The room was swallowed by darkness.
No light. No sound. Only silence—thick, suffocating, complete.
A young man, barely twenty, perched on the edge of his bed. The room was unnervingly clean. No clutter. No signs of life—almost as if it had been abandoned for centuries.
Books were stacked in chaotic towers. Histories, mythologies, forbidden tomes. Each page a world he'd tried to understand, a secret he'd tried to unravel. Something… beyond normal human comprehension.
Slowly, deliberately, he lifted a knife.
He pressed it into his palm.
Crimson welled up, warm and alive, and dripped onto the floor. His face twisted with pain—but beneath the grimace, there was something else. Something darker.
Excitement.
Hope.
"Today…" he whispered, voice tight with purpose. "…today, it must work."
He traced a complex magic circle onto the floor with his own blood, copying each symbol from an ancient book he'd acquired not long ago.
For a long moment, nothing stirred.
Then—a faint, eerie red glow shimmered across the runes.
The circle flared.
And the darkness answered.
From it, a figure emerged. A demon.
"I will grant your wish," it said, voice reverberating unnaturally through the room."But the price… is your soul. Do you accept, human?"
The boy looked up. Calm. Certain.
"My name is Nedo," he said."My wish… is simple."
"I want free will."
The demon froze. Then it smiled—a slow, unsettling curl of lips.
"That… is impossible," it whispered.
Nedo didn't flinch.
"So even death won't free me?" he asked.
"No," the demon replied. "Not even death itself."
For the first time, Nedo's face darkened with frustration.
"…Then you're useless."
He reached for the circle, intent on erasing it.
"WAIT!" The demon's voice cracked, panic leaking through."Do you have any idea how long it's been since I appeared in this world?!"
Nedo paused.
"…So… you've been in other worlds too?"
The demon hesitated, shadows curling around its form.
"…Yes. Worlds without humans. Without voices. Without life."
"…I was alone," Nedo muttered, his gaze hardening.
"What is—"
"Hey, kid! Time to pay your rent!"
A sudden, sharp voice cut through the tension, shattering the room's oppressive silence.