Prologue

The rain was pouring down, hammering on the windows of the Brimor Academy as Atsuo distracted himself with its force from the teacher’s monotonous lecture.

His head resting on his palm, as his dark blue eyes watched the continuously worsening scenery.

“As we all know, anomalies, also known as phenomena, can be divided into two categories…” Professor Kousei paced back and forth.

“…cannot observe the phenomena of another person…”

“…are classified as ‘Dangerous’. At this stage, a worst-case scenario will undoubtably lead to you losing your life. Remember not to…”

He got so absorbed in the sight outside that everything Professor Kousei was saying kept falling on deaf ears.

Unfortunately for him, he was sitting close to the front, clearly within the professor’s field of view.

Atsuo’s black hair was just long enough to cover the scar on his cheek bone, but not his disinterest in the lecture.

Professor Kousei let out a sigh and stopped to see whether Atsuo would notice. However, even with the attention of everyone in the class on him, Atsuo’s mind was somewhere else.

“Atsuo” Professor Kousei called—to no avail.

“ATSUO!” he bellowed, finally drawing his attention at the expense of everyone in the class.

“Atsuo, would you like to enlighten us about the natural phenomena?” he asked testily.

“Not rea– I don’t know Professor”, Atsuo said, correcting himself.

The teacher sighed while shaking his head and continued on with his lecture.

Although they lived in a highly advanced magical society, there were still things that couldn’t be explained. They are referred to as “natural anomalies” or “phenomena”.

They are irregularities and are distinct from those referred to as “man-made”, due to their uncontrollability. Phenomena span across four different tiers, ranked in terms of threat to humans. They range from “Harmless”—bearing no threat, to “Extreme”—struggle for survival.

Despite his response, Atsuo knew perfectly well what they were, as he frequently experienced one of them. The “all-black” phenomenon, which made his surroundings look colorless, except for a depressing black and white. It was a sign of an ill omen—a sign of bad luck.

Due to his nap being ruined, Atsuo felt he had no choice but to sleep through the other lectures. It was a surprisingly good sleep.

He awoke a few hours later, successfully sleeping through the remaining lectures of the day.

'Oh, finally up?' someone whispered.

Atsuo recognized that voice, it was unmistakably Yuna, one of his closest friends and the most beautiful girl in the Academy, with silky-smooth, light-yellow hair long enough to rest on her shoulders, and golden eyes that could rival the sun.

After a grueling last day of labor at his grandparents’ farm, he couldn't sleep at all, so he was grateful to Yuna for not waking him earlier. It's that “kind” and “thoughtful nature” of hers that made him admire her. Seriously… The complete opposite of Taru, Atsuo thought to himself.

As he lifted his head and wiped his eyes, he couldn’t help but sigh heavily.

The heavy rain that was drumming on the windows had passed, and yet the discolored scene remained. Atsuo was still experiencing all-black.

Taru, his best friend who was also there, wondered if he was okay.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You’re here", Atsuo jested, as he shifted his gaze from his friends to the window. Taru looked slightly offended as his eyebrows furrowed above his light brown eyes.

It seemed not even a good nap could make this thing go away, Atsuo thought to himself, dreading the fact that he might be out of luck for a while longer.

"Hmmmm… well, let's go have lunch." Taru said scratching his brown hair.

Atsuo didn't budge as he said, "I'll eat here".

"Whaaaat, again? You haven't become scared of rooftops now, have you?"

Atsuo ignored him.

"Well, whatever..." Taru mumbled as he started walking away. Suddenly, he came to a halt and turned around, remembering, "By the way, there’s going to be somewhat of a courage test during the fool moon toda-"

"Not today" Atsuo hastily replied as he rest his head on his hand and drearily gazed at the sky.

Taru turned around, exasperatingly mumbling to himself, "Tch… there won't be anything after 'Today'."

Yuna looked back at Atsuo with pity, saying "Are you sure? Everyone will be there. The more, the merrier."

Atsuo looked up at her greyish face, which, though devoid of color, still carried a troubled look. She was the last person he wanted to worry. He couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Yuna to Taru, let alone other people from his class, so he felt like he had to go after all.

He sat up in his chair, facing them, saying "Fine. Where?"

Taru lit up after a sudden mood swing.

"The Boundless Forest at 10pm" he said.

Given that nothing major has happened yet, Atsuo had a weird feeling that his bad luck was accumulating for today’s “main event”. The Boundless Forest was infamous for its vastness and obtained some rumors throughout the years. Everyone has heard of its ability to make people disappear.

Especially clueless students like Taru.

Another rumor was about a mythical creature straight out of folklore, encountering which left no one alive to tell the tale.

Atsuo flinched. He felt a sudden wave of deja vu wash over him. He decided not to give it much thought. He sighed one last time as he waved them goodbye and went back to observing the darkish sky which seemed to have another storm in reserve. His lunch alone was uneventful, after which he went straight back to the dorm.