Scene 1.

"Prologue".

My name used to be Nishido Yuma and this was the story of my life.

Long, long ago, I was an ordinary thirty-something. I had a job, a cozy home, a family, short and long term goals, I was happy, I couldn't ask for more. But one day, all of that abruptly changed. Everything was taken from me overnight, literally. There was no drama whatsoever during the process, I simply went to sleep and then. Then, I simply woke up. I woke up in the body of a child. A fifteen-year-old orphan named Kurai Hotaru.

I woke up in a strange reality that I didn't recognize from the nineties. In an old orphanage called Hongo. The story there was partially different, some places didn't match with the Japan of my memories. Places like the city I was in, for example: "Domino City".

Naturally, I felt desperate in such a scenario, scared, I couldn't understand why it had happened to me.

I missed my family, my wife, Mei, my little Yumi, my parents, my siblings, my nephews, my grandparents, and even my annoying in-laws. I longed for the moments I spent with them, I briefly imagined every moment that could have been. I knew right away that I wouldn't be able to see Yumi grow up, that I wouldn't be able to make love to my wife again. There would be no more Christmas dinners with the whole family.

Nothing. Everything was over for me.

I had given up. Because in the end. What could the little me do to change something as big as a completely new reality? The answer was, nothing, again.

Helplessness. That's what I felt every second of every minute that passed.

Pale, I climbed to the roof of the orphanage and then, without further ado.

"I have nothing. Nothing. He-hehe. Nothing to lose". I murmured.

And then I jumped to my death. A huge pain followed. Then there was nothing.

An hourglass turned over. The sand flowed continuously.

Cowardly, I had chosen to give up on this cursed reality that had taken everything from me. I chose to commit suicide because I couldn't bear the pressure of being alone, of seeing how everything I had built simply no longer existed and had never existed before in this morbid world of the demon.

To my eternal torment, everything started all over again.

Thus, my hell began.

I woke up on that same first day I had arrived in this world, the subsequent events confirmed it.

#Beep Beep Beep!#

The alarm clock sounded again loudly.

#Crag!#

Then it fell and broke into a thousand pieces again.

"Uh?". I hesitated.

The date on the calendar was the same as that first day: "10/11/1990".

"Aaah!". Kotsuzuka screamed.

The boy from the opposite bunk bed had fallen to the floor again.

"Who's screaming, damn it?". Satake protested.

"Shut up already! Right? It's Saturday, for God's sake!". Takaido followed.

The screams and whining of the boy woke up the rest of the orphans in the room again.

"Juju. Sorry!". Kotsuzuka apologized.

"Kotsuzuka, just shut up already". Satake ordered.

"Yes, yes, stop bothering, stinky dwarf". Takaido added.

"Rot in hell!". Kotsuzuka cursed.

Naturally, I found myself completely disoriented.

"What-what the hell is happening here? Uh-uh". I rubbed my eyes trying to make sense of what I had just witnessed.

Everything was exactly the same as that day, except for one small detail. Now, a suspicious red screen with white letters floated in front of my eyes. A screen that no one else besides me seemed to notice, a screen that displayed in exclamation marks and capital letters a truly terrifying phrase:

"YOU HAVE DIED! AS PUNISHMENT, ONE OF YOUR MEMORIES WILL BE RANDOMLY DELETED!"

It was then that I descended into madness for the first time.

"Hehe. B-but what the hell is this thing? Wait a second. A memory? What memory? What the hell is it talking about?". I hesitated.

"AN IMPORTANT MEMORY FROM YOUR PREVIOUS LIFE WILL BE DELETED SHORTLY!"

Blood drained from my body at that revelation.

"Eh? No. It can't refer to...? No! No, please! I beg of you, no! Nooo!". I pleaded.

"I-M-P-L-E-M-E-N-T-I-N-G P-U-N-I-S-H-M-E-N-T!"

"Uh? What's wrong with Kurai, guys?". Kotsuzuka questioned.

The children began to surround me, concerned about my outburst, but I had many other problems on my hands.

"Yes, why he is talking to himself, Satake?". Takaido doubted.

"Hmm. Yes, it's definitely very strange, Takaido". Satake nodded.

"Hotaru, what's wrong with you?". Kotsuzuka asked me.

I felt a strong electric shock fry my brain the next instant.

"Hey, hey, hey, I think something's wrong with him! Kotsuzuka, go get Mrs. Koizumi, now!". Takaido ordered.

"Yes, yes! I'm on my way!". Kotsuzuka agreed.

"Aaargh!". I screamed in pain.

My body felt extremely stiff.

"Quickly, help me get him onto the bed!". Takaido requested.

"Right away!". Satake supported.

I became unconscious immediately afterward.

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To be continued...