In a dim, oppressive room, a man was tied to a chair, beaten so badly he was barely recognizable.
When he finally opened his eyes, a shadowy figure emerged, moving toward him with an unsettling calmness.
"You were supposed to be the best subject for Project 'Perfect B…' I suppose that's enough for today." The figure said, his voice emotionless.
The victim coughed up blood. "Who… who are you?" he asked, fear crushing his chest, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
The figure chuckled softly, taking a step back. "Oh? Did I hit you that hard? It seems you've forgotten me. Let's say… for now I am the end of smile."
"Farewell. You were fun to play with. Once my work is finished… I'll come back for you." The figure said menacingly. With that, he turned and walked away.
Zero startled awake in his bed, drenched in sweat, panting heavily. {These dreams again… who or what is this 'end of smile'? And why do they keep coming back?}
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Brother, it's time for school! Wakey wakey!" his sister Yuki called cheerfully.
"Yeah… I'm up," Zero replied, still shaken.
At Fung High School, as Zero was walking on the road, he heard someone mumbling something, so he got closer to the school's boundary wall.
"Please stop it!"
Zero's brow furrowed. "Huh? I haven't been to school in days… I should sneak in from the back."
He scaled the school wall silently near the rear entrance, where he spotted two students; the male was harassing the female.
The boy gets close to her and smashes the wall. "Come on, Rosy, we've known each other for so long. How much longer do you just want to be friends?"
"Qing, I… I love someone else. Please try to understand," Rosy replied.
"You bitch. First you act like I'm all you have, like you like me, and now this?" Qing said in an aggressive tone.
She pushed him and started to walk away, but that got him so mad that he lost control, and he pulled her hair and grabbed her neck tightly. "Don't even try to make a noise, and do as I say."
{What am I even seeing?} Zero thought.
"Knock it off," Zero said, as he jumped down off the wall, suppressing a rising sense of disgust. {Let's act sweet and harmless. like a cute girl. That's what he likes.}
Qing glared at him. "Go away! It isn't your business!"
In one swift motion, Zero snatched a nearby rock, hurled it at him, and took off running.
He stumbled and fell with a loud thud.
"I'll kill you!" Qing shouted, his voice filled with rage. He looks at Rosy and says, "There's nothing you can do… so don't even try."
But Zero deftly vaulted over the wall once more.
Qing goes out the black entrance and looks for Zero everywhere.
But Zero never left; he was holding himself on the other side, so the moment the male student went outside, Zero got back in instantly. The girl was shaking in fear.
For a while they spoke; Zero asked her why she didn't scream or get anyone's help, and her reasoning behind it was that they are childhood friends and they both know almost everything about each other. So she was scared to ask for help.
"If I were you, I wouldn't care about that." As he speaks, it gets her to wonder. "It's better to be at risk of being exposed than to forcefully be a tool under someone's hands. So for once in your life, use the brain that you've been given; nobody is born with knowledge, we gain it ourselves." Zero said, and as he was leaving, the girl thanked him.
After a while.
He was going back, and he saw that girl and a guy with striking light blue hair taking on that male student, dismantling his bravado with effortless movements.
{Well, I'll head home.} Zero thought. Just as he entered an alley right then, a sharp pain shot through his head. "Ugh, not again!"
A voice emerged from the shadows, chilling him to the bone. "It seems like you've lost your memories… how pathetic. You're useless to us now."
"Wait! What memory?" Zero shouted, and he started to look around, trying to find the person, frustration boiling over. {useless…?}
He noticed a man who was looking at him from not so far, and he turned round and entered a dead end, and Zero instinctively followed, but he vanished into thin air. Desperate, Zero wandered the streets, searching for answers.
"Memories, huh..."
Suddenly, he collided into Qing. This time, he had a bat with him, and he was quick enough to pummel him with the bat.
{Why is it always me? Why... Why, WHY?!} Zero screamed internally, rage igniting within him.
Zero glared at him, his eyes burning with defiance.
"All you can do is glare at me? Come on, baby… beg and cry for mercy!" Qing taunted.
"How boring," Zero said. Zero caught the bat with his hand. In the same instant, he broke through Qing's defense.
And before we know it Qing was already unconscious on the ground.
Later that day, back at home, Yuki noticed his bruised fist.
"Hey, why is your hand red?" She asked, her brow furrowing with concern.
"I don't know; by the way, the wind is strangely cold today." Zero shrugged, trying to dismiss the question.
Yuki blushed, her tone shifting to a shy whisper. "Oh, um… Brother, I like someone…"
"Oh, who? I promise I won't tell Mom," Zero teased, intrigued.
Yuki beamed, pointing at him playfully, "It's you! Haha, got you again! I'm not like others; I'll accept whoever you and Mom choose."
"Ah, it's your life. If you really like someone, just tell me. I'll support you," he replied, a mixture of exasperation and affection in his voice.
The next day, Zero lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
{That end of smile guy said he'd come back? And that other guy. It doesn't make sense, it can't be just a dream, so what is it that I've forgotten?} With his thoughts, he kept digging deep for the truth.
He sat up, determination igniting within him. {I need my memories back. All I remember is waking up in an abandoned construction site, my body a bloody mess. I survived, but so much of my past is lost. Even now, a gaping emptiness haunts me, a void where my memories should be, but it isn't there.}
He decided to venture outside, seeking solace beneath the night sky.
At 10:20 p.m. - 20:20, Zero lay on the cool grass, feeling the weight of the world pressing down on him.
"I'm so tired of this life," he muttered, frustrated lacing his voice. "I want something—anything—interesting to happen. How can I get my memories back?"
As he gazed up at the stars, a heavy sigh escaped his lips. "Everything feels like a test, leaving me wandering aimlessly. I only find more questions. I'm fed up with my family's false smiles. They won't tell me about my past life, but I promise—I'll show them what I'm capable of. I need to know myself."
A man strolled by, overhearing his mutterings. "Even with omniscient knowledge, kid, people may know everything but still not themselves."
Zero glanced around, startled. The man had vanished. "Wait… Who was that? Am I really talking to nobody?" {Never know themselves, huh? Maybe I'm not bound by those same rules.}
A nearby child piped up, pointing at Zero. "Mom, I think that man needs mental support!" The mother holds his mouth. "That's rude, say sorry." The Kid sighed and apologized to Zero.
"Never do that again, let's go home it's late." The mother said to the child and they started leaving.
The shadowy figure watched Zero from a distance, whispering to himself. "No matter how much knowledge you gain, even if you knew everything in existence, you might still fail to truly understand yourself." With that, he faded into the night.