IT WOULD be fascinating to watch how the world will punish humans.

Since humans are all sinners and selfish creatures, it's just fair to treat them the way they treat the world, right?

Don't get it wrong. Some humans are also like saints. Kind people. Possessing good morals. Held their values stronger than you could ever be.

However, humans have always had dark sides into them. Their madness is always present within them. They are simply adept at keeping it hidden and out of sight, even from their own eyes.

And out of nowhere, specifically in the middle of the night in a narrow dark alley, there's someone who failed to hide it.

A shrill scream pierced the tranquility of the night.

The man seemed like he was in terrible anguish. He was in trouble. His entire body jerked back and forth as though he were being struck. His body was trembling to the maximum extent, his eyes were rolled back, and he gasped.

The pain he felt when his body fell onto the chilly pavement was nothing in comparison to the agonizing pain he was currently having. He experienced a tearing sensation in his skin. He had the feeling of being slammed down continuously on the ground. He felt that his body was being punctured by a billion needles. He may die from the pain. Oh, how he yearned to simply die rather than endure this pain.

He didn't lose his life because of this. He lost something more crucial.

His humanness.

Silence filled the air. The man lay motionless on the ground. His heart pounded loudly against his chest, and his eyes were tightly closed.

No one can think of what's with the man's behavior just now. Nobody nearby could have seen or heard the bizarre event that occurred.

Only he was the witness of it all.

Seconds passed by, and the man's finger finally twitched. His eyes flew open, revealing nothing but dark, shallow sockets. The man unnaturally moved his body. He lifted his legs first, then, with his torso still on the ground, he bent his hips. Then the arms bent as if there were no bones inside, but as the crack began, there must have been. Eventually, the man on all fours was able to stand up straight.

He straightened himself, pushed his shoulders back, and put his jaw back in its proper place. He raised his two index fingers, placed them on the sides of his lips, and pulled them up. He was smiling in that manner.

"Silly," a voice said with a chuckle, "are you trying to make yourself human again?"

The man's head jerked to the right in response to the voice.

Darkness.

He can't tell where the strange voice came from. He was unable to speak and simply stared into the void.

"Go," the voice spoke again. "Koskéios."

MIZUKI KANAKO was still living her idle yet peaceful life until eight fifty-nine pm.

The clock strikes nine.

She should be at home right now. Lying on her bed, munching popcorn, watching the static TV inside her dark and cramped apartment.

She can only hope. Instead, she's here inside this tiny coffee shop, waiting for some asshole.

The last piece of the mocha cake was swallowed down as well as the last piece of her patience. The bastard said he'll come back at Six. Six. She finished everything and he's still not here. She swept the floor, cleaned the tables, counted the daily profit, ate all the remaining desserts—she wasn't supposed to do that but yeah. It was all Karl's fault, anyway. The jerk made her hungry for waiting for three hours. Where the hell is he?

Just as she thought of that, the jerk in question just happened to push open the door behind her.

"Good fucking evening," Mizuki spat out without looking. "We're close."

An exasperated sigh was heard. "And here I am wondering why there aren't many customers these days. Do you always greet them like that?" Karl, a tall man in his mid-twenties pushed back his thin rectangular eyeglasses. Dressed in a white dress shirt and black slacks, he marched towards Mizuki, who sat at one of the tables with her back facing him.

Mizuki's monolid eyes looked bored enough as they followed Karl when he pulled a chair in front of her and sat. "Sometimes."

"Ah-huh..." Nodding, Karl's eyes swept at the piled-up empty plates on the table before raising his brows at Mizuki's unimpressed face. "You seem to like it though."

"Just making sure your pastries not going to waste—wait, where the hell have you been?"

Mizuki eyed Karl. For some unknown reason, he looked tense—anxious, even. His brows were a bit furrowed, sweat broke on his forehead, and his breathing was a bit fast.

At the mention of it, Karl blew an unsteady breath. "Glad you asked." He pushed back his glasses using his finger and pressed his fingers together in front of his face. "I don't really know how to explain these terrifying events that have been happening in the city."

He said that in an oddly serious tone as if warning her. Mizuki can only arch her brow, indicating for him to continue.

Karl took out his phone and placed it on the table, sliding it in front of her.

Mizuki's eyes looked down at the screen showing... what is this? "Case file?"

Karl tilted his head to the side. "Kinda. Swipe it, there's more."

And so she did.

STUDENT PUSHES TEACHER FROM A FIVE-STORY BUILDING

Her brows furrowed as she continuously swipe the gallery.

WOMAN SLITS HER FRIEND'S WRIST USNIG A PEN

GUY WAS FOUND DEAD AFTER HE CHOKES HIMSELF USNIG HIS BLACK BELT IN TAEKWONDO

WOMAN DROWNED HER OWN CHILD, THEN KILLS HERSELF

"Is this real?"

"Of course it's real!" Karl blew a breath. "I can't really believe it too. I mean, something like that is happening in Central City? The world must have gone mad!"

Photos from CCTVs, photos of people involved in the incidents, descriptions of what happened, that was all included in Karl's gallery. Mizuki studied the case more and realized something. "This wasn't in the news."

Karl smiled bitterly. "Of course, they weren't going to show this to the public."

"And why the hell was that?" Mizuki was frowning as she slid back the phone to Karl's side.

"It's distressing." Karl shook his head slowly. "They don't know if these cases are coincidences or not. Above all, it'll be worse if it's made by an ability user."

Mizuki tsked. "Yeah, right. Central City's privileges," she grumbled.

Don't get her wrong. Out of the North, East, West, and South regions that surround it, Central City is the most developed city among all cities in the nation. The most civilized, the most popular, the most beautiful. But doesn't mean it's beautiful, it's not dangerous anymore.

"Because of this, I'm thinking if I should temporarily close the shop."

Mizuki's eyes snapped at Karl. "What?"

Karl's eyes widened. "What?" he imitated her. "Upon learning all of that, you're not going to agree with me?"

"What for?"

"Huh?!" Karl's jaw dropped as if extremely shocked by what she had said. "The scenes of the crimes are literally in the city where we live in! How can you be so calm?"

"Why are you making so much fuss about this? What if these are all just coincidences and you're just exaggerating?"

"Mizuki..." Karl heaved a sigh again. "Just trust me. I know there's a lot more behind these strange deaths of people in the city. Most of it happened near our areas too. Are you not scared?"

"Scared of what?"

"That's the point. It's not known. We don't know what we're dealing with—"

Mizuki put a hand in front of his face. "Wait, wait, hold up." She almost cracked up. "What do you mean dealing with? Why do we have to deal with this? Karl, you're overreacting. Have you forgotten you're a coffee shop owner and not part of that certain organization of your—"

"We," Karl stopped her from talking, "are already involved in this. The danger is within our reach, isn't it? In fact, we're one of the few people who knew about this." He leaned back. "And I'm not talking about 'dealing', like 'dealing' as in 'dealing'."

"What?" Isn't it all the same meaning?

"I'm talking about being careful against the unknown."

"Ah no, no, no." Mizuki shook her head multiple times. "We're not having this kind of conversa—"

"Do you know what 'unknown' is, right? Exactly as it is. It is known as 'unknown' because it's not known."

Mizuki never wanted to punch someone so badly until now. She doesn't know whether Karl is being serious at the moment or just having his usual, weird languaging moments.

She blew a sharp breath, her expression pinched. She'll let the guy off the hook, for now. "If that's the case, we still don't know what or who is behind them. How can you be scared of something you don't even see?"

"Isn't that human nature? To be scared of the unknown?" When Mizuki's unimpressed face didn't change, Karl waved his hand in dismissal. "Why are we drawing away from the topic? As I was saying, I'm going to close the shop in..."

The bell jingled.

"...the meantime..." his voice trailed. Karl's gaze went passed her. "Ah, sorry, we're already close."

Mizuki looked behind her. A man in his forties entered the shop. She noticed he was dressed in rather rugged and a bit dirty, casual clothes. As if the man had gone rolling on a dirt road or something.

The man didn't speak and just stared at them. For ten whole seconds.

Mizuki frowned.

"Ah, sir?" Karl hesitantly asked. "The shop closed at Eight—"

"Why did you do it?" The man's roughed voice sounded in the shop, but only silence responded to him.

"Huh?" Mizuki turned completely to face the man.

"Why did you do it?"

Karl blinked. He whispered, "Mizuki, do you know him?"

"Not at all. Do you?"

"No," Karl muttered.

They turned their attention to the man again. He was now staring unseeingly at the floor. He seems to be whispering something, but it was inaudible in their positions.

Then the man glared at Mizuki. He thrusts his finger in her direction. "It was all your fault!"

Mizuki's straight expression didn't falter. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Karl stood up. "Okay, calm down." He walked to Mizuki's side, stepping in between them. "Sir, I think you're mistaken."

But the man pay him no mind, he was still pointing at Mizuki as if she had done something very wrong. "My wife died because of you! It was all your fault!"

Karl's gaze went from Mizuki to the man and to Mizuki again. "Care to tell me what's going on?"

"What? I don't know that guy," Mizuki defended herself.

"It's all your fault! Your fault! Your fault!" The man's eyes are bulging, glaring, repeating the same two words over and over again.

Mizuki tried to ransack her brain, trying to remember who this guy is. She wasn't forgetful about the regular customers at their shop, but she could have forgotten some of them since they got roughly ten new ones every day. The man claimed that his wife's death was because of her? Why is she at fault here? What did she do?

"You're crazy," was Mizuki's only retort.

"Mizuki—"

"I promise." Mizuki looked at Karl with much conviction on her face. "I legit don't know this guy!"

"Don't know or don't remember?"

Mizuki stopped. Hesitation was seen through her eyes. "U-Uh... both?"

Karl groaned, massaging his temple. He turned to the man. "Sir, we can talk this out in a calm way. I don't like you accusing my friend without any solid evidence, so if we must—"

The man didn't let him finish.

They thought he was going to storm forward, but he did the opposite.

He turned, opened the door, and left.

The two were frozen in their places, struck speechlessly.

A few moments later, Karl was the first one to recover. "What the heck was that?" His face filled with confusion, staring at the door where the weird man had just left from.

"I told you he's crazy," she replied, rolling her eyes.

Karl frowned. "You don't really know him right?"

Mizuki, again, was trying to recall the guy if she had seen him before. She shook her head. "I really don't."

He nodded, leaning at the table.

Mizuki took a look at him. Karl's deep in his thoughts, again.

Sighing, Mizuki got to her feet. She held both his shoulders and guided him to sit on the chair. "Why don't you sit for a while, huh? I'm going to close the shop, so no crazy person would barge in here again."

Karl can only mutter, "Thanks."

Mizuki started pulling the blinds down the wall. She was halfway done when Karl called her. She looked back. "Yeah?"

Karl's sat in the chair in a reverse way, hands clasped under his chin as he stared at Mizuki with utmost seriousness. "Let's report this to them."

Mizuki's face fell flat. "Like hell you're going to."

"I'm serious! A random stranger accused you of killing his wife, then stormed out of the room a minute later? Isn't it weird?"

"It is." She faced Karl, crossing her arms. "But what's the point? He's gone now. Maybe it's just some kind of prank they're making to post on... what do you call that? MeTube? Maybe it's like that."

"Possible, but that's not it." Karl exhaled a breath. He rose to his seat. "This keeps bugging me for some reason"—he grabbed his phone lying on the table— "I'm gonna report this—ow!"'

Mizuki smacked his head. "No one's going to report something." She tried to grab the phone from him, but damn this guy's height.

Karl deliberately lifted the phone away from Mizuki, his other hand drawing her away. "Oh, come on. You're supposed to be more anxious than me now. What if that guy comes back?"

"He won't," Mizuki kicked Karl's calf, but to no avail, "Give me that!"

He sighed. "At least make some effort to act like you care."

Mizuki backed off. "That's the point. I don't."

Karl placed the phone on the table, leaning on it. "Why so?"

"I just don't."

They compete in a staring contest. As usual, Karl lost.

He looked away. "You discard your life as if it was just some spilled milk. Why not care a little, huh? Won't kill you," he mumbled.

Mizuki practically rolled her eyes. "Why are we having this conversation?" Karl didn't reply, so Mizuki conclude he was being serious for real. She sighed. "You know why, yet you still ask."

Karl's brows furrowed. "That's not the point here. I'm not saying that what happened is not reasonable, but are you always going to be like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Creating your own straight path towards nowhere, and leaving your life behind. Are you going to do that forever? When are you going to deviate from your self-made path, Mizuki?"

Karl stared at her in disapproval face, not until his gaze went past her did his expression change. "Holy shit."

There was a subtle lighting behind her, but she didn't have the time to look back as Karl pushed her to the side.

"What—" Mizuki's body was shoved to the wall violently, making her wince in pain.

At the same time, a thunderous crash interrupted the previously calm evening.

Before she even managed to open her eyes, the glass wall shattered in front of Mizuki. Sounds of shards dropping, followed by tables and chairs breaking, an engine whirring not so far away—maybe even close than it should be.

Mizuki coughed and blinked her eyes open. It only took a moment before she processed everything.

A car broke into the shop.

She heard a groan somewhere.

"Karl?" Mizuki tried to stand up. It was fortunate she had just a few scratches, and a few wounds on her arms caused by the shards of glass grazing her. She was able to stand on her two feet without trouble.

As for Karl, she can't say the same.