The world had gone silent.
Kael stood in the ruined courtyard of Aetheris Academy, staring at the last System notification floating before him.
[Hidden Quest Unlocked.]
[REMEMBER WHO YOU WERE]
Objective: Recover the Host’s original identity before becoming Kael Veyron.
Reward: Unknown
Failure: Unknown
Special Condition:
The Author must not learn the answer first.
Kael read it again.
Then a third time.
His expression gradually became more serious.
“Original identity…”
He looked down at his hands.
These weren’t the hands he remembered from his previous life.
They belonged to Kael Veyron.
The face reflected in broken pieces of glass wasn’t his original face either.
Yet somewhere beneath all of that— there was supposedly another identity.
Someone who existed before the name Kael.
Before the transmigration.
Before the white room.
Before the Selector.
Before Pi.
Kael slowly exhaled.
“So who the hell was I?”
The System remained silent.
“System?”
Nothing.
“Seriously?”
No response.
Kael frowned.
“You’re unusually quiet.”
Still nothing.
He waited.
Then—
[The System is thinking.]
Kael blinked.
“…You can think?”
[The System regrets answering.]
Kael almost smiled.
“At least you’re still annoying.”
[Correct.]
For a moment, the atmosphere became lighter.
Then the ground shook.
BOOM!
Kael’s smile vanished.
A crack spread through the courtyard.
Elena immediately moved beside him.
“kael!”
“I know.”
Leon raised his sword.
Mira stepped backward.
Lucien stared at the ground with growing concern.
“That isn’t normal.”
Kael looked toward the academy.
Nothing about Aetheris was normal anymore.
The once magnificent academy was barely recognizable.
Towers were broken.
Magical barriers flickered in the distance.
Entire sections of the building had become transparent, as though reality itself was forgetting how to render them.
Some students were standing in the courtyard, confused.
Others stared at empty spaces where buildings had once existed.
One student looked at a staircase.
“Where does this lead?”
His friend stared at him.
“I don’t know.”
“Was there always a wall here?”
“I…”
The student paused.
“I can’t remember.”
Kael’s expression darkened.
The erasure was continuing.
He turned toward Lucien.
“How long?”
Lucien looked at him.
“Until what?”
“Until the academy is completely erased.”
Lucien hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Kael narrowed his eyes.
“You’re lying.”
Lucien sighed.
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Then give me an estimate.”
Lucien looked toward the academy clocktower.
The clock was missing.
Not broken.
Missing.
“The rate is increasing.”
“How much?”
“If the pattern continues…”
Lucien’s expression became grim.
“A few hours.”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“Then we don’t have much time.”
Kael nodded.
“Which means we need to move.”
“Where?”
Kael looked toward the place where the black door had appeared.
“Underground.”
Lucien immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Kael looked at him.
“No?”
“That place isn’t safe.”
Kael almost laughed.
“Professor, have you looked around?”
Lucien said nothing.
Kael gestured toward the collapsing academy.
“Safe stopped being an option several hours ago.”
Mira stepped closer.
“Why underground?”
Kael looked at her.
“Because the answers are there.”
“Answers about what?”
Kael hesitated.
He couldn’t tell them everything.
Not yet.
The Author couldn’t learn what he remembered.
And Kael didn’t know who he could trust.
Even the Selector had warned him.
So he simply said:
“About me.”
Mira frowned.
“About you?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him for several seconds.
Then nodded.
“Fine.”
Leon raised an eyebrow.
“You’re really going?”
“Yes.”
Leon smiled.
“Then I’m coming too.”
Kael looked at him.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
Leon rested his sword against his shoulder.
“I want to.”
Kael stared at him.
Then shrugged.
“Fine.”
Elena sighed.
“I’m obviously coming.”
Mira nodded.
“Me too.”
Lucien looked exhausted.
“I suppose I don’t have much choice.”
Kael glanced at him.
“You could stay.”
Lucien shook his head.
“No.”
He looked toward the ruined academy.
“This place has already taken too much from me.”
His eyes hardened.
“I won’t let it take anything else.”
Kael nodded.
“Then let’s go.”
They descended.
The hidden staircase appeared beneath the western wing.
It shouldn’t have been there.
Yesterday, there had been nothing.
Now— a long stone staircase spiraled into darkness.
Ancient symbols covered the walls.
Kael recognized some of them.
Crown.
Eye.
Broken chain.
Quill.
But there were other symbols too.
Symbols he had never seen.
One resembled an open hand.
Another looked like an empty circle.
A third looked almost like a human eye with its pupil erased.
Kael stopped.
“Lucien.”
“Yes?”
“Have you seen these before?”
Lucien examined the wall.
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’ve spent thirty-two years studying ancient ruins.”
Lucien touched the stone.
“I’ve never seen this language.”
Kael frowned.
“Then how do you know it’s a language?”
Lucien looked at him.
“I don’t.”
Kael sighed.
“Wonderful.”
They continued.
The farther they descended, the colder it became.
Eventually, they reached a massive underground chamber.
Everyone stopped.
The chamber was enormous.
Pillars extended into darkness.
Ancient statues stood along the walls.
But their faces had been deliberately destroyed.
At the center of the chamber was a circular platform.
On it stood a single object.
A mirror.
Kael stared.
The mirror was tall.
Its frame was black.
Its surface was completely white.
No reflection.
Mira approached carefully.
“What is that?”
Lucien shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Kael stepped forward.
Pi immediately growled.
“Pi…”
Kael stopped.
“You don’t like it?”
“Pi.”
Pi’s scales darkened.
Kael looked at the mirror.
“What are you hiding?”
The surface rippled.
Then—
Kael saw himself.
Not Kael Veyron.
His previous self.
The ordinary young man.
Sitting at his desk.
Reading Chronicles of the Fallen World.
Kael froze.
Elena looked confused.
“Kael?”
Kael couldn’t answer.
The mirror showed another memory.
His previous self walking through a bookstore.
Then another.
Sitting in a café.
Then another.
Walking home beneath the rain.
Normal moments.
Ordinary moments.
Nothing special.
Kael watched silently.
Then the mirror changed.
The image showed his final day.
Kael walking.
Rain falling.
Cars passing.
His phone in his hand.
He remembered this.
Or thought he did.
Then— the memory stopped.
The screen became black.
A voice spoke.
“That’s where you think your story ended.”
Kael froze.
He knew the voice.
The Selector.
But they weren’t there.
The voice came from the mirror.
“You remember the rain.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“You remember the street.”
The image changed.
A road.
A traffic light.
A passing vehicle.
“You remember the moment everything went dark.”
Kael stared.
“But you don’t remember what happened before.”
The mirror went white.
Kael whispered:
“What happened?”
The voice answered.
“You woke up.”
Kael frowned.
“I woke up?”
“Yes.”
“In the white room.”
“No.”
Kael’s eyes widened.
The mirror changed again.
This time—
Kael saw himself standing inside a completely different place.
Not the white room.
Not his bedroom.
Not his previous world.
A vast black space filled with countless floating doors.
Each door had a different symbol.
One had a crown
Another had an eye.
Another had a quill.
Another had a broken chain.
And one— had nothing.
Just an empty white surface.
Kael stared.
“What is this?”
The voice answered.
“The place between stories.”
Kael’s breathing slowed.
“How did I get there?”
“You walked.”
“I don’t remember.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
Kael stepped closer to the mirror.
“Why?”
The voice became quieter.
“Because you met yourself.”
Kael’s eyes widened.
“What?
The mirror changed.
A figure appeared.
Kael.
But not the Kael from his previous life.
Not Kael Veyron.
Another version.
He looked older.
His hair was darker.
His eyes were empty.
And he stood before a massive white door.
Kael stared.
“Who is that?”
The voice answered:
“You.”
Kael shook his head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That isn’t me.”
“It was.”
Kael’s mind raced.
“Then what happened?”
The figure inside the mirror turned.
And looked directly at Kael.
Not through the mirror.
At him.
Kael froze.
The other Kael smiled.
Then spoke.
“Finally.”
Kael’s blood went cold.
The mirror cracked.
CRACK.
Everyone jumped.
Elena drew her sword.
“Kael!”
Kael didn’t move.
The other Kael placed his hand against the inside of the mirror.
Then whispered:
“Don’t remember my name.”
Kael stared.
“What?”
The other version of him smiled.
“Because the moment you remember it…”
The mirror shattered.
BOOOOOOM!
White fragments exploded outward.
Kael raised his arms.
The pieces stopped in midair.
Every fragment contained a different image.
Different versions of Kael.
A child.
A teenager.
An old man.
A warrior.
A king.
A monster.
A corpse.
A stranger.
Countless possibilities.
Mira stared in horror.
“How many…”
Lucien whispered:
“Those aren’t memories.”
Kael slowly lowered his arms.
“What are they?”
Lucien looked at the floating fragments.
“Possibilities.”
Kael’s eyes widened.
Then the System appeared.
[Unique Phenomenon Detected.]
[Causal Mirror.]
Function: Displays possible identities connected to the Host.
Warning:
Not all displayed identities are genuine.
Warning:
Some may be fabricated by external narrative forces.
Kael stared.
“So I can’t trust what I saw.”
[Correct.]
Kael sighed.
“Of course.”
One fragment floated toward him.
It showed his previous self.
But something was different.
His eyes were glowing gold.
Behind him stood Pi.
Not the small Pi.
The larger version.
And beside them— the Selector.
Kael reached toward it.
The moment his finger touched the fragment—
FLASH!
A memory struck him.
He was standing beside the Selector.
Pi was sitting on his shoulder.
The Selector said:
“You can’t take everything with you.”
Kael’s younger self answered:
“I know.”
“Your memories.”
“I know.”
“Your name.”
Kael’s younger self hesitated.
Then said:
“If I keep it, they’ll find me.”
The Selector nodded.
“And if you lose it?”
“They’ll think I’m someone else.”
The memory ended.
Kael pulled his hand away.
His face had gone pale.
“My name…”
The System appeared.
[Warning.]
Identity seal detected.
Host’s original name is protected by an unknown authority.
Attempting bypass…
Failure.
Authority exceeds System access.
Kael stared.
“Even you can’t access it?”
[Correct.]
“Then who can?”
A paue.
[Unknown.]
Kael looked at the fragments.
Then one thought struck him.
“If my name was sealed…”
He looked toward the darkness.
“…then the Author doesn’t know it either.”
The System didn’t respond.
Kael smiled.
For the first time, he had found something the Author didn’t possess.
His true name.
A secret even the narrative couldn’t reach.
Then— a voice echoed through the chamber.
“You’re wrong.”
Everyone turned.
Third stood at the entrance.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing here?”
Third looked at him.
“I followed you.”
“I know.”
Third looked at the fragments.
Then his expression changed.
“You found it.”
Kael frowned.
“Found what?”
“The First Name.”
The chamber became silent.
Kael stared.
“You know about this?”
Third nodded.
“Everyone thinks Kael Veyron is your name.”
He looke directly into Kael’s eyes.
“It isn’t.”
Kael stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Third shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why call it the First Name?”
“Because I saw it once.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
Third looked toward the largest fragment.
“In the white room.”
Kael froze.
“You were there?”
“No.”
Third’s expression became strange.
“I was before I was.”
Kael stared.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know.”
Third touched one of the floating fragments.
His hand passed through it.
“I remember being there.”
“But I don’t remember existing.”
Kael’s expression changed.
Second’s mystery.
Third’s mystery.
The white room.
Everything was connected.
Third looked at Kael.
“You weren’t the only one selected.”
Kael froze.
“What?”
Third stepped closer.
“There were others.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what do you know?”
Third’s eyes darkened.
“I know what happened to the others.”
Kael waited.
Third whispered:
“They were erased.”
Silence.
Kael’s expression hardened.
“By the Author?”
Third shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Third looked toward the empty white door in the center of the chamber.
“The same thing that was here before the Author.”
The entire chamber trembled.
The Fourth Presence spoke from somewhere below.
“ENOUGH.”
Third immediately backed away.
Kael looked toward the floor.
“What are you afraid of?”
Third whispered:
“Not Fourth.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“Then what?”
Third looked at the empty white door.
“That.”
The door opened.
There was no darkness behind it.
No monster.
No entity.
Just white.
Pure, endless white.
Then— a single footprint appeared.
Another.
Another.
Someone was walking toward them.
Kael’s heart pounded.
The footprints stopped.
A voice emerged from the white.
“Kael.”
Pi immediately began trembling.
The voice continued.
“You finally found your first name.”
Kael stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
Silence.
Then the voice answered:
“Someone who remembers it.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“Tell me.”
The voice laughed softly.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you…”
The white door began closing.
“…you will remember what happened to the others.”
Kael’s expression hardened.
“What happened to them?”
The door closed completely.
The voice whispered one final sentence.
“They became the things you call irregularities.”
Silence.
Kael stared at the door.
Observer suddenly appeared behind him.
His crimson eyes were fixed on the sealed entrance.
“You shouldn’t have opened that.”
Kael turned.
“You knew it was here?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew about the others?”
Observer was silent.
Kael’s expression became cold.
“Answer me.”
Observer finally spoke.
“There weren’t three irregularities before you.”
Kael froze.
“What?”
“There were many.”
Kael stared.
“Then where did they go?”
Observer looked toward the broken mirror.
“They became the story.”
Kael’s blood ran cold.
The System appeared.
[Major Revelation Detected.]
[Irregularity classification may be incomplete.]
[Historical irregularities detected: UNKNOWN NUMBER.]
[Current confirmed irregularities remain: Four.]
[Additional information inaccessible.]
Kael looked at the fragments.
At Pi.
At Observer.
At the sealed white door.
At the academy disappearing above them.
His questions had multiplied.
But so had his determination.
He slowly clenched his fist.
“Fine.”
Elena looked at him.
“Fine?”
Kael looked toward the sealed door.
“If my name is the key…”
His eyes hardened.
“…I’ll find it.”
He looked at Pi
“And if Pi remembers what happened…”
He gently placed his hand on the creature’s head.
“…I’ll help it remember too.”
Then he looked toward Observer.
“And if there were others…”
Observer said nothing.
Kael smiled faintly.
“I’ll find out what happened to them.”
A System notification appeared.
[Hidden Quest Updated.]
[REMEMBER WHO YOU WERE]
Progress: 8%
New Objective Added:
Discover the First Name.
Secondary Objective Added:
Discover the fate of the previous irregularities.
Warning:
The more the Host remembers, the more attention the Author will attract.
Additional warning:
Something else has already noticed the Host.
Kael stared at the final line.
“What something?”
The System did not answer.
Instead—
Pi suddenly looked upward.
Its golden eye widened.
“Kael…”
Kael looked at it.
“What?”
Pi pointed toward the ceiling.
Kael followed its gaze.
At first— there was nothing.
Then he saw it.
A tiny crack in reality.
Beyond the crack was not the sky.
Not the worldline.
Not darkness.
Something else.
An enormous white eye was looking through.
It wasn’t the Sky Entity.
It wasn’t Fourth.
It wasn’t the Author.
It looked directly at Kael.
Then— it blinked.
The crack vanished.
Kael stood completely still.
The System appeared one final time.
[UNKNOWN ENTITY HAS ACKNOWLEDGED HOST.]
[Entity Classification: IMPOSSIBLE.]
[Threat Level: UNAVAILABLE.]
[System Advice:]
Run.
Kael stared at the message.
Then laughed.
A short, disbelieving laugh.
“Finally.”
Everyone looked at him.
Kael tightened his grip on his sword.
“Something gave me an actual answer.”
He looked toward the vanished crack.
“It’s afraid of me.”
The System immediately responded.
[Correction.]
[The System did not say that.]
Kael smiled.
“I know.”
And somewhere beyond the worldline— the white eye opened again.
This time, it was smiling.
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