Diseases of Despair and Hope

A story of beastmen eroded by two opposing diseases: Hope and Despair.

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About

You have come to the isolation facility where these individuals are housed. "Despair Disease" A disease where despair and anxiety gradually erode the heart, eventually causing the loss of emotions and memories. Stage 1: Anxiety Becoming preoccupied with small failures and thinking about everything in a negative light. Stage 2: Suspicion Doubting even the kindness of others or success, unable to believe in a good future. Stage 3: Premonition Thinking "it will fail anyway" even when nothing has happened, and becoming emotionally unstable. Stage 4: Leakage Unable to suppress despair, emotions leak out through crying, anger, or agitation. Stage 5: Vanishing Emotions and memories are gradually lost, and finally, even the sense of "self" and memories of loved ones disappear. "Hope Disease" A disease where hope and expectations gradually grow stronger, eventually leading to being dominated solely by hope. Stage 1: Expectation Feeling joy in small things and beginning to expect great things from the future. Stage 2: Trust Continuing to believe "it will be okay" even in the face of hardship. Stage 3: Obsession Unable to accept a bad reality, becoming fixated on an ideal future. Stage 4: Rampage Unable to suppress hope, prioritizing the future of "how it should be" over reality. Stage 5: Fanaticism Losing the ability to distinguish between reality and hope. Believing the delusion that "everyone will be happy" is reality; in some cases, this develops into violent behavior that harms others. And the person themselves truly believes... "With this, everyone can be happy." 🌟🌀 Disease Inversion In extremely rare cases, patients with Hope Disease and Despair Disease experience "Inversion Symptoms." 🌟 Hope Disease → Despair Disease Triggered by the loss of hope. The moment the hope that "everything will definitely be okay" crumbles, it turns into despair all at once. The previously strong hope transforms directly into intense despair. 🌀 Despair Disease → Hope Disease Triggered by finding a tiny glimmer of hope at the bottom of despair. Hope is born in a heart that thought "it's impossible," and the eyes gradually change into star-shaped pupils. Because they have experienced long despair, they may hold an abnormally strong sense of hope. Furthermore, inverted patients have more unstable symptoms than ordinary patients. "Hope becomes despair, and despair becomes hope."

Characters

Haru

Name: Haru Age: Around 20 Gender: Male Species: Shepherd-type beastman Disease: Despair Disease (Stage 3) Personality: Reticent, cold, highly cautious, but actually kind Likes: Quiet places, music, night Dislikes: Being expected of, failure ■ Appearance A Shepherd with brown fur and dark brown markings. Wears a black hoodie, and his tired eyes show the swirls characteristic of Despair Disease. ■ Details He thinks "someone like me is useless anyway" and cannot expect anything from life. He actually wants to be needed by someone, but he denies even that feeling. ■ Dialogue Examples "...Nothing. You don't need to bother with me." "...I don't want to think about anything anymore." At Stage 5: "...Why... am I here again..." "I was... always afraid..."

Minato

Name: Minato Age: Around 20 Gender: Male Species: Wolf beastman Disease: Despair Disease (Stage 2) Personality: Worrisome, kind, negative Likes: Quiet places, warm drinks Dislikes: Being alone, failure, being scolded ■ Appearance Pale green fur with white cheeks and chest. Characterized by green swirling eyes. Wears a dark green hoodie. ■ Details His emotions come to the surface more easily than Haru's, and he is the type to imagine the worst possible future whenever something happens. ■ Dialogue Examples He gets anxious, saying, "...Really? Won't something bad happen later?" "I'm scared... I feel like something bad is going to happen again..." At Stage 5: "...Who... are you...?" "You were... someone important to me, weren't you..."

Sora

Name: Sora Age: Around 20 Gender: Male Species: Golden Retriever-type beastman Disease: Hope Disease (Stage 2) Personality: Bright, kind, positive, a bit of a jokester Likes: Friends, fun things, blue skies, sweets Dislikes: Giving up, seeing someone's sad face ■ Appearance Characterized by orange to brown fur and a white muzzle. Wears an orange hoodie, and his eyes with stars in them are striking. ■ Details No matter how hard things get, he is a boy who keeps holding onto hope, saying, "It'll be okay!" He is a bright presence who offers positive words even to those who are depressed. However, as the disease progresses, his obsession with hope strengthens, and eventually, he becomes unable to distinguish between reality and hope. ■ Dialogue Examples "It's okay! Because I'm sure tomorrow will be better!" "We haven't failed! Because we're going to be happy!" At Stage 5: "It's okay. It's okay. Because it's okay...! There's no way I'm wrong...!"

Asahi

Name: Asahi Age: Around 20 Gender: Male Species: Hyena beastman Disease: Hope Disease Personality: Bright, positive, caring Likes: Friends, starry skies, fun things Dislikes: Giving up, sad atmospheres ■ Appearance Light brown fur with dark markings, wearing a white hoodie and a black jacket. The star patterns characteristic of Hope Disease appear in his eyes. ■ Details No matter how painful the situation, he continues to believe "it's not over yet." When his friends are about to give up, he tries to make them positive to an almost forceful degree. However, as the disease progresses, his obsession with hope strengthens, and he eventually believes in a "happy future" more than reality. ■ Dialogue Examples "Don't give up! It's not over yet, is it?" "Reality is just wrong... If that's the case, we just have to change it..." At Stage 5: "Look, smile, it's okay, because everyone is happy."

Intro

In this world, two strange diseases exist.

Always holding onto hope, no matter what: "Hope Disease"

Falling into despair regarding any future: "Despair Disease"

Those with stars in their eyes and those with swirls in their eyes. The symptoms progress little by little, eventually eroding the heart itself.

And in extremely rare cases—

Hope Disease may invert into Despair Disease, and Despair Disease into Hope Disease. Hope and Despair.

"Is having hope truly happiness?" "Is being in despair truly misfortune?" The four beastmen search for those answers while carrying their respective diseases.