"You should've stayed dead."
The voice was warm. Familiar.But hollow — like someone trying to imitate grief.
The boy stepped into the flickering light.His hair was just as I remembered it — unkempt, short, always slightly damp.But his eyes… were wrong.
[System Scan Failed: Unknown Entity]
[Warning: You are being observed by an Unclassified Anomaly]
"Kaito…?" I whispered.
His head tilted slightly, as if processing the name.
"That name," he said, softly, "doesn't belong to me anymore."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I stepped forward instinctively.
"You died." My voice cracked. "You—I buried you. You—"
"You disconnected me," he said.
The words struck like a punch.
"What...?"
He took another step forward.
Behind me, Rin stirred. She sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes.
"Who's that?"
I raised a hand to silence her.
"Get behind the barricade. Now."
⏳ 4:11 AM | +1 hour 8 mins since Reset
Location: Sector 3X Sub-Railway Hub
Kaito — or whatever wore his face — lifted a hand.
The lights above us shattered.
Darkness swallowed the tunnel.
My interface flared red.
[Alert: Shadow Field Detected]
[System Visibility Reduced By 80%]
[Certain Skills Temporarily Disabled]
[You Are Being Hunted]
No skill. No light. Just instincts.
"Kaito!" I shouted into the dark. "If you're still in there—tell me what they did to you!"
Silence.
Then… breathing. From every direction.
"They offered me something you never could," his voice echoed.
"A purpose. A rank."
"A way out."
"You could've had it too… if you hadn't broken the loop."
"Now?" His voice dropped. "You're just a bug. And I'm the patch."
I reached for my backup flare — smashed it.
SHHH-TIK.
The tunnel bathed in dull red light.
Kaito was gone.
No.
He was above me.
Clinging to the ceiling like a spider.
His eyes glowed white-hot.
And in his hands… a blade shaped like broken time.
[Temporal Severance Knife - ??? Class]A weapon that erases rather than cuts.
I dove, but not fast enough.
Pain lanced across my shoulder — the System didn't even register it as damage.
Instead:
[WARNING: Time Fragment Severed]
[Permanent Stat Decrease: -2 ENDURANCE]
He wasn't killing me. He was erasing who I was, bit by bit.
"You left me in that burning house," he hissed, landing softly.
"I screamed. You ran."
I staggered backward, heart pounding.
"That's not what happened."
"You don't remember," he whispered. "But I do. I always do."
He raised the knife again.
But just before he could strike—
A loud metallic clang echoed down the tunnel.
We both turned.
Rin.
She'd triggered one of the old railway signal arms — slamming it into the ceiling.
Kaito was thrown backward — crashing into the tunnel wall.
"NOW!" she screamed.
I didn't need more reason.
We ran.
⏳ 4:19 AM | +1 hour 16 mins since Reset
Location: Emergency Rail Bridge, Sector Borderline
"That wasn't your brother," Rin panted beside me.
"I know," I replied. But my heart didn't.
The System chirped.
[Temporary Safe Zone Discovered]
[5 Minutes of Anomaly-Free Buffer Time Granted]
I collapsed to my knees.
And that's when the message came:
[SYSTEM UPDATE: Player "Kaito?" Has Been Marked As ROGUE CODE]
[YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED A NEW OBJECTIVE]
[HIDDEN MAIN QUEST UNLOCKED]
Title: "Patch the Patch" Status: Incomplete Reward: System Key - Level 1 — Eliminate the Rogue Entity. — Discover the Source of System Disconnection Events.
I stared at the flickering screen.
Kill him?
Kill… Kaito?
I shook my head.
But then another message appeared.
This one wasn't from the System.
It was… handwritten?
A single black message box with red ink scrawled inside:
"You're not supposed to know any of this. STOP."
"Next time, we'll erase more than a stat."
And then, behind us, the wall of the tunnel collapsed—
And something far bigger than Kaito crawled through.