The young man lay on the street, unmoving as the stream of pale-blue light continued to bombard his surroundings, flooding the streets with its glow! Buildings, cars, animals, people...all were absorbed into the massive beam of light!

If Fate were able to see through the closed eyelid, he would have seen a massive silhouette emerging within the light, a womanly figure standing on the inlay of a crescent moon that towered over him…

『It seems that the children have all gathered...how fortunate it was to encounter such an unfortunate existence...』

The enormous shadow seemed to slither towards him like a snake, looming over him as her sinister, arrogant expression was revealed…

『Though I’ll certainly enjoy this, seeing that they were willing to sacrifice you...it almost makes me want to know your story...almost.』
…
???: “!”

The young man bolted up from where he lay, his eyes widening in panic. He quickly ran his eyes over the streets that had once been blanketed in a cloud of pale-blue light, only to find that it had vanished as quickly as it had apparently came, but that wasn’t the only thing that had vanished.

A mystified gleam swept across the young man’s gaze as he now viewed the town that had been bustling with lights, life, and the daily march of society...were now completely devoid of sounds of footsteps and car engines, the lamp posts had gone out...leaving only desolate paths and a lingering cold to fill the man’s memories…

???: “How in the?! No, no, no! Did the rapture happen, was I left behind?! No, wait, their clothes aren’t here...unless clothes, cars, and all light but that of the damn moon go with people to heaven! Sh*t, I don’t think that people in England are that religious anyway! What the hell…!”

Suddenly, a pair of lamp posts shone with a warm glow, illuminating a path into the alley behind the young man, causing him to pivot around in fright.

???: “Son of a b*tch that was scary! Luckily, no one was around to see this...otherwise I’d just be the same as painting a giant ‘troll me’ sign on my back...Whatever, I gotta get the hell away from…!!!”

The young man attempted to turn around to leave, but was curtly met by the sight of the now desolate streets and unlit buildings decaying, being overcome with enormous bluish cracks! The cracks shortly spread across the street, cutting the young man off from his escape route!

He then felt a surface that seemed like hardened glass, pressing up against him, confining him to the alley’s entrance…
Despite this discomfort, a sense of boundless curiosity began to well up inside of him, pushing him to explore this strange new phenomena. However, he felt that this new sense of adventure was ill-suited for the current situation, and he once again began to look for a way to escape...when from the alleyway…

???: “Jack…”

Someone was speaking from the alley, and they seemed to know his name. Given these facts, he should have had some idea of who was speaking to him, but the voice he heard was unknown to his ears…

Suddenly, the glasslike barrier began to constrict further, forcing him between the two lamp posts that now seemed even brighter than before. With his back pushed to a wall and his curiosity getting the better of him, Jack now proceeded into the dark…
...