My name is Evan Noir. Sixteen years old.Model student. Perfect boy. Everyone's friend.At least… that's what people think.
Funny how introductions work in anime and light novels, right?They always start with: "I'm just your average high school boy."But me? No… I'm anything but average.
Every morning, I wake up and stare at my ceiling — eyes wide open, mind exhausted, body heavy — because I haven't slept in months. Literally.For some reason I can't explain, when night comes… sleep doesn't.
My eyes stay open. My mind stays awake.And every night, I feel this sinking feeling inside my chest.Depression? Emptiness? Loneliness?Honestly… I don't know anymore. I just know it hurts.
But none of that matters once morning comes.
Because I become Evan Noir, the perfect guy.
I walk to school through the streets of Neo-West District, our mildly futuristic city with neon bus stops, holo-ads on building walls, and rail cars humming past overhead. Not cyberpunk-level, but modern enough to feel cool at night. Cold and metallic during the day.
And at school?
I'm surrounded.Clubs want me. People want to talk to me.Girls giggle when I walk by.Teachers praise my athletic ability and my people skills.
Sports? I ace them without trying.Socializing? I'm everyone's "friendly, easy-to-talk-to" guy.Studies?…Let's not talk about studies.
But here's the truth:
Everything I do is an act. A perfect act.Because if I stop acting for even a second… I feel like I'd break.
Even when people talk to me, everything they say sounds distant, like muffled voices underwater.I laugh. I smile. I joke around.But none of it feels like me.
And then there's my home life.
My parents divorced when I was little.My father remarried.My real mother told him she didn't want anything to do with me.
Then… two years ago…My father died.
So now I live with my stepmother, Louisa Noir.She works in the Night City corporate district — the real shiny part of our city — the one with skybridges and mirrored towers.But she's barely home.Maybe once a week, sometimes less.
So yeah… even at home, I'm alone.
Funny, isn't it?A guy surrounded by people every day… but somehow the loneliest person in the world.
Tonight was different though.
My "sleepless routine" was the same — lying in bed, staring at the dim neon glow leaking through the blinds.But tonight, something inside me… snapped?Shifted?Awoke?
I don't even know.
All I knew was: I couldn't stay in that room anymore.
So I stepped out onto the balcony.That's when I saw a few drunk adults laughing on the street below, stumbling around under the holographic billboards.
And suddenly…
I wanted to see the night.Not from my window, not from a balcony.But for real.
The city at night… the lights… the glow…It called to me.
It was stupid, reckless, childish — leaving the house at 1 a.m.A sixteen-year-old kid wandering the streets?Ridiculous, right?
"What if someone sees me? What if a teacher lives nearby? What if the police—"
I shook my head, grinned like an idiot, and whispered to myself:
"There's no way… it's 1 a.m."
And with that tiny bit of courage…
I stepped outside.
For the first time in my entire life.
My heart pounded like crazy. My feet were light. My hands trembled.But the moment I saw the city—the glowing high-rises, the soft neon reflections, workers still smoking outside convenience stores, delivery drones humming past overhead—
I couldn't hold it in anymore.
I ran.
I actually ran down the empty street, laughing like a little kid.
"This is amazing!""This is so nice!""I love the night!!"
I don't remember the last time I felt joy like that.
I stopped running only when I reached a small park with a few benches and a big fountain that sparkled under the moonlight.I sat down, breathing hard, grinning like a fool.
And then I looked up.
The moon was so bright… so calm… so lonely.
"…So beautiful," I mumbled."Yet so lonely."
Just like me.
"Guhh…" I groaned and leaned back. "Why the hell am I like this…?"
That's when—
A shadow blocked the moon.A face suddenly appeared right in front of mine.
A woman's face.
She leaned in, her red eyes glowing softly in the dark.
"What is beautiful?"
I flinched so hard I almost fell off the bench.
And right there—