DBCR 01

Chapter 01

*“Irix Berkhardt destroyed the world.

This is the story of how he reduced it to ruins.”*

I read the story written across several notebooks.
It was a tale of a man named Irix Berkhardt bringing the world to destruction.

Irix, the dark mastermind behind the apocalypse, destroyed places here and there, ruined everything he touched, killed people one by one, and set the world ablaze.
He was not the protagonist of the stories.

Instead, each story followed those who tried to stop Irix. Some were long, some short.
All of them lost to him—or died.

Every story ended in the failure of its protagonist, and as those failures piled up, the world gradually crumbled.
And now…

I am standing right there.
In the very world that Irix Berkhardt is destined to destroy.

The boy was sitting at a table by the window.

He sat in an ornate chair, reading a book. The moment I saw him, I was certain.

That’s him.

From the circumstances, the atmosphere, and even my gut feeling—it was obvious.
That boy was Irix Berkhardt, the one who would one day bring about the end of the world, the future ruler of ruins.

If this world’s theme were despair and destruction, he would be the protagonist.
If it were salvation and justice, he would be the villain.

That boy would soon commit countless atrocities. He would destroy people’s homes and drive them into despair. He would summon monsters and evil gods to plunder and devastate this world. He would allow the wicked to flourish while the good and righteous were killed or broken.

But that was the future.
Right now, the boy had done nothing.

The seed still slept within him. At present, he was just a teenage boy with many things to do—and many things he must not do.

His clothing was extravagantly luxurious.
A black top embroidered with gold thread, a pearl-colored cravat trimmed with fine, delicate lace, and a belt fastened with a finely crafted golden buckle.

It was so excessively lavish that it looked less like clothing and more like a stage costume.

Thanks to his handsome, pearl-like face and slender build, it suited him well.
If I could forget that he was destined to become the dark mastermind, I would have simply admired his appearance.

Sensing my gaze, the boy lifted his head. His greenish-gray eyes, like the shade of a forest, stared straight at me as he spoke in a cold voice.

“Sit.”

That was unexpected.
I had anticipated something impersonal—Why are you staring? What are you doing? Or maybe he would just ignore me.

But instead, he told me to sit.

When I didn’t move, the boy pulled a nearby chair forward and pushed it toward me.

So then…

He lifted his foot, pressed it against the seat, and shoved it.
Scrrrk—clatter.

…Hmm.

You can judge a person’s character by their behavior.
And by that measure, this guy was rotten to the core.

Well, I suppose someone who destroys the world was never going to be fresh and wholesome.

I dragged another chair over and placed it beside him.

“Looks like you don’t like the chair I offered.”

Yeah—bad color, bad design, and the way you offered it was terrible.

I returned the chair he had offered.

Foot up. Push.

Clatter—bang.

I pushed too hard.

The chair toppled backward with a loud crash. Luckily, no one else was around. The only one watching was the boy himself.

I calmly pulled my leg back as if nothing had happened and said,

“Hi, Irix.”

Now I’d find out whether I had really met the future dark mastermind—or if I had merely provoked an arrogant kid.

“Yeah. Hi.”

It was a lukewarm response, but I felt relieved.

Yes. Irix.
The violent mastermind who would destroy this world.

Having finally achieved my objective, I even felt a little pleased.

“Nice to meet you, senior.”

Senior?

That meant he knew something about me.
He had to know who I was to call me that.

Were we acquaintances?

That was possible—but if so, there was a problem.

Because I had none of this body’s memories.

I didn’t know my age, my name, or my past. I was merely inhabiting this body, like wearing someone else’s clothes. I had simply opened my eyes and found myself here.

“Your school badge.”

When I stood there blankly, the boy spoke with obvious disdain.

“I recognized you by your school badge.”

Irix pointed to the round badge attached to my jacket collar.

Oh. So that’s what this was.
No wonder—it felt far too solemn to be a piece of jewelry a girl would choose.

“There’s a light-blue crescent moon on it, so you must have enrolled two years before me.”

Sure enough, a crescent moon was engraved at the center of the badge.

At last, I learned something about this body.

I attend the same school as Irix, and I’m his senior by two years.

Not especially useful information—but better than nothing.

“I know what you’re worried about, so don’t worry in advance.”

Worried about what?

My head tilted on its own. I must have looked like a puppy hearing a strange noise. As expected, Irix looked at me with clear irritation.

“As long as you don’t make me uncomfortable, nothing will happen.”

So if I do make him uncomfortable, something will happen.

“If you just stay there quietly, you won’t get hit by a plate, shot in the foot, or thrown out the window.”

That meant he’d done all of those things before.

And, you know… those are things you’re not supposed to do to people.

Ah—no, my thinking was wrong.
This boy was destined to become an extraordinary villain. The executioner of collapse, the lord of ruins—that was his future. Someone like that could never have a good personality. Ordinary cruelty wouldn’t even be enough. He had to be truly, exceptionally awful. He must have already done many things no one should ever do to others.

“And you should be especially careful about getting thrown out the window.”

The scenery outside the window was racing past.

Right. This was a train.
We were in the dining car of a moving train.

Not exactly the best time or place to be thrown out.

“We’ll have to get off this train eventually, but it’d be better for you if it were after we stop—through the door.”

Even a passing dog would give the same answer.

Woof. No. Woof.

“I don’t want the trouble either, so watch yourself. Your words. Your actions. Better yet, don’t do anything at all. Even better—get up now and go back to where you were sitting.”

Irix pointed toward the door. A very large waiter stood guard there.

“But that won’t be possible, will it? You’re my father’s legion. And to the legion, my father’s words are as good as the words of a god. That’s why you came before me, just as he ordered—regardless of what I’ve done.”

Legion. Father…

I decided to stay silent. For now, I couldn’t be sure that wasn’t true—especially since I had no memories.

I’ll say it again.

This kid is a future villain.

He will live a life without ethics, duty, or law.

It’s best not to provoke him. Better not to catch his eye.

Though, to be fair, he was the type who took offense at even the slightest thing. People obsessed with power and violence usually have narrow minds, and Irix was exactly that kind of person.

How do I know that?

Because…

I’ve read the story in which this Irix destroys the world.

No—calling it a novel would be generous.

It was merely a massive collection of text with no clear structure, no beginning or end, no purpose.
Its world was filled with sudden events and abrupt deaths, all bound by a single causal truth:

The world is destroyed by Irix Berkhardt, and every attempt to stop him fails.

Whether kind or just, evil or greedy—everyone is defeated and killed by Irix Berkhardt.

The more they fail, the more the world turns to ruins, until it is finally annihilated.

Now, I have to stop that from happening.

I have to prevent this boy from becoming the dark mastermind of destruction, the lord of ruins.

I have to make sure this world continues to exist.

Why?

…I don’t know.

I was simply dragged here one day, placed into this body, and made the person responsible for dealing with that future mastermind.

Just before I arrived here, I was inside a collapsing building.

I was trying to save a child—but it was impossible.

I didn’t have the strength to stop the concrete mass crashing down.

What happened next felt unreal. The roar, the ceiling collapsing toward us—it was all too fast, too overwhelming.

And then—

Bang—

That was the end of everything.

…Or so I thought.

It wasn’t.