As the Japanese government discovers a mysterious artifact with 4 hidden worlds in it, they send a criminal, anti-social hacker against his will with an additional operation team into the worlds to obtain the 4 keys to decrypt the artifact. Discove...
There was a short path in front of me, that led to the door. The door to myself ... quite noticeably there was a big "YOU" in the middle of the gate, and words were also written around it:
FREE TRUTH REALIZATION FACE ACCEPT
But there was also something that would definitely bother me.
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Demon-like arms shot out of ... portals ...? They reached and snapped into the path, ugly scratching and clashing of claws could be heard. There were words on the portals, as I noticed on closer inspection:
GREED DEATH PRIDE FEAR DOUBT FORGET HATE SAD GRIEF MASK HIDE PAST REVENGE WEAK
Claws that would hold me back. If I stepped into the corridor, I would be torn away, mangled, maybe eaten right away.
Niretsu appeared right next to the door. "Hihi, Kaito. What do you think of my offer? It's only too fair! We won't fight, you can just leave. Sooner or later, even if you would have beaten me, you'd have to walk down this aisle anyway!"
"What are these things?" I asked.
"Your weaknesses and my strengths ... You get destroyed by them, I feed myself through them ... We are the opposite of each other, you understand? You were weak, so you created me, the strong one, hihi"
"Maniac," I gasped. "So I have to go through this crap and then I'll win?"
"Exactly. Whether you can do it ... well"
Niretsu grinned.
I took a closer look at the trail, hoping I could find a trick or spot somewhere, that would be helpful to me. Only now I noticed that it was made of the white paint, it ran straight towards the door. Words floated in it:
LEAVE RUN NOW CONCENTRATE FAST
I took a step. The closer I got, the louder the scratchy and metallic noises became, the hands snapped aggressively at me, but I was still within safe reach of them. I took a deep breath and concentrated, revoking everything I had recently discovered. My father had got his hands on data, so the government had shut him down by killing his wife and putting the murder on him. That's why I had ended up in the orphanage with my sister, but my father had hid the data in my sister's dress with a USB stick, which is why she had been killed. The government had got its datas back and was content, while I had got traumatized and had created a second personality ... Niretsu. He had existed before already, as my imaginary friend, but after I had lost my sister I hadn't been able to take it anymore and so I had made him to myself. But he had gained complete control over my body, which is why I now only existed in his brain. Then I had suddenly been brought back to life, probably because of some real-world event. And now I was on my way to suppress my second personality and regain the upper hand. And all I had to do was walk through that door, along this way.
Pull yourself together, Kaito!
You can do it, just don't think about those hands and march through!
My thoughts kept rushing through my head. When had the last time been that I had really used my brain? Since I had got to the 4 worlds, I had felt pretty stupid. It was time to start thinking rationally again. To use my brain, I was ya smart! I had carried out 263 hacker attacks and had not been discovered once before! I could do it, I just had to make an effort! Wait... those arms were there to stop me. But they were named after some qualities of people ... if I could throw off or suppress that qualities, would they be unable to attack me then?
I exhaled. And started walking.
GREED shot at me. Greed, I laughed. I've never been greedy. The arm went slack and hit the floor. Slowly he withdrew into his portal, then it closed.
At the same time, Niretsu began to tremble. He leaned on the floor and spat out blood. "You can't make it, Kaito. You are nothing!"
I ignored him. I passed DEATH and FEAR, PRIDE and DOUBT. Why should I be afraid of dying? I had nothing more to lose anyway .. Fear ... of what? Proud ... I had been a proud person, but why? What was I proud of? The pride couldn't overtake me, there wasn't enough of it for that. At least not anymore. Doubt ... of what? I forgot my doubts for a few seconds so that the arm couldn't reach me.
FORGET snapped at me with confidence, but I easily avoided it. I didn't want to forget anything, not anymore. It was time to end this madness and to stop hiding.
HATE was a little tougher, but I had already lived out my hatred. Don'yoku ... His death put me on the right track, and it certainly wasn't hate.
Niretsu began to cough and bleed more and more. His skin was bleeding, his eyes were bleeding. "Kaito ..." he croaked, but his sentence was drowned in the tangle of claws.
SADNESS hit me. I saw the monster-like arm too late and got caught right away. Everything hurt in me. My body and my mind all howled. But he couldn't catch me after that, and certainly not grab me. I got up.
"You are nothing!" Shouted Niretsu. "Remember Yuri, your father, your mother! You couldn't save even one of them! You were too weak to save them! It's YOUR fault that Yuri died, only YOURS! YOU could have waited with her, YOU shouldn't have gone on without her! YOU'RE AT FAULT!!!"
PAST hit me with full force. Grabbed me, wrapped around me. Pulled me, choked me. Scratched my skin. And dragged me into his portal.
