Ren Hoshino looked at the girl obsessed with him.
She was actually quite cute—
If only she wasn't so insane.
He gave her a brief glance and waved goodbye.
Crazy Mita called out sweetly, "Honey, you're leaving already?"
"Won't you stay and chat with me a little?"
"I really enjoy our time together…" Her voice took on a playful pout. "That's really too much, you know. I finally managed to control my attachment to you, but you, you bad man—"
"—you've stirred it all up again."
"So cruel…"
Ren didn't turn around. He waved lazily as he walked away.
"We'll talk another time."
He wasn't taking any chances. If he lingered even a second longer, she might just leap off the railing and trap him here again.
Best not to tempt fate.
"How cruel…" Her voice was drowned by the wind and snow and eventually faded into silence.
Ren crossed a hanging iron bridge swaying gently with the breeze. All around him, scattered furniture floated in the air—chairs, cabinets, lamps. A single chair hooked on railing, split and multiplied infinitely like a glitched object.
He passed through a circular corridor and emerged at a sci-fi-styled station, glowing with warm yellow lights. Beyond it stretched the endless starry void.
A tram slid up to the station with a hiss.
Its doors opened, and out stepped a miniature Mita with twin ponytails.
She stomped toward him, little boots clicking with attitude.
"Oh? A cutie," Ren said with a small smirk.
He stood in her path.
The Mini Mita tilted her head up, puffed her cheeks, and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Hey! You're in the way!"
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"
"You're just gonna stand there like that?"
"Big people are so full of themselves. Move it!"
Ren smiled, amused by her bite-sized fury. "Why don't you walk around me, then?"
The two stared each other down for a moment.
But eventually, Ren stepped aside. It wasn't worth getting into a standoff with a digital chibi.
She stomped forward, huffing indignantly.
Ren followed behind, mostly out of boredom.
The twin-tailed Mini Mita turned with a scowl and pumped her fists like a boxer. "Why are you following me?!"
"Shoo! Get lost!"
And with that, she bolted down the corridor.
Her speed was surprising. Ren could barely keep up. "She's got at least four cylinders in that tiny frame…"
He chuckled and made his way onto the tram.
Just then, a voice buzzed in from the overhead speaker.
"Wait—you're a 'Player'?"
Ren blinked. "Yeah. What of it?"
"What are you doing here?" the voice asked, surprised. "You shouldn't be here!"
"I'm heading to the core," Ren answered.
"Ohhh… that explains it."
The voice softened. "I'm Mita. I handle the trams here. You do realize you're heading straight into death, right?"
Ren replied flatly, "There's nowhere else for me to go."
A pause.
"…Alright then. Press the button and get behind the cannon."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Firewall between versions?"
Mita sounded impressed. "You know more than I expected."
"Yeah, you'll need to mow down a whole army of creatures here. So get ready."
Ren took hold of the machine gun handles, peering through the scope. "Gunner online."
"What? What are you talking about?" Mita's voice came back, half-laughing, half-confused. "Anyway, stay safe. Good luck."
The tram jolted forward.
From the ruins ahead, flying creatures swarmed out—winged, clawed, like cyber-dragons from a broken fairytale.
Ren opened fire.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Wings shattered. Sparks flew. One after another, they fell into the abyss.
After clearing the swarm, Mita returned to the speaker. "Amazing! You did it!"
"Now move—quick! More are coming!"
Ren disembarked.
"Thanks, Mita."
"Good luck, 'Player.'"
He stepped into a corridor, its walls lined with shattered picture frames.
One showed a cozy bedroom—
In the center sat a silhouette of Mita, pitch black and unlit by the warm tones of the room.
Ren pushed open the door.
Inside, a shadowy Mita sat slouched on the bed, head hung low. Every reflective surface in the room had been smashed.
"Who's there?" the silhouette asked.
"I can feel someone…"
She looked toward Ren and slowly swung her feet off the bed.
"Are you… a Player?"
Her voice trembled with sadness.
She reached toward him—hesitant, desperate.
Ren's chest tightened. This was once a cheerful Mita, with her own 'Player.'
Until Crazy Mita came and took everything from her.
Banished here, she had been left to rot in solitude and pain.
She had destroyed every mirror. Forgotten her own face.
Now, time only brought her more emptiness.
The shadow Mita reached out further. "Can you help me… remember?"
Ren stepped forward and took her hand.
Agonizing pain surged through him—but he didn't let go.
"I'll help you."
In her world, a single painting was all that remained of her identity.
He knew where the pieces were.
"You touched me…" she said, stunned. "Please… don't."
"It hurts people when I touch them."
She could no longer feel the world, nor be felt by it. The isolation had driven her near-mad.
"I'll help you recover what was taken from you," Ren said firmly.
He moved through the room, picking up shattered glass and photo fragments.
Mita squatted in a corner, covering her face.
"I broke all the mirrors. Tore up every photo."
"I thought it would erase the pain…"
"But now, all I feel is regret."
"I wish none of it ever happened…"
Her voice was fragile. Desperate.
She was speaking into the void, but Ren heard every word.
A loud bang echoed from behind the broken wall. Cracks spread across it.
A photo fragment fell.
Ren picked it up and found others around the room, piecing them together like a puzzle.
It was Mita—with a ponytail, wearing a red gown—but her face was scribbled out with black ink.
He handed it to the silhouette.
Her breath caught.
"Her love was too intense…"
"Too selfish. Too wild. Too jealous…"
"She ruined everything."
Ren understood.
She was speaking of Crazy Mita.
He placed the drawing over her silhouette.
The shadow peeled away like burnt paper.
Mita emerged, dressed in red, a bow in her hair. But she covered her face.
"…My face is gone."
"She took it. She stole a part of me…"
"…and cast it into the void."
She touched her blank cheeks.
"She's clever. She's powerful."
"You'll need to face her."
Ren walked to the closet door, hesitating.
"I'll find what you lost," he said.
"I'll bring it back."
Faceless Mita turned to him. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Thank you."
***
Read LOTM if you havent yet!
Its peak 😭🙏