A few years before transmigration.

Haru leaned back on his couch, spinning a pen between his fingers while lazily scrolling through his phone.

Across the glass table, Tony, with black hair and brown eyes, sat stiff, with his laptop open on his lap and a paper folder in his other hand.

"Sir, please understand," Tony said, pushing his glasses up as he put the folder on the glass table between them, "...adding a death to a side character will give the story more weight."

Haru didn't even look up.

"Hm." He just hummed in a low voice.

Tony clenched his hands.

"I know the game is already a success, but if we add a little more depth, if we give these characters life, it'll elevate the whole narrative. We will get more depth in the lore. We can expand the emotional traits."

Haru sighed and dropped his pen on the table.

"Tony, do you know what my motto is?"

Tony stayed quiet.

Grinning, Haru said, "It's to never touch anything if it's working fine."

Tony frowned; his eye twitched.

Haru stretched both his arms and relaxed.

"The game is successful because we built it that way," Haru continued. "Adding random stories for characters no one cares about will only drag it down. We have a new project coming. If you're so sure about it, make a presentation. Convince the board if you can."

Tony bit his tongue.

Haru caught on to his reaction.

"What's this? You can't?" Haru mocked lightly. "That's probably why you're still stuck in the same position."

Tony's fist tightened, his nails pressing into his palm.

"Look," Haru leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, "you've got talent, Tony. Maybe not more than me, but still, you have that spark in you. After I built this company, you were the only one who actually understood my entire code base. And I respect that, you know. But if you keep hiding in the shadows and waiting for someone else to speak up for you, you'll keep rotting in the same seat."

"You know I can't…" Tony muttered, voice low.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Haru said, running a hand through his jet-black hair, "stop with the crying act."

"Haaah… let me see that."

He grabbed the proposal Tony had brought and flipped through the pages. Well, he skimmed all the text.

Tony's pitch was simple, and Haru understood it.

Tony wanted to give side characters in Rebirth of the Fivefold Calamities more story; according to him, it will give the lore more weight, but only to characters that barely got any screen time.

"It's not possible," Haru said flatly, closing the folder. "There are too many of them. We're not wasting resources on an already finished game."

He pulled out his tablet and opened an email. "Instead…"

"...we've got a new contract coming in."

Tony lowered his head and grabbed the tablet in slow motion. "Alright… sir."

"Ah, cheer up, Tony, I am making you the head of this project," Haru said, grinning.

Even though he just got promoted, Tony didn't look happy.

He glanced at Haru. That scheming face of his, which was always onto something.

Tony was jealous of Haru. He has all the talents that Haru has, except for one… and that was Haru's confidence.

"What?" Haru asked.

"Nothing, sir." Tony replied dully, "...it's just that I envy you sometimes."

"...." Haru blinked, then said.

"Heh, as you should," He added jokingly. "Not everyone is built the same. Distinction is necessary; that's what makes one a king and the other a servant."

Tony scratched his cheeks awkwardly. "Ummm… The way you phrase it, sir, is a bit…"

"What? It's a wise word."

"Haah, nothing, sir."

"Alright, now go back to work." Haru said, "And stop focusing on side characters."

The folder Tony left behind lay on the table. A weak breeze from the AC flipped the pages one by one.

"Yoru."

"Sumire."

"Yamada."

"Lucas."

"Ellie."

The last page stopped.

"Lumina."

— — —

"It looks like it's been dead for many centuries," Myra commented, stepping closer to Leon as he moved toward the bed.

On her way, she noticed something, that Leon had stopped moving.

His golden eyes were brimming wide, fixed on the skeleton lying on the bed.

Clang—!

The sword slipped from his hand and hit the ground.

"...?!"

Myra flinched at the sound. His reaction wasn't what she expected.

'What's with him?' she thought.

Leon looked… lost.

His breathing grew shallow and uneven, like someone who had just seen a ghost. And even if that were true, she knew he wouldn't normally react like this.

She waited.

Leon bit down on his lip, harder and harder, until a thin line of blood dripped down. Whatever memory flashed in his mind, it shook him.

Step.

He moved forward.

Myra glanced back at the corpse.

The corpse was so ancient that not even maggots remained.

It was only bones and dust, nothing more.

Leon approached the almost-broken bed; his steps were slow.

'What is he doing…?' Myra thought, her eyes narrowing.

He leaned in, close to the skeleton, and gently ran his fingers along the side of its cracked skull.

"What…are you…?" Myra blinked, unable to make sense of what she was seeing.

Before she could react, Leon bent down and lifted the skeleton into his arms carefully, as if it were something precious.

"M–Master?!" Myra's voice trembled in shock.

Leon didn't respond.

"Wha—What are you doing?" she asked again, this time in a low, uncertain tone.

She had never felt this kind of emotion from him before.

She stared at the hollow sockets of the skull in his arms, then back at Leon.

'Whose skeleton is this?'

"Myra."

His voice was cold and commanding. Not a single hint of hesitation.

He didn't just look at her. He glared at her, like he was issuing an order.

"I'm taking this corpse."

Myra blinked rapidly. "But… it will—"

"Hey." His golden eyes sharpened. "I'm not asking."

"...!"

She shut her mouth immediately.

Leon walked past her, still cradling the skeleton carefully against his chest.

'Huh? What was that just now…?' Myra stood frozen.

She couldn't bring herself to speak up. That look in his eyes, that voice, it was enough to silence her. It was just as intense as Veronica's presence.

Creak—

Leon stopped at the doorway. He didn't turn back, as he ordered.

"Myra. Pick up that sword on the floor."

Myra lowered her gaze slightly.

"…Understood, Master."

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