Episode 1. Rebirth of the Outcast.
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Chapter 1 – Fall
Riku Aono's life had always seemed simple. He was a normal high school student, with a normal best friend, and a normal girlfriend. His world was full of dreams—dreams where everything would turn out like the anime he loved. There would be hardships, of course, but in the end, the good guy always triumphed. It was a predictable, comforting cycle.
But then, everything fell apart.
It started subtly—his girlfriend, Mei, was acting distant. Little things, like how she always seemed to be busy or how her smile didn't reach her eyes anymore. But Riku, being the naive boy he was, brushed it off. He thought it was just a phase, something temporary. Until one day, he walked into the school courtyard and saw it with his own eyes.
Mei was holding hands with his best friend, Kaito. The two of them were laughing, so happy together. The world around him spun. His legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the ground. He didn't cry—not at first. He couldn't bring himself to. Instead, a deep, numbing cold settled in his chest. The people he trusted the most had betrayed him.
It didn't end there.
The bullying began soon after. His classmates, who had once been his friends, now avoided him, or worse, mocked him. Every word felt like a knife, every sneer a reminder that he had no place in the world. Riku became a shell of his former self, retreating into the safety of his room, where the only company he had were his anime and webtoons. The bright colors of his favorite characters were the only things that kept him from drowning in his despair.
By 2078, Riku stopped going to school. His parents, desperate to "fix" him, sent him to a hostel in the hope that it would help him get back on track. But the isolation only deepened his depression. He was surrounded by people, yet he felt more alone than ever. His mind wandered back to the only thing that seemed to give him solace: anime.
It was during this time that Riku found *Lookism*. A webtoon about a boy who could switch bodies, a boy who overcame his insecurities by becoming stronger. For the first time in months, Riku felt something stir inside him. He wasn't alone in his pain. The characters of *Lookism*—Daniel Park, Vasco, Jay, and the others—became his only connection to the outside world. He lived vicariously through them, following their struggles, their growth, and their victories.
But as the months passed, something inside him began to change. He became obsessed—not with the characters themselves, but with their strength. He wanted that power. He wanted to never be weak again. He couldn't afford to be.
By 2080, Riku was a ghost of his former self. He had become so numb to the world around him that he felt like a spectator in his own life. School, anime, his parents—all of it felt irrelevant. Nothing had meaning anymore.
Then one night, during one of his darkest moments, something inexplicable happened.
Riku was sitting in his room, staring at his phone, when the world around him seemed to shift. His eyes were tired, and his mind was a haze of thoughts and pain. He closed his eyes, just for a moment, and when he opened them again, the world had changed.
He wasn't in his room anymore.
He wasn't even in his world.
He stood in front of a school—J High. The walls were familiar, but the faces weren't. The students around him looked like characters from *Lookism*, but this wasn't a dream. This was real.
Riku stumbled back, his heart pounding. His eyes darted around the place—he recognized Daniel Park in the distance, and Vasco, too. They were standing there, talking and laughing, just like in the webtoon. But none of them seemed to notice him.
Before he could process what was happening, a voice called out to him.
"Hey, you lost or something?"
Riku turned, his breath catching in his throat. There, standing in front of him, was Daniel Park himself. His smile was warm, genuine, and completely different from the cold faces Riku had grown used to.
"I… I think I am," Riku muttered, feeling completely out of place.
Daniel raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. "Come on, I'll show you around. You're a transfer, right?"
Riku nodded, unsure what was happening, but not questioning it. His body felt strange, lighter than before, as though the weight of his past had been lifted.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, he allowed himself a small, hesitant smile.
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____The Awakening____
Riku soon learned that this world was much more than a mere fantasy. It wasn't just *Lookism*. It was real—at least, it felt real. As days passed, his confusion grew. He didn't know how he ended up in this world, but one thing became clear: this was his chance. A chance to start over. To become strong. To never be betrayed again.
But there was something even more strange about this world—something he didn't understand yet.
Riku's mind was still a mess, a constant echo of his past trauma. But then, on the second day of school, he felt something stir deep within him. As he watched a group of students fighting, something inside him clicked.
He could do it. He could copy what they did.
At first, he thought it was just a coincidence. But when he mimicked a punch from a nearby student, he felt the rush of power flow through his body. It was like his muscles had memorized the motion—like he had been doing it for years.
Later that night, as he sat alone in his room, he tested it again. This time, he copied a fight scene from a street video he had watched before. His body moved effortlessly, mimicking the movements exactly as they were done in the video.
A chill ran down his spine as he realized the truth: he had gained a power. The Copy Eye. He could copy anything he saw. Any move. Any skill.
It was then that Riku understood. He wasn't just a normal student anymore. He wasn't even the person he had been before. He was someone different.
A powerful someone.
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....End of Chapter 1
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