Riku Sakamaki, a high school student, wakes up in a world where the sky glows purple. He has been transported to this strange place with no idea how or why. The first person he meets is a silver-haired girl named Vestia Zeta, an agent of a secret organization with the codename V.7. She wears key-shaped accessories and has access to data from the virtual world. Cool and mysterious on the outside, she also has a sarcastic, sometimes clumsy side that makes her oddly charming.
"[cold]You'll die her
Vestia Zeta: Heir of the Black Key - The Boy Who Rejects the Black Key and the Back of the White Key
The light of the bright period reflected faintly off the white building walls.
Sakamaki Riku narrowed his eyes and looked up at the sky. There was no sun. And yet, soft light poured down from the entire violet-tinted sky. The air was incomparably clearer than in those ruins.
"So this is... Lumina Central..."
The silver-haired girl walking beside him—Vestia Zeta—let out a small breath. She pulled her hood down further and spoke without turning her head.
"Stop gawking around so much. You'll stand out."
"But this is amazing. Everything looks just like a real city."
"This *is* real. It's not a dream or a game world like you're imagining."
Her voice was as low and composed as ever. But compared to yesterday, the coldness that had felt like she was pushing him away seemed to have softened just a little.
Two days had already passed since the two of them had passed through the safe zone's entrance.
The first night, they had rested at an old inn near the outer wall. Vestia had booked two small rooms, saying it would "come out of mission expenses." Riku slept like the dead, and by the next morning, the pain in his legs had mostly subsided.
The streets of the capital, Lumina Central, far exceeded anything he had imagined.
Buildings made of white and pale-violet crystalline materials stretched on endlessly. Semi-transparent information panels floated in the air, and people touched them to check directions or conduct some kind of exchange.
The clothing of the passersby was all slightly different from the real world. Fabrics that reflected light, shoulder wraps adorned with crystal ornaments. Beneath their feet, patterns resembling ancient stone paving intersected with lines of light that ran silently across the ground.
"Hey, what are those glowing lines? The ground is lit up."
"They're crystal energy conduits. The street lighting, that tower—everything runs on them. Don't ask about every little thing."
"Well, I mean, it's hard not to wonder..."
Vestia didn't answer and turned into a less crowded alleyway. Riku hurried after her.
The alley was dim, with high walls looming on either side. Here and there, the white building material was stained dark. It felt like a well-worn back street.
"From here on, stay as quiet as possible. We must not draw attention in front of ordinary citizens."
"Are you famous or something?"
"...Well, there are people who know my face."
Vestia said it casually and quickened her pace.
Riku kept walking, watching her back.
Her long silver hair swayed faintly beneath her hood.
(*This person really is an agent of Ortlink...*)
Two days ago, on the way to the safe zone, Vestia had saved Riku and revealed that she belonged to a "secret organization called Ortlink"—an intelligence organization that protected the safety of The Void.
And now, that agent was taking him to headquarters.
"Up ahead, there's an entrance leading underground. It's a maintenance passage for the crystal conduits of the frequency tower. Not known to the general public."
"Wait, crystal conduits?"
"The energy pathways extending from the tower. Alongside them, there's a route that leads to headquarters."
Ahead of them stood an old iron door. Vestia touched a part of the wall with practiced ease. A faint white light ran across it, and the iron door opened without a sound.
Inside, it was cool and dusty. Emergency lamps glowed at regular intervals, illuminating the narrow passage.
"Follow me. Don't get lost."
Riku nodded silently.
The two of them walked endlessly beneath the pale blue lights. Their footsteps echoed off the walls. Vestia's back remained clearly visible even in the darkness.
After a while, the passage suddenly opened up.
It was a vast space, unimaginable from the entrance. The ceiling was high, and countless lights ran across the walls. The low hum of machinery echoed in the distance.
"Welcome to Ortlink Headquarters."
Vestia turned around and said it flatly.
Riku was at a loss for words.
—So this was the headquarters of a real organization.
The air felt like something out of a dream, clinging to his skin.
"Incredible..."
"Is this really the time to be impressed? Let's go. The Director is waiting."
They passed through a silver door at the end of the corridor and walked down a polished white hallway. Staff members passing by nodded respectfully to Vestia. They all wore uniformly exhausted expressions.
Eventually, they arrived before an especially large door.
"This is the Director's office. Whatever you do, don't be rude."
"...Got it."
When Vestia opened the door, the room inside was quiet and smelled faintly of dust.
There was a single woman inside.
In her fifties. Her black hair, streaked with silver, was tied back in a single bundle. Sharp eyes. She wore a long coat of deep color and stared at them steadily from behind her desk.
"Come in."
Freya Nolund. The current Director of Ortlink. A person who had once run across the battlefields of this world as a top agent.
Vestia nudged Riku forward a step.
"Reporting. This is the boy I secured outside the perimeter."
"Yes, I'll hear the details later. ...So, you're the one."
Freya's gaze was drawn to Riku's right hand.
The back of Riku's right hand. The place where a black pattern had been visible until two days ago. Now, only a faint dark stain remained.
"Show me your right hand."
Riku timidly held out his right hand.
Freya picked up a scanner-like device from her desk. When she held it over Riku's hand, the device emitted a thin beam of light.
The light traced over Riku's right hand.
In that instant, the shape of a black key rose to the surface of his skin.
A faint heat spread through it.
Freya's eyebrow twitched.
"The Black Key's mark. No doubt about it."
She set the scanner down on the desk.
The air in the room felt a degree heavier.
Riku swallowed.
(*As I thought, I really am...*)
"The Heir of the Black Key. A legendary existence. According to all records, not a single one has ever been confirmed."
Freya looked directly into Riku's eyes.
"What you will bring to this world—no one knows yet."
Riku bit his lip.
Was he being expected of, or feared?
An indescribable pressure bore down on him.
"However, we cannot simply cast you aside. Vestia."
"Yes."
"I'm assigning you the task of monitoring and protecting Sakamaki Riku. Considering the combat report from the other day, you are the only suitable candidate."
"...Understood."
Vestia answered without hesitation.
Freya continued.
"One more thing, Vestia. I'm adding a condition."
"What is it?"
"If you determine that his power has gone out of control and poses a threat to those around him—you are to stop him with the White Key. If that is not possible, your top priority is to eliminate the danger source."
Riku's heart froze.
Eliminate the danger source.
In other words, I'm—
"...Understood."
Vestia's voice was emotionless—the voice she used for missions.
Riku clenched his fist tightly.
(*I thought I understood. But hearing it said out loud...*)
He wasn't just someone who would be protected.
Essentially, he was being treated as an uncontrollable bomb.
"That is all. You're dismissed. Riku, wait in the standby room."
—The moment they stepped into the hallway, Riku let out a long breath.
His legs felt unsteady.
"You're overthinking it. That was just a worst-case scenario."
Vestia said it without turning around.
"Besides, it wasn't me who said it. The Director only said that for our safety."
"...I know."
Riku answered with his head lowered.
"Then lift your head."
Her voice softened just a little.
"I'm not doing this just because it's an order. I'm staying by your side by my own judgment."
Riku raised his head.
Vestia's bluish-silver eyes were gazing at him quietly.
"I suppose I have no choice but to look after you. ...How troublesome."
The last words seemed to be muttered so quietly they were barely audible.
(*This person is really clumsy.*)
It wasn't so much that she wasn't honest—maybe she just wanted to hide the fact that she was kind.
"Vestia. Can you really stop me?"
"Yes. So don't worry."
*Don't worry*, huh.
A sharp pang ran through Riku's chest.
Her left arm. The burn scar from two days ago, when Riku's Black Key had gone out of control. The bandages were off, but a faint red mark remained on her white skin.
Riku looked at that arm.
"Hey, Vestia."
"What."
"I'm not going to use my power anymore."
Vestia's feet stopped.
"That thing is no good. I can't control it. If it goes berserk again, this time I might actually kill you."
Riku's voice was trembling.
"So I won't use it anymore. I've decided—I won't use it."
Vestia stared at Riku's face for a while.
"...I see."
She answered shortly and started walking again.
"Then, don't die."
A chill ran down Riku's spine.
—*Don't die.*
Those few words pressed down on his entire body.
"Vestia...?"
"If you're throwing away your power, then you're just an ordinary person. In this world, a person with no power gets devoured by the Noise. So if you can't protect your own life, then throw everything away and go cower somewhere safe."
Her words were cold as ice.
But her eyes held neither anger nor contempt—they just seemed to be looking somewhere far away.
"...I said too much. But it's the truth."
Vestia fell silent after that.
Riku couldn't open his mouth either.
—It was a little while after they left headquarters.
*GOOOOOO—*
Suddenly, the air trembled.
In the distance, a heavy sound, like something breaking.
Then, an ear-splitting alarm rang out across the city.
"W-what is that!?"
Riku stopped in his tracks.
Vestia looked up at the sky with sharp eyes.
"A Noise alarm. Direction... north district. The outer wall has been breached."
The atmosphere around her changed completely. The somewhat age-appropriate girlishness from moments ago was gone.
Right now, she was an agent of Ortlink.
"Riku, get to the nearest underground shelter immediately. Go straight down that way—there's an entrance with a sign."
"What about you!?"
"I'm going over there. Near the outer wall. I won't have time to worry about you for a while."
Before she even finished speaking, Vestia was running.
"Wait, Vestia!"
Her silver hair disappeared into the city's light.
Riku clenched his fists.
(*I want to be like Vestia too...*)
But he couldn't use his power. He had just decided not to.
"Damn it... shelter, shelter..."
Riku hurried in the direction he'd been told, moving against the flow of people running through the streets.
The screams of evacuating people. Collapsing stalls. Something like black haze drifting through the air.
The sky over the north district was turning a murky black.
"Is it this way!?"
Riku found the entrance to the underground shelter and was about to dive down the stairs.
"Please! Someone! My son! My child is—!"
A woman's scream came from close by.
Riku stopped without thinking.
Deep in an alleyway. A collapsed house lay in rubble, white smoke rising from it. The woman was desperately grabbing at the debris, screaming.
"Help! Someone! He's still under—"
Something snapped in Riku's head.
(*My body moved before I could think.*)
Just like when he'd jumped into the flames back in elementary school.
Riku ran toward the back of the alley.
"Hey, are you okay!?"
"M-my son—he's under that pillar—!"
Looking over, a small boy lay beneath a collapsed pillar of crystalline building material. His leg was pinned. His face was pale, but he was still managing to make sounds, however faintly.
"...Mom..."
"I'll get you out right away!"
Riku grabbed the pillar.
Cold. Heavy. He braced one leg and put all his strength into it.
"Ngh... rrrgh...!"
His fingertips split open. Blood seeped out.
Even so, Riku gritted his teeth and pushed the pillar up.
"Pull him out now!"
The mother slipped her hands under the boy's arms and dragged him out.
The pillar crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Riku dropped to his knees, breathing ha
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