The Academy of Resonance did not sleep well that night.
Although the white towers remained illuminated as always, and even though the Aura systems officially returned to operation…
Something hidden within the Academy had changed.
Something small.
But something that could not be easily repaired.
The next morning, a strange rumor spread among the first-year students.
One of them swore he woke up and couldn’t remember his roommate’s name.
Another student said she momentarily forgot the way to her lecture hall.
And a third person insisted he saw a “shadow” standing in the hallway before it vanished when he tried to focus on it.
But the strangest part?
Most of them forgot these occurrences after only a few minutes.
As if the mind itself refused to hold onto them.
Sami walked into the cafeteria quietly.
The place was crowded as usual.
The voices of students.
The smell of coffee.
The Imperial news screens floating above the walls.
Everything seemed normal…
A bit too normal.
He stood in line without a word.
Around him, conversations revolved around yesterday’s tests.
“I heard one student destroyed a War Puppet without even touching it.” “Just rumors.” “No, I swear—”
The sentence stopped abruptly.
The young man who was speaking frowned slightly.
As if he had forgotten what he was saying in the middle of his thought.
As for Sami… He just ordered his coffee in silence.
The worker took the cup.
She smiled at him kindly.
Then, she stopped.
She looked at him for two extra seconds.
“…Are you a new student?”
Sami raised an eyebrow slightly.
“I’ve been here since the beginning of the week.”
Her eyes widened for a moment.
Then she laughed nervously.
“Ah… right.” “Sorry.”
But she didn’t seem convinced even as she said it.
It was as if her mind was trying to force itself to remember him.
Sami took the cup and left.
As he passed by a table, a student bumped into him accidentally.
“Sorry.” The young man said it quickly.
Then he continued on his way.
Only two steps.
Before he stopped.
He turned slowly toward Sami.
“…Wait.”
He stared at him.
“Do we know each other?”
The silence between them lasted for two seconds.
Then Sami shrugged.
“Maybe.”
The young man frowned deeper.
As if trying to grasp a memory slipping through his fingers.
But after a moment… He shook his head and walked away.
And Sami remained standing in his place.
Watching his back in silence.
Something inside him began to understand the truth gradually.
People aren’t ignoring him.
They are…
Forgetting him.
Students entered the Imperial History hall slowly that morning.
Even the usual noise seemed quieter than yesterday.
As if everyone was tired for no apparent reason.
At the front, Professor Cassian Reeve stood holding a crystal data tablet.
“We will begin with attendance.”
He started calling names one after another.
Everything was perfectly normal.
Until he reached the middle of the list.
He stopped.
He frowned slightly.
Then he flipped the page.
“…Strange.”
Some students raised their heads toward him.
The professor said slowly: “I was certain there was a name here.”
Sami felt a slight tightening in his chest.
Then he raised his hand quietly.
“I’m here.”
The professor looked directly at him.
But the look was not natural.
It was not a look of hatred.
Nor fear.
But… Confusion.
As if his mind were trying to determine whether or not he had seen this face before.
“…Right.” He finally said it.
But even his voice sounded unsure.
In the back, one student whispered to his friend: “Was he with us from the beginning?”
The other replied after hesitation: “…I think so.”
But even he didn’t seem sure.
As for Sami… He just looked toward the window in silence.
After the class ended, Lyara remained inside the hall alone.
The students had left with uncharacteristic speed.
As if the place had become suffocating.
She stood near the window.
Then she closed her eyes slowly.
Silver threads appeared around her.
Thin.
Infinite.
Thread Aura.
The world changed immediately.
Every person inside the Academy was now a network of connections.
Possibilities.
Emotions.
Memories.
Destinies intersecting and separating.
The threads around the students were clear and stable.
Even the professors.
Even the guards.
But when she searched for Sami…
Her breath hitched.
The threads around him were not natural.
They would appear… Then snap.
They would return for a moment… Then disappear completely.
As if reality itself was unable to pin him down.
Her eyes widened further.
Then she saw something else.
A massive black thread.
It was not like the other threads.
It was something closer to a fissure within the world.
It was emerging from Sami’s back… And extending toward a place very far away.
Dark.
Endless.
And at the end of that darkness…
She saw the Throne.
Black.
Giant.
Filled with white cracks moving as if they were breathing.
And suddenly…
She felt something looking at her.
Not Sami.
Something else.
Something behind the thread.
The Thread Aura shattered violently.
Lyara screamed and fell to her knees.
Warm blood dripped from her left eye.
She breathed with difficulty.
Her heart pounding violently inside her chest.
And for the first time in many long years… She felt real fear.
Not from Sami.
But from the thing connected to him.
That night… The dormitory was strangely quiet.
Most students went to sleep early.
Or at least pretended to.
As for Sami… He entered the communal bathroom without a sound.
He turned on the cold water.
And washed his face slowly.
Then he lifted his head toward the mirror.
And froze.
His reflection… Was delayed by half a second.
Something very small.
But clear.
He stared at the mirror in silence.
His reflection returned to normal.
“…”
Then he heard the whisper.
“Do not forget.”
He turned immediately.
The bathroom was empty.
Only the sound of dripping water.
He looked back at the mirror slowly.
This time… His reflection wasn’t looking at him.
But… At something behind him.
Sami felt a chill run down his spine.
And he turned quickly.
Nothing.
The place was completely empty.
But when he returned his eyes to the mirror…
He saw his reflection smiling.
A very small smile.
Calm.
And strange.
Before it returned to normal the next moment.
Sami stepped back.
For the first time since entering the Academy… He felt real unease.
Inside the deepest tower of the Academy… The professors gathered that night.
A dark, circular hall.
Aura screens floating above the long table.
And tension filled the room.
“That boy is dangerous.” One professor said sharply.
“His mere presence causes distortions within the Veil.”
Another added: “His Aura is contradictory.” “Decay and Manifest cannot exist together.”
“Even his file is unstable.” A third professor said.
“The system fails to retain his data.”
Silence prevailed for a moment.
Then the Headmaster finally said: “Your suggestion?”
The answer came quickly.
“Expel him.”
“Before he becomes a threat.”
“The Academy is not a prison for catastrophes.”
But in the midst of it all… Selene Arctis remained silent.
She was only listening.
Her fingers interlaced over the table.
And her eyes were disturbingly calm.
The Headmaster turned toward her.
“Your opinion, Selene?”
She lifted her eyes slowly.
Then she smiled.
A small smile.
But something about it made some professors immediately tense.
“We don’t have enough information to expel him.” She said it quietly.
One professor frowned in anger.
“Are you joking?”
But she ignored him and continued:
“A child without a history.”
“An unstable existence.”
“Impossible Aura.”
She paused for a moment.
Then added:
“Something that is supposed to not exist.”
Silence prevailed again.
Then she said in a calmer tone: “If we expel him now… we will lose the chance to understand a phenomenon that may never happen again.”
“This is not a research subject!” One of them shouted.
But Selene only looked at him steadily.
“It is the most important thing I have seen in twenty years.”
The atmosphere inside the hall became heavier.
And finally… The Headmaster sighed.
“Temporary surveillance.”
“Any further malfunction… and he will be expelled immediately.”
Some professors did not look satisfied.
But the decision was final.
As for Selene… She just smiled in silence.
After midnight… Selene entered the archive room alone.
Long rows of crystal screens.
Faint blue light.
And a heavy silence.
She sat before the main system.
Then she typed one name:
SAMI KŌ
The data appeared immediately.
Then it distorted.
The image changed.
Once: His face was clear.
Another time: His features were wiped clean.
Date of birth: 16.
Then 17.
Then blank.
Place of birth: UNKNOWN
Family: EMPTY
Selene stared at the screen in silence.
Then the words appeared: RECORD NOT FOUND
After two seconds: RECORD EXISTS
Then: CORRUPTED DATA
Her smile began to grow slowly.
Not a smile of joy.
But curiosity.
Dangerous curiosity.
“Fascinating…” She whispered quietly.
She leaned closer to the screen.
“The world itself does not know how to classify you.”
Then she chuckled lightly for the first time.
“Decay… and Manifest at the same moment.”
“Creation… and erasure.”
Her eyes gleamed with terrifying interest.
“Something that is supposed to not exist.”
Then she whispered finally:
“I won’t let them delete you.”
And suddenly… The screen changed on its own.
New words appeared.
OBSERVER STATUS UPDATED
Selene stopped.
Because she hadn’t touched anything.
Then another line appeared: AUTHORIZATION: SELENE ARCTIS
Her eyes widened slightly.
Then… The last line.
SUBJECT ASSIGNED
Silence prevailed inside the room.
Even Selene herself felt something cold pass through her chest.
Because the Academy… Or something within it… Had made the decision before she did.
The End
Sami walked back to the dormitory slowly.
The hallways were nearly empty.
And the white lights reflected onto the cold marble floor.
He passed by a group of students.
One of them looked at him for a moment.
Then asked his friend: “…Who is that?”
The other replied after hesitation: “…I don’t know.”
Even though they had sat with him in the hall that morning.
Sami heard them.
But he didn’t turn around.
He just continued his way in silence.
Until he passed in front of a long glass window.
His footsteps stopped.
Because the reflection inside the glass… Was not there.
Only the empty hallway behind him.
And his voice alone… As he breathed slowly into the void.