[Chapter Header]
ARC: Back Attack Land
The scene opens with Akos in his home. He sits in the middle of the living room, shrouded in silence. Two days have passed since the Great Battle.
Bandages are wrapped tightly around his shoulders and his right arm. Akos hunches over a watch, focus etched on his face as he attempts to repair it.
As he carefully removes the tiny screws, a voice suddenly cuts through the silence from outside. "Akos! Akos!"
Startled, Akos heads to the window. Looking down, he spots Jin Tori.
"Yo, morning! Where have you been all these days?" Jin shouts. "You've been MIA since the day of the battle. Is everything alright?"
"Uh... yeah, I'm fine," Akos replies. "I just needed some time to fix something."
"What exactly are you fixing? Let me see!"
Without waiting for an invite, Jin climbs the exterior stairs leading to the window and hops inside. The two of them share a firm handshake.
"Bro, you actually live here?" Jin remarks, scanning the room. "Where's the front door? Do you always climb up like a monkey? This place is tiny... the living room, the kitchen, even your bed are all in one space. Where's the bathroom?"
Akos points toward a small door.
"Oh, missed it. Anyway, how are you? Everyone's looking for you. Reino sent me to track you down; he's been searching for two days. Even the neighbors mentioned a red-haired guy living up here."
"Searching for two days? I haven't gone anywhere," Akos says flatly. "I've just been home. I have a bit of a headache, that's all. How is Reino? He took some heavy hits."
"He's okay. They took him to the hospital and patched up those sword wounds. We're all good, man. It's just... there's something we need to talk about. Actually, not just one thing. We have a lot of issues to cover."
Jin plops down on Akos's bed. "You got anything to eat, man?"
"Nothing. I haven't gone shopping yet," Akos replies flatly.
"Yo, where's the exit anyway?" Jin continues. "Don't tell me you climb in and out through the window?" He bursts into laughter. "What kind of place is this, bro?"
Akos shoots him a look. "If I were a dog, I'd have bitten you by now, you blind idiot."
"Oh yeah? Where's the door then? The ground floor is empty, and there aren't even stairs leading up here."
Akos gestures toward a wardrobe. "Take a look over there."
"What? Don't tell me you walk through the wardrobe!" Jin laughs harder.
"Just push it."
Jin gets up, shoves the wardrobe aside, and freezes. A hidden door is revealed. "Whoa! Why the hell did you block the door with a wardrobe?"
"That's how I cleaned the place," Akos says, dismissing the subject. "Now stop talking about my house and tell me why you're here."
"Fine. Topic number one: Our Class wants you. They want to talk to you... it looks like you've been accepted. Reino signed a contract with all the Class Leaders yesterday while you were MIA."
Akos picks up his watch. "I hear you, but I don't want to stress my brain with that right now. Is there a shop nearby that repairs watches?"
"Sure," Jin nods. "There's a guy named Yuzana Jao. He's a pro, but he's a total moron. He's afraid of his own shadow."
Akos grabs his red hoodie and pulls it on. "Take me there. We'll deal with the rest later."
The two of them step out and hit the streets.
"You know..." Jin says as they walk. "Back in the fight, I saw how you wrecked him. You were terrifying. Your aura was incredibly oppressive."
For the first time, Akos lets out a genuine laugh. Jin stares at him, surprised.
"What you saw was nothing," Akos says. "I didn't even use my full power."
"Are you saying if you went all out, you'd level half the city?" Jin jokes.
"It depends on my mood," Akos answers. "If a fight is boring, it's not even worth the effort. But if there's a real threat... then it's fun."
"Fun, huh? Bro, we're on the same wavelength!"
They enter the ALPHA District. As they walk, an elderly woman shouts from a window.
"Jin! Don't forget to come by for lunch!"
Jin beams at her. "I won't!"
People on the street greet him with warm smiles.
"Seems like you're popular around here," Akos observes.
"Yeah... because this is where they found me."
"What do you mean?"
"I was a foundling," Jin says. "I don't know who dumped me. My parents just left. I grew up in an orphanage, but I'd sneak out every single day just to come back to this neighborhood."
As they walk, they spot Riko carrying bags of groceries.
"Yo, Chef! Where you headed?" Jin shouts.
Riko makes his way toward them.
"Oh, morning guys! And... morning, Boss. How are you holding up?" Riko says, nodding to Akos.
"Don't call me Boss," Akos snaps, clearly annoyed.
"Hahaha, come on... anyway, where are you two going?"
"To your place!" Jin chirps.
"My place?"
"To see Yuzana, man!"
"Well, yeah, he stays there too."
"Are you brothers?" Akos asks, tilting his head.
"No, but we live together," Riko explains. "Come on, follow me."
Jin grabs one of the bags. "So, what's on the menu today?" He peeks inside and the pungent scent of raw fish hits him square in the face. "Ugh, bro... fish?" Jin gags. "How can you stand eating fish? Oh god, I'm having a heart attack here!"
Riko laughs. "How can you not like fish? It's my favorite food!"
"Get outta here! Chicken is king. A nice fillet... yummy! Best thing in the world," Jin says, his eyes sparkling.
"Fillet?" Akos interjects.
"Yeah, why?"
"How do you take it?"
"Fillet, french fries, and plenty of ketchup!"
Akos looks him dead in the eye. "That... is also my favorite meal."
"No way!" Jin offers his hand for a high-five or a shake. "Brother, we really are on the same wavelength! Hahaha!"
Riko watches them with a deadpan expression.
"Riko, when are you making us some fillet, huh?" Jin asks.
"Never..." Riko replies flatly.
"I know you'll do it eventually, or I'll raise hell!"
Jin turns to Akos. "Seriously though, Riko is the best chef in the entire city. His cooking is legendary."
"That's because I can 'smell' the ingredients," Riko says with a hint of pride. "I know exactly what's good and what's spoiled before I even touch it."
"Riko's sense of smell has surpassed human limits," Jin explains. "He can pick up scents and tiny details that normal people would never notice."
"That's... interesting," Akos mutters, intrigued.
They arrive at the house and head inside. Riko drops the groceries on the table and yells for Yuzana to come downstairs.
Riko leads Akos and Jin to the second floor. A large sign hangs on Yuzana's door: "STOP." Riko ignores it and pushes the door open.
"Yo! You listening?" Riko shouts.
In the middle of absolute chaos, Yuzana is sitting on the floor, head in his hands. The room is a disaster zone—empty chip bags, soda cans, and greasy fast-food wrappers everywhere.
"What's wrong with this guy?" Jin asks, recoiling. "And why is this room so filthy?"
Suddenly, Yuzana snaps his head around. Seeing the intruders, he lets out a terrified shriek. "Eeeek! A devil!" He scrambles back, falling onto his bed in a panic.
"Get up, moron!" Riko barks.
"W-what do you want from me?" Yuzana stammers.
Akos steps forward. "Fix my watch. Now."
"No," Yuzana says flatly.
"Is 50,000 Yen enough?" Akos asks calmly.
Yuzana, Riko, and Jin freeze. They stare at him, stunned.
"Absolutely! Yes! Where is it?" Yuzana's attitude flips instantly.
Akos hands over the watch.
"50,000 Yen just to fix a watch?" Riko mutters, looking like he's about to cry.
"Wait... is our Boss that loaded?" Jin wonders aloud.
"Calm down," Akos says, then turns to Riko. "Why does he live like a caveman? The place is a dump."
"Yuzana is a gamer and a hacker," Riko explains. "He's a tech genius. He's our age, eighteen."
Jin adds that Yuzana isn't a member of the ALPHA gang. He doesn't belong to any gang, but like certain other specialists, he has deep ties with Reino and the core members.
Minutes later, Yuzana hands it back. "Done. The mechanism was just jammed. Easy fix."
Akos remains silent. How did he fix it so fast when Akos had struggled for two days?
"Quick work, quick shock!" Riko grins.
Akos pulls out his phone. Yuzana opens an app called PayFastKN—a cutting-edge mobile payment technology.
"You're paying via phone?" Riko says, blinking. "I don't get tech, but... wow."
"In a few years, this will be everywhere," Yuzana says. "It's only 2013 now, but in the future, we might even have AI assistants."
Riko and Jin exchange blank stares. They have no idea what he's talking about.
Suddenly, Yuzana freezes. His eyes bulge as he looks at the transfer screen. "W-what... what is this?"
"Take your payment and give me the phone back," Akos says.
"64,275,323,000 Yen?! Who the hell are you, man?!" Yuzana screams.
Riko and Jin turn into statues. They stare at Akos in pure, unadulterated shock.
Akos calmly retrieves his phone and the watch. "Keep it together. Now, what does Reino want with me?"
The three of them remain frozen, unable to process the number they just saw.
"Who exactly are you? What's your name?" Yuzana asked, his voice trembling. Akos met his gaze. "Akos Tasaku."
Yuzana froze. "What? Tasaku? You've gotta be kidding me! The Tasaku clan is a titan—they control all of Japan! Tech, trade, even the military! Oh god, I'm having a heart attack..." "What are you talking about?" Akos frowned. "It's just a normal last name."
"Ehh? You don't even know where you belong?" Yuzana clutched his chest, looking like he was about to collapse. Riko and Jin exchanged confused glances. "Yuzana, what are you rambling about? What Tasaku? There's no clan by that name."
"And another thing," Jin added. "Earlier you said it was 2013. It's 2025. Are you okay? Did your brain rot?" "What? 2025? When did we get here?" "Look at your phone," Jin said flatly.
Yuzana checked the screen: May 4, 2025. "What?! Three days ago, it was January 1st, 2013! What the hell is happening to the world?"
Akos watched him in silence. 'That strange creature, Devil's End, told me we are in a Fake World while simultaneously being in the Real World, in the same timeline. This means the Fake World only affects certain individuals...'
Before he could finish the thought, the room plunged into absolute darkness. Devil's End appeared before him. "Just like a Sorcerer..." the creature whispered, finishing Akos's thought.
"You again?" "Don't scream, nobody can hear you," Devil's End laughed. "I'm not in your body right now; I'm inside your mind. We're going to play a survival game. Try to escape the Fake World while I do everything in my power to keep you here. See you around, User of the Infinite Eyes!"
Suddenly, the floor vanished. Akos plummeted into a black void. Around him, he saw Jin, Riko, Reino, and other strangers—all of them were dead, falling alongside him. Looking down, he paled. He saw his grandfather, multiplied hundreds of times, all with glowing red eyes. Below them, a hellish pit of lava opened up.
Akos hit the lava but didn't sink. Instead, the hundreds of versions of his grandfather grabbed his legs, trying to drag him under. Akos screamed in terror. Suddenly, the lava turned into pitch-black water. 'You're going to die... Rot... Wake up Akos... You need to get out!' Thousands of voices shrieked at once. But one voice pierced through the din: 'You must escape SAKOURA!'
The scene shifted to a dark forest. Akos hit the ground, surrounded by red eyes lurking in the shadows. To his right, he saw a faceless figure. "Tokyo Hoja North," the entity told him.
The ground tilted into a steep slope, and Akos slid toward the gaping maw of a colossal beast. Just before he was swallowed, he snapped awake. Jin was hovering over him, tapping his nose to bring him around. Akos was back on Riko's bed, gasping for air.
"Are you okay? Why did you pass out?" Riko asked. "Who are you people?" Akos screamed. "Shut up! Stop shouting!" Jin snapped.
Akos looked back and recoiled. Yuzana was there, but he was headless, yet his voice echoed through the room: "You aren't a Tasaku..." "Where am I? Get me out of here!" Akos bolted in a panic.
Riko, Jin, and Yuzana began to hunt him. "You're a curse! You have to die!" He burst out of the house to find the entire ALPHA gang with red eyes under a blood-red sky. The whole city of Sinish was chasing him. The voice of Devil's End (Sakoura) boomed everywhere: "How do you like my game? Hahaha!"
As he ran, he passed through a barrier and everything turned white. In the center of the void sat a figure. Neither human nor devil—something higher, faceless. "You must leave Sinish. Come to Tokyo Hoja North. You are the last hope."
"Who are you?" "Outside the Fake World, only one Sorcerer remains, trying to free the others. Devil's End changed the core of your ability. Find the core and put it back in your eyes!"
A sound like shattering glass rang out, and Akos fell into darkness once more. He woke up to the shouts of Riko, Jin, and Yuzana. He looked around in a frenzy. "Why did you want to kill me? Where am I?" He clutched his head, acting like a madman.
Riko tried to calm him down. After a while, Akos realized it had all been a nightmare... or was it? His head throbbed with a pain so intense it felt like it would explode.