Jerry taunted back with a smirk. "Heh… it's gonna take a lot to kill me—"
He didn't even finish before realizing a punch was incoming. Jerry slipped to the side at the last second, boots scraping against the floor. He stumbled back as the guard lunged, trying to tackle him. Jerry rolled out of the way and burst forward, throwing a kick. The guard ducked under it and countered with a hard shot to Jerry's gut.
"AGH—! Fuck—" Jerry doubled over, clutching his stomach. The guard didn't hesitate—two quick blows, one cracking across Jerry's face, the second slamming into the other side.
Jerry lashed out with a kick to the guard's gut. The guard grunted but recovered quickly and charged again. Both of them hit the marble floor, thrashing, fists flying. Jerry slammed his forehead into the guard's face; the guard retaliated with brutal shots into Jerry's gut and skull.
Gritting his teeth, Jerry drove his knee into the man's chest and shoved him off. He staggered upright, slumped, exhausted—but refusing to back down. The guard rose too, eyeing him.
"You've got some fight, kid," the guard growled. "But too bad. I have to kill you."
Jerry wiped blood from his lip and let out a shaky laugh.
"I'm a bug you can't kill. Well—maybe with a blowtorch. But I'll still kick your ass harder than your mother ever did."
The guard swung, but Jerry parried. Jerry went for a knee, but the guard caught it and cracked him across the face. Jerry retaliated, grabbing the guard's fist mid-strike and punching him in the chest.
"AGH—! Lucky hit, you little shit—" The guard hammered Jerry twice in the ribs. Jerry staggered back, pain flaring sharp.
"That's… not good…" he wheezed.
He coughed, straightened, and lunged again. His punch nearly landed, but the guard slipped it neatly and dodged the second one. Jerry's footing gave out and he hit the floor hard.
The door swung open.
Kanatashi soldiers rushed in. One stepped forward and cracked Jerry across the head with the underside of a pistol.
Everything went black.
A flicker of light.
Then Jerry's eyes opened.
Everything was dark.
A heavy darkness—thick, unmoving.
What… happened?
In a split second Jerry jolted upright, eyes darting around.
"What the hell is this place…?"
The air was cold, carrying a faint, eerie breeze. The floor beneath him felt solid, wooden even, but everything—walls, ceiling, horizon—was swallowed in pitch-black emptiness.
But then…
Someone stood in the distance, staring straight at him.
A familiar voice cut through the void.
"Looks like your overprotective side got you captured, huh? Jerry Tanaki. God, what a stupid-ass name, if I must say."
Jerry's eyes narrowed.
"…Dusk. Why now—"
Before he could finish, Dusk raised a finger and shushed him sharply.
"Shut the fuck up, you stupid idiot." His voice was cold, simmering with anger. "You let yourself fall into this mess—walking that stupid path, trying to help someone useless like Kaito. If we die? That's on you."
He jabbed a finger toward Jerry, barely keeping his rage contained. After a breath, he forced himself to calm down.
Jerry glared back. "My friends aren't useless. And you're useless, because I'm changing my attitude and my language. Although… maybe the language part needs a relapse."
Dusk looked at him with disappointment, shaking his head.
"No matter what you do, you keep trying. We keep trying. But for some reason… I can't seem to be happy. We can't seem to be happy. Even if we lie and pretend all we want is to protect people."
He slowly circled Jerry as he spoke.
Jerry tightened his fists. "Why do you always have to take the easy way out? I can actually achieve something if I take the hard road. Maybe life could be better than this."
Dusk laughed—sharp, mocking.
"You're such a hero-type guy. You've got main-character syndrome or something. And let's be real—we both know damn well we like taking it easy. Humans are lazy, stupid, and evil as hell. There's no such thing as a 'best person.' The scariest thing about us is that no one ever knows what we're thinking." He smirked.
Jerry's voice hardened.
"No. I'm going to help everyone I can. I'm not leaving people behind to die, or be alone. And I'm not letting you talk me down, Dusk."
Dusk's expression darkened. "You don't get it. We both make up Jerry. We're the same person—just different emotions, different versions, different masks." His eyes narrowed. "You're the peaceful one. I'm the one who protects us from things like this. I would've killed that guard without a single thought if you didn't exist. I am the depression, the hopelessness, the anger. Without me, we wouldn't have survived this long."
Jerry stared at him, still irritated but now confused.
"What do you mean we're… personalities? I just got knocked out and now I'm here."
Dusk stared at Jerry, eyes narrowing as if calculating something.
"Oh. Okay, so you're not a personality. You're me and I'm you. Right then…" He clicked his tongue. "Why didn't you stay in that vent, dumbass? This is an unknown error. You shouldn't even be here if you're not a mixed emotion. That system probably leaks that mana shit you see in fantasy novels."
Jerry jabbed a finger at him.
"HEY! I knew he knew I was there, and I was trying to knock him out! And why are you calling me an emotion?! I COULD'VE KICKED THAT GUARD'S ASS!"
Dusk raised a bored eyebrow.
"Well, looks like he didn't know until you made him know, dumbass."
Jerry groaned and dragged a hand down his face.
"…Why do I even bother."
Dusk stared at him with a blank, almost stupid expression.
"We're still in danger. We could be dead, y'know? So use that system thingy to help you out… if you ever wake up."
Jerry slumped, exhausted.
"Yeah… I'll try to use it."
The darkness around them suddenly cracked—thin lines of light splitting through the void. The ground trembled.
Jerry's eyes widened.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"
Dusk looked around and shrugged.
"Looks like we're waking up. Or should I say you're waking up. I'm honestly surprised they let you live. Anyway—bye, you stupid fuck. Hope to see you in four months… or, heh, maybe two."
Jerry glared at him.
"I hope I never see you again. You're probably just an emo phase of me. But… bye."
He stepped back and let himself fall into the growing white void.
Dusk watched him drop. His smirk returned.
"Heh… I'll be useful soon. We are Jerry, after all."
Jerry gasped awake.
He was sitting upright in a small metal room, wrists secured to a thick pipe behind him with plastic handcuffs. His mouth was taped. He ripped it off with a sharp wince.
"OW—! Damn… This kinda reminds me of that one choice game I played. The one with Sean and Daniel… I forgot the name. Whatever—no time to remember. I need to get out."
He pulled hard, trying to snap the cuffs, but the plastic barely budged.
"What the hell are these made of…? Okay, twisting technique. Let's try that."
Jerry rolled sideways on the floor, doing a clumsy death roll. The cuffs bent slightly—but tightened painfully against his wrists.
"OW—okay, never mind. Bad idea…"
Meanwhile, in another part of the house—
Toya glanced at Kaito, irritation already rising.
"Kaito. Are you expecting visitors?"
Kaito looked up, annoyed.
"No. Why?"
Toya's voice became stern.
"Because your lower-class friends are here. And just for today, your mother and I are allowing a short visit. But we have a problem to deal with, so stay out of the way."
Kaito's eyes widened, then narrowed.
"…Tch. Whatever. Just go. And stop talking shit about my friends."
Toya scoffed, jaw tensing.
"Fine, you little shit. Have it your way."
He turned and walked off, his shoes tapping against the marble floor. As he turned the corner, he disappeared behind a massive T-rex fossil mounted along the wall.
Kaito rubbed his temple and went to the front door.
Everyone stood there—Sora, Mina, Aiko, Ryo, Nana, Tomo, Haru, and Terron—breathing heavily like they'd sprinted across half the city.
Kaito stared at them.
"What are you guys doing here? I told you NOT to come!"
Sora threw his hands up.
"Yeah, well we've got bigger problems right now!"
Mina, Aiko, Ryo, Nana, Tomo, Haru, and Terron were already huddled around a heater, practically melting in bliss.
Kaito's tone softened, despite himself.
"Why did you all come? You know damn well my parents hate you."
Sora's expression turned serious.
"It's about Jerry. And… he chased you here."
Kaito frowned, irritation flaring again.
"Of course he did. Guy's got a death wish. Tch… fine. Let's look around. No one'll see us—my parents shut down all the cameras."
Sora nodded, then looked to Terron.
"Terron. Check around for anything about Jerry."
Terron's eyes wandered around the mansion's oversized living room—gold-flaked designs, massive ceilings, furniture that probably cost more than his whole house.
He snapped out of it and nodded.
"Yeah, I'll look around… but I gotta use the washroom first."
Sora rolled his eyes.
"Go. Just don't take forever."
Terron walked across the polished marble floor, staring up at the ridiculously high ceiling and ornate decor. He spotted an elevator built right into the wall.
"This family is REALLY rich…" he muttered.
He found the bathroom door, pushed it open
[ System activated. Welcome, Terron. What will be your needs today? ]
Terron froze.
"WHAT THE—?!"
He stumbled back in shock.
"What is this sci-fi shit?!"
[Terron Kentaki — your quest is to locate main host Jerry Kentaki. Navigation mode activated.]
Terron stared at the glowing text above the sink like it had personally offended him.
"…Okay. Cool. Sure. Whatever you say," he muttered. "But I'm using the bathroom first."
[System alert: Four months until transport to another world.]
Terron nearly choked on his spit.
"I—EXCUSE ME? I BEG YOUR FINEST PARDON?!"
He grabbed the counter for balance.
"Nah. Nope. Not accepting that. That's a fever dream line. A schizophrenia DLC. I'm ignoring it."
He used the bathroom anyway, glaring at everything like it personally insulted him—the gold toilet, the stupidly advanced shower, the pearl-tiled walls, the marble polished to a blinding shine.
"Show-offs…" Terron scoffed.
Then the system pinged again:
[Navigation active. Displaying route to the main host.]
A line of glowing blue dots shimmered on the floor… and continued under the bathroom door like some RPG quest trail.
Terron stared… then sighed deeply.
"…Yeah, okay. Guess I'm trusting this fantasy bullshit now."
Meanwhile…
Kaito sat on the velvet couch with the others, tapping his foot anxiously.
"Mina… are you SURE Jerry's here?"
Mina nodded without hesitation.
"Yeah. With how big this mansion is? He's here somewhere. No doubt."
Sora's ears twitched slightly—he froze, tilting his head.
"…I can hear someone on the other side of this wall."
(Behind the wall)
Jerry, mouth taped back up by the guard AFTER he ripped the first one off, was violently struggling—
and screaming in his head:
"YES SORA—THERE IS SOMEONE BEHIND THIS THICK-ASS WOODEN WALL! IT'S ME, YOU BEAUTIFUL BASTARD! HELP!"
{He's not gay just happy sora said that as his first guess -tobi}
He yanked desperately at the plastic cuffs binding him to the metal pipe, kicking the wall with everything he had.
Each thump echoed faintly.
Back in the living room
Sora pressed his ear to the wood.
"…It's a pipe back there. But what the hell makes a pipe sound like that?"
Aiko and Nana were standing near a heater vent, faces practically melting from the warmth.
Aiko sighed dreamily.
"Probably a water pipe. Kaito complains about those every day."
But Sora's eyes narrowed.
"No. It's too… rhythmic. Too deliberate."
Behind them, Ryo dropped a fancy vase.
The vase shattered.
Ryo silently walked away like he was never there.
Nana tapped the wall thoughtfully.
"Well, it does sound like a separate room."
Haru knocked it with his knuckles.
"It's thick. So how can you even hear through something like this?"
Ryo shrugged casually.
"Muffled vibrations? Like when Mina kicks Sora in the ribs."
Kaito touched the wall again.
The thumps were faint—but they were not pipe noises.
They felt… human.
"There's someone back there," Kaito muttered, brows knitting. "But… I don't know if it's the maintenance crew."
Meanwhile…
Terron crept through the halls, following the glowing blue dots.
Maids walked past. Guards patrolled.
He barely dodged them, sliding behind furniture and statues like he was in a stealth video game.
Then he spotted it.
A vent.
He stared.
"…That's what I call plot convenience."
He opened it, crawled inside, and quietly sealed it behind him.
"Tch, I hate how crowded this is… damn." Terron crawled along the warm metallic vent floor, trying not to hiss as the heat seeped through his palms.
The system chimed in his vision:
[ALMOST THERE TO MAIN HOST. MAKE THE LEFT TURN.]
Terron narrowed his eyes and muttered, "Okay then… left it is."
He kept crawling, hearing the echo of his movements in the vent. Ahead, the shaft split. Terron dragged himself forward quietly but quickly, whispering under his breath, "Tch, I can't be in these vents anymore… Why does this mansion even need a heater this strong?"
He made the left turn. Far ahead was the end of the vent—finally.
"Tch—finally, I can get out of this damn vent."
But as he got closer, he heard voices. Terron froze, peeking through the slits of the vent cover. A guard was speaking to a tall woman with an icy presence.
"Lady Kanatashi… what do we do with that boy in the other room?"
Her gaze was so cold it made the guard stiffen.
"Let me see the little shit. I want to know what he's made of."
The guard bowed quickly. "As you wish, my lady."
He opened the door next to them.
Just then, someone else stepped into the hall—Toya.
The guard flinched in surprise. "M-Mr. Kanatashi… what are you doing here?"
Toya looked at the long knife, his eyes cold.
"To see what makes him tick. Someone of his caliber can't infiltrate this mansion without knowing exactly what they're doing… and being that quiet until capture? Impossible."
Mizuka's lips curled into a malevolent smile.
"That's why I love you, Toya."
Up in the vents, Terron was already typing into his system, sending Jerry a message.
---
Back to Jerry
Jerry sat tied to the pipe, irritation boiling as more system pop-ups flashed in front of him.
"This is such a fucking annoying thing to see and hear…"
Another notification blinked:
[NEW MESSAGE FROM TERRON KENTAKI]
Jerry tilted his head. "Hm?"
The message opened, and the system read it aloud:
[Jerry, try to escape. They're planning to torture you for breaking in, and they're not going to play around with that long knife.]
Jerry's eyes narrowed. He scanned the room quickly, then summoned his own system.
[OPTION BOX GRANTED. USE ONE WISH.]
He leaned forward and typed with his nose:
freedom
[Wish granted.]
The plastic cuffs shattered instantly.
Jerry stared at his now-free wrists—shocked and relieved.
"Finally… I'm out."
The vent behind him swung open. Terron peered out.
"Jerry—get in here, now."
Jerry didn't hesitate. "Don't have to tell me twice!"
He scrambled into the vent and shut it behind him.
Terron glared at him, furious.
"Jerry, don't be stupid and risk your damn life for him! He can handle his own! You fucking idiot—this wouldn't have happened if you didn't follow him—"
Jerry snapped right back, anger flaring.
"Shut the fuck up. You know damn well if you went missing, I wouldn't look for you if you were already a lost cause."
The words slipped out too fast. Jerry's eyes widened, hand slapping over his mouth.
"W-wait—shit, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry—I swear—"
Terron fired back immediately, voice low and venomous:
"Shut the fuck up… bitch. Let's just go."
Jerry dropped his gaze as they crawled, shame crawling up his spine.
Inside his head he screamed:
"FUCKING DUSK! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN! I DIDN'T EVEN SAY THAT—YOU TOOK CONTROL, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
Meanwhile… Somewhere far from Earth
A figure watched Jerry through a celestial well, amusement glinting in his eyes.
"What an interesting specimen of a mortal… Ready, Chronos? Let's see if he's worthy."
The god of time folded his arms.
"Are you sure this one is worthy of our entertainment, Hades? Or the god of the underworld?"
Hades chuckled darkly.
"After what he does next, we'll kill him off with his brother. The Chainmaster Council won't see our perfect puppet—or our weapon—coming."
Chronos smirked.
"Maybe we can use Jerry as a weapon against the Chainmasters. But he'll need a blessing. And I doubt it will feel like a blessing."
Hades peered into the well, watching Jerry and Terron escape the mansion while everyone behind them fumed. Jerry looked down, guilt written all over him.
Hades smiled, twisted and cruel.
"What if we kill his brother too? Split them apart. Use them both as Chainmaster killers. Even though Chainmasters are immortal… not even erasing them works. As long as they're remembered, they revive."
Chronos leaned in.
"Terron's body can handle mana… but Jerry's can't. Did you try corrupting Jerry's soul?"
Hades huffed.
"I did. But someone inside him stopped me. Dusk. Not an emotion—an alter ego made alive by mana… not normal mana."
Chronos's eyes widened.
"Wait—NO. Zeus and Aphrodite blessed Terron?! DAMN IT—CURSE JERRY, NOW!"
His voice shook the universes orbiting their floating island.
Hades' hands glowed a deep crimson—then the spell shot outward instantly.
He smiled.
"Done. Jerry has our blessing."
Chronos scowled into the well.
"In one and a half months, kill him. Use a new strain of… what do mortals call it? Tuberculosis."
Hades bowed mockingly.
"With pleasure."
Chapter End
Homesick Arc Finished.
Dungeons & Death Trials Arc begins in two chapters.a