Day One
That day, school went on like usual. The atmosphere was livelykids laughing, joking, walking up and down the hallways. But in the very back corner of the classroom, sat a boy named Toro silent, still, almost invisible to the world.
Toro was known as the antisocial kid. He rarely spoke, always looked drained, and his pale face made it seem like he hadn't slept in years. His eyes often stared blankly out the window, as if his body was at school, but his mind was drifting far away. He preferred to spend his time inside his own head, daydreaming about a world only he could understand.
During the lunch break, a voice echoed from the school speaker.
"Toro, please come to the teachers' office."
With slow steps and an unchanged expression, Toro made his way to the office. There, his homeroom teacher, Mr. Roni, was waiting with a test paper in hand.
"Toro, why do you keep getting failing grades? What's really going on? What's making you like this?"
Mr. Roni asked, concern in his voice.
Toro said nothing. His gaze dropped to the floor, and once again, his thoughts slowly drifted... far from reality.
Just like always, Toro stared blankly out the window. In his mind, he kept imagining... that maybe, one day, something would happen. Something that could change his dull, colorless life.
From his desk, Mr. Roni watched him quietly.
He sighed.
"Toro," he finally said. "After school, go to the library. Help out Ms. Sushi. Think of it as a way to make up for your bad grades."
Toro gave a small nod.
"Okay, sir..." he replied in a voice barely above a whisper.
When the final bell rang, students rushed out toward the gates, laughing and shouting. Meanwhile, Toro walked alone toward the library. Once he arrived at the door, he paused. His feet froze.
"What could possibly happen in there?" he thought.
His face twitched slightly. He knew his mind tended to exaggerate things, but still... there was a strange feeling creeping in his chest.
Toro finally opened the library door. The room was silent. The scent of old books greeted his nose instantly. Inside, an old woman was seen cleaning a desk. Her hair hung long, messy and tangled, but her face was as clean as the freshly swept library floor.
That was Bu Sushi.
Toro's footsteps echoed softly in the school hallway. The afternoon sunlight slipped through the windows, highlighting floating dust like unfinished memories. His hands were sweaty, and his heart pounded with uncertainty. As the teacher's room door creaked open slightly, he took a deep breath and stepped in.
"Ah, young Toro. What brings you here?" Bu Sushi's voice was soft, as always.
Toro was taken aback. He didn't expect Bu Sushi to know his name. His gaze was uneasy, and his lips trembled as he answered.
"Uh… yes, Ma'am," he said softly. "I… was told by Mr. Robi. To help."
His words came out uncertain. His head lowered slightly, his right hand clenched without realizing it, and his eyes avoided any contact. He looked like he wanted to disappear from everyone's view.
Bu Sushi just gave a faint smile, her eyes observing Toro like she could read the complex heart behind his quietness.
"That Mr. Robi again," she said while walking closer. She patted Toro's shoulder gently. "I know you, Toro."
Those words, no matter how simple, hit Toro like a soft slap. He looked at Bu Sushi's face, which looked not only clean and young physically but also in her way of speaking.
"You know me from Mr. Robi, right?" Toro asked, voice small and unsure.
"I don't know," Bu Sushi replied, still smiling calmly.
That answer unlocked a box in Toro's mind.
Suddenly, his head was full of assumptions. He remembered every stare from the teachers, every whisper he never really heard clearly, but always felt painful.
Mr. Robi must've talked about me to everyone…
They all know, without me ever saying anything.
"Ma'am… do all the teachers know what I'm like?" he whispered, barely audible more like a leak from the deepest corner of his heart.
"Don't overthink it, Toro." She pointed to the back, as if to change the topic. "Please stack the books from that box onto the shelves, alright?"
Toro nodded slowly, saying nothing more, then walked toward where she pointed. His hands started moving books one by one. Some titles felt strange, some didn't even have covers. But one book caught his attention—not because of its title, but the sound it made when it fell.
Blak!
The book hit the floor and opened halfway, as if on purpose.
Toro picked it up, brows furrowed. The pages were blank. No words, no title, nothing. Just empty sheets glowing under the yellow light above.
At first, he wanted to ignore it.
But something pushed him to open it from the start.
And there, on the first page—somehow different from the rest there was only one sentence:
"Between the beginning and the end."
Toro's chest pounded.
That sentence felt… familiar, though he didn't know from where.
He stared at it for a long time, as if wanting to ask something, but didn't know where to start.
"What is this…?"
he muttered under his breath.
He turned toward Bu Sushi. His mouth opened slightly, like he wanted to ask something—but held it in. Whether it was fear, confusion, or just plain exhaustion, he didn't know.
Without thinking much, he closed the empty book.
Said nothing.
Put it back on the shelf, as if nothing happened.
But deep inside, Toro knew…
That book held something.
Something unfinished.
Something that might lead him between the beginning and the end.
After almost an hour in the library, Toro finally finished the task.
He sat down in the corner by the shelves, wiping the sweat on his temple.
His body felt tired, and his mind wandered.
He grumbled a bit about Mr. Robi, but his exhaustion overpowered any annoyance.
"Good job, Toro. You helped an old lady like me~," Bu Sushi said, slipping a candy into his pocket.
Toro glanced slightly and gave a faint smile.
"Old where? You still look twenty-something," he muttered in his mind while eyeing her endless energy.
"Toro, you can go home now.
But don't think of logging out of life, okay? No one would notice~"
she said with a soft laugh, teasing as always.
Toro gave a shy smile. He knew Bu Sushi loved absurd dark jokes.
"I wouldn't go that far, Ma'am," he answered quietly with a nod.
Bu Sushi gently patted both his shoulders.
"Hang in there… But really, you're not gonna log out, right?"
she asked with a meaningful gaze.
Toro took a deep breath.
"This teacher… talks like she's in a psychological drama script."
He stood up and said,
"I'll be going now, Ma'am."
He took a few steps toward the door, then suddenly heard a voice again from behind.
"You're not gonna log out, right?!"
Bu Sushi waved her hand with a chuckle.
Toro just waved back without turning around.
"Was this teacher born from a C-section or picked up off the street?"
he thought jokingly in his mind, floating with his tired steps leaving the library.
Toro walked along the sidewalk crowded with street vendors.
The smell of fried food, shouting merchants, and the hustle of people filled the air.
But to Toro, it was all muted.
The world seemed to move without him.
His eyes glanced at other teens his age, laughing with friends, sitting around playing games, or walking hand-in-hand with someone.
They all looked alive.
So different from him.
He looked down, walking faster as if trying to escape everything he couldn't have.
At the zebra crossing, Toro didn't slow down.
He was lost in his thoughts, drifting far… until the real world slowly faded away
"BEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!"
The sound of a horn snapped everything back.
But it was too late.
"CRASH!!... THUD!"
Toro's body was thrown, slamming hard against the asphalt.
The world went silent.
"Toro... you're not gonna log out, right..."
Bu Sushi's voice echoed in his head faint but clear.
Like a final recording before everything went black.
Screams followed, rushing footsteps, people gathering…
But all Toro could hear was the wind and his own slowing heartbeat.
With eyes half open, he stared at the fading sky.
"So this is it… this is how it ends…"
he thought, lips curling into a faint smilenot of joy, but surrender.
"How ironic."
nd slowly, everything turned dark.
But the darkness didn't last long. A faint voice began to call…
"Toro~"
The voice was faint, as if coming from far away…
"Toro~"
Then it grew clearer…
"How long do you plan to sleep, kid?"
Toro kept his eyes closed, half-conscious. The voice was unfamiliar, but loud enough to pull his awareness back. In his mind, he asked, "Is this…?"
Still surrounded by darkness, he slowly realized he wasn't dead. His heart was beating. He could hear. He could feel.
With heavy breaths, Toro slowly opened his eyes. A thin light blinded his vision. Bit by bit, the world came into focus.
And when his sight fully cleared, the first thing he saw made his brows rise:
A creature was standing before him.
It looked like a living doll white fur, big bright blue eyes, a childlike toy-like face but those eyes stared sharply, filled with awareness.
"Who… are you?" Toro asked softly, his voice still weak.
The creature immediately grinned wide and lifted its chin slightly. "Welcome to hell," it said in a fake mysterious tone, then laughed like a villain who failed an audition.
But… a second later, it froze. Stiff. Because Toro's expression was dead flat like someone who just read a "k." text reply.
"You seem to be underestimating this, huh?" the creature sighed deeply.
"What I said… was serious. Really." Its gaze turned cold and deep, as if it could see inside Toro's head.
"Wh-who are you?" Toro asked nervously. His face turned pale, lips twitching anxiously.
"I… I'm Dokkisan…"
"Dok… Dokkisan?.."
The absurd atmosphere quickly turned tense. Dokkisan's stare now sharp like blades. No threats were needed his serious aura alone was enough to make Toro gulp.
"What's going to happen to me?" Toro whispered. His face paler than ever, like all blood drained out.
Dokkisan looked at him for a moment, then said:
"Do you know, deep down… humans are the kind of beings who, when given limitless power, not even the entire world would satisfy them."
He stepped closer. His deep voice echoed.
"Humans who live by following only their desires… will never be satisfied. Given one, they want two. Given the world, they want the sky. Their desires never stop, never know limits, and never know when to quit. And the scariest thing? They can justify anything for those desires. Destroying, lying, betraying… all for temporary pleasures that even they don't understand the end of."
"But what still allows humans to live together, form families, socialize… is love, emotion, and rules. Without those? Chaos. Hell. The world won't collapse from disasters but from humans refusing to be controlled."
He turned slowly, looking up at the dark sky above them.
"That's why this place exists. This isn't just a dark space. It's a prison… the beginning of the trial. And you… you'll be sent to a place where only the strong survive. No love. No rules. Only strength, instinct, and will."
Toro was stunned as he saw Dokkisan's face… change slowly.
His eyes now glowed bright red. His soft fur turned coarse and spiky like thorns. His form grew larger, his shadow flickered. A thick black aura wrapped his body.
Seeing that, Toro gasped. His knees felt weak and if he weren't already dead, he might have peed himself.
But in a flash, the creature returned to normal. Cute face again. Calm gaze. As if nothing happened.
"Sorry, just kidding… don't cry, okay?" he said with a sweet smile, though the terror in his voice lingered.
"As an apology, I'll explain the place you're heading to. But promise me you won't reject it."
Toro swallowed hard. His lips trembled as he asked, "W-what happens… if I say no?"
Dokkisan didn't answer right away. He simply smiled and pointed behind them.
At first, there was only pitch-black darkness.
But then crack!
A fracture appeared, like glass breaking from a stone. The cracks spread… spreading… until finally, it shattered.
From the black gap that opened, something emerged.
Toro stared wide-eyed, body trembling hard, mouth slightly open no voice came out.
"W-what… is that…" he whispered in fear.
"That… is what you'll become if you reject the final trial," said Dokkisan, his voice now heavy, cold… and dripping with terrifying delight.
Inside that crack… Grotesque beings crawled in agony. Some were eating their own intestines while laughing like maniacs. Some bodies were fused with other creatures in strange, unnatural ways. Their screams mixed with hysterical laughter producing a sound that couldn't be described as human… but something deeper… something broken.
"That place isn't hell… it's worse."
Dokkisan turned to Toro.
"That's where all rejection ends up. All the souls who couldn't accept their fate… locked away and forced to devour themselves."
Toro stared at the scene before him in horror. His face pale, stomach churning, body shaking violently. Tears slowly streamed from the corners of his eyes.
Meanwhile, Dokkisan just smiled… enjoying Toro's fear.
"Oops~ sorry," he said casually. "That's a special place for those who got caught cheating in… the final game."
He added, his tone playful but heavy:
"So, don't be sad, okay~?"
When he said cheating, Toro's thoughts instantly flew back to someone from his past.
"S-so wh-what do you mean by that…?" he asked, voice trembling.
Dokkisan looked at him like a teacher talking to a student who wasn't ready yet.
"Like I said earlier. If you want to survive the final trial, you need to be strong… or ruthless. In there, bad people can get punished. But the worst punishment is… for those who cheat and get caught."
"Cheat… what do you mean?" Toro's curiosity began to push back his fear.
"You'll understand soon enough," said Dokkaesan, now with a slightly more serious tone. "One thing's clear if there's someone smart enough to hide their tricks, you could say… they're the real contenders."
"Time in there isn't limited. You could survive for a lifetime if you wanted. In fact, I've heard some people already built a little city on one of the floors. Cute, huh?"
Toro was a little confused but also intrigued.
"Can you explain more about this trial?"
Dokkisan smirked. His eyes narrowed, hiding secrets not everyone should know.
"In the final trial, there are 12 floors. Each floor is its own world. To go up to the next floor, only one person can whoever finds the answer."
"Everyone else stays on that floor until they figure it out themselves."
He added, speaking a little softer:
"There are NPCs there they're important for your survival. Even if there are no written laws, if you attack NPCs… there will be consequences. There are NPC police too."
"If they weren't there, people like you probably already…"
He chuckled softly. "Well, you can imagine."
Dokkisan extended his hand toward Toro.
"Are you ready to begin your adventure, young one?"
Toro shook his head furiously.
Dokkisan looked flatly at him then without warning, SMAACK! A slap landed on Toro's cheek.
Toro froze. Not because of surprise, but…
"Eh…? That actually hurt," he muttered, touching his cheek.
"That's what you get for messing around," Dokkisan replied with a small smile. Then, he raised his right hand toward the sky.
"Oh beautiful sky, accept this unfortunate boy into your embrace…"
Toro was still confused until he noticed… his right hand was disappearing.
"This…?"
Dokkisan glanced and replied casually,
"Congrats. That means the sky accepted you for the game."
"Actually, you're not really qualified for the final trial yet. But don't worry… I've prepared a new body for you, so you can adapt."
He took a slow breath, then looked at Toro sharply.
"But remember, just because you have a new body… doesn't mean you're the protagonist. Don't get cocky when you're inside."
Toro's body began to vanish—shattering into crystal-like particles rising into the air.
"W-wait! I—"
"Enjoy the game, Toro Raditya."
And in the next second, his body vanished… carried into the sky like crystal rain rising upward, not falling down.