Light swallows him whole…
And then—
Silence.
No screams. No systems. No shadows.
Just… a room.
Small.Wooden.Old.
A single lamp buzzes in the corner.A record player spins static.And on the far wall—A mirror.
Cracked. Covered in dried blood.
Yurei stands still.
Breathing.
Heart slow.
And for the first time…
He feels human.
Almost.
He walks forward.
Each step creaks beneath his weight.Not cosmic. Not divine.
Just tired.
He looks around.
Photos nailed to the walls.
His face. Her face.Smiling. Crying.Dying.
Memories that never happened.Or maybe—Ones he forced himself to forget.
A voice behind him.
Low. Cold. His own.
"Welcome home."
He turns.
And sees it.
Himself.
But not Yurei.
Not anymore.
This version—Flawless.Smiling.Eyes silver.
The version that took the mask.
The one who said yes to the system.
"Still chasing ghosts?" the doppelganger asks.
Yurei doesn't answer.
He already knows what this is.
The final fracture.
The last test.
He moves first.
A punch—Fast. Brutal. Sharp.
The masked version catches it.
Grins.
"You're strong. But strength doesn't fix what's broken."
They crash into the walls.
Photos rip and burn.
The room trembles.
[Internal Conflict Detected][Identity Convergence at 92%]
"You want to erase everything," Mask says, slamming Yurei into the mirror. "Wipe the slate. Kill the gods. Burn the system."
He leans in.
"But you forgot the cost."
Glass bites into Yurei's back. Blood runs.
Still… he grins.
"Let me guess," he rasps. "Her?"
The Mask hesitates.
Yurei rips free.
Drives his head into the imposter's skull.
Both crash to the floor.
Yurei climbs on top.
Fists.Hammering.No words.Just rage.
Glass and bone.
Memory and regret.
"You let them turn you into a cage," he growls. "You let them win."
The Mask laughs, bleeding.
"They gave me peace. She never cried. I never died. We were happy there."
Yurei grabs his throat.
"No," he says. "You were asleep."
And then—
He tears the mask off.
White light explodes outward.
And the room…
Shifts.
Walls fold inward.Photos burn.The mirror repairs itself.
And standing in the center—
Is just him.
One version.
One truth.
No more fragments.
No more lies.
He breathes.
And the mirror breathes with him.
He steps closer.
His reflection watches.
But it doesn't copy him.
It waits.
"Say it," the reflection whispers.
"…Say your name."
He hesitates.
Then—
[Access Finalized][True Name Confirmed: RAEL.]
The reflection smiles.
And so does he.
[Transcendence Level 2 Achieved][Memory Root Rewritten – Architect Protocol Overridden][You Are Now the Author.]
The mirror shatters.
Not violently.
Gently.
Like it's been waiting to break.
Behind it—
A girl.
Curled. Sleeping. No longer fading.
He steps through.
Kneels beside her.
Whispers:
"I'm back."
Her eyes open.
And the world begins again.
To be continued…