Afterlight

When the world ends, it doesn't begin with fire.
It begins with a scream behind the school infirmary door.

Haruto Saito, a quiet 16-year-old who prefers the stairway overlooking the school gate to any classroom, lives a life balanced between bitterness and routine. His older brother stole the girl he once promised to love, his parents barely speak to each other, and Haruto survives each day by staying invisible.

Until the infection arrives.

A violent, fast-spreading sickness tears through Saito High, turning students into feral, rotting creatures driven by hunger and sound. They scream like something already dead, sprint with horrifying speed, and only a destroyed brain can stop them. One bite means turning within hours.

When the school locks down, chaos erupts.
Haruto is forced to team up with the few people he trusts: Kenta, his loud but loyal best friend; Rei, the sharp-eyed girl who knows him better than he thinks; and the teachers desperately trying to keep order as the hallways fill with screams.

But nothing hurts more than the people he cannot save.

His childhood friend Aoi is trapped in a different building.
His younger sister Hana is alone at home as the city falls apart.
And his older brother Riku-confident, admired, untouchable-finally faces something he can't charm his way out of.

As the world collapses beyond the school gates, Haruto must fight his way through classrooms, rooftops, alleys, and burning streets to reach the people he loves. Each choice reshapes him. Each loss hardens him. And each sunrise shows less of the world he knew.

The outbreak spreads.
The nation crumbles.
And Haruto Saito, once invisible, becomes one of the few who will define what humanity means in the Afterlight.