Chapter 1 - The Shadow That Shouldn't Exist
"Light comes and goes... But this time, when it vanished — darkness was no longer temporary."
There was once light in this world.
But now… it's silent. Dead. Frozen.
As if even time itself had given up.
My name is Keisuke.
Maybe one of the last humans whose mind hasn't been lost since that day.
The day the sky refused to shine.
The day voices faded into whispers.
The day a shadow that was never meant to exist crawled out from nothingness…
and took everything from me.
I still remember Airi's trembling hands.
The warmth of her final embrace.
Her frightened eyes… and that smile — too kind for a world already crumbling.
She gave me hope by giving everything she had left.
But that hope was never whole.
All that remained were emptiness, wounds… and voices in the dark,
whispering my name from places I cannot see.
"Keisuke... it's not over."
Sometimes I ask myself:
Am I truly alive?
Or just a shadow of someone who once dreamed of the light?
My steps are heavy.
But I walk on.
Through ruins and ash, through broken prayers and faded dreams,
I search for something —
a reason to keep going.
Someone once said:
"Light will return when someone strong enough stands against the dark."
But what if…
the light itself has already given up?