I returned to my room after talking with my father. He confirmed that there was no such thing as a Shard, which left me clearly confused.
I searched my room for the Shard, but I couldn't find even a trace of it — meaning it didn't exist. That made me start believing his words. I sat on the bed, resting my head on my hand, thinking deeply.
'There are two possibilities. The first is that the illusion changed certain things and erased the Shard so I wouldn't regain my power. The second is that the Shard never existed in the first place — and that's the one I don't want to be true, because it would make my world crumble.'
'What would a person do when he realizes he's lived a lie all his life?. Would I keep looking at things the same way as before?
Would my view of the world change if I learned that my memories with my parents might be fake?'
My body trembled at the thought.
I shook my head, trying to clear my mind, then lay on the bed to relax.
'Alright… I'll investigate three things: First — the Dark Mist. Second — my missing Shard. Third — the doctor. For some reason, he appears inside the illusion unlike other humans. That means he's important to my life, even though I don't remember him.'
I got up from the bed, went to the bathroom, and took a shower. The water washed over my body and calmed my thoughts.
After finishing, I dried myself, got dressed, and went to the kitchen. Unlike in the previous cycles, I decided to have dinner before sleeping.
I entered the kitchen and saw my mother preparing food. It seemed my father was still in his office finishing work.
Sensing my presence, my mother turned toward me with a warm smile.
"Are you hungry, dear? Just wait a little, dinner will be ready soon."
I sat at the table, watching her cook lovingly.
After a while, I opened my mouth to speak.
"Mom, can I ask you something?"
She stopped cooking and turned toward me curiously.
"Yes, you can ask me anything."
She answered with a gentle smile, her gaze soft and kind.
"Mom… can you tell me what color my eyes are?"
She tilted her head, puzzled by the strange question.
"The color of your eyes? They're black, like mine. Why ask something so obvious? Can't you just look in the mirror?"
"Mom, you do realize that true black eyes don't actually exist, right? It's just very dark brown . I want to know are my eyes dark brown like yours, or are they truly black?"
I narrowed my eyes, drawing her full attention. Scientifically speaking, it's impossible for someone to have pure black eyes. There are rare mutations that make both the iris and sclera appear black, but that's extremely uncommon. Even mine were just extremely dark brown.
She stopped moving and stared at me intently, then her eyes widened in surprise.
"They're black… I mean, they're not dark brown like mine. How did I not notice this before? And why your eyes so dark without any light? "
'So… she can actually *see* my eyes.'
"Argh!!"
Before I could continue investigating, my mother suddenly trembled violently.
"Mom! What's wrong?!"
I jumped from my seat and rushed to her, catching her before she fell.
"My head… it hurts so much…"
She clutched her head, breathing heavily.
"What's happening?!"
My father rushed into the kitchen, probably after hearing the noise.
"I'm fine—!!!"
Before she could finish, her body convulsed unnaturally — twisting in a grotesque way, as if something inside her was trying to burst out.
"Mom…?"
I froze in confusion, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Before I could react, her body suddenly swelled — and exploded into a bloody mess, splattering everything around.
"W-What…?"
I stood there motionless, staring at where my mother had been.
The kitchen was drenched in blood and flesh.
My father and I were frozen, covered in her remains.
"ARGHHH!!"
I heard my father's scream and turned toward him — only to see his body swell rapidly and explode just like hers.
"What does this mean…?"
The words escaped my mouth, but no answer came.
I was on the floor, staring at the carnage that used to be my parents.
For a moment, my mind couldn't process it — I thought it was just another illusion.
But when the horrifying realization hit me that they had actually died, fear overwhelmed me.
"Ughhh!!"
I vomited on the floor, writhing in agony.
My body shook violently as tears streamed down uncontrollably.
"Why? WHY? WHY?! The mist didn't appear — so WHY?!!"
I screamed, clutching my face, my nails digging deep into my skin until blood dripped down.
Rage, grief, despair — all surged in my head until I started to lose my mind.
"…Huh?"
I felt a presence.
Lifting my head, I saw the Dark Mist floating above me.
"You bastard… what do you want from me? Did you come to mock me? Do you enjoy watching me suffer?!"
I shouted with pure hatred, glaring at the mist.
It remained silent, then slowly moved — a blade of darkness extended from it, slicing toward me in an instant and cutting off my head.
My body fell to the ground.
The mist expanded, devouring everything once again.
I opened my eyes — and found myself back in my room.
I stood in silence.
My head felt cold… but unlike the previous times, I didn't fall into a fit or lose consciousness.
My mother entered the room, repeating the same words as always.
But this time, I just stood there and looked at her.
"Nox, are you alright?"
I stared at her quietly, then smiled weakly.
"Mom, can we go to the hospital? I'm feeling tired."
"Tired? Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"
She rushed toward me, checking my body in worry.
"I'm fine, but… I feel exhausted, and my chest hurts a little.
Can we go to the hospital just to make sure everything's okay?"
She looked at me with concern, then nodded.
"Alright, wait here. I'll get your father."
She hurried out of the room.
I stared coldly at the door she had just left through.
'They'll die if they discover anything strange.
That means they'll die if I tell them about my eyes or the others' absence.
So I'll keep my thoughts to myself and never cross the line.'
I clenched my fists tightly, thinking about what happened in the previous cycle.
'I need to go to the hospital. I must meet the doctor. This time, I'll investigate him…
He might lead me to the truth behind this cursed illusion.'
My mother returned after bringing my father, and after some talk, they decided to take me to the hospital as planned. Upon my arrival, as expected, the same doctor conducted the examinations.
I focused on the doctor's face, memorizing every detail. He was around thirty years old, with a round, kind face, brown hair, and green eyes. He looked like an ordinary person.
I was alone with the doctor, as my parents had left so they wouldn't distract us.
"Doctor, may I ask you something?"
The doctor stopped examining me and looked at me calmly.
"What is it, my boy? You can ask me anything."
I looked at him silently, trying to notice the slightest change in his expression.
"Is there anything strange about me?"
The doctor tilted his head, looking at me strangely.
"Are you worried about heart pain? Don't be afraid, boy. You're fine."
I looked at him silently before smiling.
"Thank you. I was scared."
The doctor smiled gently in response.
"It's normal for children to feel scared, but believe me, you're fine. I just need to perform some additional tests."
The doctor returned to the examinations while I continued to watch him silently.
'That bastard… I asked if there was anything strange, but he avoided the question by saying I'm fine. I also noticed he's conducting many tests, most of which are unnecessary. I told him I have mild pain; he's supposed to check my heart and do an ECG, but instead, he's drawing more blood than needed and doing unrelated tests. On top of that, he tells my parents to leave; if they were here, they'd notice how odd the tests are.'
The doctor was extremely suspicious, but Nox couldn't ask directly for fear of their death. The doctor was useless.
'It's better to think about what happened when I was ten years old. A lot happened back then… After everything, my parents were killed at that time… Wait!! How did I forget this? I was ten years old when my parents were killed, and now I'm the same age.'
I shivered as the sudden realization hit me, causing the doctor to pause and look at me strangely. I smiled at him awkwardly, trying not to raise suspicion. The doctor continued the tests while I sank into my thoughts.
'Back then, my parents were killed under mysterious circumstances, and the police closed the case, refusing to help me, which made me lose them. Does this mean the cause of their death by the dark mist is an implementation of truth? This means it's not an illusion but a simulation of my memories.'
'But the real question is, what does the doctor have to do with all this? I don't remember going to the hospital, which means I'm not supposed to meet him. If my memories are real, it makes sense. If my memories were fake, things would be different.'
I looked at the doctor again and decided to ask him once more.
"Doctor, do you have any relation to my parents?"
"Yes, I know your parents. I was here when you were born. We became closer when they came for your check-ups."
"Huh? Do you mean I was born here?"
The doctor laughed at my exaggerated reaction.
"Yes, you were born here. This is the most famous hospital here, so it's not that strange."
"You're right."
'Damn it, why don't I remember anything about this? Honestly, I don't think my parents told me about my birthplace, and I was too young to care. But seriously, this is important information. Being close to my parents means he's extremely significant in my memories.'
I looked at the doctor's chest for his name but didn't find it, so I decided to ask.
"May I know your name?"
The doctor looked at me silently, then opened his mouth and spoke slowly, but no sound came out.
"Huh?"
I felt something strange, and when I put my hand over my eyes, blood flowed from them and my ears.
"What?"
Before I could understand what was happening, my body trembled violently before exploding into a mass of flesh.
The doctor looked at me calmly before turning his head toward the corner of the room, where a dark mist stood quietly.
"Consume everything for #$#&$."
The mist shivered at the doctor's command, then expanded and devoured the entire world.
As the mist swallowed the world, the doctor looked at Nox's body, smiled, then leaned back and laughed warmly.
"Hahaha… Now, let's start everything from the beginning, boy."
....