1. What had been Forgotten.

(Author's note: This story will develop in a dimension different from Earth called Hel, but it is still the same universe as "SSS-Class Cursed Elementalist" and "Annihilator-Class Alien", as it is part of the "Universe Re-Classification" series. Enjoy <3)

*

On December 7 of 2259, in a world that looked like an abandoned graveyard in the middle of a bloody desert, a city was in mourning. The usual silence of the streets felt even bluer.

Among the neglected buildings with neon lights, damaged pavement, infertile land, and grayish skies, a group of five men chased after a homeless thief.

"Just wait until I catch you!" The blonde guy shouted, running after him. The four following behind him threw rocks at the thief.

'Shit. Shit. Shit.'

Perse ran as fast as he could, protecting his back pocket. If he couldn't get this thing to the night market, he would be dead by tomorrow. If the guys chasing him didn't kill him first, that is.

'Was Chris always this fast?' He thought. 'Wait, where am I?'

Perse looked up at the digital screens hanging outside the buildings. All of them replayed the same message.

[NEO SYSTEM ANNOUCEMENT:

138 years ago.

A leaf could turn into a dragon.

Don't forget.

Join the event today and win a free epic skin of the Last Day.

*This event is ending soon.]

His time was running short. Once the event ended, people would be out in the streets again. Not that the witnesses mattered, but other mercenaries definitely did. There was a tactical agreement between the guilds to not work during the Last Day, and he just broke it.

'Damn. Where is it?' Perse looked at his wrist, to his old whitish watch barely hanging from a damaged strap.

"Lancaster!! I swear if you don't-" The blonde guy, Chris, shouted again. Perse tried to run even faster, almost tripping against a bloody trash bag.

"Map! Map!" He said. The watch unlocked itself at the sound of his voice. A second later, it showed the hologram of the city's layout.

On the map, Perse saw a blue dot that represented himself a few blocks from the meeting place. Another five gray dots chasing after him.

Perse tried in vain to increase his speed.

'They will soon catch up.'

He resorted to throwing things at his followers.

He finally turned around the corner of the building with the damaged screen, hoping to find an old yellow car there and two men waiting for him.

Perse felt excited thinking about the credits waiting for him once he and his team could sell the thing he had just stolen from one of the ancient wizard houses.

"Yo! Guys!" He shouted while he stopped in his tracks, exhausted. "I got it- huh?"

Strangely, none of his friends were in sight. 'Did I read the address wrong?' Perse tried to look at the map once again. However, he was at the right destination.

-Bang!

'Ah, shit.' He thought, 'I should've known.'

Chris and the others were still too far behind him. And, although the yellow car wasn't in sight, he knew only two other people with the abilities to come and go as they pleased. So, he instantly knew who hit him.

His eyes closed involuntarily, feeling the impact at the back of his head.

*

Half an hour later, Perse, an ordinary unemployed dropout, got beaten up by a group of upperclassmen from his old school.

He looked once again at the only visible digital screen in the alley. The message "a leaf could turn into a dragon" made him furious.

Years ago, magic was abruptly lost after the human race came into contact with an alien species from one of the hurricane galaxies located in the constellation of the Sculptor. The Last Day was a festivity made to remember what those aliens took away from humans.

'Why is that important? This world no longer has magic.'

He felt the stolen object in his pocket and wondered where the other two assholes had gone. The ones who set him up.

'My team...' He thought.

His eyes were blinded by the blood pouring from a wound on his forehead. Perse couldn't feel his left arm anymore, and his legs moved like a fish out of the water while Chris and his cheap gang threw trash at him and laughed.

"What is it, Lancaster? Are you crying?" Someone said.

Perse felt a half-empty can be thrown at his feet and screamed in pain as the liquid soaked through his pants and sandals.

When the can hit the corner of a wall, Perse tried to reach for it only to hurt himself when the thing bounced against his right hand.

"Ugh!"

A low moan escaped his lips. That was his last futile attempt to defend himself. The group started to mock him.

"Look at this stinking bastard! Not even the smell of blood covers his stench!"

"This is what happens when you let scum play Neo!"

"You think you can do anything in the real world just because you have a high level?"

"Disgusting!"

'Blah, blah, so cliche. I'm already tired of hearing all that nonsense.' He thought.

Even though his grandparents never awakened mana even before the Hiladorians arrived, he managed to get a higher level in Neo and earn some money.

However, it was still true that the false sensations of the machine could not approach the higher senses that the people who had once awakened could remember.

Especially the people who were laughing at him. Chris' grandparents might have been mere sidekicks long ago, but now, his house was among the only ones who still had a connection to what was now Forgotten.

'Lucky bastard.' Perse muttered to himself, 'if only I had…'

He couldn't finish the thought.

'What could I wish for? A family?' He would've laughed if only his body didn't hurt so much. His parents abandoned him a long time ago. He was alone.

'Money? F*ck, that's the reason I'm here in the first place.'

With one glance, anyone could tell that he was born different from the people who were beating him.

His clothes were muddy and had holes. Perse's hair was so long and tangled that you could hardly tell he was human if it weren't for the whitish watch on his wrist that proved he had access to the Neo System. And even that looked like a cheap fake version of the silver one Chris was wearing.

He had spent most of his life begging on the streets and earning as much money as he could. Even if the way he did it would have upset his ancestors.

The closest thing to a family to him was a cat he had once encountered on the streets. And it died a long time ago. However, it wasn't really a surprise. It was hard enough finding animals that weren't insects, let alone having a pet.

His days were always the same for as long as he could remember. And the moment he thought he could do better, when someone recognized his talent and helped him play Neo, he was left alone again. Betrayed.

'This isn't going like I thought it would.'

'Could I wish for mana? Well… Who wouldn't? But, please, such a thing doesn't exist anymore.'

Perse was losing himself in thought to avoid thinking about the pain. He could almost feel himself on the verge of passing out. He was already looking forward to closing his eyes and waking up in two days in the same dumpster.

Or maybe never.

'Maybe I should die here and feed my rotting body to the bugs.' He thought and, for a moment, really wished it would happen.

Just then...

"Huh?" He heard Chris gasp in confusion.

Bip. Bip. Bip.

Suddenly, the wristwatches they all were wearing began to chime rhythmically. They could all feel the thing moving like it was alive and struggling to break free.

Bip.

"What?" One of the idiots unlocked his watch before the others could get out of their surprise.

Bip. Biip. Bip. Bip.

However, after doing so, the watch connected itself with the others who were in very close proximity and opened them as well. Soon, all the watches began to vibrate and emit a faint blue light.

"What?! What is happening?!"

Bip. Biip. Biip. Bip.

Although Perse was starting to lose consciousness, he managed to show a bit of confusion on his face. His wandering thoughts gathered in his head in the split of a second.

The watches contained the full identities of the people. Their lives both in reality and Neo. They were really personal.

He had only seen one watch connected to others in special circumstances, and all of them had been programmed in advance and used by people with very close interactions with the creators of the Neo System, those who belonged to the Ministry.

One-man watches, and cheap ones like Perse's, definitely didn't have that option.

'Shit. An alert from the government? Did the event finish? Please don't be my wanted notice. Not now.'

Bip. Bip. Bip. Bip. Bip. Biip. Bip. Bip. Bip. Biip. Biip. Bip.

The sound dimmed a bit as the glow got stronger.

Perse felt an alarm off in his mind. A lot of thoughts gathered and scattered a couple of times before the adrenaline made him focus.

'Is this really something those guys would do?'

'I'm so hungry.'

'Did my flight or fight instinct activate just now?'

'When was the last time I slept?'

'Shit. shit. Shit.'

'My own watch feels weird.'

'I need to run.'

'But, how?'

'And from what?'

The answer came a moment later. Despite the lack of sensitivity moments before, Perse still felt his skin crawl.

Under the blue light and the gray sky, an androgynous voice began to come out of all the wristwatches. They could even hear the same voice coming from the buildings surrounding the alley, all speaking at the same time.

[[Well, hello there humans!! (^.~)

Remember us?^^]]