A single ray of orange light pierced through a crack in the wall, illuminating dust particles dancing in the stuffy air. It was the sole source of light in an old attic. The rest was swallowed by darkness.

  In a corner untouched by the glow, a mysterious figure sat huddled. His thin hand moved slowly, stroking a small creature on his lap.

  At first glance, the small creature resembled a rat, but the anatomy was wrong—a massive single eye and a flat tail that widened like a fish fin rotated sideways.

  Only the two of them were there, drowning in silence.

  The figure looked down, staring curiously at the "rat" on his lap. "Cute little demon... What are you doing here? Are you lonely?" he muttered. His raspy voice sounded like sandpaper rubbing against stone.

  His fingers stroked the creature's rough fur again. "You’re my friend now."

  "Rrrggghhhh!” Crack! Without warning, the one-eyed "rat" snapped viciously, sinking its teeth into the hand that petted it.

  "Agh—!" He flinched, shaking his hand in shock. The small creature was thrown, landing nimbly on the floor before darting into the pitch-black corner. Gone in the blink of an eye.

  "Wait!" He reached out, but his feet were rooted to the spot. His shoulders slumped. He knew it was useless. The little "rat" was gone.

  Then, a sound from the room below broke the silence. "Creeeaaak." The door had opened. "Master is home!" he exclaimed excitedly.

  The creature rushed down from the attic, passing through the ceiling and landing on the floor below, bowing respectfully. "Welcome back, Master Arua."

  Under the room's light, the creature’s true form was revealed. Standing roughly the size of a human, the figure was a grotesque mismatch of proportions: short legs and disproportionately long arms, all wrapped in dark, bluish-gray skin. The face alone was a bizarre oddity. A single horn protruded from the left side of its skull, framed by large, drooping ears that resembled those of a Nubian goat.

  He possessed a maw of sharp teeth and a flat, wide nose like a bison’s. His bone structure was distinctly non-human. Rough skin clung tightly to a thin flesh, giving the entity the emaciated appearance of a malnourished old mutated man. Elongated nails tipped its fingers, and twin tails sprouted from the back of its head. Also the sharp, reptilian brown eyes. He wore nothing but a dull brown shorts.

  Meanwhile, the figure standing in the doorway was his master—a high school student just came home from school, still in uniform. His face was lethargic and annoying. Above his left eye sat a distinct patch on his pale brown skin—like a birthmark, but white.

  His dark hair was styled in a dorky middle part, with a slight curly tips sticking out at irregular angles. A green bag was slung over his hunched back. Ignoring his surroundings, his eyes remained glued to a phone as his right thumb scrolled the screen, while his left hand carried a plastic bag.

  Without a single reply, the man named Arua entered his 3x4 meter room. It was a disaster zone—far grubbier than the standard teenage dorm.

  Dirty laundry formed a mountain in the corner, flanked by scattered snack wrappers and tangled cables snaking from power strips. Thick dust and stray hairs carpeted the neglected crevices.

  Unwashed utensils sat rotting near a bedsheet that had turned dull brown from months of use. Spider webs in every corner, plus a musty smell and humid air. There was even a patch of "mushroom cultivation" thriving in the damp, rotting wood cracks. It was the most comfortable room in the world... to him.

  "Master brought a plastic bag?" the strange creature asked enthusiastically, eyes fixed on the black sack in his master's hand. "Is that the novel Master promised!?"

  "Nah, it’s just mendoan."

  "Oh..." The creature was disappointed.

  As Arua stepped inside, he pocketed his phone and untied the plastic bag. A savory, oily aroma wafted out. Inside lay a single limp, cold piece of mendoan—half-cooked soft fried tempeh.

  He grabbed the oily fritter barehanded and shoved it into his mouth whole. His cheeks puffed out.

  "Novel's in the bag," he mumbled, chewing noisily.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  "Woahhh!" The creature’s enthusiasm reignited.

  While still chewing, Arua wiped his oily fingers on his pants, placed his green bag on the mattress, and pulled out a thick book. Of course, he didn't buy the novel. He stole—sorry, borrowed it from the library.

  He grabbed a plain dark brown t-shirt hanging nearby—yesterday's wear—and changed in nine seconds flat. Then, he marched to the room next door. The strange creature followed behind.

  Yes, that was also his room. There was a specific reason he secured two boarding rooms for the price of one. Though it was only used for projects, experiments, or storing items.

  This room was equally chaotic, perhaps even more so. But instead of trash, it was filled with technical junk: electronic instruments, carpentry tools, and various DIY objects with obscure functions.

  Arua placed the novel onto a custom rig on the desk. It was an automated page-turner he’d built using an Arduino Nano, servo motor, plastic cylinder, PCA9685 16-channel 12-bit PWM motor driver, LCD, potentiometer, and push button.

  The creature looked delighted, though on his face, "delighted" looked bizarre.

  "The paragraphs in this book are quite dense, so I set it to minimum speed," Arua explained, his fingers pressing a few buttons and turning the adjustment knob.

  "Thank you, Master!"

  "Hoaaahhmm..." Arua yawned widely. "I haven't slept for a day. Giou, wake me up at 8 PM," he said while walking groggily toward the door.

  "Yes, Master!"

  "Then you can start learning geography on my laptop."

  "In this room or Master's room?"

  "My room. No private time tonight, I'll be busy." He closed and locked the door, then went to the next room, his main room.

  "Understood, Master," replied Giou the strange creature.

  Now he was alone.

  If only I had Ectopraxis ability, Master wouldn't have to bother making this device... he thought.

  A little context here. Giou was a Demon. In the spirit realm where he resided, objects were merely projections of reality. They had form and weight, but lacked stability.

  It wasn't like generic ghost stories where spirits phased through walls; When Giou tried to open a projected book, the letters would glitch out and disappeared. It was a clear boundary. Even Arua needed to open his inner eye just to see him.

  Thus, the automatic page-turner. It was one way for a spiritual entity without Ectopraxis—a type of Nexus (magic) capable of exerting physical effects on the real world—to read.

  As the machine flipped a page for him, Giou stared at the text and muttered, "It's been almost a year since that event... I've changed a lot, thanks to Master... If Master Aru hadn't come back then, who knows what would’ve happened..."

  He was, indeed, an anomaly. Giou was a special demon who deeply desired to become human—defying the societal stigma of being an evil entity.

  Common beliefs claimed demons were hellspawn sent to incite evil, spread disease, sow negative emotions, and so on. In reality, it wasn't that dramatic. Demons were basically living beings—mere parasites trying to survive in their own way. Just as a parasite needs a host, a demon needs a human as its source of existence, which inevitably harms the human.

  Yet, most Supernaturalists clung to ancient dogma that deemed demons as threats to be exterminated. This is what sparked a conflict between them that had lasted for thousands of years.

  Giou understood the consequence: If demons are parasites, then humans have the right to protect themselves. But unlike his kin, Giou believed the system could change. There must be a way for humans and demons to coexist without slaughter—since both are sentient beings.

  That had been Giou's life purpose. He had fought for years to achieve it, yielding absolutely no results. Instead, this impossible dream led him to the brink of disaster that threatened his very existence. So now, he surrendered and chose to shield his heart with a safer—though perhaps uncertain—hope: to simply understand humanity.

  "Because humans are unique, they are free to choose their own paths," that was his opinion.

  Driven by this desire, he devoured anything that could introduce him to their world—whether it was general knowledge, science, history, or novels. Not just books, actually. He also learned through computers and the internet. The method was similar—his master created a program to scroll pages automatically.

  It was all thanks to his master: a human named Aruna, usually called Aru or Arua. He is an eighteen-year-old eleventh-grade high school student (the oldest in his class, for some reason).

  Giou lived with him in this cheap, haunted-looking boarding house on the outskirts of Purwokerto City, Indonesia. When not studying or watching movies, Giou observed Arua’s pets: a six-year-old black Javanese crow named "Demonic Possession" and a three-year-old white stray cat named "Angelic Enlightenment."

  It wasn't racist; Arua just had weird taste. No wonder he often called Giou "Pikachu" or "Electric Eel" because of his electric-related Nexus ability.

  But why did a demon submit to him? Because Arua was no ordinary human. He was a Spirit User, specifically a Venator (Demon Hunter). Yes, Arua was the type of human who was supposed to hunt and exterminate demons to their roots. But the man was different; he instead took Giou as his servant.

  And precisely because of that, their relationship began... not in the usual way. A beginning not marked by a handshake, but by ragged breaths and the scent of death. Exactly ten months ago...