Opening Scene: The story begins in a dark, surreal dreamscape. A young boy, Haruto, is seen running through an endless void, pursued by monstrous shadows that take the form of his deepest fears. A distorted, echoing voice calls out to him: "Face your fear… or be consumed by it." Haruto stumbles, trying to escape, but the shadows close in. He wakes up in a cold sweat, gasping for air.
Haruto is in his bedroom, surrounded by typical teenage clutter—books, a gaming console, posters of his favorite futbol player Lionel Messi on the wall. The early morning sunlight peeks through the curtains. It's a quiet suburban town, seemingly peaceful but hiding strange occurrences.
Haruto (16 years old, protagonist): Haruto is an introverted, anxious teenager who often suffers from nightmares. He avoids conflict and keeps to himself, but he has a quiet, almost unnoticeable aura of something deeper within him. He looks tired and worn from restless nights of sleep.
Mika (Haruto's childhood friend): Haruto's best friend, a cheerful girl who seems to have no trouble sleeping. She often tries to encourage Haruto to get out more, but he shrugs it off. She knows that Haruto has trouble with his dreams but doesn't fully understand what he's going through.
Then it shifts to the next day, where Haruto heads to school with Mika. As they walk, Mika teases him about his sleepy eyes, wondering why he hasn't been getting enough rest lately. Haruto brushes it off, but Mika notices something strange: as they walk past a corner of the street, Haruto freezes. For a split second, the world around him seems to warp, and he sees one of the shadowy figures from his dream—a monstrous creature with glowing red eyes and broken wings with long fingernails—staring at him from an alleyway.
Confused, Haruto rubs his eyes, but the figure is gone. He shakes it off and continues walking, but the encounter has rattled him.
At school, during class, Haruto begins to feel a growing sense of unease. He can't shake the feeling that someone—or something—is watching him. As the bell rings, signaling the end of the day, he rushes to the bathroom, where he suddenly collapses to the floor, clutching his head in pain. And he starts vomiting.
In his mind, the world around him flickers, and he's pulled back into another dream. This time, it's different—he's still in the familiar dreamscape, but now he can control it. Haruto stands at the center of an eerie, distorted classroom filled with his classmates, all motionless and silent. The shadows close in around him, and the voice from before echoes again: "Your fear… your power… You must choose."
A strange force surges within him, and for the first time, Haruto feels in control. With a thought, he pulls the shadows away from him, creating a clear path to the door. But as he approaches it, the Nightmare Lord—a dark, towering figure with a crown of skulls and eyes glowing like burning coals—emerges from the shadows.
The Nightmare Lord speaks: "You cannot escape. You will be mine. All dreams are mine to command."
Before Haruto can respond, the dream starts to collapse around him. He wakes up suddenly in the bathroom, disoriented, his body covered in cold sweat. His hand is glowing faintly, and for a brief moment, the shadows from his dream manifest in the real world—just a flicker of movement, like a passing shadow at the corner of his eye.
As Haruto stares at his glowing hand, stunned and terrified, a new voice—cold and dark—speaks from behind him: "You're more powerful than you know, Haruto. But that power comes with a price."
Haruto spins around, but there's no one there. His heart races. He realizes that the line between his nightmares and reality is starting to blur, and something much darker is coming for him.
The End