Tokyo Arc 5 - Sleepy Little Glitch

The world had gone quiet.

Not the peaceful kind.

The kind that follows devastation.

The kind that rings after your soul's been torn in half.

Haku stood there, knees slack, shoulders hunched forward like a puppet with its strings cut. His hands trembled at his sides. His eyes weren't crying anymore. They were too broken for that.

The body of his brother lay still behind him, still crackling with faint static. Gone. Truly gone.

Kaze...His hero.His anchor.His big brother.

And now?

Just... silence.

Then—

Screams.

A group of enemies, ten or more, charged from the shadows.

"That's him!""He's weakened!""Kill him while he's still down!"

But Haku didn't move.

Not his legs. Not his arms. Just… his eyes.

He glanced at the ground.

And it shattered.

Ice erupted like vengeance from hell.

Jagged spikes shot out of the pavement beneath the attackers, impaling every one of them in an instant—no hesitation, no mercy. Their screams were cut short like they were never meant to finish.

The others?

They ran.

No one wanted to die that fast.

Haku didn't even flinch. He just stood there, panting slightly.

He looked down at his hands.

Blue sparks danced around his fingers.

"…Lightning…?" he whispered.

He stared harder.

The crackling didn't stop.

Kaze's lightning… it was still inside him.

"Is it... glitched?" Haku muttered. "Why is it still—"

[💥 SYSTEM ALERT: ABILITY ERROR: Unknown Merge Detected][⚡ ICE + LIGHTNING STATUS: ACTIVE – User: Haku][ANOMALY CONFIRMED.]

"What the hell…?" he muttered.

"Kaze… he shared his ability with me—held his breath… and never took another because he died..."

"So it didn't end. That means… this power… it's still active. It's stuck with me… because he never came back for it."

But there was no time to think.

BOOM.

A shockwave above.

Haku's instincts kicked in—he activated the Eye.

A red blur descended from the sky like a comet with a hammer.

[VIEWERS: 4.8 MILLION]

A massive glowing hammer streaked toward his skull like divine punishment.

"I can't block that—"

SWOOSH.

And he was gone.

Lowkey Teleported—reflexively.

He didn't even think about it. His body just moved.

The hammer slammed into the concrete, leaving a crater the size of a house.

"…Huh?" the attacker blinked. "Where did he—?"

But Haku was already miles away, sprinting.

Running.

Just running.

His mind was screaming, full of memories, shouts, and Kaze's last breath playing on a loop.

Why was he even still moving?

Where was he going?

He didn't know.

He didn't care.

Until—

"IS THAT HIM?!"

A voice cut through the fog like a siren.

Across the broken street, lit by flickering billboards, stood Jilo Park.

K-pop idol. Global sensation. Top-tier influencer.

A face too pretty for this nightmare world. Too perfect. Too fake.

And right now?

He was smiling like a maniac.

"So you're the one who just wiped all those guys out," Jilo grinned, licking his lips. "You're trending HARD, buddy."

[📺 VIEWER COUNT: 71,004,892]

Jilo's skill?

Jump.

He leapt—high, far, fast.

Sonic-boom fast.

He shot into the air like a missile.

Two gleaming knives in his hands. His shadow swallowed Haku whole.

"I'm the hero!" he screamed with a lunatic's pride. "And YOU—are my next content!"

The blades glinted.

Jilo spun mid-air.

He was right there.

One meter.

Haku turned.

And saw death smiling at him.

Those knives.

That face.

That scream.

And—

Instinct.

His arms flew up, crossing in front of him.

BOOOOOOM.

Lightning EXPLODED from his body like a broken dam.

A dome of pure static burst outward—blinding, roaring, alive.

[Jilo Park – Eliminated ☠️][Top 4 Ranked Player DEFEATED – Alert Broadcasted to All Players.][🔊 SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: "PLAYER JILO PARK HAS BEEN ELIMINATED]

The world paused.

And Haku?

"…What…"

He looked down at his hands again. They were sparking. Smoking.

"What the hell is happening to me?"

He didn't wait for an answer.

He ran.

Faster.

Harder.

Further.

His heart pounded. The world blurred.

What's going on?

What's happening?

Why is this real?

Why me?

Why did he—

Why did you die?

Why am I still running?

Why does everything feel like it's—

The world tilted.

His legs gave out.

His body stumbled down an alley, cracked against a dumpster.

Breath gone.

Vision dimming.

"…can't…"

"I...can't anymore"

"I... give up"

The ground spun.

The world darkened.

Heartbeat.

Then—

Silence.

"a trashcan...?"

He crawled into the open lid of a trash container.

Curled up.

Alone.

No livestream.

No noise.

No Kaze.

Just darkness.

And just like that, he collapsed into sleep.

End Chapter.