--- Far East, Nagazora City ---
Weekend. Inside a cold drink shop near Chiba Academy, two teenage boys sat facing each other.
"Mu, how'd you find the time to meet up today?" Kevin asked, a drink in hand. "Didn't you say you were heading back to your hometown a few days ago?"
The boy sitting opposite him had black hair with a single streak of white at the tips, and ash-gray eyes. Even by Kevin's astronomically high standards, the guy was a solid eleven out of ten in the looks department.
Mu—or rather, Li Mu—was an exchange student from the Shenzhou region. He was also one of the few people in Nagazora that Kevin could genuinely call a best friend.
You know, the kind of bros who constantly tried to assert dominance by calling themselves the other's "father."
After the high school entrance exams, Kevin's parents had arranged for him to attend Chiba Academy, a prestigious school whose student body consisted mostly of Nagazora's elite. As a Shenzhou exchange student, Mu was expected to return home upon completing his studies.
Kevin figured it would be tough for them to ever see each other again. So, when Mu had called him up out of the blue to hang out, he'd been pleasantly surprised. Hence, their current meetup.
Li Mu didn't answer the question right away. Instead, he looked Kevin up and down with a deeply bizarre expression.
The intense scrutiny made Kevin's hair stand on end. "Mu, what are you looking at?"
Staring at the friend he'd known for years, Li Mu let out a barely audible sigh. Ignoring the question once again, he said, "After the final exams, I really did plan on heading back to Shenzhou."
"But recently, a friend of mine ran into a pretty massive problem. I want to help him, but I'm torn on what to do. I wanted to get a second opinion."
Kevin took a sip of his drink and stared deadpan at Li Mu. "Uh... Mu. This 'friend' you're talking about... is it you?"
"No," Li Mu denied instantly.
Kevin completely understood. Li Mu's "friend" was a hundred percent Li Mu.
"So you called me out today because you wanted some advice?"
Li Mu nodded.
"Alright, since you're treating today, I'll tell you whatever you need to know, bro." Kevin swirled the ice in his cup, his curiosity piqued. "Lay it on me. What's the situation?"
Not one to beat around the bush, Li Mu planted his elbows on the table, steepled his fingers under his chin, and began his tale.
"It's like this. I recently stumbled upon some information regarding a very close friend of mine. This friend is about to head down an incredibly tragic path. If left alone, there's a high probability his life will be completely ruined. Everyone he loves, and everyone who loves him, will die."
"When that happens, he'll be left wandering the world completely alone. Even if he loses all will to live, a certain promise will bind him so tightly that he won't even be able to seek death. He'll be reduced to a hollow, walking corpse, endlessly roaming the earth, praying for the end of his life to finally arrive."
Listening to Li Mu's grim description, an inexplicable and bizarre sense of familiarity welled up in Kevin's chest.
He pushed down the weird feeling and summarized, "So, long story short: you have a friend who's in serious danger?"
"You could say that," Li Mu agreed, rolling with it. "Right now, I have an opportunity to save this friend, but I can't quite make up my mind."
Seeing the conflict on his friend's face, Kevin quickly formulated a theory.
A pyramid scheme. A scam. Or maybe a cult.
That kind of stuff wasn't uncommon in the Far East. Just recently, some guy's family had been torn apart by a cult, leading him to publicly assassinate a local politician tied to the organization right on the street. It seemed Mu's "friend" was caught in a similar snare. Mu had a chance to pull him out, but doing so might put Mu himself in danger, hence the hesitation.
Sure enough, Li Mu continued. "I have a way to pull him back from the edge and prevent that miserable future. But my methods might not be... accepted by him. It might even cause him to break off our friendship completely."
Nailed it, Kevin thought, nodding internally. The pieces fit perfectly.
Those brainwashed by cults or scams underwent drastic personality changes. They never believed the people trying to save them were actually helping. Often, they would turn violently against their rescuers!
It made sense why Mu was so torn. However, Kevin's rock-solid moral compass dictated that one should never abandon a friend in need just because they might get a little hate for it.
After a brief moment of thought, he suggested, "Why don't you try talking to him first? If you guys are really friends, he should listen to reason."
Li Mu stared unblinkingly into Kevin's eyes, then slowly shook his head.
"I know his personality. Even if it saves him from a doomed future, he'd almost certainly reject it. So tell me, Kevin. If you were in my shoes... what would you do?"
Kevin didn't even hesitate.
"If I knew for a fact my friend was headed for tragedy, then of course I'd save him. Even if he hated me for it."
Kevin's expression shifted into absolute seriousness. "For example, if I knew you and Su were walking straight into mortal danger, I'd step in and pull you out. Even if you completely misunderstood my intentions, even if you hated my guts, I'd still save you."
"So, Kevin... is that your final answer?"
"Yep, that's my answer," Kevin stated solemnly. "If you're going to rescue this friend, I can lend a hand too. After all, you're my best bud. Just go for it! Who cares if you get hated? As long as you believe what you're doing is right, do it!"
Hearing this, Li Mu let out a soft sigh.
"Well, since you put it that way, my resolve is fully cemented. Thank you so much, Kevin. I'm not conflicted anymore. Like you said, even if this friend hates me, it's a hell of a lot better than watching him sink into an eternity of suffering."
Kevin rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little embarrassed. He was just about to offer a modest reply when he noticed Li Mu pulling something from under the table.
It was a sleek, metallic briefcase. Engraved onto its silver-white surface was the emblem of a moth.
Li Mu pressed his hand against the case. The moment his palm made contact, glowing electronic circuits spider-webbed across the metal.
CLICK.
With the crisp sound of mechanical gears disengaging, the case popped open.
Kevin peered inside. Resting snugly in the center of the padded interior was a high-tech syringe filled with a glowing green liquid.
"What's that?"
"Something to save my friend. Something to save this doomed world from its predestined destruction."
"Mu, since when did you become such an edgelord?" Kevin chuckled, assuming his friend was just having a severe bout of middle-school syndrome. "Seriously though, what is that? It looks incredibly sci-fi."
Li Mu picked up the syringe and smiled at him. "Kevin, come here for a sec."
"Why?"
Though confused by the request, Kevin unconsciously leaned forward.
The corners of Li Mu's lips curled upwards. Gripping the syringe tight, he moved with lightning speed, plunging the needle directly into Kevin's neck before he could even process what was happening.
PSSHHT!
The syringe's pneumatic pump activated, instantly firing the green fluid directly into Kevin's bloodstream.
"Mu, you—"
Feeling the sharp sting on his neck, Kevin tried to speak, but a sudden, overwhelming wave of drowsiness swallowed his consciousness whole.
THUD!
Kevin was down for the count.
Looking at his best friend slumped over the café table, Li Mu slipped the empty syringe back into the briefcase. He let out a long sigh.
"Well, Kevin, since you were the one who gave me the green light... in order to alter your miserable future, I'll just have to put the current you through the wringer first."