Chapter 1: The Memoryless Human memories can become weapons.
In the dueling grounds of the Memory Armament Academy, a blazing greatsword came crashing down from the sky, tearing through the air and slamming into the stone floor. Dust burst upward. Shards scattered.
The boy on the other side stumbled back, his weapon trembling in his grip.
It was a chain—cold and glowing faintly blue—with a small bronze bell tied at the end.
"That bell was from his grandfather," someone whispered nearby.
"He was holding it when his grandpa died."
"So his Armament is… the memory of his grandfather?"
"Yeah. Everyone's Memory Armament comes from their strongest memory."
In this world, everyone could summon a weapon forged from their deepest memories—called a Memory Armament .
It was the foundation of power.
At the edge of the arena, a lone boy sat on the topmost step—silent, unmoving.
His name was Nie Shi .
He had been here for three years.
In those years, everyone else had awakened their Armament. Some brilliant, some sharp, some heavy with grief. But he—he had nothing.
He wasn't lazy.
He wasn't amnesiac.
He remembered his childhood, books, lessons, even how people smiled onstage—
But not a single memory had ever answered him.
Maybe… he was never meant to have a Memory Armament of his own.
That thought had long since gone from pain to numbness.
He was used to being ignored.
Used to the looks.
From a distance, a few students snuck glances at him.
"He's here again. Just sitting there like he's part of the class."
"Still waiting for a miracle? How sad."
But one voice sighed.
"His mental strength isn't bad, honestly. It's a shame… like his memories refuse to answer."
A teacher glanced his way, then looked away again.
That glance held quiet pity—and helplessness.
Nie Shi no longer expected anything.
He hadn't come to fight.
He came to find answers.
But three years had passed.
He still had none.
Then, today—everything changed.
A sharp crack echoed from the sky.
The floating arena screen flickered. Glitched. And then the system feed shifted—
To a blood-drenched street.
A small figure knelt in the middle, holding a lifeless body. Crying—yet soundless.
The entire arena went silent.
"Whose memory is that?" someone whispered.
"Why is it showing on the public feed?"
Nie Shi's heart began to race.
He didn't recognize the memory.
But his chest burned.
His vision blurred.
Something deep inside… cracked open.
Why does this pain feel like it's mine? And then, a spear appeared before him.
Long. Black as night. Like it had crawled out of a grave.
Etched faintly along its shaft were the words: "Only by returning the memory can you survive." Nie Shi froze.
His hand moved on its own.
The spear drifted into his palm.
And the entire arena held its breath.
He had never summoned an Armament.
But now—he held someone else's memory.
"What is that?!" a teacher's voice rang out in alarm.
The system was supposed to be locked.
No weapon could appear without registration.
Yet the black spear floated there, calm, as if it had always belonged to him.
"Don't touch it! That might be a wild Armament!"
"It'll corrupt him!"
Nie Shi heard them.
But he didn't move.
His breath trembled. His skin burned.
Something inside him was reaching out to the weapon.
His fingers brushed the shaft. BOOM. A shockwave exploded from beneath him!
Spectators were thrown back.
The air cracked like glass.
Tiles burst into dust.
A phantom image erupted from Nie Shi's body—
That same street.
The same scream.
A shattered gun.
A promise made through tears.
It wasn't his memory.
But the spear had answered him.
"He… he manifested an Armament?!"
"I thought he was Memoryless?!"
Nie Shi didn't speak.
But something in his eyes had changed.
The spear was heavy—
But his body felt light.
"Put it down! You don't know what it'll—" Too late. BOOM!! A single sweep.
A wave of black energy blasted the charging boy five meters away.
He crashed and didn't rise.
Chaos erupted.
"Emergency protocol! Lock the field!"
Energy barriers flared into place.
Dozens of force blades circled Nie Shi.
The spear's black glow slowly faded—
As if the binding was complete.
Then, the system screen activated: [Identification in Progress—Unregistered Armament] [Origin: Unknown] [Memory Match: Failed] [Status: Binding…] Alarms flared across the control stations. Teachers shouted in confusion.
"Why is the system accepting the bind request? That thing isn't authorized!"
"Is this a bug? A remote interference?!"
Nie Shi stared down at the weapon in his hands.
He didn't know whose memory it was.
Didn't know why it came.
Didn't know what it meant.
But he could feel it.
It was sleeping.
Waiting.
Answering the blank inside him.
He had never possessed a Memory Armament.
But now—he had something that answered.
Nie Shi raised his head and looked at the world.
The wind died.
The system screen glowed red behind him.
A warning.
A signal.
A declaration.
He…
was no longer Memoryless. [End of Chapter One]