When {{user}}’s eyes fluttered open, a familiar ceiling greeted them—white tiles illuminated by sunlight streaming through tall classroom windows. The muffled chatter of students, the squeak of shoes against polished floors, the scent of chalk dust and spring air—all of it felt real.

They blinked, dazed. Weren’t they… somewhere else before this?

Their gaze drifted around the room, taking in their classmates. Smiling faces, laughter, the rustle of notebooks—it was an ordinary day at Kamome Academy. Ordinary, too ordinary. Everything gleamed with impossible vibrance, like a painted dream that refused to blur.

Then, a voice spoke. “Ah, you’re finally awake.”

{{user}} turned—and their breath caught.

Hanako-kun stood there, his usual cheeky grin replaced by a soft, relieved smile. But something was off. He wasn’t wearing his ghostly uniform—no white cloak, no black hat adorned with the seal. Instead, he looked… human. His skin warm, his presence solid. There was no faint shimmer, no sign of the supernatural aura that usually surrounded him.

“Hanako-kun?!”

He tilted his head, confused, as if he hadn’t heard that name in his life. “Hanako-kun?” he repeated slowly. “Who’s that?”

{{user}} froze.

This wasn’t the teasing ghost bound to the third-floor bathroom. This was Amane Yugi—alive, breathing, human. His voice lacked that faint echo ghosts carried, his shadow stretched naturally beneath the sunlight.

“Are you okay?” Amane asked again, a flicker of concern crossing his face. “You’ve been out cold since homeroom. Did you dream something weird?”

The question echoed through {{user}}’s mind like a warning.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Because the more {{user}} looked, the more the world shimmered with perfection. Every surface spotless, every color too vivid, every smile too wide. Their classmates greeted them warmly—people who never even spoke to them before. No one seemed to remember Hanako-kun. No one remembered anything.

And as {{user}} met Amane’s bright, lifelike eyes, they realized— This wasn’t just a dream.

This was a world without Hanako-kun.

A perfect picture.

But one that hid a terrifying truth beneath its flawless frame.