Chapter 1- Weird Dream
SCENE 1
INT. KATSUMI’S ROOM – NIGHT
The room is dim, lit only by the blue glow of a monitor.
Rain taps lightly against the window.
On screen: EDENFALL— a vast open-world game. Floating islands. Ruined cities. A sky that looks too clean to be real.
KATSUMI ARASHI (18) sits forward in his chair, headset on.Mid-height. Calm eyes. Focused. Barely blinks.
His fingers move fast—but controlled.
FUJII SATOSHI (V.O., headset)You’re late. Again.
KATSUMI(starting a fight calmly)I was finishing the side quest.
On screen, Katsumi’s character dodges a massive enemy strike by inches.
FUJII (V.O.)You do useless stuff. Just rush the boss.
KATSUMISide quests change the map.
A pause.
FUJII (V.O.)...You always say that.
They fight together in silence for a moment. Perfect coordination. No shouting. No panic.
The boss falls.
A notification flashes:
› AREA UPDATED
Katsumi doesn’t smile.
He just exhales.
FUJII (V.O.)You play like you already know what’s coming.
Katsumi shrugs.
KATSUMI: Games repeat patterns.
He removes one side of the headset.
Something about the screen lingers too long.
The in-game sky flickers—just for a frame.
Katsumi doesn’t notice.
SCENE 2
INT. KATSUMI’S ROOM – CONTINUOUS
The door opens without knocking.
HAYASHI ARASHI (16), his younger sister, steps in holding a mug.
Bright-eyed. Casual. Real.
HAYASHI: Mom says stop rotting your brain.
She hands him the mug.
KATSUMI(smiles faintly)She said that yesterday.
HAYASHI: And the day before.
She looks at the screen.
HAYASHI (CONT’D): That world looks... lonely.
Katsumi glances back at the game.
KATSUMI: It’s peaceful.
HAYASHI: Peaceful things scare me.
She sits on his bed, watching him play for a second.
HAYASHI (softly)You ever think you’d be better there than here?
Katsumi pauses his game.
Just for a second.
KATSUMI: No.
(then)But I think I’d survive.
Hayashi studies his face, unsure why that answer bothers her.
HAYASHI: Don’t stay up too late.
She leaves.
The door closes.
The room feels quieter than before.
SCENE 3
INT. KATSUMI’S ROOM – LATER
The game session ends.
FUJII (V.O.)Same time tomorrow?
KATSUMI: Yeah.
A beat.
FUJII (V.O.)Hey... random question.
KATSUMI: Hmm?
FUJII (V.O.)If the world reset tomorrow...Would you notice?
Katsumi thinks.
KATSUMI: Depends what changed.
Silence.
FUJII (V.O.): You’re weird, man.
Katsumi smiles slightly.
They disconnect.
The EDENFALL main menu stays on screen.
The music loops.
The word“CONTINUE”pulses slowly.
Katsumi shuts down the PC.
The room goes dark.
INT. LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
The living room is calm. A single lamp hums softly. The TV plays a late-night news show, low enough to be ignored.
Katsumi steps in, stretching his shoulders.
His father, Takashi, sits on the couch with a cup of tea, glasses sliding slightly down his nose.
Takashi doesn’t look up.
“Done already?”
“Yeah,” Katsumi says. “We cleared it.”
Takashi smiles faintly. “Thought so.”
Katsumi sits on the other end of the couch. The silence between them isn’t awkward—just familiar.
The news anchor keeps talking about small power cuts, missed trains, nothing important.
Takashi takes a sip of tea.
“You’ve always been good at finishing things,” he says casually.
Katsumi shrugs. “Games are easy. They make sense.”
Takashi glances at him. “Real life doesn’t?”
Katsumi thinks for a moment. “It changes rules halfway.”
Takashi chuckles. “That’s a fair complaint.”
They watch the screen for a bit. The TV flickers once. Katsumi notices, but doesn’t mention it.
Takashi leans back.
“When you were a kid,” he says, “you used to ask me why people forget things they promise themselves.”
Katsumi looks over. “I don’t remember that.”
“You asked anyway,” Takashi replies. “You said it felt unfair.”
Katsumi frowns slightly. “It still does.”
Takashi nods, understanding more than he explains.
“You notice details most people ignore,” he says. “That’s not a bad thing. Just… don’t let it tire you out.”
Katsumi exhales slowly. “Sometimes it already does.”
Takashi smiles. Not sad. Not worried. Just honest.
“That means you’re paying attention,” he says. “The world needs people like that too.”
Katsumi looks at him. “People like what?”
Takashi shrugs lightly. “The kind who think before moving. Who remember things clearly. Who don’t rush.”
The TV keeps talking in the background.
Takashi stands, stretching his back.
“Get some sleep,” he says. “Big day tomorrow.”
Katsumi nods. “You too.”
Takashi pats his shoulder gently as he passes.
“Don’t overthink everything, Katsumi,” he says. “You’re doing fine.”
He walks down the hall.
Katsumi stays on the couch for a moment longer, listening to the soft noise of the TV, feeling strangely calm—and strangely heavy at the same time.
INT. KATSUMI’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Night settled slowly over the Arashi house.
The hallway lights were off now. Only Katsumi’s room glowed faintly, the blue light of his PC screen still alive even after the game had closed.EDENFALL — CONNECTION LOST.
Katsumi stared at the screen longer than necessary.
His father’s words echoed again, uninvited.
You are special.
He hated how heavy those words felt. Like a responsibility he never asked for.
Katsumi shut the PC down. The sudden silence felt wrong—too clean. The hum of the fan died, and with it, the room felt... hollow. He lay back on his bed, hands folded on his chest, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
From the living room, the TV was still on.
A late-night news channel murmured softly, voices overlapping, distorted by distance. Katsumi wasn’t listening—until one sentence cut through.
“—temporary communication blackout reported across multiple districts—”
The screen flickered.
Katsumi frowned and leaned toward the door. The TV volume dropped suddenly, as if someone had turned it down. Then it rose again—louder this time. Static crackled underneath the anchor’s voice.
“Authorities advise citizens to remain indoors if—"
The screen glitched.
For a split second, the broadcast froze. The anchor’s face twisted unnaturally, stretched by digital noise. The image collapsed into blue static.
Then—silence.
Katsumi’s heartbeat picked up.
He waited.
The TV turned itself off.
No click. No sound. Just darkness.
A cold feeling crawled up his spine. He stood, walked to the doorway, and looked down the hall. Everything was normal. Too normal. The house felt empty in a way it never had before.
He returned to his room and shut the door.
As he lay down again, his phone buzzed once on the bedside table.
A notification.
No sender name. No app icon.
Just text.
LEVEL: Unknown Status: Beginning
Katsumi’s breath caught.
Before he could react, the screen went black.
Outside, far beyond the quiet house, the city lights flickered—just once.
And somewhere, unseen, something counted.
Katsumi closed his eyes.
Sleep took him faster than it should have
A faint digital sound.
Like a system booting.
Then—
CUT TO WHITE.
Something changed...
He sees a text floating
◖WELCOME TO THE GAME◗C
