Johnny_Sensei

Hollow Crown of the Dying Star


The night Ren's mother died, the sky cracked open.

No one else saw it—just him. A fracture in the stars, spreading like shattered glass. And from that abyss, something looked back.

Then it spoke.

"Do you want to live?"

Now, Ren is no longer human. His reflection moves on its own. His eyes are black voids, writhing with unseen horrors. And the world around him is wrong—people stand frozen in the streets, their hollow smiles stretching too wide, whispering things that don’t belong in human mouths.

They are watching him.

Hunting him.

And the worst part?

A voice in his head keeps whispering that he belongs with them.

As Ren searches for answers, he’s forced into a brutal battle for survival against creatures that were once human—and something far worse lurking beyond the cracks in the sky. But the more he fights, the more he changes.

Is he still himself?

Or is he becoming the very thing he fears?


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Hollow Crown of the Dying Star

I stood in the rain, staring at my reflection.

The thing in the puddle wasn't me.

My eyes were wrong—deep, shifting voids, blacker than the night itself. Shapes moved inside them, twisting, writhing. Like something was looking out from within.

I tried to breathe. My lungs burned. My heartbeat was too loud, too fast, hammering like a dying engine.

I tore my gaze from the puddle, forcing myself to move. The city around me was the same—the cracked pavement, the flickering streetlights, the sound of distant traffic. But something was off.

The air felt heavier. The shadows stretched longer. And the people—

Shibuya never slept. The streets should've been alive with cars, with footsteps, with voices. But now—nothing. Just the distant echo of something wet dripping.

I swallowed hard and turned the corner.

Men. Women. Teenagers. All standing still, faces turned toward the sky, their mouths slightly open. Not breathing. Not blinking. As if they were waiting for something.

I took a step back, my shoes splashing in a shallow puddle. The sound echoed too loudly in the silence.

Then, all at once, they turned their heads toward me.

A hundred smiles, stretching too wide.

Something inside me snapped. I ran.

My lungs burned. My legs ached. But I didn't stop.

I sprinted through the empty city, past shuttered buildings, past dark alleys that stretched too deep, past streetlights that flickered like they were about to go out forever.

I didn't know where I was going. Didn't care. I just needed to get away from those things—

They weren't running. They weren't chasing. They were walking.

And I knew—if they reached me, I wouldn't be me anymore.

A scream tore from my throat as I turned into another street. I needed to find someone—anyone. Someone had to be real.

A hand grabbed my wrist before I could fall.

A man—maybe early twenties, tall, built like a fighter. Messy black hair, sharp eyes that gleamed like steel. His breath came fast, his chest rising and falling, but his expression was calm. Too calm.

Like he'd been through this before.

"Wh—who—" My voice came out broken, raw.

"Not now," he said. "We need to move."

The footsteps were getting closer.

He pulled me forward. I followed, half stumbling, my body still numb from shock.

And behind us, the Hollowed Ones kept walking.

Chapter 2: The Hollowed Ones