The Dimensional Dream swallowed Asahi whole once more.
He blinked into the grayscale world, its empty silence filled with the whispers of infinite realities. Time bled from every direction. Nothing was solid. Not even the ground he stood on. And in front of him, waiting like always, stood the Future Asahi—FA.
Arms crossed. Gaze sharp. Expression unreadable.
FA tilted his head. "Huh… that was fast," he muttered. "So, you killed him?"
Asahi didn't answer right away. He exhaled—slow, shaky. "Yeah."
The word came out dry. Lifeless. Like it didn't belong to him.
FA smirked. "Good. Now let's kill the next one."
His voice held no hesitation. No emotion. No regret.
Asahi's fingers twitched. A subtle tremor. His eyes darkened as he stared at the man—no, the version of himself—standing there like an executioner.
Is he even me…?No hesitation at all? Not even a sliver of doubt?
FA stepped forward, the weight of his presence closing the distance.
"What was that power you got, huh?" he asked.
Asahi slowly raised his gaze, his tone cold, emotionless. "I can read people's power."
FA's smirk widened. "Mmm. Good."
A chill ran through Asahi's spine. Cold. So cold...
Then FA turned away, cracking his knuckles as if nothing had happened.
"Now, prepare to kill the next one."
But Asahi didn't move.
He just stared.
Is this even right…?I've been obeying him without question. Everything he said—I did it. But… is this really the way forward?
His left eye pulsed, the strange energy behind it flaring for a moment.
Without warning, Asahi activated the power.
He turned the eye on FA.
The world trembled.
Blurring. Distorting.
His vision burned red.
A static wave flickered across his view like broken data on a dying screen. The fabric of the dimension glitched.
Then—
ERROR.
Asahi's heart skipped.
What…?
A pulse of pain crashed into his skull, nearly sending him to his knees.
The haze around FA intensified. It wasn't human. It wasn't readable. It wasn't right.
ERROR.
Again. Violent. Sharp.
Asahi stumbled, gasping.
Why… why error? Why can't I read him?!
FA turned slowly, his golden eyes flickering with suspicion. "Huh? What happened?"
His voice was calm. Still cold.
Asahi straightened up, swallowing the scream rising inside him.
"N...nothing," he muttered.
But inside—inside, his mind was spiraling.
FA wasn't someone he could understand.
FA wasn't someone he could analyze.
FA… wasn't someone he could trust.
And for the first time—
Asahi felt real fear.
His body trembled slightly, lips parted, hands shaking. The guilt of what he had just done lingered like blood on his fingertips.
He clenched his teeth.
"Now things are getting hard…" he whispered to himself. "I have to calm down. Think, Asahi. You just killed an Asahi… who looked so much in pain… Think. Calm down…"
He dug his nails into his palms.
"AHHHHH—!"
"Oi." FA's voice sliced through the air like a blade. "What are you thinking about, huh?"
Asahi's breath caught.
"…Nothing."
But FA smirked.
"I know what you're thinking."
Asahi's heart skipped.
"…Ahh…"
"I know you're suspicious of me. You just killed an Asahi... all because of my words." FA's tone dropped lower, colder. "I know it's difficult."
He stepped closer.
"But how could you even think about doubting me… huh?"
Asahi said nothing. He couldn't meet his gaze.
FA's voice hardened.
"Come on… you're not the only one who's suffering. Just kill them."
He leaned forward, whispering, "Even without you killing them… their fate is already written. Death."
The shadows in the Dimensional Dream thickened.
Asahi stood still, the silence between them suffocating.
His mind screamed.
Their fate… huh…Even mine is doomed…
He looked up slowly, eyes hollow.
I can't even read his power. He's too mysterious. He never says anything clearly. Always vague… always cold…
He clenched his fists.
Is it okay to continue like this? Am I gonna regret all of this in the future? Aghh…
Faces flashed before his eyes. The ones he'd killed. The ones who wore his face.
"I've already done so many things… So many things I regret…"
Then came the voice.
Not FA's.
But a whisper deep in his own mind.
"Think, Asahi… Think. It's your future… no… our future."
FA was speaking again, but it felt like a ghost inside him had echoed the words first.
Asahi exhaled. Slowly. Numb.
"…So…"
FA turned, watching him. That same unreadable smile stretching across his lips.
Asahi met his gaze.
Coldly.
"Who's next?"
The world stood still.
The very air seemed afraid of what came next.
FA's smile sharpened. "Asahi… now we're going to kill every single 'Asahi' that stands in front of us."
Finality coated his tone. Calm, yet cruel.
Asahi didn't respond.
Silence.
Then—
"You're going to use that precious left eye of yours…"
"…To travel through the dimensions."
FA's boots echoed on the invisible floor as he approached again.
"But…"
Asahi narrowed his eyes, lips still.
"You're not going alone."
A pause. Asahi's gaze shifted.
"…Huh?" His voice cracked slightly.
"I'm going with you," FA replied, still smiling—but now there was something deeper. Something darker.
"…Huh?" Asahi repeated, louder this time.
The glow in his eye shimmered. The boundary between ally and enemy blurred to near invisibility.
"…Why?" he asked, more directly now.
"If I can also travel through dimensions," FA said, "then the job gets easier, right?"
No response.
"You take one. I take another. Half the time. Double the kill count."
"…Huh…" Asahi muttered, the numbness now absolute.
"Yeah," FA continued. "In that way… we can kill a large number of Asahis in less time."
The world grew silent again.
And then—another voice. Quiet, sarcastic. Living only in Asahi's head.
MA — The Mad Asahi, his own subconscious whisper.
"Yooo… that's wild."
"Sooo?" FA tilted his head, waiting.
"Mmm… Asahi, just think alright... this ain't normal anymore…"
Asahi stared at him.
Cold.
"There's nothing to think about, I guess."
He turned away, the faint hum of the left eye activating once more.
FA, watching, thought quietly to himself.
FA tilted his head, waiting, eyes gleaming with something deeper than rage."With this eye," he thought, "I can finally meet him… the one who caused all this shit."
Without hesitation, Asahi reached forward. Their hands met."Do it," FA whispered."I know you can do it, Asahi…"
And then—Darkness.
Pitch-black. Endless.
Asahi's eyes shot open, but no matter how wide they stretched, nothing appeared. No light. No sound. Not even the whisper of air.
"…I can't see anything," he muttered.
The isolation was heavier than silence—it was absence. No presence. No life.
Suddenly—FLASH.
Images burst through the void like shards of broken glass. Memories spun around him in a violent storm. He saw himself. Not once. Not twice. But thousands of times.
In one, Asahi laughed beneath the stars with Anari.In another, he had dinner with his mom and dad, all smiling.Some versions of him held hands. Some played games.
But others—Some cried over Anari's lifeless body.Some curled up in the rain, alone.Some stood at the edge of rooftops.Some had already jumped.
His breath quickened. Horror widened his eyes."Stop…" he whispered, stumbling back. But there was no ground. Just more memories. More versions. More pain.
And then… he saw him.
FA.
But this wasn't the same broken FA from moments ago.
This one was different. Genuinely smiling. Happy.
He held Anari's hand. They laughed together, free of sadness. They walked up to a familiar house.
His house.
At the door, his parents stood—alive. Smiling.
Tears filled Asahi's eyes."…No way…"
Instinctively, he reached toward the vision even though he knew he couldn't touch it. That version of him had everything—the family he lost, the girl he couldn't save, the peace he could only dream of.
Then it all faded.
Black swallowed it whole.
Asahi gasped—and found himself standing before his house.
"Huh…?" His voice trembled.
He looked around.
Silence.
But it wasn't just quiet. It was hollow.The kind of silence that pressed down on you until your lungs forgot how to breathe.
(I think I've… successfully traveled through a dimension…)
His heart pounded.
Then—A rush of images. The storm of memories. The sight of FA's genuine smile.His hand clutched his head.
(What did I just see…? I think I just saw… every Asahi in every dimension…)
He stared at his trembling hands.
(Some were suffering. Some were smiling. Some had no idea what was coming. Some gave up. Some didn't even want to live…)
His eyes darkened.
(But some... some are still fighting. Still trying. Still collecting my f**king blessings…)
And then the sky changed.
A single drop.
Then another.
Then rain.
The heavens opened up, and the rain fell heavy and dark, like grief that couldn't be held back anymore.It poured.
Asahi stood still, unmoving, letting the rain strike his face, sting his eyes, trickle down his cheeks.
Tears masked by the storm.
"I… I hate the rain," he whispered.
A small smile tugged at his lips. A broken smile. An empty one.
"It doesn't even let me express my sadness through these falling tears…"
His voice cracked—not with volume, but with despair.He wasn't crying anymore.Because the rain was already doing it for him.
He stood beneath the grey sky, his eyes hollow—like the rain had washed away whatever light he had left inside.
His breath came in shaky bursts.
MA—his inner voice—spoke gently."Asahi... it's the reality. Wake up, bro..."
But Asahi didn't answer. He couldn't.
MA sighed, his tone full of tired acceptance."After all... we were meant to suffer, huh?"
A soft laugh. One not born of humor, but surrender.
"…MA…" Asahi said, his voice weak.
"Yeah?" MA replied.
"When I saw the Asahi's in that black void…" Asahi's voice cracked. "They were… so happy, you know?"
The rain continued to fall. So did his tears. At this point, no one could tell the difference.
"I saw," MA replied softly.
Asahi swallowed hard. "Even… you were happy too, right?"
Silence.
"…Do you think it's fate, huh?" His legs gave out. He collapsed onto the wet ground. "Is that what this is all about?"
No answer.
"Every Asahi... might be looking up like this, right?"He tilted his head back to the sky."Alone… staring at the rain that doesn't even let us shed tears…"
His lips trembled.
MA spoke again. Gently this time. Like an older brother trying to hold himself together.
"Asahi... hey..."
Still no answer.
"Let's do what FA says."
Asahi blinked. "Wh–?"
MA didn't falter."Because... I believe in him."
Asahi's voice broke. "Huh…?"
MA smiled faintly in the silence between drops.
"After all… he's Asahi Rentaro, right?"
The rain kept falling.