The afternoon sky looked ordinary.
Thin clouds lazily hung over the roof of Nuansa Timur Junior High—
a school not known for achievements,
but... for rumors.
Rumors about accidents.
About students who "changed."
And about one student no one really noticed.
Aeron Zeke sat in the back row of class 8F.
His gaze was blank, hand brushing the sleeve of his shirt—slightly torn.
> "Aeron, go to the art room, yeah? Help clean up. No teacher today anyway."
Without complaint, Aeron stood up.
As always, no one really cared where he went.
And that was fine. He preferred being alone.
When he opened the door,
the scent of old paint and damp paper greeted him.
The room was dim.
Old paintings hung haphazardly,
some tilted as if about to fall.
Aeron stepped inside. Then...
Click.
The door closed by itself.
> "Huh?"
He turned around.
The doorknob had vanished.
There were no windows.
The whole room had changed:
the walls were dark, stretching into nothingness.
The paintings around him began to MOVE.
Faces in the frames... SCREAMED.
> "What... is this?"
Suddenly, a voice echoed:
> [SYSTEM ACTIVE]
Welcome, Player: IRON ZK
Level: 0
Mission: Face Yourself.
Aeron froze. The voice... came from nowhere,
yet echoed directly inside his mind.
And before he could move—
the painting in front of him melted.
From it emerged... himself.
But not the usual Aeron.
The shadow was darker, eyes empty,
a mocking grin on its face.
> "Well, look who showed up... the useless kid who never says a word."
> "Wanna save others? Hah. You can't even save yourself."
Aeron stepped back.
The shadow stepped forward.
> "If you can't defeat me,
you won't be able to defeat anyone…"
⚔️ [MISSION STARTED]
> Face Yourself.
To be continued in Chapter 2