huh?" He murmured quietly and then forced his body to move. There wasn't so much as an uninjured hair on him. His body was practically skin and bones. Simply breathing sent waves of pain washing over his body. He also couldn't stop convulsing, possibly as a result of dehydration. But none of that mattered to him. He wriggled, his body having become little more than a ball of pain. He had to hurry up and get back to the other world. I'm going to save them. This time, I'll make sure I do whatever I can. Limping on his broken leg, he struggled forward. He made for the ashtray covered in cigarette butts, the same one that had been used to smash his cheek a few days back. He then threw it at the window so hard he almost dislocated his shoulder. The conveniently cracked glass made a loud noise as it shattered. "Urgh, ack, blurgh." The shock had sent his body reeling, and he retched where he stood. However, the contents of his gut were minimal. Tears welled up in his eyes at the unpleasant convulsions that struck his empty stomach. In spite of that, he crawled forward, propelled by willpower alone. His father would be coming home soon. And when night fell, he would strangle Kaito to death. However, Kaito didn't have time to wait for that. He had to get this over with as quickly as possible. "I gotta hurry, I gotta hurry, I gotta hurry up and get going... I gotta hurry." With shaking fingers, Kaito grabbed a large shard of glass. It sliced his palm, but he barely felt any pain. The thought of Elisabeth and Hina getting brutally murdered was far more terrifying. More than anything, he wanted to spend as little time as possible in this place far away from them. Even if I end up not being able to do anything, I still want to be by their sides. Elisabeth was the person he admired. Hina was the woman he loved. And he had met both of them for the first time after he died. This world didn't have a single person in it who would call out his name with affection. Then he heard the front door open. That man had returned earlier than usual, possibly related to the fact that Kaito had smashed the glass. His father was running violently down the hallway. He opened the sliding door and was about to shout out something in anger, when, due to how unexpected the scene before him was, he displayed an unusually flabbergasted expression. "Kaito, you little shit, what're you doin'?" "Escaping to another world." After answering frankly, Kaito pressed the shard of glass against the nape of his neck. In the space of a breath, he severed his carotid artery. Blood gushed out, and the ceiling was dyed bright red. As the heat gradually left his body and a chill ran through himâ€”a decidedly different sensation compared to the warmth of blood loss he'd felt earlier, and one that filled him with a vivid sense of lossâ€”Kaito finally realized a certain possibility. Huh? Wait, all that stuff that happened up till now...that wasn't just a dream, was it? At that point, his thoughts came to an abrupt halt. Kaito Sena's one and only life had ended. Normally, someone who was killed as meaninglessly as a worm in a death most pitiful, unseemly, cruel, and gruesome wouldn't get a second shot at life. It would be ridiculous for anyone to expect to be able to go to the world of their choice after they died. In short, the conclusion was simple. There was no such thing as miracles. That was all there was to it. When he came to his senses, Kaito found himself floating in the darkness. He had no body. All that existed was his consciousness. In fact, he couldn't even say for sure whether or not even that existed. They say "I think, therefore I am," but in a meaningless space with no sense of touch, sight, or hearing, it was difficult to say that the presence of self-consciousness alone was enough to prove one's existence. There was nobody there to observe him. No one was there to touch him or define him. There was nothing there that he could use to confirm his own sensations. That fact was an extremely cruel one. Just how long am I going to be here? Kaito thought this to himself. Even the passage of time here was ambiguous. He was unable to suppress the sense of curiosity as to how his consciousness hadn't vanished despite his brain being gone. All he was doing was idly existing. I guess this is probably the afterlife. Kaito was familiar with the concepts of Heaven and Hell. He'd concluded that he and Elisabeth were both probably headed for the latter. However, he hadn't suspected that its true nature would turn out to be like this. The fact that humanity had yet to obtain information about the afterlife was, in a word, obvious. And the harshest part about being in that darkness was the fact that he had no definite memories that he could cling to. In a place like that, where everything was vague, the only thing that could be relied upon was one's own consciousness and memories. However, Kaito didn't even have faith in those. Are the memories I have of the time I spent with Elisabeth and the rest in that world even real? Or were they nothing more than a fabrication Kaito had conjured up to escape the pain? At this point, there was nothing he could use to verify them. They might have been nothing more than an incredibly realistic daydream. Given the way Kaito was now trapped in the afterlife, that possibility seemed the most likely. Kaito had wallowed in his fabrications and then had eventually lost sight of the line separating them from reality and killed himself. If that were the case, then Kaito Sena's life would truly have been beyond salvation. There could probably be no greater sadness. Eventually, even the time he spent despairing passed. Surrounded by darkness that continued on forever, Kaito sank deeper and deeper within himself. Searching for salvation, he rummaged through his memories, checked them, and then, on the verge of descending into madness, he arrived at a certain state of mind. He was incredibly pissed off. Hold up a minute. I mean, hypothetically, even if that world was false... Did that really mean that it had no meaning? Throughout all seventeen years of Kaito Sena's life, his memories of that world were the only ones with vivid colors. In that place, even if it had been a figment of his imagination, the experiences he'd accumulated had brought about undeniable change within him. Enough of a change that he could muster up rage, even when in the midst of such irrationality. Am I really fine with just staying here, wallowing in regret? Was my whole life really worthless to the very end? And before that, did all of it really just revert to zero? Amid the darkness, Kaito violently forced the cogwheels of his nonexistent brain into motion. His recollections of that world stirred. Terrible, horrible memories that contained within them a single spoonful of radiant brilliance. They jump-started Kaito's spirit. There was no way that he could think of those memories as meaningless, after all. Wasn't this situation trying too hard to get me to think that all was a dream, a fabrication that never really happened? That was rightâ€”for what it was, it had all lined up too well. Kaito began noticing the incongruities in the recent developments, all of which had practically whispered in his ear that his memories were false and that he should fall into despair. That's right. I've got a hunch that someone's trying to get me to feel regret. They had tried to get him to spend all his time crying. To spend the rest of his days in endless despair. But Kaito wasn't about to have that. At first, he had definitely despaired. Kaito had spent a few hours, a few yearsâ€”at worst, perhaps even a centuryâ€”within his mind on the verge of madness. However, little by little, he had regained his composure. Even if that world had been a lie... "No matter what kind of person you become, you will always be my dearest, my darling, my destined one, my master, my one true love, and my eternal companion. And I shall always be yours." "You fool... You utter imbecile... You had the fortune of obtaining a second life... Just stop already. It's...fine. You've done enough." ...the memories he'd made there had still been beautiful, and the things he'd experienced there had been real. Even if it had been fake, the fact that there had been someone who cared for Kaito was real. And the fact that, in a world devoid of heroes and gods, there had been a woman he had been able to believe in was true as well. If that's the case, then there's no need for me to grieve, right? Depending on the situation, if someone really set this up, then I don't have to waste time feeling sorry for myself. From within the darkness, Kaito picked up on incongruities over and over again. That place was unnecessarily dreadful. It was like the personification of the situation Kaito feared the mostâ€”that he'd never actually gone to that other world and just cruelly died at the end of his abuse. The darkness had silently imposed anguish upon him and tried to render his precious memories meaningless again and again. Something about it was strange. As such, he had to confirm it. Even though he lacked feet to walk with, a body, a soul. Even if this isn't something that someone set up. As long as he didn't give up, he might eventually be able to discern the truth. Kaito was there, after all. That entire line of thinking had been absurd. It had no logical basis to it. But despite knowing that, it was the conclusion Kaito had arrived at. As he did, he slowly began speaking. "I don't care if it's a fabrication. That's the conclusion I reached. I'm gonna keep trying to pin down the source of these incongruities. As long as I have my memories, I'm never giving up, and I'm never gonna lose myself." His mouth shouldn't have existed, yet his voice came out all the same. Furthermore, he now clearly sensed another entity. As though a fog had lifted, Kaito's perception grew rapidly. There was something standing before him. Kaito faced it and then spoke his thoughts freely. "Hey, could you cut it out already? Even if you keep this up, nothing's gonna change. No matter how much time passes, I'll always know I'm being tested." Suddenly, Kaito felt a sharp pain run across his body. The nostalgic sensation traced the contour of his body, formed it, and bound him. When he came to his senses, he found himself impaled by a number of dog fangâ€“like wedges. Chains extended from them, fixing his body in place. He was dangling in the air, held up by a thousand chains. If he took so much as a step, he didn't doubt that his body would be torn open and his blood would run freely. A boy stood before him. The red-haired boy gazed directly at Kaito. His gaze seemed to ask if Kaito was really okay with this, as well as reproach him, as the boy knew he was in the wrong. For a second, Kaito was assailed by a sensation resembling vertigo. Had that boy really existed? Had he really wished for Kaito's happiness? Even now, he wasn't certain. Still, though, he faced the boy and smiled. "It's okay, Neue. I'm just protecting the things that I want to protect." Kaito shifted his body. The chains rattled,