[Global Server – Tower Broadcast Hub, Day 5, 06:00 AM GMT]
For the first time in days, the System was quiet.
No echoes of shrieks or mirror-fractured skies. No dimensional instability warnings. No countdowns to collapse.
Just silence.
And then—
[GLOBAL SYSTEM UPDATE – NOTICE TO ALL AWAKENERS]
[Sakura Dimension: Cleared (Classification: Historic Event – Mind Merge Protocol)]
[Top Contributor: Kaito Yamada – UNKNOWN CLASSIFICATION: SUPPRESSED]
[Universal Memory Anchoring Complete – 100% Stability]
[Unlocked: GLOBAL RELIC – "Anchor of Self" – Bound to All Survivors]
The message flashed across every interface in the world.
From skyscraper-top screens in Seoul and São Paulo, to refugee-turned-Awakener camps in Kenya, to quiet home-stations in Alaska—every duo who survived the Tower's first floor saw it.
And every global government did too.
---
[Japan – Government Awakener Council HQ, Tokyo, 03:10 PM JST]
Twelve figures sat around a crystalline table, their eyes glued to a live replay of the Sakura Dimension event.
"…So the system allowed a class not previously recorded?" one asked, voice trembling.
Another nodded. "Not allowed. Born. That boy… Kaito Yamada… rewrote the classification code in real-time."
The Minister of Awakener Affairs spoke. "Is this evolution… safe?"
No one answered.
Because no one could know.
---
[Vatican – Tower Research Facility, Hidden Sublevel]
Xenovia Kael crossed herself silently as she rewatched the final duel between Kaito and his echo. Beside her, Elijah Voss stood with his arms folded.
"That moment," Elijah said, "when he chose memory over might. That wasn't just bravery."
"No," Xenovia agreed softly. "It was divine rebellion."
---
[India – South Delhi, Dev & Meera's Recovery Chamber]
"I still can't believe it," Meera said, staring at the glowing relic in her palm: Anchor of Self. "This was inside us all along?"
Dev lay on a cot beside her, arms behind his head. "Kaito didn't just win. He made us win. He gave us back pieces of ourselves."
She looked at him. "Do you think the System wanted that?"
Dev's eyes were sharp. "No. But it recorded it. Which means something's changed."
She nodded slowly. "Then we have to change with it."
---
[Sakura Dimension – Sakura Lake Shore, Day 5, 08:45 AM JST]
Kaito awoke with a headache the size of the galaxy.
His body felt heavier—like something inside him had been burned, reforged, and sealed with invisible chains.
Aya was already awake, seated cross-legged beside him, hair loose, face calm.
"You're back," she said.
"Did I ever leave?" he muttered.
Aya smiled. "Not really. But… you did go somewhere we couldn't follow."
He looked at the now-pristine surface of Sakura Lake. The petals danced gently across it, like forgiveness returned.
"Did… everyone make it?" he asked.
She nodded. "All sixty-nine. No one lost themselves. Not completely."
"And me?" he asked after a beat.
Aya reached into her pocket and handed him his System Interface Tablet.
He blinked. "Wait, we have… tablets now?"
"New feature," she said dryly. "Post-dimension upgrade."
Kaito scrolled through the new panel:
[Class: ??? – Truthwalker (Classification Suppressed)]
[Skills: [LOCKED] – Requires Trigger Event]
[Relic: Anchor of Self (Permanent)]
[Warning: System Oversight Team Monitoring Status Constantly]
[Message: You are not meant to exist.]
He chuckled weakly. "Comforting."
Aya watched him carefully. "You're not scared?"
"I am," he admitted. "But not of the System."
She tilted her head. "Then of what?"
He looked at his reflection in the lake.
"Myself. Or… the version of me I saw. The one that could've been."
Aya's voice softened. "That version isn't real."
Kaito shook his head. "He was. For a while. Just… quiet."
Silence hung between them again.
Then Aya asked, "What do we do now?"
He looked around.
The sky was clear. The dimension was sealed. The others were waking and gathering, already beginning their return transition protocols.
But something inside him told him this wasn't the end.
Not even close.
"We prepare," he said.
"For what?"
Kaito stood.
And the lake shimmered again—this time reflecting not stars, but gates.
Hundreds of them.
---
[System Alert – Global Timeline Expansion Triggered]
[Unlocked: GATES OF MEMORY]
[Event Chain Activated – Global Stage Protocol]
[Countdown to First Gate Activation: 15 Days]
---
[Elsewhere – ??? Location, Undetected Server Node]
Inside a realm disconnected from space, time, and perception—a watcher stirred.
It was not human.
Not divine.
Not born of flesh or code.
But of regret.
Its singular eye blinked open.
[Observation: Subject 'Yamada, Kaito' – Divergence Confirmed]
[Recalibrating Threat Level: UNBOUND]
[Dispatching Correction Protocol: Class Eater – Arrival in 23 Days]
The entity smiled.
And began its crawl toward Earth.
---
[Sakura Camp – Gathering Point, Day 5, 12:00 PM JST]
"All duos accounted for," Kiko said, finishing her mental count. "Even the ones who collapsed."
Takeshi held up a datapad. "Dimension entry logs say no temporal damage. No memory collapse either. That's… miraculous."
Dev walked up, brushing his hands clean of dirt. "Miracle or not, we've got 15 days until the next gate appears. And this one might not wait for us to be ready."
Reina looked around. "What about him?"
They all turned to where Kaito stood with Aya by the lake, quiet and still.
Meera spoke up. "He needs rest. And so do we."
But Aya's voice rang out across the clearing, clear and certain.
"No. We don't rest."
They looked at her.
"We learn."
Kaito nodded beside her. "Everything in that realm taught us that the System reacts to our will. That means the stronger our resolve, the more control we claim."
Dev narrowed his eyes. "You mean… bend the rules?"
"No," Kaito said. "We redefine them."
---
[System Message – Personal Transmission: Aya Shirogane]
[Aya, your partner's status has exceeded all global predictions.]
[Do not let him walk this alone. The next threat will not be internal.]
[Warning: Pair Sync Level Surpassing UR Threshold. Unknown Outcome Projected.]
Aya read the message.
Then deleted it.
She already knew what she had to do.
---
[Sakura Dimension Exit Portal – Activated, Day 5, 13:33 PM JST]
All survivors stood at the ready.
The lake pulsed once. The petals gathered into a stream, forming a gateway of pink light and golden silence.
As they stepped forward, one by one, Aya glanced back one last time.
The dimension was peaceful again.
But peace, they all knew now, was temporary.
Especially when you were walking toward truth.
---
[Global Chat: Activated]
[DevRajan-UR]: We made it out. Just barely.
[Xenovia-UR]: Kaito changed everything.
[ElijahVoss-UR]: The gates… why are there so many now?
[Reina-S]: What if they're not just gates… but memories?
[KikoUR]: …Then the world's about to remember things it was never meant to.
[MeeraSharma-UR]: I'll remember him standing in that arena for the rest of my life.
[AyaShirogane-UR]: He didn't stand alone.
---