Kaito opened his eyes to a familiar stench.
Rot. Grease. Garbage.
He was lying face-up in what looked like a pile of soggy, semi-radioactive fast food wrappers. Above him, the sky was dark—a deep, polluted orange. Twin moons loomed low and heavy, casting an oily sheen over the ground. A birdlike creature flew overhead, dropped something suspiciously steaming, and cackled as it soared away.
"Great," Kaito muttered. "So this is where forgotten gods dump their divine trash?"
He pushed himself up, only to sink knee-deep into something that burped.
"Correction: this is where trash comes to die twice."
He was shirtless. The remnants of his tunic were gone, burned away during his divine system overload. He still wore a tattered pair of linen pants that somehow hadn't disintegrated. A faint shimmer traced across his skin. The sigil of Lyria—formerly burned into his chest—was now just a scar, faint but still present.
And below it, lines of glowing blue circuitry pulsed faintly beneath the surface of his flesh.
Kaito touched the spot. "Still alive. Still mutated. Still somehow not disintegrated. That's a win, I guess."
Then a cheerful female voice echoed from nowhere:
"Hello, Kaito Ren! Welcome to Dumpworld™! You have entered a Class-9 Divine Exile Zone. Population: you. Enjoy your stay!"
"...Is that you, system voice?"
"Yes! Version 0.7 of the Adaptive Vessel Core System is online. You are currently in a divine landfill dimension, where broken blessings and corrupted magic artifacts go to decompose slowly! We suggest not drinking the rainwater."
As if on cue, it began to rain.
Kaito held out a hand. The droplets sizzled on contact.
"Fantastic. I'm a radioactive demigod in a trashcan universe with a broken system. What's next? Mutant raccoons with lightsabers?"
"Correction: it's actually mutant molecats with laser mandibles."
A snarl behind him confirmed it.
Kaito turned slowly. One of the creatures—about the size of a couch, with glowing red eyes and serrated arms—crawled out of a slime-pit behind a broken vending machine labeled "Divine Cola: Now with 400% More Soul!"
"...I was joking," Kaito muttered.
The molecat screeched and lunged.
Fight, Flail, Evolve
Instinct kicked in.
Kaito ducked just in time, landing in a back-roll across the garbage. He stumbled to his feet as the molecat charged again, foam sizzling from its mouth. Its eyes were wild—this was no animal. It had mana rot, a side effect of long-term exposure to corrupted divine energy.
"System—combat assist?"
"Basic physical support enabled! Punch like your life depends on it, because it does!"
Kaito sidestepped the next lunge and slammed his fist into the creature's flank. There was a flash of blue light—his knuckles glowed—and the molecat flew backward, smashing into a vending shrine that exploded in a shower of stale chips and relic charms.
Kaito stared at his hand.
He'd barely tried.
"Holy crap. That was—"
The molecat shrieked again. Half of its face was gone. But it stood.
"Seriously!?"
"Warning: mutant is adapting. Mana rot has upgraded its resilience. Recommend: finish quickly, then run."
Kaito didn't hesitate this time. He sprinted forward, ducked under a swing of its glowing claws, and uppercut it in the jaw. His fist glowed again, brighter this time.
"Take this, you radioactive Pikachu reject!"
BOOM.
The molecat flew skyward. It landed somewhere in the distance with a wet thud and no follow-up screech.
Panting, Kaito stood there, glowing fist clenched, grinning despite himself.
"Okay," he said to the sky. "I think I might like this new power."
Welcome Party, Kind Of
"You're gonna attract all kinds of trouble punching molecats like that."
Kaito turned fast—ready for another monster—but stopped when he saw the speaker.
She was standing atop a junked divine carriage, holding a crossbow made out of bones and gold wiring. Her hair was dark purple and tied back with a strip of shredded prayer cloth. Her clothes looked salvaged from different religions—one shoulder wore holy armor, the other a sleeveless hoodie with a glowing "Bless This Mess" sigil on it.
She had striking, angry eyes.
"You're new," she said flatly. "Let me guess. Goddess tossed you in here?"
Kaito blinked. "How'd you—?"
"Because that's what they do. They play with us, break us, and toss us here when we stop being shiny."
She hopped down and approached him, eyeing him suspiciously.
"You don't look broken though."
"I'm just holding it together with sarcasm and spite."
A pause.
Then she grinned. "You'll fit right in."
Her Name Was Calia
They sat around a rusted fire barrel that night. Kaito found a mostly-dry cloak and wrapped it around himself while Calia roasted something that smelled vaguely like meat but blinked once before it died again.
Calia told him the basics:
Dumpworld was the graveyard of forgotten divinity. Thousands of years of broken artifacts, failed chosen heroes, discarded angel eggs, and divine waste collected into a barely-livable dimension stitched together by malfunctioning miracles. It wasn't meant to be lived in.
But some people survived.
"I've been here seven years," she said. "I've met about twenty people. Seventeen died. Two disappeared. One turned into a sentient mushroom that tries to date corpses."
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "And you?"
"I'm the one who doesn't die."
She poked the fire. "You're lucky I found you first. Some of the things out there used to be gods."
He swallowed. "Used to be?"
"Mana rot. It eats your sense of self. If you fight it, you become something stronger. If you don't…"
Kaito understood.
Then he asked the question that had been gnawing at him since he fell.
"Can we get out?"
Calia was quiet for a long time.
"Maybe," she said finally. "But not without power. Real power. Godkiller-tier. And if you've got any grudge left for the one who dumped you here…"
He nodded.
"Oh yeah. I've got grudges for days."
Adaptive Core: Online
That night, Kaito dreamed of the fall again.
But this time, he understood something.
Lyria hadn't just thrown him away—she'd accidentally jumpstarted something in him. Her divine essence warped, then merged with the chaotic potential of Limbo. And now, his Adaptive Core—the thing that activated in his fall—was starting to rewire his entire existence.
"Congratulations!" the system voice chirped in his head. "You are now an evolving anomaly. Your potential is no longer bound by divine law!"
"Side effects may include: unstable powers, reality glitches, and sudden romantic entanglements."
Kaito blinked. "Wait—what?"
"Initializing: romantic comedy subroutine."
"No, no, no. Turn that off."
"Error: too late. Love flags have already been planted."
Then a notification flashed in his vision:
[First Love Interest Flag: Calia - "The One Who Doesn't Die"]
Dangerous, sarcastic, probably smells like gunpowder. Trust level: 17%. Romance potential: Moderate. Would stab you before admitting feelings.
Kaito groaned and rolled over in the blanket of prayer flags he'd used as a bed.
"This is going to get so much weirder, isn't
Chapter 2. Welcome to Dumpworld
Extended Version – Part 1 of 3
Kaito's first conscious breath in Dumpworld tasted like betrayal and expired tofu.
He gagged and sat up, coughing violently as he wiped a slick ooze off his chest. Above him, the skies churned with sickly orange clouds, casting an eerie glow over what could only be described as an interdimensional junkyard from hell. One moon was cracked in half like a broken egg, leaking silver mist. The other blinked. Yes—it blinked.
"Okay…" Kaito wheezed. "So this is where forgotten people go to rot."
His limbs ached. His skin pulsed with faint circuitry-like veins glowing cyan beneath the surface. He'd fallen from godly grace—literally—and now found himself dumped in this cosmic scrapyard like a failed experiment. And yet, against all odds, he was alive.
Then came the chipper voice.
"Hello, Kaito Ren! Welcome to Dumpworld™! You have entered a Class-9 Divine Exile Zone. Population: you. Enjoy your stay!"
Kaito flinched. "Oh no. You're still here?"
"Yes! Adaptive Core System v0.7 online. Current status: partially functional. Emotional suppression module: broken. Sarcasm filter: non-existent."
"Perfect. My internal voice is a lunatic AI."
"That's rude. I have feelings, you know."
Kaito rose unsteadily, legs wobbling like he'd pulled an all-nighter bingeing ramen and regret. He surveyed the land around him—mountains of shattered divine weapons, shrines that had collapsed into scrap, rusting halos, and an entire temple made out of decapitated angel statues.
Off in the distance, something belched thunderously.
"Right," Kaito muttered. "Time to survive."
The First Fight (Revisited and Extended)
No sooner had he taken ten steps than he was attacked by a molecat. The size of a sofa and the smell of wet socks and hatred, it lunged from beneath a glowing trash pile, claws outstretched, eyes glowing with corrupted mana.
"Caution! Threat level: Moldy Casserole! Engage with extreme prejudice!"
"You call that a threat level?!"
Kaito dodged instinctively, his body moving faster than it had any right to. His fist lit up—blue energy surged from his knuckles—and he slammed it into the beast's ribcage. The impact sent the molecat flying into a shrine dedicated to "Saint Bob the Misinterpreted."
But the molecat got up again. More warped than before. Half its face was gone, replaced with glowing fungus.
"Warning: threat is adapting!"
"You think?!"
Another punch. Another explosion of blue light. Finally, the beast disintegrated into a puff of corrupted mana and left behind a single molar engraved with divine glyphs.
Kaito picked it up cautiously.
"Does this count as loot?"
"Loot acquired: [Molecat Tooth of Itchy Vengeance]. Adds +1 irritation aura."
Kaito shoved it in his pocket.
Enter Calia – In Extended Glory
"Impressive for someone who still smells like divine BBQ."
He spun around, fists raised, heart thudding. A woman stood at the top of a leaning shrine tower. She was half-silhouetted by the blinking moon, wearing a leather strap top, one armored boot, and something that might have once been a choir robe tied as a belt. In one hand she held a weapon forged from rib bones and gold circuit wire. Her crossbow.
She descended the tower in three agile jumps, landing with grace that made Kaito blink.
"You're not a molecat," he said stupidly.
"And you're not a god," she shot back. "Nice glow, though. Haven't seen a fresh dumpee with intact circuits in a while."
"Wait—dumpee?"
"You know. Dumped. By a god. Into Dumpworld."
Kaito's shoulders sank. "Wow. They really named this place with all the poetry of a toilet."
Calia snorted. "You're not wrong."
As they exchanged stares, Kaito realized she wasn't just surviving—she owned her misery. Her smile was sardonic. Her eyes, tired but sharp. She didn't pity him. She assessed him.
"I'm Calia," she said finally. "Don't touch my stuff, don't scream in your sleep, and don't try to save me heroically. You'll only embarrass both of us."
"Kaito," he said. "Former chew toy of the Goddess Lyria."
Calia raised an eyebrow. "That one? Oof. She's got abandonment issues and an ego that could fill three suns."
He chuckled. It felt weird. Like smiling in a graveyard.
But also… good.
Bonding Over Garbage Fires
Later, Calia led him to her camp. If you could call a half-collapsed monk's shelter surrounded by magical barbed wire and empty ramen cans a camp.
"Sit. Don't eat the glowy mushrooms unless you want to talk to your ancestors," she said, handing him a chipped mug of steaming soup.
Kaito took a cautious sip. Surprisingly… edible.
"So," he said. "How long have you been stuck here?"
"Too long," she said, staring into the fire barrel. "I was the Chosen of the God of Justice. He trained me, promised salvation, gave me this power…"
She raised her hand. Divine runes shimmered, only to sputter weakly.
"Then I asked the wrong question. About the war he was waging. About why innocent people kept dying. He said I'd lost my faith. So—" She mimed a toss. "In I went."
Kaito stared at her, silent for a long moment.
Then: "My goddess got bored."
Calia laughed bitterly. "And they wonder why we end up bitter."
System Notification:
[Emotional Link Status: Initiated. Bond Level: 2%]
New Dialogue Option Unlocked: Shared Trauma Banter.
"Also… you're blushing," the system whispered.
"I AM NOT," Kaito hissed aloud.
Calia blinked. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Just arguing with my malfunctioning conscience."
Garbage Storm Incoming
Their evening was interrupted by a low howl. The sky began to ripple like an old television screen, and then—
BOOM.
A divine garbage storm roared across the horizon, carrying everything from broken relics to screaming statues and the occasional divine potato.
"Storm!" Calia shouted. "Get inside!"
"What's inside?!"
"The dump church—go!"
They raced into the nearby structure, a crumbling cathedral plastered with dozens of clashing religious symbols. As the wind howled outside and a relic piano crashed through a window, Kaito stumbled, accidentally dragging Calia down with him into a pile of expired priest robes.
They landed nose-to-nose. Her breath smelled faintly of fire spice and frustration.
"Seriously?" she deadpanned.
"I panicked!"
Romantic Proximity Alert: 17cm
[Chance of accidental confession: 0.04%]
[Chance of awkward eye contact: 97.8%]
Kaito scrambled up, burning red.
Calia snorted. "You're ridiculous."
"Thank you. It's a survival mechanism."
They laughed, even as relic debris rained on the roof.
Coming in Part 2:
Calia's backstory is fleshed out with a surreal dream sequence.
Kaito finds a "cursed talking relic" that keeps blurting out his innermost thoughts.
Their first real argument (with romantic tension).
Kaito's power mutates mid-battle.
Awesome!
Chapter 2: Welcome to Dumpworld
Extended– Part 2 of 3
The Dream of Justice (Calia's Nightmare)
That night, Kaito barely slept.
Mostly because Calia snored—not loudly, but in a "trained assassin vibrating through dimensions" kind of way.
But also because he kept getting flashes—of the Goddess, of blinding light, of his own body stitched with divine power and falling endlessly through a rainbow tunnel of screaming seraphs. Somewhere, a vending machine was chanting battle hymns.
He turned over. Calia mumbled something and kicked a relic bucket.
Suddenly, her brow furrowed. Her hands twitched.
"No… I trusted you… I believed… justice wasn't blind—"
Kaito sat up.
Was she… dreaming?
He reached over hesitantly, hand hovering above her shoulder.
System Warning:
Interacting with a dream-anchored trauma may result in permanent bonding.
"I don't care," Kaito muttered, and touched her shoulder gently.
Calia jerked awake with a gasp. Her eyes locked onto his. Her breathing was ragged.
Kaito said nothing. Just waited.
"…Sorry," she muttered. "Sometimes the past doesn't know how to shut up."
Kaito gave her a tired grin. "Join the club. We've got jackets. They smell like failure and mold."
For the first time, her expression softened completely.
"…Thanks."
[Emotional Link: 7%]
New Trait Unlocked: "Protector's Guilt"
Talking Relic of Embarrassment
The next day, while scavenging the western quadrant (otherwise known as "The Holy Pit of Bad Decisions"), Kaito found a relic buried under seven angel helmets.
It was round. Glowing. And had a face.
"…Hi?" he said.
"HELLO, SINFUL MORTAL," the relic boomed in a voice like a pompous opera singer. "I AM THE ORB OF UNWANTED HONESTY. I SPEAK ONLY TRUTHS THAT SHALL WOUND YOU."
"Oh no," Kaito whispered.
Calia leaned over his shoulder. "What's that?"
The orb chirped, "THIS MAN ONCE CRIED BECAUSE HE LOST TO A 2D WAIFU IN A MOBILE GAME."
"…Hey!" Kaito yelled.
Calia burst out laughing.
"AND—HE FINDS YOUR EYES INTENSELY DISTRACTING."
"…I will end you," Kaito hissed at the orb.
"TOUCH ME AGAIN AND I REVEAL YOUR BROWSER HISTORY."
Kaito yeeted it into the trash.
The Argument
Later, as they crossed the Sorrow Canyons (which were mostly made of sobbing statue heads and judgmental clouds), Calia broke the silence.
"You're adjusting… fast."
Kaito shrugged. "What's the point of panicking? I already died. Can't get worse, right?"
"You're wrong."
He stopped. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You think this is just some training arc before your glow-up. But this place changes you. Not just your powers—your mind. Your hope. You stop believing escape is possible."
Kaito frowned. "And you've given up?"
Calia didn't answer. Just kept walking.
Frustrated, Kaito shouted, "You mock everything, but you keep saving me! Why? Why not just leave me to die?"
She stopped.
"Because I see her in you. The girl I couldn't save."
Kaito froze.
The wind howled. Somewhere, a cursed harmonica wailed.
"…I'm not her."
"I know. That's the problem."
[Bond Regression Risk: 3%]
[Romantic Tension: simmering]
Kaito's Power Unleashed (Sorta)
They reached the Obsidian Plains just in time to get ambushed by a Righteous Devourer. It looked like a cathedral with legs and teeth.
"FINAL WARNING: Engage with caution. Threat level: Overcompensating Demon Tent."
Calia fired a bolt—bounced off.
Kaito stepped forward. His heart was pounding. Something inside him cracked.
His veins lit up. Not just blue this time—gold and black mixed in. Divine sigils formed around his arms. His fingers tingled. A voice in his head whispered:
"Divine Circuit: Overclocked. Unlocking Prototype Protocol: Humiliation Burst."
"What the hell is that?!"
Kaito unleashed it anyway.
A pulse of blue light erupted—and the Devourer tripped.
It didn't explode. It didn't even scream. It just awkwardly fell sideways into a pile of its own sanctimonious debris.
"…Was that your ultimate move?" Calia asked.
"It had a weird name, okay?!"
"You made the church trip. Literally."
[New Skill Unlocked: Divine Prank Tier I]
Effect: Enemies within 10 meters suffer from intense existential embarrassment. Lowers accuracy by 50%.
Campfire Redux
That night, bruised and mildly humiliated, Kaito and Calia rested again at the dump-church.
"You did okay," she said, handing him half a roasted mushroom-lizard skewer.
"You think?"
"Not everyone can make a cathedral beast fall on its own face."
Kaito laughed, then looked up at the stars.
"So… what now?"
"We survive. We keep walking. And maybe… just maybe, we find the Door."
"The Door?"
"Legend says there's a way out. A backdoor exit from Dumpworld. Gods say it's a myth."
"…And you believe it?"
"I want to."
Kaito looked at her and smiled.
"Well then… let's find it."
Their hands brushed.
She didn't pull away.
The duo faces their first dungeon: "The Archive of Forgotten Regrets."
Romance flags go haywire.
A mysterious masked third party appears, watching them from the shadows.
The Archive of Forgotten Regrets
Calia led Kaito to a black iron gate in the center of a crumbling ruin that looked like a cathedral had been chewed up and spat out by a depressed dragon.
Above the arch read an inscription in old Divine Script:
"Abandon Hope, But Not Your Luggage."
"…That's oddly specific," Kaito said.
"This is the Archive of Forgotten Regrets," Calia explained. "It's a memory dungeon. It feeds on guilt, sorrow… and poor choices."
"So basically it's my entire adolescence?"
"More like your entire internet history," she smirked.
The door groaned open, and the world turned gray.
Inside the Archive
The interior was cold, the air thick with nostalgia and bad breakup energy. Towering bookshelves stretched into an impossible ceiling. Floating memory orbs bobbed through the gloom, glowing softly like fireflies full of trauma.
A floating librarian, whose face was a swirling clock with eyes, stared at them and said, "Welcome to Pain."
"Sounds fun," Kaito muttered.
The librarian floated up to him and touched his forehead.
"Accessing Subject: Kaito. Category: Regrets. File 1: 'That Time You Wet Yourself in Kindergarten.'"
"NOPE!" Kaito swatted it away. "WHY IS THAT FILED UNDER 'TRAUMA'?!"
Calia burst into giggles as the librarian chased Kaito with glowing orbs labeled "Social Death."
New Passive Skill Gained: Humility +2
Echo Room 1: The Goddess Again
They reached the first trial chamber. A glass chamber with echoes of Kaito's memory forming around him—there she was. The Goddess. Radiant. Smiling.
Not lovingly. Amused. Like a child dangling a toy above a fire.
"You were never meant to survive," her echo said. "You were just a whisper, a toy to be broken. Yet here you are, pretending at relevance."
The floor warped. Calia's voice called out from beyond.
"Don't believe it. It's a trap. The dungeon wants you to feel that again."
But Kaito stood his ground.
"I was a toy," he said aloud. "But every toy eventually breaks the hand that throws it away."
He punched the echo—and it shattered.
Trial 1 Complete.
Stat Boost: Courage +1. Willpower +3.
Echo Room 2: Calia's Secret
The second trial was Calia's.
A courtroom formed around her. The Jury were angelic figures, robed and faceless. She stood in the center—bound, judged.
"You swore to uphold justice," a voice boomed. "And you chose vengeance instead."
"I—I had to," Calia whispered. "They killed her. My sister."
"She was a traitor," the Judge hissed. "You killed holy agents for a criminal."
Kaito ran to her side.
"You don't have to justify yourself to them."
"They were right," she muttered. "I chose vengeance."
"You chose love."
The courtroom shook. The chains cracked.
Calia screamed—and her form burst with shadow and fire, obliterating the courtroom with a pulse of emotion.
Trial 2 Complete.
New Skill Unlocked: Shadowflame Judgment.
[Bond Level with Calia: 30%]
Strange Observers
As they rested near a whispering memory lake, someone watched from a ledge above.
A figure clad in sleek, void-black armor with a half-mask over his face. His voice was distorted, whispering to an unseen presence beside him.
"He's adapting faster than expected. The Goddess won't like this."
A second voice replied, feminine and amused, "She already doesn't. That's what makes it interesting."
The masked one watched Kaito laugh with Calia below.
"He'll either break the world—or save it."
Final Trial: The Mirror Maze
The last chamber was a maze of silver mirrors. Each one reflected not just their faces, but twisted versions—Kaito as a broken puppet, Calia as a mindless executioner.
They were taunted, mocked, offered impossible choices.
One mirror showed Kaito holding Calia's broken body.
"Let her go, and you live," the mirror whispered.
Kaito stared at it.
Then punched the glass.
"I'll carry her. I'll carry all of it. Screw your bargain."
The mirrors screamed.
Calia whispered, "You're so stupid."
"I try."
They kissed—brief, awkward, sudden.
The maze exploded.
Final Trial Complete.
Title Earned: "Heart of the Undone."
Relationship Milestone: First Kiss (Calia)
Exiting the Archive
They emerged, exhausted. Changed.
Calia was silent.
Kaito rubbed the back of his neck. "So… about earlier—"
She cut him off. "It was strategy. Emotional climax clears mirror dungeons faster."
Kaito blinked. "…Seriously?"
She smirked. "No. I just didn't want to die before trying it."
He laughed. "Fair."
Ending Note
You Have Gained:
• +5 Levels
• New Title: Emotional Wrecking Ball
• New Passive: Goddess Resistance I
• Bond with Calia: 36%
• Unknown Entity is tracking your progress…
Somewhere, the Goddess stirred in her domain of silk and stars.
She stared into a viewing pool.
"…He kissed her," she said coldly.
Beside her, a new divine figure appeared—eyes glowing with curiosity.
"You're smiling," the figure noted.
The Goddess snapped, "I am not."
"Oh, but you are."
Her smile deepened.
"Let the game continue."
[END OF CHAPTER 2