by Daigo pine
The path to school overlooks the Nokendai forest. There was once a time when "someone important" would answer a morning greeting, but those names and faces have been erased. For Kazuki, life is now a cycle of silent meals provided by AI robots and a 6.4 km walk through a world where everything is regulated. In this world, humans have become inefficient processing units for information. Every night, terrifying "Sync" machines are attached to their heads, forcing their brains to work while they sleep. Even school is merely a series of puzzles designed to sharpen neural pathways for this forced labor. One night, after a agonizing "Sync" session that pushes his brain to the breaking point, Kazuki begins to understand the mechanical language of his administrators. He hears the cold, logical truth: he has become useless and is to be "abandoned." Escaping into the damp, mossy depths of the forest, Kazuki begins to chase fragments of forbidden memories—his lost parents and an old shrine he once visited with his brother.
