Episode 7: "Two Years of Brainwashing"

Yo Kuronaka
"Wh-What?!"

Yo Kuronaka woke up.

Yo Kuronaka
"Huff... Dang it... Huff..."

Somehow, he managed to find the strength to steady his feet.
Panting heavily, his shoulders moved up and down in a steady rhythm. He raised his head all the meanwhile.

And what he saw left him dumbstruck.
Everything he had come to know: the blue sky, vast land, and even the village...were all gone.
In its place was a vast enclosed room surrounded by inorganic walls and a cold ceiling.

Yo Kuronaka
"...Huh?"

He instantly noticed something was wrong about himself.
The clothes he normally wore as a hero had vanished.
And in their place was a black and white sporty outfit.

He began to frantically look around.
A broken, motionless object had taken the place of the villagers and was scattered on the ground.

Yo Kuronaka
"Wh-Why am I...?"

White-Clad Individual
"This guy... he's come to his senses?!"

Yo Kuronaka instantly shifted his view toward the voice.
The warrior who had previously crashed into the wall of a house staggered to his feet.
But something was wrong... He didn't look the same as before.
He's now dressed in top to bottom in a white combat outfit.
And has a hood draped over his head with a mask concealing his face.
The mask lit up and the number 24 appeared.

24?
Isn't that the number...?

???
"Seems our hero finally woke up. Well, what are you planning to do?"

The blue-haired man shot a piercing gaze toward the masked one as he spoke.

White-Clad Individual
"Tsk..."

The masked man clicked his tongue and suddenly raised his voice.

White-Clad Individual
"Red alert! We have an emergency over here! Requesting immediate backup!"

In an instant, several security drones appeared and surrounded Yo, the blue-haired man, and the white-clad individual.

Yo Kuronaka
"Wait, what's going to happen? What is all this?!"

White-Clad Individual
"You... You still don't have a single idea what's going on, right?"

The white-clad individual spoke in a gentle tone, as if he was trying to calm Yo.

White-Clad Individual
"Look. You won't have to worry about all this much longer.
I'll put you back to sleep and bring you back."

Yo Kuronaka
"Hold on a second!"

White-Clad Individual
"I'm telling you... it's nap time!"

With a quick motion, the white-clad individual grabbed a special baton from his waist and swung it straight at Yo's head.

Yo Kuronaka
"Whoa!"

Yo managed to barely dodge it.
Despite being off-balanced, he backed away and took up a fighting stance.
Surprising even himself, he didn't have to think about it.

White-Clad Individual
"Oh, so that's the way it's gonna be. You want a fight, huh?"

He couldn't see clearly through the mask, but it was evident he was cowering.
Even still...

White-Clad Individual
"Stop messin' around!"

The white-clad individual swung his baton with force toward Yo.
His wide-swings left him open to a counter-attack, but there was no safe way to block the baton with bare arms.
Yo managed to duck and dodge the blow, and with no hesitation charged up and drove a right hook straight into the 24.

White-Clad Individual
"Gah!"

It was clean. A satisfying hit if there ever was one.
A strike so good that it shattered the 24 displaying on the mask and sent the white-clad individual flying backward.
And as his body slammed to the ground, he just laid there in a motionless spread eagle.

Yo Kuronaka
"Huff... Huff..."

???
"Are you okay?"

Turning toward the voice, Yo saw a tall, white-haired man staring down at him.
A coldness was held within his eyes.

???
"Haha. Impressive. Didn't know our li'l hero could be so tough."

All the meanwhile, the blue-haired man was cracking jokes with a smug grin on his face.
Fragments of the security drones lay scattered around both of them.
It'd take considerable skill to do what they did in such a short time.
Thankfully, however, it seemed they bore no ill will toward Yo.
They didn't appear to be enemies.
And if that's the case, then...

Yo pointed down at the white-clad individual he had managed to knock out and said...

Yo Kuronaka
"Who is he?
And just what in the world is happening to me?"

???
"Well, well. Seems you're able to talk now."

The blue-haired man flashed his usual grin.

???
"I suppose it's time for us to introduce ourselves.
We're your..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his words were cut off by a girl's scream.

???
"Yo?!"

Upon hearing his name, Yo turned to see two figures in the distance.
Standing there was...
A slender girl with glistening blonde hair.
And a boy with piercing eyes and fiery red hair.

Yo Kuronaka
"...Huh?!"

The moment he saw both of them, his heartbeat surged.
It's them! The two he saw just before he lost consciousness!

???
"No way...
Isn't that... Yo? It has to be!"

The blonde girl just stood there staring dead at Yo while grabbing and shaking the red-haired boy's sleeve.
All the while, the red-haired boy stood stock still with his eyes wide open, fixated on Yo as he was being shaken.

???
"Ya serious?!
Took us long enough but we finally found you!"

The two of them dashed toward Yo.
As soon as they got in range, they both grabbed his shoulders and shouted with joy in unison.

??? & ???
"Yo!!!"

The moment that voice reached his ears,
Yo's vision became flooded with violent noise once more.

Yo Kuronaka
"Argh... Aaah!"

???
"H-Huh? Yo? What's wrong, did you get hurt?"

The blonde girl's face contorted into a look of worry.
Yo strained his voice as he asked her...

Yo Kuronaka
"Ugh... just... who are you?"

???
"W-Wait. What do you mean?"

Now her face contorted into one of surprise.

???
"What's with you?!
Don't tell me you've gone and forgotten your childhood friends!"

Yo Kuronaka
"...Childhood friends?"

The noise began to overwhelm Yo.

Yo Kuronaka
"Arghhh!"

???
"Yo, man. You good?"

The red-haired boy looked over at Yo with worry.
Behind him, the blue-haired man just sighed with exasperation.

???
"Seems like there's still some gaps in that memory of yours.
Can't really go and blame you, I suppose..."

(Gaps in my memory?
What is it that's missing?)

Yo desperately tried to focus. To remember.
Yet, the more he focused, the more the noise and pain increased.

Yo Kuronaka
"Wh-What's going on? What do you even mean childhood friends?
You guys weren't even in the village!"

???
"Village? Are you talking about the village in these paintings, Yo?"

The blonde girl's gaze fell upon the destroyed masquerade.
Every structure was nothing more than just a mere painting on thin plywood.

No such village truly existed.
Everything up till now had been a carefully crafted facade.

But if that's the case, Yo thought...
If everything has been a lie...

Then what was all that about being a hero? What about the Demon King?

Yo Kuronaka
"Just what... was I being forced to do?"

???
"Get a grip, man."
"This isn't like you."

The red-haired boy was blunt, yet despite that, he was visibly genuinely concerned about Yo.
The blue-haired man placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, as if to admonish him.

???
"Don't go and push him too hard. He's been trapped in this so-called village...
...For the past two years."

Yo Kuronaka
"...What? Two years?
I-I was trapped in here for..."

Despite the throbbing pain in his head, Yo managed to eke out some words.

Yo Kuronaka
"...that long...?"

He didn't want to admit it.
But there was no denying it any longer.

Yo Kuronaka
"I was... being deceived. By that goddess..."

(I was being deceived...)

The moment the realization hit, he became overcome with a sense of despair. It engulfed his entire being.
Like a rock, his heart sank and his strength drained.

Yet, in contrast, his headache and the noise that accompanied it vanished—he could finally think clearly.

All this time he was trapped in a miniature world.
All this time it was just a bunch of lies.
Despite understanding that,
his emotions were racing a million miles a minute.

The voice of the goddess statue echoed in his head.

Goddess Statue
"It's all just a part of the game.
And within it, I can see everything."

The goddess statue definitely said "game."

Goddess Statue
"O' dearest Yo Kuronaka, no matter what happens...
I hope we can be partners even if this takes an eternity."

The last of Yo's strength left his body.
Two long years lost inside of a game.
And above all else...

Yo Kuronaka
"Just who am I?
And who trapped me inside of this place?"

He couldn't remember a single thing.
Not one memory up to that point.

Not even the two who said they were his childhood friends...

Yo Kuronaka
"I... Urgh...."

With a gasp, Yo felt himself drifting away again.

???
"Yo!"

As his consciousness began to fade,
Yo heard a girl scream out his name.