Far from the syrup-splattered chaos of Renga Town, atop a cliffside monastery bathed in perpetual moonlight, Hoshinari Shiro meditated beneath the stone gaze of a forgotten war god.
Around him, sword-shaped banners flapped in the wind—each marked with a mission completed, a monster slain, or a continent he'd saved with actual effort.
He opened his eyes.
They were narrowed. Cold. Focused.
"…He summoned another divine being, didn't he?"
Behind him, his retainer, the grim-faced Yama, nodded once. "Yes, my lord. He called it 'slimecake.'"
Shiro stood, silent.
His jaw twitched.
"I trained in six sword arts over ten years. I conquered the Underpeak Labyrinth at age eleven. I bonded with the Celestial Griffin of Ashura Peak. I earned the Grand Flame title. And yet—"
"The world praises Kazuki Mori, the 'Miracle Idiot,' for baking."
Yama hesitated. "He did also tame the Wild Sky Wolf, the Azure-Eyed King Cobra, and a Philippine Eagle…"
Shiro turned slowly. "…He what?"
Yama coughed. "And there's… Smile. The slime. Whose mana type cannot be measured. Every time the Guild tries, the scrying orb explodes."
Shiro's fingers twitched toward his sword.
He paced the edge of the cliff.
"He doesn't train. He doesn't study. He trips over cosmic power-ups."
"And yet," he added, his voice full of ice, "the stars seem to favor him."
Yama cleared his throat again. "There's more."
Shiro stopped.
"The Church of the Grand Loom… they're watching Kazuki now. Whispering that he might be a Threadweaver—one who alters fate by accident."
Shiro stared off into the night sky, where constellations shifted.
"So he's not just lucky… He's cursed."
Elsewhere: Deep Beneath the Archives of Kagehana
A sealed vault opened with a scream.
Inside, scrolls unravelled themselves. A diagram flickered to life—an ancient prophecy written in Mana Glyphs.
One word appeared again and again:
SMILE.
Back to Shiro
Shiro narrowed his eyes. "If fate bends for him, I'll break it."
He turned toward his shrine.
"Prepare the trial. It's time I awaken her."
"Her?" Yama asked carefully.
Shiro touched a small crystal pendant hanging from his neck—a faint, flickering warmth pulsing inside.
A presence… ancient, wild, and waiting.
"The Companion I sealed ten years ago. The only one who ever terrified me."
"The Devourer of Threads."
-----
A wild mana storm.
Kazuki laughs in the middle of a collapsing forest.
Smile dances in the air like a sparkle cannon.
And Shiro appears… not alone.
At his side, a new presence—silent, graceful, dangerous.
Kazuki grins. "Wait, she bonded with you?!"
Shiro smiles for the first time.
"She chose me. I didn't trip on her."