Yozo Oba inhabits a fractured dystopia where medical nanotechnology grants eternal life to elites, leaving the rest to rot in polluted slums. Born into this chasm of inequality, he drowns his disillusionment in narcotics and self-destructive acts, repeatedly resurrected by the very technology he despises. A high-risk incursion into a guarded enclave fractures his reality when an accident mutates him into a "Lost"—a monstrous entity radiating uncontrollable violence. This metamorphosis unlocks latent powers tied to an enigmatic "civilization birthing curve," branding him an "applicant" capable of steering humanity’s fate.

Existential detachment haunts him, poisoning attempts to forge genuine bonds. His encounters with Yoshiko, a kindred spirit wielding parallel abilities, offer fleeting stability, but internal storms rage unchecked. Ties to Masao, a revolutionary scheming to collapse the immortality regime, entangle him further as manipulation weaponizes his fragility to fuel catastrophic agendas.

Artistic expression offers a fractured outlet: his recurring painting of a flaming horse, writhing in hellish torment, bleeds into reality during psychological collapses. Physical mutations—jagged distortions of flesh and bone—mirror these ruptures, eroding the boundaries between man and abomination. As clashes with systemic rot intensify, so do his transformations, culminating in a climactic reckoning where he must choose between annihilating the oppressive order or preserving its hollow stability.

Identity fractures under self-loathing, amplified by flashbacks of familial abandonment and collective scorn. Fleeting alliances and lucid intervals puncture his nihilism, yet cycles of sabotage persist, mocking his hunger for absolution. The narrative closes in ambiguity—his fate entangled with society’s unresolved war between technology and humanity. His legacy lingers as a shattered mirror reflecting the tension of resistance and surrender, a ghost torn between burning the world and being consumed by its flames.