Horn

The New Humanity looked no different from humans, except for one thing: their horns.

Humans, realizing that keeping these beings close brought good fortune, began capturing the New Humanity indiscriminately, branding them with the derogatory term “yokai.”

Larger horns were believed to bring greater luck, and thus, yokai were reduced to mere talismans for human greed. Forced to endure the agony of their horns growing—tearing through their flesh—they were called by their “true names,” a torment that bound them to their suffering.

To survive among cruel humans, they hid behind aliases. Eden, a painter and yokai, concealed his true nature to earn money for his ailing uncle’s medicine, scraping by through his art.

Then, an old friend of his uncle offered Eden a position as a court painter. Despite his uncle’s visceral dread of the palace, Eden steps into the Platinum Palace where the emperor resides…

“Eden, tell lies you can bear.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Don’t even think of disappearing from my sight.”

Karsa, the emperor who delights in slaughter and the hunt, easily sees through Eden’s disguise. With his true name held as leverage, Eden falls under Karsa’s control, his spirit wasting away.

“Where is Eden?”

“…”

“I said, where is Eden?!”

As Karsa’s twisted obsession unravels, the hidden truths behind the dazzling palace come to light, revealing its darker underbelly.

Can Eden escape unscathed?