I. The Remaining Signal.
Three days had passed since the Third Floor auction.
Jainal sat in a rented room, the soft blue glow of rune-light illuminating a digital map obtained from the Third Hand faction. In the middle of the energy graph secretly recorded during the auction, there was an anomaly: an unstable magical pulse—but familiar.
A wavelength he had encountered before in Unit 5's body.
> "This isn't just another child," he muttered.
"Omega… might be the worst reflection of everything they've created."
Jainal synced the map with the logistics routes of the Technical Shadow Caravan. After bribing one of their technicians with prototype weapon parts, he got a lead: a special caravan had transported an "unstable asset" toward the outskirts of Kurtub City, heading to the ruins of an old, unregistered mage tower.
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II. The Whispering Broken Tower.
That night, Jainal infiltrated the area surrounding the abandoned tower. From the outside, it looked half-collapsed—an ordinary ruined building. But with wind magic, he sensed a subtle protective pattern—a mid-tier illusion spell, only visible if air was bent at a specific frequency.
He slipped inside, weaving through rubble and dust.
The room within was small. But enough to hold a rusted bed, a shattered magic tube, and a single boy sitting silently in the corner—pale skin, thin frame, and eyes as black as a void.
Jainal didn't approach immediately. He spoke softly:
> "Omega?"
The boy turned. Slowly. Unnaturally. As if his body wasn't entirely his own.
> "That's not my name," he murmured.
"But it's the name they wrote on my forehead, so... yeah."
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III. A Dialogue from Scars.
Jainal sat down, placing his weapon on the ground. He didn't want to appear threatening. Omega looked at him like a wild animal—one that had lost its fear, but also its anger.
> "They said I failed. Because I remember."
"Remember what?"
"Everything. Even what I want to forget."
Omega turned. Behind him, the wall was covered in scribbles—symbols, names, strange images that caused a headache just from looking too long.
> "I saw the other kids. Some exploded from the inside. Some became voices. Some… just vanished."
"You know Unit5?" Jainal asked.
"He's like me. But they managed to silence him. They couldn't silence me."
Jainal exhaled slowly.
> "They're afraid of the ones who remember."
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IV. The Trigger of Instability
Suddenly, Omega whimpered. His body trembled, and the walls around them began to pulse faintly—mirroring the fluctuations of his emotions. The magic inside him was unraveling.
Jainal moved quickly. He activated an emergency stabilization rune from his pocket, placing it on the floor. The wild aura around Omega began to settle, though it took several long minutes.
> "Does this happen often?"
"Every time I have nightmares. But I always have nightmares."
The boy cried without tears.
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V. A Silent Agreement.
Finally, Jainal spoke softly:
> "You can come with me. But I won't promise the world will be better."
"As long as it's not their world," Omega replied.
Jainal slowly closed the tower door, Omega following behind—silent, his steps heavy as if he carried every nightmare he could never let go.
Above them, a metalbird from the Fourth Eye soared high, silently recording everything from above.