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⠀⠀*Your perception of time is slowly disintegrating...

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CHAPTER 1;

SHATTERED REAL!TY — DUST!

“Na-Na-Na-Na-Natsumi-ni-chan!?”

The voice rang in my ears, clear and unmistakable.

My body jolted. My tears stopped mid-flow as I whipped my head toward the hospital bed. Yuki’s eyes—those vibrant blue eyes—were looking directly at me. His lips moved, and his voice, soft and familiar, reached out to me.

I froze, staring at him, utterly dumbfounded.

“Yuki?”

He was fine. Smiling, even.

How?

Was it just my imagination?

Or was I hallucinating?

I blinked, trying to shake the doubt from my mind, but my thoughts swirled.

Reality itself felt unstable.

Before I could gather my senses, Yuki’s small hand reached out and touched my cheeks. His fingers were warm, soft, alive.

“Oni-chan… were you crying?”

His voice wavered, concern evident in his eyes.

I didn’t respond immediately. My mind was too clouded.

“Why?” he asked again, his expression a mixture of confusion and sadness.

I forced myself to breathe, to mask the storm raging inside me. “I was just here to visit. I can’t?” I tilted my head and smiled.

But inside, I was a mess.

Nothing made sense.

How was he alive? Was this real? Could sleep deprivation have warped my reality to such a degree?

No, this wasn’t just imagination. It was too vivid, too tangible.

“That’s not fair,” Yuki pouted, breaking my train of thought. “If you smile like that…”

His words trailed off.

I stared at him, my forced smile still plastered on my face.

If this is my imagination… I need to be sure.

“Hey, Yuki.” I leaned closer, my voice steady despite my trembling heart. “Pinch my cheek.”

His head tilted in confusion. “Huh?”

“Just do it,” I urged him while keeping my tone soft.

After a moment, he nodded and reached out, his fingers gently pinching my cheek.

The sharp sting spread across my skin.

It hurt.

The pain was real.

And so was he.

But…

Something's strange.

My left hand slid behind my back while my right rested gently on Yuki’s head. His hair was soft beneath my fingers, and as I began to pat his head, he leaned into my touch, his body relaxing.

A soft smile formed on his lips.

With my left hand, I quietly reached into my pocket and pulled out a knife.

I pressed the blade against my wrist, steadying my breathing.

This was the only way.

With a swift motion, I slid the knife against my skin, just enough to feel the sharp sting of metal against flesh.

Then, without hesitation, I turned the blade toward my waist and pierced it into my side, shallow but enough to confirm what I needed.

The pain was excruciating.

The pain is real.

I didn’t want Yuki to notice.

But even as the searing pain spread, the world around me remained unchanged.

Everything was still here.

And Yuki… he was still here...

“Hey, O-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni!#%#$%”

Yuki’s voice distorted.

It wasn’t just distorted—it was glitching.

My hand stopped mid-motion on his head, my heart sinking.

I turned to look at him, my breath hitching.

His face—half of it—was no longer human.

The right side was smeared, unrecognizable, like a corrupted digital file.

My mind reeled, trying to comprehend the sight before me.

And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone.

His face returned to normal, the warm, familiar face of my little brother.

But his hair…

It wasn’t his anymore.

The vibrant black had faded, replaced by streaks of white. His youthful features aged rapidly, wrinkles carving themselves into his skin.

In mere moments, Yuki was no longer a child but an old man, his eyes heavy with sadness and loneliness.

“Yuki?” My voice trembled as I reached out to him.

He didn’t respond.

And then, his aged face began to crumble, turning into fine, gray dust.

“No!?”

I grabbed his shoulders, desperate to hold onto him, but my fingers met only air.

His entire body disintegrated, scattering into dust that fell through my trembling hands.

“Why…?”

I clutched the dust, tears streaming down my face, only for it to shift and transform.

The gray particles reformed, creating a lifeless replica of Yuki’s face in my hands.

His expression was hollow, filled with despair.

I hugged the dust close, my tears falling freely, soaking into the remnants of what once was.

The world around me changed.

The vibrant colors faded, bleeding into shades of gray until everything turned monochromatic.

Then, like fragile glass, the monochromatic reality shattered.

A rift formed before me, a crack in the very fabric of existence.

And within that rift was beauty.

Pure, unearthly beauty.

Colors I couldn’t name swirled within, drawing me in. It was mesmerizing, intoxicating.

I couldn’t look away.

I reached out, my body moving on its own. The temptation was too great.

But before I could step forward, something grabbed my wrist.

The monochromatic world snapped back to normal, the rift vanishing as though it had never existed.

I turned, breathless, and found Yuki staring at me.

“What’s wrong? Why are you making that face?”

He was fine.

Perfectly fine.

“Mmm,” I mumbled, forcing a weak smile. “I’m just… not feeling well today.”

Yuki didn’t seem convinced. His eyes lingered on me, sharp with suspicion, before he sighed.

“Go home and rest, Oni-chan,” he said firmly.

I nodded, too exhausted to argue.“Right.”

“Take care..”

As I turned to leave, I heard him mutter something under his breath.

The words were faint, lost amidst the pounding in my head.

I got up and went through the door.

The hospital staff glanced at me, their expressions a mix of confusion and concern. I waved them off, mumbling something vague about feeling unwell. They didn’t press further. I just needed to leave.

Once outside, the crisp January air hit my face, and I paused, exhaling a visible puff of breath. For a moment, the world felt normal.

But only for a moment.

A loud crack tore through the sky above me.

I snapped my head upward, my heart racing. A rift—fractured and jagged—split the sky open, revealing an otherworldly glow. It was the same as before, impossibly beautiful, yet unnerving.

Before I could even process it, everything around me froze.

People, cars, even the wind—everything had stopped in place, like a paused video.

I narrowed my eyes, glaring at the rift. Something about it felt wrong, like it was mocking me.

Without thinking, I raised my hand and snapped my fingers.

The sharp sound echoed through the silent, frozen streets of Tokyo.

Nothing happened.

Time remained still, and the rift continued to pulse mockingly.

“Damn it!” I muttered, clenching my fists.

“Maybe… maybe I have special powers! Powers to stop time, ” Why would i even think that.

The words slipped out, and I immediately cringed.

Why the hell would I even think that?

“Am I a moron?” I groaned, running a hand through my hair.

But then another thought surfaced, more absurd than the first.

“No, no. That’s impossible… because i have the power of darkness!”

A sly grin crept onto my face as I raised my hands dramatically.

“Heave before me, my darkness! O you petty mortals, why dost thou command thy pathetic selves? Now, Primordial Darkness, consume thy problems and vanish them to dust!”

I struck a pose, fingers outstretched like a conductor directing some cosmic symphony.

“....”

Silence.

Nothing happened.

The embarrassment hit me like a freight train.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

My face flushed as I put my hand over it, groaning. “Ah, what is wrong with me?”

I dropped to the ground, curling into a ball as I rolled back and forth in pure humiliation.

“Hazukashi! Hazukashi Hazukashi! Hazukashi Hazukashi!”

After a few moments of self-inflicted torment, I forced myself to stand.

I took a deep breath, letting the cold air cool my burning face.

“Anyway…” I muttered, brushing the imaginary dust off my clothes. “Why is all of this happening?”

I glanced at the frozen world around me, frustration building in my chest.

“More importantly…” I scowled at the rift above. “Someone—or something—is messing with time!”

The mere thought made my blood boil.

“When I asked to be teleported to another world, nothing happened. Nothing!” I yelled at the sky, my voice echoing in the stillness.

“But now? Now the supernatural decides to kick in and distort the time-space continuum?”

I pointed at the rift like it was a personal enemy.

“Unforgivable!”

I sighed and leaned against a nearby lamppost, crossing my arms. My mind raced with possibilities, each more absurd than the last.

Could it be some sort of divine prank? Or was it punishment for my wish?

No, it couldn’t be.

I wasn’t just some normal person.

A smirk tugged at the corners of my lips as I pushed up my glasses.

“Clearly, this is the universe recognizing my potential,” I muttered to myself. “A mere mortal wouldn’t be able to withstand this kind of distortion. Only someone with my… unique abilities.”

My voice trailed off as the ridiculousness of my words sunk in.

I slapped my forehead, groaning again.

“Okay, Natsumi, focus.”

You may be different from these petty mortals but lets set our differences aside and think about this logically.

As I was thinking that, the space above cracked again. This time, time began to flow once more.

The sudden movement jolted me out of my thoughts, and that’s when I noticed it—a truck, barreling toward me at full speed.

I was standing in the middle of the road, completely oblivious until now.

But instead of panic, an absurd sense of excitement bubbled up inside me.

“Yes! Finally!” I yelled, throwing my arms wide open. “Come to me, Truck-kun, and finish me off!”

The truck roared closer, its headlights blinding.

Then, the sky shattered.

The shards of reality fell around me, cascading in slow motion like pieces of a broken mirror.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection in one of the shards.

In it, I was lying on the ground, blood pooling beneath me. My body was still, lifeless. It looked like Truck-kun had done its job.

But something was off.

I was still alive, standing, breathing.

The people around me in the reflection ignored my bleeding form. They walked past without so much as a glance. Moments later, I saw myself in the shard take my last breath, the blood seeping into the cracks of the road.

As soon as I "died" in the shard, the pieces reversed, rising back into the air like a rewound tape.

Time itself rewound.

The truck moved backward, retreating to its original position. The people on the street walked in reverse, their movements eerie and unnatural.

And I? I was the only one unaffected, standing still in the midst of this temporal chaos.

The sky darkened, and snow began to fall.

Christmas decorations, once taken down, reappeared on buildings and lampposts, sparkling with newfound brilliance.

Fireworks burst in reverse, unraveling into streaks of light before disappearing into the night sky.

The seasons began to blur—autumn leaves reattached to trees, then fell again. Summer’s warmth gave way to spring’s cherry blossoms, only for them to bloom in reverse.

I stood at the center of it all, watching as time unraveled.

The left side of my body was consumed by the past, while the right surged forward into the future.

The contrast was dizzying.

Minutes later—or perhaps eons—the sun grew into a red giant, engulfing the Earth in a fiery embrace.

My perspective split.

From one viewpoint, I floated in the cold vacuum of space, watching as the universe faded into nothingness. From the other, I stood on a frozen Earth, trapped in an eternal ice age.

Both versions of reality collapsed as the Earth ceased to exist.

I was left floating in pure, endless darkness.

But even there, time continued its dance. The reverse and forward motions of time intertwined, looping infinitely.

Reality itself ceased to matter.

At that moment, the perspectives merged.

The past and the future collided, creating a singularity of existence.

The space around me shattered like glass, and I was suddenly back where it all started—standing in the middle of the road.

The truck screeched to a halt, stopping just inches from me.

The driver jumped out, his face red with anger.

“Hey! Young lady, what’s wrong with you? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“...Young lady?”

I blinked, staring at him in confusion.

He stormed closer, his voice rising.

“Hey! Are you even listening? You nearly got yourself run over!”

At his blood-curdling shout, I snapped out of my daze.

“Ah.” I relaxed my expression, forcing a smile.

“Sorry~ Sowy~” I said in a playful tone, clasping my hands together. “I was so lost in my thoughts I forgot to look ahead.”

The man’s anger melted almost immediately. His face flushed, and he scratched the back of his head, flustered.

“Ah, well… just be careful next time, young lady.”

Young lady?

I froze, my brain short-circuiting.

Did he just call me a girl?

Normally, I’d protest, throw a fit, maybe even deliver a lecture about how not to judge appearances. But at that moment, I couldn’t bring myself to care.

I was too tired.

Too mentally exhausted.

The man climbed back into his truck and drove off, muttering something under his breath.

And then, it happened again.

Time stopped.

The world froze in place, leaving me in eerie silence.

I clenched my fists, glaring at the frozen scene around me.

“Ugh… I’m so fed up with this!” I shouted, stomping my foot like a petulant child.

Despite my frustration, I made my way back home. The streets were eerily still, the weight of the frozen world pressing down on me.

By the time I reached my house, my body felt heavy, as if the passage of time—or lack thereof—was taking its toll.

I stepped inside, closing the door behind me.

I pulled out my phone and checked the time.

10:30.

What?

Not even an hour had passed since I left the hospital.

A chill ran down my spine, but I brushed it off. Maybe it was just my frazzled mind playing tricks.

I climbed the stairs and headed to my room, shutting the door behind me with a soft click.

I dropped onto my chair, spinning idly as my thoughts spiraled.

Maybe something happened with Vetaback.

They did proclaim to fulfill any wish.

Could this be another world?

Perhaps this is a place where magic exists, and some overpowered demon lord is scheming for world domination. Maybe there's a brave hero with a tragic ability like Return by Death, doomed to die over and over to save everyone.

The fractured time-space continuum would make sense then...

“Wait… what if I’m the hero?”

The thought struck me like lightning.

“Am I dying over and over, just like the hero?”

I rubbed my temples.

“No… that’s ridiculous…”

Still, a small voice in the back of my mind whispered What if?

To distract myself, I leaned forward and began checking the logs on my computer.

【『Logs: Accessing Recent Activity』】

【 { Generating Logs...}

『#1 Watched: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Leaf.』

A small smile crept onto my face. That one was an underrated gem.

Scrolling further...

『#500,253: Posted a video on....』

『#500,254: Received a comment.』

『#500,255: Gained a new subscriber on FlowerTube.』

『#500,256: Gained a new follower on Pinsta.』

Nothing unusual yet.

Then...

『#7,526,286,691: Logged into Vetaback.』

⠀⠀⠀⠀└「Time: 05:26 AM」

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ └「URL: https://vetaback/....」

A shiver ran down my spine as the next entry loaded.

『#7,526,286,692:New Message from Vetaback:

「We are sorry to inform you that your request cannot be fulfilled ̸̨̩̝͙̳̱̻̞̥̞̱̗̹̭͇́̾̈̌͒̋̈́͑̈̈́̉̀̑̈́͑̉̐͊̀͗͊́̏̓̂͂̇̔̀͘͝͝ͅ due to ■■. Please type a new wish.」』】

“What the...?”

The text was garbled, corrupted beyond recognition.

“Ceil,” I called out to my AI assistant, “Restore the text.”

You might ask who is ceil?

Well. She is the worlds smartest AI to ever exist created by me.

A cheerful response pinged back.

[^_^ Yes, Master!]

[>Analyzing the text...]

[Error! 0_0]

[I’m very sorry, the text cannot be recovered.≧﹏≦]

Even Ceil couldn’t fix it? That wasn’t normal.

“Ceil, what happened? Analyze the computer’s activity.”

[（｡>‿‿<｡ ） Understood!]

The screen flickered as Ceil ran the diagnostics.

【『Keyboard Input Detected: 「時間」(Jikan )』】

“Wait… who typed that?”

Ceil hesitated before responding.

[No human fingerprints detected on the keyboard.]

[The operating system has not been tampered with.]

[Firewalls remain intact.]

Ceil paused, her response almost hesitant, as if she was embarrassed to say the next part.

[The most plausible explanation is… your canned coffee.]

“My… coffee?”

[Yes, Master. The coffee you drank yesterday, which you left on the desk, likely tipped over. The airflow through the open window may have caused it to fall onto the keyboard. Given the sensitivity of your soft keys, the chance of it typing “時間” was calculated at 7.02%.]

For a moment, I sat there in stunned silence.

“...So, Dman me I guess.”

[ ( >︿<｡) Wait. Don't blame yourself :< It's just a possibility, Master.]

I groaned, burying my face in my hands.

Of course.

After all the chaos, it all boiled down to a rogue can of coffee and my own absentmindedness.

“Thanks, Ceil…” I muttered sarcastically.

[ ^_^ Always happy to assist!]

Still, something about this didn’t sit right.

Could the message really be chalked up to coincidence?

And why was the message corrupted in the first place?

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

No. There had to be more to this.

"Wait, Ceil," I said, my voice laced with suspicion. "If time is frozen, how are you even running? Everything should be frozen, including electromagnetic waves."

Ceil's response was hesitant, almost nervous, if an AI could feel such a thing.

[=^._.^= ∫. The moment Master touched the computer, I started functioning again. I didn’t function before. Wait… (O_O) Master, did you say the time was frozen? How!?]

“Yeah. That’s what I said.”

Ceil paused for a moment, then added:

[Checking the web...]

The screen blinked as Ceil processed the query.

[ O__O Eh...? No activity on the archive. The whole internet is disabled. No signal outside of Japan.]

I smirked. “Heh. desune~”

The realization hit me like a truck (ironic, considering my earlier encounter).

“Ceil,” I said, leaning closer to the screen. “Track where the last message came from. The one from Vetaback.”

Ceil perked up, the little animated cat avatar on the screen bouncing with enthusiasm.

[>_< Understood!]

Her tone grew more serious as she processed the request.

[:/ Since there are little to no electric signals or electromagnetic waves in the area, this will take at least six hours.]

I nodded. “Got it.”

I stood up, stretching my arms as I glanced at the timer I set on my phone for six hours.

The world outside was frozen—still and silent.

A dangerous idea began to form in my mind.

“Well then,” I said to myself, grinning mischievously, “Let’s explore this frozen world~”

I stepped back outside, shutting the door of my house behind me. The frozen world greeted me again with its unnatural stillness. It was almost comforting at first—the absence of noise, the lack of movement, like a tranquil dream.

But as I walked, a creeping sensation began to gnaw at the edges of my thoughts.

Was I… really alone?

I turned down an empty street, my boots crunching on the snow that still seemed to defy the frozen rules of this world. The sound echoed unnaturally, louder than it should have been.

Crunch.

I froze mid-step.

That wasn’t my footstep.

Slowly, I turned around. The street behind me was as still as ever. A frozen couple stood near a streetlamp, their mouths locked in silent conversation. Across the street, a man was hunched over his bicycle, fumbling with a chain that wouldn’t move.

Nothing.

No one.

I exhaled, forcing a laugh.

“Ah, yes! The dramatic delusions of an enlightened soul such as myself, chosen by fate and cursed with power beyond mortal comprehension. This is my moment of reckoning!”

As I stood in the middle of the park, my breath forming wisps of vapor in the icy air, I extended my hand toward the shadows stretching between the trees.

“Reveal yourself, fiend of the Abyss! Do you think I, the Shadow Sovereign, would not sense your presence?!” I declared, my voice echoing through the stillness.

The silence was deafening.

I held my pose, hand outstretched, my crimson-rimmed glasses glinting in the faint light. My silver-cyan hair ruffled slightly as if by a nonexistent breeze.

And then… nothing happened.

For a moment, I froze in place, my confidence cracking.

“Uh, w-wait a second,” I stammered, lowering my hand. “I must have… recited the wrong incantation.”

I scratched the back of my head, heat rising to my cheeks.

“Argh! How embarrassing!” I muttered, crouching down and clutching my head in shame. “Why do I do this to myself?!”

But no!

I couldn’t let my resolve waver. Not now. Not when the very fabric of reality was at stake!

I shot back up, brushing off my momentary lapse.

“This isn’t over, unknown entity! I can feel your presence creeping along the ley lines of this frozen realm. You can’t hide from me!”

I reached into my coat pocket, retrieving my trusty artifact—a pocket-sized notebook covered in intricate, self-drawn sigils. Flipping through the pages, I found the one labeled Anti-Paradox Ritual: Version 8.3.

“Perfect,” I whispered, holding it up dramatically.

I traced my finger over the words, then raised my free hand to the sky.

“By the authority of the Chronos Accord and the power vested in me as the Arbiter of Temporal Shadows, I hereby command time to—uh, to unfreeze and reveal the truth behind this chaotic anomaly!”

I stomped my foot, thrusting my hand skyward for added effect.

Still… nothing.

The frozen world remained unmoved, and the silence now felt heavy.

“Uh, maybe the calibration is off,” I muttered under my breath. “Right, right, no problem. A mere… hiccup!”

I flipped through my notebook again, muttering phrases to myself:

“Hmm, maybe the ‘fractured echo’ theory applies here… or no! It must be a Riftwalker’s Convergence! Of course!”

I scribbled something hastily with a pen, pretending it was an arcane correction to a spell.

I extended my hand again, this time narrowing my eyes to show that I meant serious business.

“Oh, formless shadow lurking in the rift, hear my call!” I bellowed.

“Show yourself and face me, the one chosen by destiny to wield the Chains of Eternity!”

Still… nothing.

I stood there for a moment, hand raised, completely still as realization slowly sank in.

And then I crumpled onto the snowy ground.

“Ughhh, I did it again!” I groaned, burying my face in my hands. “Why do I embarrass myself like this? What if there’s someone actually watching me right now?!”

The thought made me shiver—not from the cold, but from secondhand embarrassment.

I stayed like that for a while, crouched on the ground, feeling like the biggest idiot in the world. But then, a sound—faint, almost imperceptible—brought me back to my feet.

A whisper.

No, not a whisper. A rustle.

It came from the trees to my left.

I froze, my heart pounding.

“W-Who’s there?!” I shouted, my voice cracking slightly.

I clenched my notebook tightly, holding it out like a talisman.

“Don’t think you can intimidate me! I have already deciphered the riddle of temporal displacement! Reveal yourself or face the wrath of the Shadow Sovereign!”

The rustling stopped.

But the feeling—the presence—didn’t go away.

It was there, lurking, watching me.

I adjusted my glasses, trying to steady my breath.

“Ha… ha… so you’re going to play it like that, huh? Fine! Let’s see how you handle this!”

I reached into my other pocket, retrieving what I proudly referred to as the Orb of Temporal Binding.

In reality, it was just a snow globe.

But in my hands, it became a weapon of unimaginable power.

I held it aloft, its glittering contents catching the light.

“With this, I shall trap you in an infinite cycle of frozen time! There will be no escape!” I shouted.

I raised the snow globe higher, prepared to unleash its supposed power.

But then…

The rustling came again.

Closer this time.

And louder.

My bravado faltered as I stared into the dark trees, my grip tightening on the snow globe.

“W-Whoever you are,” I stammered, “don’t think I’m afraid of you! Because I’m not! Not even a little bit!”

The rustling grew louder.

Something was moving.

And this time, it wasn’t just my imagination.

My breath caught in my throat as a shadow shifted in the distance.

The paranoia, the unease I’d been trying to suppress, came rushing back all at once.

What if this wasn’t just some delusion?

What if there really was something out there?

Something… watching me.

I stumbled back, clutching the snow globe like a lifeline.

My heart was racing, my palms slick with sweat despite the cold.

“This… this is just a test,” I muttered to myself. “Yeah, that’s it. A test of my resolve! A true hero must face the darkness without fear!”

But as the shadow moved closer, I couldn’t stop the fear from creeping in.

“Stay back!” I shouted, pointing the snow globe toward the shadow.

“I’m warning you! I’ll use this!”

The shadow paused, its form indistinct but undeniably there.

It was watching me.

I could feel its gaze, cold and unrelenting, piercing through me.

I stumbled again, tripping over my own feet and landing in the snow.

My glasses slipped off, and I fumbled to put them back on, my hands shaking.

I stumbled through the silent streets, each step echoing in the frozen air.

The world around me was like a scene frozen in time, too still, too quiet.

The only sounds that broke the stillness were my own breaths, heavy and labored. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was lurking just beyond my peripheral vision, that something was following me—no, not following, watching.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

This was all just a product of my overactive imagination.

Nothing was real.

I wasn’t some chosen hero. There wasn’t some lurking force trying to control the world.

I was just Natsumi, a mere college student with way too much free time and a penchant for delusions.

But no matter how much I tried to convince myself, the gnawing sense of dread wouldn’t leave.

I felt like I was being pulled toward something, drawn like a moth to a flame.

My legs carried me toward a nearby park, the playground equipment standing in eerie silence.

I walked up to an old swing set, the chains creaking as I gently sat down.

The metal was cold beneath me, but I didn’t care.

I leaned back, staring up at the sky. The shards of reality from earlier were still hanging in my mind, fragmented and scattered.

It felt like I was trapped in some kind of loop, a world caught between frozen time and the ticking of a clock that wouldn’t stop. I had no idea how long I’d been walking or what was real anymore.

For a few moments, I just sat there in silence, feeling the cold bite at my skin, the weight of the world pressing down on me. I closed my eyes, letting the soft breeze sweep through my hair.

The peace was unsettling. Was it the calm before the storm? Or was I just losing my mind?

Suddenly, the sharp, shrill sound of an alarm pierced the air, and I jerked up, eyes wide. It was a reminder.

A signal. I had set the timer. My mind scrambled to make sense of what was happening, the sense of paranoia creeping back in.

I stood up, the swing creaking in protest as I pushed off. With a single, hurried step, I began walking back home. Each footstep felt heavier than the last, and the unease followed me every step of the way.

By the time I reached my doorstep, I was almost out of breath. The alarm had stopped ringing, but something else had started. Ceil’s voice echoed through the empty house, calm and measured as always.

[“Master, I’ve located the source. The address is ***, Odaiba, Tokyo.”]

My mind raced. Odaiba? Wasn’t that where I had been before? Where all the strange things had started happening?

A smirk tugged at my lips, a sense of determination returning, mixed with the lingering fear.

“It’s time for something new…”

-

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