy blue light flickering like it was enjoying the madness.
Viewer Count: 10.
"…Probably just my family," he muttered, scratching the back of his head.
He swiped sideways. Pulled up the regional rankings.
Top of the Tokyo Sector: "Milo – 9,000,342 Viewers."
"K-Pop star? Of course…"
He opened the player list. Typed fast.
Kaze…Mey…Momo…
All in Tokyo.
His heart stopped for half a beat.
Then kicked back in.
Kaze. Mey. Momo.
They were here.
With him.
A breath slipped out of his chest he didn't even realize he'd been holding.
"Thank god…" he muttered, softer this time. " I can protect them."
His hand tightened around the edge of the screen. The wind felt lighter now. Like it had his back.
Then—left side of the system UI—
The kill feed lit up like a slot machine from hell.
Every second: new name, new death.
"Kentaki – killed by Sword.""Tatsumi – died by Fire.""Leroy – fell to death.""Yuna – ripped apart by Wolf-Type.""Chad – exploded."
The chat feed was flying too fast to read. Just name after name. Death after death.
Then—footsteps.
Fast, uneven, panicked.
Haku spun around, instantly on edge.
A boy, maybe his age, maybe younger, burst through the rooftop door. Face pale. Chest heaving. Eyes wild with fear.
Haku didn't wait.
He dropped into a stance without thinking, ice sparking faintly at his fingertips.
No one could be trusted.
Not anymore.
The boy froze in place, hands half-raised, eyes locking with Haku's.
Silence.