Haruto hadn't slept.
The memory fragment lingered like smoke in his mind. His sister's promise. The black stone pendant he no longer wore—but felt against his soul. The Gate patterns Ren had shown. The pull toward something older than this world.
He walked Shibuya's backstreets at dusk. Neon bled into twilight. Crowds thinned. The air carried the faint metallic tang of an impending Gate—another one, small, somewhere close.
He ignored it.
Until laughter echoed from an alley ahead.
Sharp. Mocking. Playful.
Haruto slowed.
A figure leaned against a graffiti-covered wall under a flickering lamp. Tall, lean, black coat with red accents. Messy dark hair. Green eyes that glowed faintly in the dark. A deck of cards spun lazily between his fingers—black cards with red spade symbols.
Joker.
A-rank hunter. The trickster. The one who played with lives like poker chips.
He looked up as Haruto approached.
"Well, well… the unregistered ghost himself."
Joker's voice was smooth, almost sing-song.
"Haruto Sasaki. Or should I say… Yami?"
Haruto stopped five meters away.
His red eyes narrowed.
"You know my name."
Joker grinned wider, teeth flashing.
"I know a lot of things. Guild whispers. Hunter forums. That little A-rank show you put on with Miya and Yuki. Erasing a boss with black nothing. Very dramatic."
He flicked a card.
It spun through the air—slow, deliberate—and landed point-down in the pavement between them. The card glowed faintly green.
"Care for a game?"
Haruto didn't move.
"I don't play."
Joker laughed.
"Everyone plays. Life's just a bad hand sometimes."
He stepped forward, cards vanishing into his sleeve like smoke.
"I've been watching you. Since the forest Gate. You woke up… different. Not awakened. Not Aether. Something else."
His green eyes gleamed.
"Something fun."
Haruto felt the shift.
The alley darkened.
Shadows stretched unnaturally.
**[Instant Analyze – Targeted.]**
**[Name: Joker (Real: Unknown)]**
**[Rank: A (High)]**
**[Aether Affinity: Illusion / Shadow / Probability Manipulation]**
**[Threat Level: High. Skill detected: Card of Chaos – Reality Alteration.]**
Joker raised a hand.
"Lesson one: never ignore an invitation."
The card on the ground exploded into green light.
Reality warped.
The alley twisted—walls bending, pavement cracking upward like teeth. Shadows lunged as living things.
Haruto reacted.
**[Black Chain Curse – Lv.2.]**
Chains erupted from every dark corner, snapping toward Joker.
But the chains bent mid-air—twisted into harmless ribbons of light.
Joker laughed.
"Illusion's a bitch, isn't it?"
He snapped his fingers.
The ground under Haruto vanished.
He fell.
But only a meter—landed in a crouch.
**[Aura Fear – Lv.2.]**
Crimson-black pressure rolled out.
The illusions flickered.
Joker winced—just a fraction.
"Not bad."
Haruto stood.
"Enough games."
He raised his hand.
**[Tenebrae – Lv.2.]**
A black sphere formed—small, controlled.
Joker's grin faltered.
"That… that's not Aether."
He stepped back.
The sphere grew.
Shadows devoured the green illusions.
Reality snapped back.
The alley returned—normal, wet, quiet.
Joker lowered his hands.
"Touché."
He bowed mockingly.
"You win this round."
Haruto let the sphere dissipate.
"Why follow me?"
Joker's expression shifted—less playful, more serious.
"Because someone's forcing Gates. Someone with power from outside. And you… you smell like the same place."
He pulled a single black card from his sleeve.
Red spade in the center.
He tossed it to Haruto.
It landed in his palm.
No glow. Just paper.
But it felt heavy.
"Keep it. When you're ready to talk… burn it. I'll find you."
Joker turned.
One last word over his shoulder.
"Don't die before the real game starts."
He vanished into shadow.
Haruto stared at the card.
**[Item Obtained: Joker's Calling Card.]**
**[Effect: Summons contact with A-rank hunter Joker upon destruction. Hidden: Probability Manipulation trace detected.]**
He pocketed it.
The air shifted again.
Another siren—closer.
Haruto looked up.
The sky above Shibuya darkened.
Not rain.
A Gate.
Bigger.
Unstable.
And this time… he felt it.
A familiar laugh.
Nox.
Or his echo.
Haruto's fist clenched.
Tenebrae stirred.
The game was escalating.
And he was done playing small.