Not praying for ten strings

In a world dominated by seven super-corporations, the Longevity Species that always occupied the pinnacle of power didn't allow for the enactment of written laws. The Floating Islands of prisons delimited by lines on the map, where resources would inevitably run out in the future...
People yearned for the birth of a true "Hero," yet they cynically awaited the fall of a Hero from grace.
As long as one was hailed by the media as a Hero, even murder could be forgiven, and every word they said would be adored. Even high and mighty Elves dared not provoke the edge of a Hero.
But if a Hero of the past committed even a minor offense, the moment their image crumbled, the forgiven sins would flare up like an inextinguishable furnace, and the stars of yesterday would instantly become unforgivable criminals...
"—Come become a Hero, Russell."
The most vicious criminal in the world thrust a knife into the boy's hand, whispering a low enticement.
——————
Solo female lead, Beast Ears, Spiritual Energy, Mechanical Angels, and other elements. Cyber-fantasy. Please refrain if not to your liking.

Tower of Overturn

The fragments of Song Sparrow's memories that floated before him now seemed so familiar.


What he had just seen were the deepest memories within the "Song Sparrow" mask.


Russell remembered that Fela should be Song Sparrow's real name.


And Shirley, appeared to be Morgan's name before he received his alias...


He murmured softly, "What exactly am I afraid of..."


Russell's voice overlapped with that of the "godfather": "What are you all so afraid of..."


The fear deep within his heart... was Loneliness.


And these "masks" possessed it as well.


That fear of being abandoned by the whole world, the Loneliness of having no one to help oneself—that was the Despair that soaked through one's being only when faced with an absolutely insurmountable problem.


——From the start, his thinking had been wrong.


Chapter 10 A Hero of One's Own