Yuuto jolted awake. His breath hitched.
There was no barren land, no Lady Avalon, no flowers. There was only a thick, endless darkness. He floated in the void, as if the floor beneath his feet had vanished, swallowed by the earth.
"W-where is this?" his voice trembled, yet it did not echo. The darkness seemed to absorb his voice.
"Hello?! Is anyone here?!" he shouted with all his might.
Silence.
Then, suddenly, the reality around him cracked like breaking glass.
CRASH!
A blinding white light pierced his eyes. The smell of a freshly mopped floor and the faint, rowdy voices of students rushed into his senses.
Yuuto blinked, trying to adjust his vision. As the light faded, he found himself standing in the middle of his high school hallway. The evening sun shone through the iron lockers beside him.
"Eh...? School...?"
Before he could process the situation, a familiar voice spoke from behind him.
"I like the person I am now."
Yuuto's heart stopped for a moment. He knew that voice. Stiffly, he turned his body slowly.
Standing there was a girl in a school uniform. Honda Asahi.
"Honda-san..." Yuuto called out softly.
The girl stared at him. However, Asahi's expression was completely blank. Her eyes were dead, devoid of any spark of life, as if she were looking at Yuuto not as a human, but as a lifeless object blocking her path.
"Am I wrong?" Asahi asked in a terrifyingly flat tone. "Am I not allowed to be interested in sex? Am I not allowed to have a boyfriend?"
The questions stabbed into Yuuto. "N-no... T-that's not what I meant..." he stammered.
But Asahi didn't listen. She cut him off coldly. "I know what I'm doing might look dirty in your eyes. But... this is my business with your brother."
Yuuto opened his mouth to argue, wanting to scream, but his voice was caught in his throat.
Asahi stared at him intently, then uttered the most painful sentence of all.
"This has nothing to do with you, Kido. You... just happen to live in the same house. You're just a stranger passing through."
Those words hit Yuuto harder than a physical blow. He stood frozen, his body stiff. A stranger. Just a coincidence.
Without waiting for an answer, Asahi turned around. Her hair swayed as she walked away, leaving Yuuto alone in the hallway that seemed to stretch longer and longer.
Yuuto reached out his hand, wanting to grab that back, but...
"Pffft..."
A voice stopped his movement.
"Hahahaha... Ahahahaha!"
The laughter exploded. It wasn't Asahi's laughter. It was a man's voice. A crisp, elegant laugh, yet filled with a deadly tone of mockery and poison.
Yuuto looked up in a panic, searching for the source of the voice. "Who is it?!"
But there was no one. The hallway was empty. The mysterious laughter echoed from every direction—from the ceiling, from the floor, even from within his own head—mocking the pain he had just felt.
The scenery around him spun again, dissolving the school hallway into a colorful fog.
When his vision focused again, Yuuto stood on a quiet residential street. The sky was a reddish-orange—a warm twilight glow. The evening wind blew gently, carrying the scent of wet asphalt and nostalgia.
From a distance, a crisp laughter could be heard.
Yuuto turned and saw three teenagers walking together while pushing their bicycles. It was himself—a past version of Yuuto who could still smile widely—flanked by two girls.
On his left was Honda Asahi, and on his right was Aizawa Mei.
The three of them laughed freely, talking about trivial school things. No burdens, no secrets, only pure friendship.
The three shadows walked through Yuuto's current body, as if he were nothing more than an invisible ghost.
"T-this..." Yuuto stared at their receding backs with a hollow gaze. "The past...?"
Before the longing could settle, the world around him cracked again. The warm orange light was instantly extinguished, replaced by a cold, humming artificial light.
Now, he stood in the living room of his own home.
The sight before him made his stomach churn.
There, the past version of Yuuto sat cross-legged on the floor carpet, focused on holding a game console controller. He was alone at the bottom, separated from the group.
Meanwhile, on the sofa directly behind his back, sat four other people.
Asahi and Mei sat there, flanked by two men who were Yuuto's brothers.
The five of them were playing a game, but it wasn't the TV screen that was Yuuto's focus now.
Yuuto's eyes widened in horror as he saw the men's hands "wandering" as they pleased. They felt, touched, and harassed the two girls openly while laughing.
And the most painful part?
Asahi and Mei just stayed silent. They allowed the disgusting touch to happen. They even laughed a little, as if Yuuto's presence, sitting only a meter in front of them, meant absolutely nothing. They didn't care that Yuuto was there.
Silence.
Yuuto, observing the scene, clenched his fists until his nails dug into his flesh. Anger, shame, and helplessness mixed into one.
Suddenly, a man's voice broke the silence.
The voice was heavy, majestic, and radiated an aura of authority as sharp as a sword. It wasn't the sound of laughter, but the sound of pure and righteous wrath.
"A sight truly... disgusting."
The voice echoed, mercilessly judging the sins occurring on that sofa.
"There is no honor at all in this place."
The world around him spun nauseatingly once more.
This time, Yuuto found himself huddled on the mattress in his own room. The room was dim, but his sense of hearing worked too sharply.
From behind the thin wall next to him, those sounds were heard again. Heavy breaths, the sound of skin meeting skin, and unrestrained moans of pleasure. It wasn't the voice of a stranger. He recognized that man's laughter. He recognized that woman's moans.
Yuuto covered his ears tightly, burying his face in the pillow, trying to drive the noise pollution out of his head. However, the sound seemed to crawl into his skin.
"Hahaha..."
The mysterious laughter was heard again, clearer this time, echoing right beside his ear.
"Humans... Have they truly fallen this low? Selling their dignity for a moment's friction of flesh... Pathetic, isn't it?"
The voice sounded amused, as if watching a bad comedy performance.
Before Yuuto could answer, the floor beneath him collapsed.
Now, he stood in front of his home's living room door. The door was slightly ajar, leaving a vertical gap the width of a finger. A warm yellow light glowed from the crack.
Yuuto didn't want to look. He knew what was in there. But his body moved on its own. His eyes drew close to the gap.
His pupils shrank, then slowly lost their light. Empty. Dead.
Inside, on the living room carpet where they used to play games, a hellish scene was presented. Aizawa Mei. Honda Asahi. And the brothers.
They weren't playing. Their clothes were scattered on the floor. The bodies swapped partners without shame, laughing in the midst of the disgusting activity, as if morality no longer existed in their dictionary.
Yuuto stood frozen. His breath hitched seeing the people he once considered friends and family writhing like animals.
Suddenly, another voice was heard. A different man's voice—heavy, majestic, and radiating an aura of wrath that pressed against the air around Yuuto.
"They... behave like wild animals."
The voice judged coldly, filled with pure disgust toward the lack of honor in that room.
"There is no reason. No nobility. Only foul lust."
Wuuussh.
The disgusting sight vanished instantly, replaced by a thick, eternal darkness.
Yuuto fell to his knees on that limitless black floor. He was alone again. Silence. Only the sound of his own racing breath remained.
However, the darkness in front of him began to move.
Two shadows slowly formed from nothingness, standing tall before him.
One radiated a faint but warm golden aura, standing upright like a pillar of justice.
The other was draped in the dark shadow of moth wings, radiating an aura of mystery and emptiness.
Yuuto looked up, staring at the two entities now inhabiting his mind with a tremble.
"W-who... who are you?"
"We see everything, Yuuto... Everything you have endured."
The voice came from the shadow radiating a white-golden aura. Its tone sounded heavy, full of sympathy, and... deep pity.
"Hahahaha! Yes, yes, we saw it!"
A crisp laughter cut in from the other side. The black shadow shrouded in dark mist chuckled. "Your past is truly interesting! It was just a boring ordinary human life, yet for some reason... your suffering was quite entertaining to watch."
Yuuto recoiled, his eyes widening in horror. His face was deathly pale. "Y-you... You saw everything?!"
The White Shadow took a step forward, ignoring its partner's laughter. He looked at Yuuto.
"How pathetic..." the White Shadow murmured. "But listen, Yuuto. This is not your fault. It is the world that is sick. Those who betrayed you, those who treated you like trash... they are the ones who have sinned. You do not need to feel this low."
The sentence was spoken with good intent, a consolation from a hero. But to Yuuto, the words sounded like poison. Pity. Compassion. The things he hated most.
Yuuto's jaw tightened. His brows knit sharply. Shame and anger exploded in his chest. He stood up, glaring at the glowing figure.
"Shut up!" Yuuto snapped, his voice hoarse but full of emotion.
"Don't talk as if you know everything! This isn't their fault!" Yuuto clenched his fists until they trembled.
"I don't care how badly they treated me... I don't blame them!"
Tears of anger welled in the corners of his eyes, but he held them back.
"The one I blame... is myself!" he shouted while striking his own chest hard. "Because I am weak! Because I am a loser! Because I couldn't do anything compared to my great brothers!"
His breath came in gasps. "At that time... I could have been angry! I could have fought back! But what did I do? I just stayed silent! I let it all happen! I am a coward!"
Yuuto stared fiercely into the eyes of the White Shadow. "So keep your sweet words to yourself! I don't need your pity!"
The White Shadow fell silent, looking shocked by Yuuto's outburst of emotion. He reached out a hand, trying to explain. "Yuuto... I didn't mean to belittle you, I ju—"
"HAHAHAHAHA! MAGNIFICENT!"
A thunderous laughter from the Black Shadow cut off the words instantly.
The dark figure clapped slowly, enjoying the mental breakdown performance before him. "That's right! That's it! You are absolutely right, Kido Yuuto! You are the worst, weakest, and most pathetic human I have ever seen!"
He pointed at Yuuto with a cruel, mocking tone. "You realize you are nothing but trash, and you accept it? Ah, now that is true entertainment!"
The White Shadow snapped his head toward the dark figure with a flare of rage. His golden light blazed angrily.
"Shut your mouth, you *****!" he barked loudly.
The name escaped his lips, but in Yuuto's ears, the sound was like static or a painful buzzing.
"Don't poison his thoughts any further!" the White Shadow continued with a threatening tone.
"Isn't it the truth? To be weak is the greatest sin in this world!"
The Black Shadow pointed sharply at the glowing figure beside him. His voice was full of scorn. "And you... Mr. Holy Hero... you know the feeling well, don't you? Wake up and look at reality! Those weaklings are always left behind and die behind your back precisely because you are too strong and too perfect for them!"
The White Shadow flinched violently. His golden light dimmed for a moment, the words hitting the very heart of his past regrets. He fell silent, unable to argue.
Seeing his opponent silenced, the Black Shadow smirked with satisfaction. He then floated closer to Yuuto, circling him like a venomous snake whispering incantations.
"Look at yourself, Yuuto. Those women lied to you with fake smiles, and you swallowed those lies whole? Disgusting. Truly disgusting. I want to vomit seeing how low the tastes of these humans are."
"Enough!"
The White Shadow's shout thundered, cutting off the poisonous whispers. He stepped forward, drawing an imaginary sword of light toward the dark figure.
"Don't pollute Yuuto's mind with your poison any longer, you 'The Great Liar'!"
CRACK!
the shout was so powerful it shattered the dream reality around them. The ceiling of darkness cracked like glass struck by a sledgehammer.
SHATTER!
The world around Yuuto crumbled into pieces, the shards scattering into nothingness. The black floor beneath his feet vanished, replaced by muddy ground that shook violently.
BOOM!
A massive explosion shook the earth. Thick dust and black smoke billowed everywhere, blocking the view.
Yuuto reflexively shut his eyes tight and shielded his face with both hands from the blast of hot wind.
Slowly, the sound of loud thuds was heard. He was no longer in a void. He was in the hell of an ancient battlefield.
As the dust began to thin, Yuuto saw a terrifying sight before him.
A group of giants—grotesque creatures as tall as hills—were marching toward a fortified city that looked helpless. Their footsteps shook the earth.
However, before the monsters reached the city, a streak of golden light suddenly shot from the sky, striking right into the center of their ranks.
BOOM! CRACK!
A massive explosion shook the battlefield. That golden light moved with impossible speed and sharpness.
It wasn't just an explosion, but a slash. In the blink of an eye, the light decapitated the giants like a hot knife cutting through butter.
The monsters' heads rolled to the ground even before their massive bodies realized they were dead.
The glowing figure then landed gracefully on the scorched earth.
Yuuto could finally see him clearly. His breath hitched.
Standing there was a knight with brilliant golden hair, wearing silver armor that sparkled without a single stain. He held a sword that radiated majesty. He looked like a prince straight out of a fairy tale—perfect, gallant, and untouched.
Yuuto stood frozen. In front of him stood the embodiment of a "True Knight"—the type of perfect man always longed for and dreamed of by the women in his world. A type of man who was a stark contrast to himself.
The golden-haired knight raised his sword straight forward, pointing it at the remaining giant forces. His voice echoed, calm yet full of absolute authority that made the air vibrate.
"Seal Thirteen—Decision Start!"
Massive amounts of golden mana gathered on the sword's blade, shining brighter than the sun. Then, with a swing that split the heavens and the earth, he shouted that Holy Name.
"EXCALIBUR!!!"
BLAAAAARRRR!
A massive wave of golden light exploded from that sword swing, swallowing the entire horizon. The giants who previously seemed invincible were now shattered into pieces, vanishing into light dust in an instant. The battlefield that was previously full of screams suddenly fell silent, leaving behind scorched, burnt earth.
The knight lowered his sword slowly. He stood still in that silence, staring at the aftermath of the destruction he had created.
Yuuto saw it. From this perspective, he could see the knight's face very clearly.
The knight turned toward the bottom of the hill, looking at his troops and his people who were beginning to approach. However, there was no spark of happiness in his eyes. What Yuuto saw was only a look that was very, very lonely.
He was too strong. He was too perfect. Because of his majesty that surpassed human limits, not a single one of his followers could truly stand beside him. They could only worship his back from a distance, letting him carry the burden of the world alone. At the peak of glory, the knight was only accompanied by the cold wind.
Yuuto was stunned, his chest tight seeing the sadness hidden behind that shining silver armor. His lips trembled, whispering a name that was now etched in his soul.
"...Arthur Pendragon," he murmured softly.
Thick black mist rolled in, replacing the dust of the previous battle. Yuuto felt the air around him become bone-chillingly cold. He blinked his eyes, trying to ward off the sudden drowsiness that attacked.
He saw a different sight. Not an open battlefield, but a kingdom on the brink of collapse. Beautiful yet rotting autumn forests, and a sky colored in eternal twilight, as if the world itself were sick.
In the midst of that destruction, a man floated slowly. He wore an elegant prince's cloak with giant moth wings on his back. There were no giants he fought, but rather the entire world itself seemed to oppose him. Yet, the man only let out a small laugh.
Creek... Creek...
The sound wasn't an explosion, but the sound of something cracking. Giant black shadows—like the jaws of an insect or a dragon from the deepest abyss—emerged from behind the man's back, covering the sky, ready to swallow everything.
The moth-winged man spread his arms, then whispered in a tone that was soft yet full of poison.
"Fall into an eternal sleep. There is no truth here..."
Then Yuuto heard that voice echoing in his head, piercing his soul: "Lie Like Vortigern!"
Zwuush!
There was no explosion of light. There was only the darkness that swallowed. The city, the forest, and the fairy army beneath him did not shatter into pieces, but rather simply vanished—sucked into a bottomless black hole. Reality itself was folded into a storybook, then forcibly closed.
Silence.
The man landed on the remains of the empty ground. Yuuto stared at his face. Unlike Arthur who looked lonely and steadfast, this man... smiled.
It was the most charming prince's smile, yet his eyes were empty. There was no light, no hope, only a deep disgust for everything that lived. He looked at the destruction he had wrought as if looking at boring trash.
He looked like someone who was already tired of lying to the world, yet had no choice but to continue the charade.
Yuuto felt his chest tighten from that aura of nihilism, then his lips moved unconsciously to mention the true name of that nightmare.
"...Oberon... Vortigern," he whispered.
Yuuto slowly opened his eyes. His consciousness returned to the dark void, but this time the atmosphere felt different. The presence of the two figures in front of him no longer felt foreign, but rather felt like a part of his soul beginning to merge.
Yuuto took a deep breath, then uttered both names.
"Arthur Pendragon... and Oberon Vortigern."
"Oh? So you've already seen our 'short film' preview, huh?"
Oberon—smiled broadly. His crisp laughter echoed in the void. "Hahaha! What do you think, Yuuto? Isn't my memory beautiful? I am here to fulfill my role as the Fairy King, guiding you with sweet lies as my successor... a Genuine Fae."
Oberon then glanced at the figure beside him. His empty yet playful eyes stared sharply at the armored knight.
Would you like me to continue with the next part where Arthur and Oberon give their final instructions before Yuuto wakes up in the real world?
"And you, Arthur... or should I call you the 'male version' of the Country Girl? No need to glare at me with those scary eyes. You know it yourself, don't you? We are both bound here. We can't do anything to him."
Arthur remained standing tall, his hand clenched on the hilt of his imaginary sword. His gaze was cold and full of vigilance.
"I will never trust you," Arthur replied in a voice that was majestic yet sharp. "You carry the same scent as Merlin—that damn deceiver. Furthermore, you bear the name Vortigern, one of the worst enemies my country has ever faced. It makes it all the more difficult for me to place my trust in a creature like you."
Oberon simply shrugged, as if the insult were sweet music to his ears.
"My, my... you really are stiff, aren't you? Quite different from the Artoria of my world," Oberon mocked with a small laugh. "But don't you worry, Holy Knight. In this 'rotten' world, a deceiver like me is sometimes far more useful than an honest hero like you."
Arthur shifted his gaze away from Oberon, then stepped closer to Yuuto. He knelt on one knee so that his height was level with the young man, a knightly gesture of respect that made Yuuto flinch.
"Listen, Yuuto," Arthur's voice sounded soft yet full of authority. "The past is a book that has already been written. You cannot erase the ink, but you hold the pen to write the next chapter. Forget your painful past. Forget the two girls who betrayed your sincerity. They are no longer part of the destiny you are to walk."
Yuuto lowered his head, his fingers gripping the floor of darkness. "B-but... that's impossible. This pain... I don't know how to get rid of it."
Arthur reached out his hand, firmly grasping Yuuto's shoulder. His grip provided a soothing warmth.
"Never say 'impossible' before you draw your sword, Yuuto. Remember this: A King is not determined by how many times he falls, but by how he rises and protects what is precious to him. Wounds of the heart are indeed difficult to treat, but they will heal; you just need to redirect your affection toward others, and in time, those old wounds will vanish."
Yuuto slowly raised his head, seeing Arthur's gaze which was so sincere and believed in him.
"Alright... I'll try," Yuuto whispered, this time in a firmer tone.
Arthur gave a faint smile, then released his hand from Yuuto's shoulder. He stood upright again, radiating a dazzling aura of light.
"Good. That is the answer I wanted to hear. Now, let me explain my role here. I am Arthur Pendragon. Through that group system, you have inherited my body, haven't you?"
Yuuto nodded slowly.
"I will be your guide. I will teach you how to control this physical strength and bequeath all the sword techniques I possess into your soul," Arthur paused for a moment, then looked at his empty hands. "However, I must apologize. For now, you only receive my body and experience. That Holy Sword—Excalibur—has a will of its own and you cannot yet wield it. Yet, with the body of a King, you can still change this world."
Yuuto remained silent, trying to digest the roles of these two legendary entities. Seeing Yuuto's confusion, Oberon spoke again in a relaxed tone.
"The same goes for me," Oberon continued, playing with his fingers in the air. "I am the one who will guide you in understanding the Genuine Fae bloodline that now flows through your veins. You might inherit some of my insect-related abilities, but that is not the core of your power. As a high-ranking Fae, you lean more toward natural authority—plants, earth, and the essence of life itself."
Yuuto looked at both of them in turn. "So... you two will be my teachers?"
"You could say that, though I prefer to call myself a 'very useful imaginary friend'," Oberon replied with a chuckle.
However, the laughter stopped when he saw his fingertips begin to fade into shards of black light. On the other side, Arthur's armored body also began to glow golden.
"It seems our time is up, Yuuto," Arthur said, his voice sounding increasingly distant.
"Well, see you again some other time, Yuuto-kun. Don't let that boring world swallow you up, okay?" Oberon waved his hand lazily as his body began to disappear completely.
However, just before Arthur's light faded completely, the Holy Knight stepped forward. His expression suddenly turned very serious, giving one final warning that felt like a heavy burden on Yuuto's shoulders.
"Yuuto... listen to me carefully. Whatever happens, never place absolute trust in Merlin."
Arthur looked sharply into Yuuto's eyes, as if wanting to ensure this message was deeply ingrained.
"You may listen to her opinion, but never follow her advice blindly. If you let your guard down even a little, you will only end up as a 'toy' in her hands... just like I once was."
After that cold warning was uttered, Arthur's figure vanished completely, leaving Yuuto in a momentary silence before his consciousness was pulled back to the real world.