I remember...

The Original Web Light Novel Project

ARC 5 - (Prologue Chapter)

Volume 02, Chapter 16: [ I remember... ]

Original work. By the author ‘Pili.’

(Notice Before Reading: Italic dialogues represent character inner monologues)    

…I don’t even remember exactly when it all started.

Much time has already passed.

The only thing is… it never stopped.

Everything that happened so far… Endless suffering.

The voices that kept calling my name… how can I forget?

I close my eyes, and they come back on their own.

I remember the rain…

It was cold, dense.

I didn’t even care where I was going back then.

I was just walking alone that day.

No place to return to. No reason to stop.

It's ironic how that night was supposed to end everything.

That old bookstore… where it all began.

I wish I'd never laid my eyes on that place.

At first, I thought that book was cursed, but it turned out to be much deeper than that.

Since then… everything was too fast to understand. It was too real to be a dream.

I still remember the sound of my own screams.

Back then, I believed it was all over… but it never was. It was just the beginning, the one that led me into this new world.

That was when I realized… I had always hated my world.

I told myself I didn’t care. Yet deep down… I still wanted to fix what I thought was wrong.

At those times, a voice called me many times. It was soft and unclear.

I didn’t know her name. But her presence made me feel somewhat comfortable.

I found myself in a world where I seemed like an outsider.

Strangers who spoke my language so naturally, and that alone felt weird to me.

A place that shouldn’t have accepted me… but did.

Those days in the shelter flew by. I wonder how Mrs. Nao is doing there now? After all, she was the reason I survived in the first place.

When I met them, they were like me. I considered them like my new family, even if the term 'friend' still felt foreign to me.

It didn't take us too long before we found ourselves moving to the P.H.G. Everything changed; I never thought our reputation would take off so quickly.

The first days where I just followed along, pretending I understood.

Kenji, whose clumsy sense of humor took the edge off… even when things were life or death.

Yoru, who was always worried about us, even though she hid it.

And Miyu… her endless questions. Although she wasn't one to seek out the spotlight, yet her impact was already clear.

I also remember… the day that will never be erased from memory.

Amaya…

That was the day I started to realise the meaning of inner change. Somewhere along the way, that ridiculous excuse about the world never changing was no longer valid. Her trembling voice, the way she tried to act brave even when she clearly wasn’t, it's just unerasable.

And, most importantly, her… Ayuri.

She always seemed calm and distant. It felt like she was standing half a step away from this world, watching it from somewhere I couldn’t reach. She spoke little, but when she did, her words stayed. Sometimes longer than they should have.

I couldn’t understand what was going on in her mind most of the time, yet I put my trust in her.

But despite this, I'm still unsure about her relationship with the Ayuri I see in my visions.

The one who… seemed completely different from what's real. As if something was off… or maybe I'm just starting to lose it.

Afterall… she showed me too many things.

A future buried under snow and fire.

I didn’t want to believe her… I wanted to deny it.

I wanted to believe I could walk my own path, untouched by whatever fate she kept hinting at. But that magical book never stayed silent for long. Neither the weight sitting on my chest.

Every time I hesitated, someone else paid the price.

Children. Innocent lives. Faces that refused to fade, no matter how much I tried to look away.

And just like before, as that day arrived, I found myself freezing in fear again.

Renne…

Her playful smirk carried something twisted beneath it. She spoke of necessity as if it excused everything she did. Of fate, like it belonged to her alone.

She took Amaya away right in front of us. And she laughed. It was a total, crushing defeat. Our helplessness… was absolute.

For the first time since I came to this world… I felt something break.

I remember standing there. My legs were shaking, unable to move, and my heart was screaming.

I was thinking about my old life. About the boy I used to be. The one who watched suffering and turned away.

And I knew.

If I ran again… Nothing would change.

Since that day, the atmosphere in our group has shifted downward. I wanted that joy we used to feel in our PHG to come back; however, nothing lasts forever.

I didn’t know the truth about many things.

I don’t know who to trust.

I don’t even know if the future can be changed.

But I know this…

I’m sick of running.

Tired of pretending.

Tired of letting fear decide for me.

The road ahead is cold. Long. Filled with more questions that unsettle me.

Yet… I will walk it.

Even if the answer may bring despair.

I will try to change it…

Because this time… I won’t look away.

[ARC 5 Begins]