I wanted to be a bad actor in the anime, but I failed.

“Ji ga ji ga…”

The broken windows couldn't even keep out the breeze.

The tightly closed curtains fluttered from time to time, allowing a glimmer of light to occasionally tear through the darkness.

A corner of the bedroom was filled with lunch boxes, like the decayed corpse of a wild animal.

Dirty, cold, smelly.

This is a small house in the corner of the second floor of a fourth-floor apartment.

Because of the landlord's pity, the owner of the house is able to hide here like a parasite.

My family was not rich.

In addition, my father lost his job when I was in elementary school, which made the situation at home worse and worse.

My mother was a cancer patient and died a long time ago.

From that moment on, my father started drinking and smoking and became a useless person.

I was at home, like air, and he paid no attention to me.

There was no food at home, only sewage.

I couldn't survive, so I started to struggle. I lied about my age to get a job, and suffered a lot from society before I could establish myself in society on my own.

Unfortunately, my father also died in the alley one night.

At this point, I seemed to be disconnected from this world.

In order to find the meaning of life, I picked up my interests.

--basketball.

I worked as hard as I could to save money and pay for my own tuition.

I use my meager income to supplement my nutrition so that I can play basketball better.

I work hard and keep working hard.

I hope to become successful through basketball one day.

However, just when I finally made it into the school team, I met someone.

No, met him and his team members.

My family background made me feel inferior and depressed.

My sarcastic boss taught me to never complain.

Therefore, this character of mine was ridiculed by them.

After seeing that I was easy to bully.

He punched and kicked me.

Beaten in the toilet and shoved my head in the toilet.

He burned me with cigarette butts, leaving several circular burns on my back.

He also said bad things about me to the coach, which prevented me from doing basketball training.

They demanded protection money from me, forcing me to rummage through dumpsters for food to stay alive.

Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore.

I want to cry so much, but I can’t cry since my parents died.

The pain of wanting to cry but not being able to makes my heart ache so much.

I chose to drop out of school.

And hide in this room that I have contaminated.

I have been hungry for I don't know how many days.

I had gnawed away a corner of the lunch box in the corner of the room.

I was thinking, maybe, I could die.

Originally, there was nothing in this world worth my nostalgia.

The basketball dream has long been shattered into pieces.

I crawled over to the table, picked up the corroded knife, and held it to my wrist.

"——Ah, I feel like doing this will cause a lot of trouble for the landlord."

"——I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

The fragile voice was buried by the "creaking" sound.

I swung the knife hard...

“Crack!!”

Sudden.

The opening of the door gave me pause.

I looked up in surprise, and the dazzling light made me squint my eyes.

After getting used to it, I saw a teenager who was about my age.

Because of the backlight, I couldn't see his appearance.

But what I saw was a school uniform that I found hard to accept.

"No!! Don't hit me!! I was wrong! No!!"

I yelled, crouching in the corner, shivering like a dog with PTSD from foot abuse.

"Are you Chihiro Hirahara?"

There was a hint of surprise in the quiet voice.

"Yes, I am. Please don't hit me! I, I'll give you money! I'll give you money. Although I don't have money now, I will go to work! I will work and give you all my wages!!"

This person approached me without any concern for the dirtiness and stench in the house.

I held my head in fear.

"Don't hit me! Please! Don't--!"

"Wow!"

The plastic bag flipped over, and a mouth-watering aroma gushed out.

I was afraid, but I was actually longing for it.

The other party actually opened a delicious lunch box, put it on the ground, and pushed it to me.

He kept a perfect distance from me so that I didn't get even more scared.

"Eat it, this is water."

"Woo!!"

I hesitated for a long time, but I still couldn't bear the human desire for survival and hunger.

I practically pounced on it and wolfed it down without even using chopsticks!

But then, food got stuck in my dry throat and I covered my neck with my hands while having difficulty breathing. The other person actually quickly opened the water bottle, let me drink, and patted me on the back.

Finally, I finished my food and drank my water with great relish.

Then he looked at the man blankly.

Well-trimmed short hair and good-looking face.

The indifferent look seems gentle yet ruthless.

But in my eyes, he is my benefactor.

——Not them.

——Maybe I won’t be beaten.

"You, you are..."

"I can help you get revenge."

"What do you mean?"

"I can teach Tono Takuya a lesson."

"what!!!"

When I heard the devil's name, I screamed and covered my head.

"But I need your help."

"No, no! No one can teach that guy a lesson. Even the coach likes him. Impossible. I don't want to provoke him!!"

The fluorescent light from the mobile phone is blinding me.

I subconsciously took the phone handed to me, feeling a little confused.

"have a look."

I obediently lowered my head and looked at my phone, but my eyes widened as if I saw an incredible scene.

On the Internet, the devil himself admitted his mistakes, and the comments below were condemnations from countless people.

The vicious and cursing comments made me feel a little better.

"This is......"

"This is your chance to save yourself."

He said so.

I remained silent because I suspected he was lying to me.

But those dark eyes that looked so old and seemed to be hiding something made me believe it in the end.

"You need to go to Feng No Saki and explain the situation to the Dean."

"No! I won't go! I don't want to stay in that school for even a moment!"

"Tono Takuya is under investigation, and his teammates are afraid to come to school now."

"..."

"At first glance, accusing someone of abusing a cat and using the internet to inflict violence on others is the most eye-catching, but their bullying of you is the most serious, so you need to accuse them and put them in an abyss from which they cannot recover."

"What if they retaliate against me?"

"If you want revenge, take revenge on me first."

"why?"

"Because everything on the Internet was planned by me, including your accusations."

"I......"

"I heard you like playing basketball?"

I looked at him in surprise.

"Tono Takuya and the others will drop out of Toyosaki, and you will have the opportunity to re-enroll in Toyosaki and continue playing basketball."

For some reason, I felt my cheeks getting wet.

"By the way, that disgusting coach will also be fired for covering up their bullying of you and will be condemned by society."

The man stood up and looked down at me.

"So, are you willing to help me accuse him? Using your experience."

"......I."

In the future, I will always regret why I hesitated now, but fortunately, I finally took action.

"I hope you can realize your dream in basketball."

He said something that made me burst into tears, and then he stood up and was about to leave.

“Wait a minute!”

"Ok?"

"You are...what's your name?"

I shouted with courage.

The man stood at the doorway that was emitting brilliant light and was silent for a long time, as if he was thinking about whether to answer or not.

at last.

He answered.

"Mulin."

The man left.

The door was closed, and the house returned to its former darkness.

But, for some reason, I felt like I was in the light.

It's like a desperate person being given hope by the God of Light.

That simple two-word name.

In my future, it has always inspired me and made me move forward on the road of basketball!