The train station shook as the Mind Reaper floated closer, threads spiraling like hungry spirits.
Null stood still.
But inside his skull?
A STORM.
His memories pulsed, tearing open piece by piece.Voices overlapped… one louder than all:
A warm voice.A hand on his shoulder.A silhouette with the same eyes as Null.
??? (brother):"Null… remember only what I allow you to remember."
Null staggered.
Hyung caught him.
Hyung: "Stay with me. Don't listen to him."
Null's breathing cracked.
Null: "Hyung… there's someone inside my memories. Someone who—"
A WHIP OF THREADS SLASHED TOWARD HIM—
Hyung blocked them, the ground exploding under his feet.
THE MIND REAPER'S ATTACK
Light faded.
Colors bled out of the world.
The Mind Reaper spread his arms and the entire station warped like a nightmare turning real.
Mind Reaper:"Null.Your memories belong to him.Not you."
Null froze.
That voice—
It didn't belong to the Reaper.
It belonged to the silhouette inside his mind.
CUT TO THE MIND REALM
Null found himself floating in a void.Silent.Cold.Endless.
In front of him:
A throne made of light and shadow intertwined.
A figure sat on it.
Face hidden.But his presence bent reality around him.
??? (Brother):"Little brother… you're early."
Null trembled.
Null: "Who… are you?"
A chuckle.
Smooth.Calm.Cruel.
???:"You already know.You just don't want to believe it."
Null stepped back.
The figure raised a single hand—
—and the entire mindscape shattered like glass.
BACK TO REALITY — HYUNG VS MIND REAPER
Hyung fought savagely, fists blackened with Low-Prime aura, smashing through illusions and ripping apart psychic threads. His face was drenched in sweat, nose bleeding from mental pressure.
Every punch distorted the air.
Every step cracked the concrete.
But the Reaper only laughed.
Mind Reaper:"You Null brothers… all of you were monsters.But the eldest—he's something else."
Hyung froze.
Hyung: "…Don't say his name."
Mind Reaper tilted his head.
Mind Reaper:"He doesn't need a name.The world calls him what he is—THE APEX.The strongest living being."
Hyung's pupils shrank.
Null's brother…
The Apex.
NULL RETURNS — BUT WRONG
Null opened his eyes.
But something was off.
His irises flickered between:
Azure BlueandPure Black
—his brother's color.
Gray and Vyra noticed instantly.
Gray: "Uh… guys? Why does he look like THAT?"
Null spoke in a voice that wasn't fully his.
A calm, deep tone overlapped his own.
Null:"Don't touch me.Not until I remember one more thing."
He stepped forward— illusions shattering around him —— threads burning on contact —— the Mind Reaper stumbling back for the first time.
Mind Reaper (fear rising):"Y-You… that aura—That's him…"
Null tilted his head slowly.
Smiled faintly.
A dangerous smile.
Null:"I'm not him."
His eyes darkened fully for a moment.
Null:"Not yet."
THE MIND REAPER PANICS
He turned, desperate.
Mind Reaper:"I must tell the Leader—The Apex's shadow has awakened!"
He tried to flee—
Hyung grabbed him by the throat.
Hyung (cold):"You're not going anywhere."
But before Hyung could finish him—
Null placed a hand on Hyung's arm.
Hyung froze.
Something in Null's touch felt wrong.
Wrong and familiar.
Null:"Let him run.I need him to report.So he will come."
Hyung's heart dropped.
Hyung: "…Your brother?"
Null looked into the darkness of the tunnel.
A black spark flickered in his pupils.
Null:"The Apex.The real villain of this world."
Rain outside intensified.
The Mind Reaper fled.
Null didn't chase.
He simply whispered:
"Hyung…I need to remember everything."
The chapter ends with Null stepping toward the tunnel, shadows rising behind him like wings.