Renji Kurogane: 23 Fragments of Fate and Misfortune

The guide stared at me like he had just told me:"By the way, Earth has been sold as an NFT. Do you want to cry or smoke?"

I just nodded.Like someone trying to pretend they're not falling apart inside while a chest tattoo literally blinks.

I went upstairs.Because where else do you go when physics tells you, "I'm done with you"?

I looked in the mirror.And surprise:My reflection waved at me with a smile I didn't make.

"Aha…" I said, scratching my face like that would erase glitches. "Great. Now I've got Wi-Fi with the blueprints of the beyond."

I took off my shirt.The tattoos were still there.Fresh. Dark.Moving slightly.As if they were breathing when I wasn't looking.

The four diamonds were on the table.Innocent.Like nuclear weapons in airplane mode.

I got closer.One of them vibrated.Yes. Vibrated.Like it was saying: "Hi, I'm your scheduled doom. Can I send notifications?"

"Don't you dare activate," I whispered, like it was an emotional grenade.

I touched it.Of course I touched it.Because Renji Kurogane doesn't learn.He just collects trauma and organizes it by color.

—

Everything stopped.Literally.Sound.Light.Probably gravity.

Then a flash.Not visual.Mental.Like someone plugged a USB into my soul and installed a file called "NOR'MAKT.exe."

Suddenly, I was there.A place that wasn't a place.Ruins.Fog that knew your name.Collapsed statues crying dry blood.And in the back—a door.Made of bone.With a symbol engraved in the center:

The Eye.

—

A voice.Mine… but with a dark trailer narrator tone.

"NOR'MAKT. First coordinate. First fragment. First irreversible mistake."

The diamond floated.It split.And said something without words:

"You've been marked.You opened the door.There's no logout."

—

I woke up.Again.Yes, because apparently now I run on an operating system that reboots every time I get close to answers.

I was on the floor.Shaking.The Eye tattoo on my chest—hot.It was beating.

The guide knocked on the door."You good?"

"Define 'good.'"

"Are you still you?"

I thought about it.A lot.

"Ninety percent. The other ten… is still loading."

—

I went down with the split diamond in hand.

"You saw it?" I asked.

He nodded."NOR'MAKT. The first place where the Eye was sealed… and where it started to leak."

"Perfect. A tourist destination with ancestral trauma vibes."

"We leave at dawn."

"Why do all cursed trips start at dawn?"

"Because midday horror lacks style."

—

I went back up.And just before closing the door, I heard the guide's voice, like an echo dragged through old sand:

"One warning, Renji…"

"Another one?"

"Out there… time isn't a line.Not a circle.It's a mirror."

"And what does it reflect?"

He lit another cigarette."Your broken parts."

—

I didn't sleep that night.Because every time I closed my eyes…The Eye blinked.And inside that blink…A name began to form.A voice.A face.

Senku.

And something told me that what I dreamed before… wasn't a memory.It was a promise.

And tomorrow…It's time to collect.