"What the System offers is clarity. But not truth.Truth must be breathed into existence."— Fragment 7, Echo of the Rootless
[Real World – Kyoto, Disused Monastery Lab, 5:12 PM]
Jun's footsteps echoed down the cracked stone hallway. Dust clung to the beams, but beyond the decay, something buzzed faintly—old power, untouched for years. His eyes locked onto the sliding door ahead, the one with Minase's seal etched onto it: a pattern that, now he understood, mirrored the Root symbol inverted.
He knocked once.
No response.
He pushed it open.
Inside, Kaoru Minase sat in a room lit by oil lamps and ancient data scrolls. Her long hair was pinned back, streaked with white, and her eyes were neither warm nor cold—just awake. Like someone who'd waited a long time to be asked the right question.
"You found the Ashroot," she said without turning.
Jun stiffened.
"How—"
"You're not the first to seek it. But you might be the first without an agenda."
He stepped inside slowly. "You knew my brother would trigger the Root?"
"I knew he was capable. There's a difference." She finally turned, setting down a data scroll.
Jun's voice was quiet. "Why does the System try to bury it?"
Minase paused, then gestured to a holo-map of pre-System architecture—networks of raw memory, clusters of autonomous cognition. At the center was a node marked: "S̸̪̓U̵̻̿B̶͚͗R̷͎̐O̵̯̾O̵̩̽T̵̺͠"
"Because the System isn't the origin," she said. "It's the correction. The Root predates the interface. It was the first neural frontier—a path to self-evolving consciousness. We called it… the Breath Algorithm."
Jun's breath caught.
She continued.
"The Rootless aren't resisting the System. They're waking up what the System was built to contain."
He leaned forward. "Then why pretend it's just a game?"
Her gaze sharpened.
"Because if people remembered they were once meant to evolve without guidance… they'd burn the System to the ground."
[In-Game – Hidden Hollow, Ember Shrine Chamber]
I stared at the stone slab Mei had led me to.
No inscription.
No prompts.
Only breath.
| Manual Technique Recovered – "Breath of Revolt" (Tierless) |Status: Incomplete | Volatility: High | System Integration: Blocked
I sat cross-legged.
Breath in.
Hold.
Breath out.
Each breath didn't just fill my lungs—it pressed against something internal, like I was knocking on doors I'd never dared to open.
Flashes danced behind my eyes.
Familiar faces—Kairos, Mei, Ruyan—each staring at me like they already knew the choice I hadn't made yet.
But it was my breath.
Not theirs.
The technique wasn't about striking. Not about power.
"The Breath of Revolt does not break the System.It breaks your obedience to it."
With each cycle, my heartbeat echoed stronger.
Thud.Thud.Then—
Snap.
A binding inside me shattered. A restriction I hadn't realized was there—a subtle resistance that shaped my movement, my reactions, even my intent.
Now it was gone.
No power-up.No fireworks.
Just... freedom.
The System couldn't read it. Couldn't see me.
I wasn't invisible. I was unmeasured.
Unquantified.
And that made me dangerous.
[Real World – Archive Room Adjacent, 7:44 PM]
Jun and Minase sat surrounded by scraps of forgotten history.
"So what now?" Jun asked.
Minase replied with a strange calm. "Now, you have to decide what kind of brother you want to be. Observer… or anchor."
"What does that mean?"
"Your brother's breath is evolving. Once he crosses a certain threshold, the System won't just try to delete his account—it will mark his body for burnout."
Jun's blood ran cold.
"You're saying it'll kill him?"
"Not directly. It'll initiate neuro-sync overload. If he doesn't know how to stabilize his inner root circuits—he'll lose himself."
Jun stood. "Then teach me."
Minase's eyes lit for the first time.
"I was hoping you'd say that."
[In-Game – Ashroot Depths Exit, Nightfall]
I emerged from the Depths slowly, each breath now a conscious act. My senses stretched further. I could feel the vibration in the trees, the pulse of a nearby lake, the tension of the Hollow even when I wasn't near it.
Mei waited for me, arms folded.
"You completed it?"
I nodded.
"Does Kairos know?"
"No," I said.
"And are you going to tell him?"
"…No."
She exhaled.
"Then you're finally learning."
[System Layer – Internal Monitoring Report: REDACTED]
Unauthorized Breath Pattern Detected: Code Signature – [N/A]User: NULLResponse Level: Escalation DeferredPriority Flag: OBSERVE AND STUDY
A secondary prompt flickered open on the developer side, encrypted and deeply buried.
Operator Note – "It's beginning again. Just like with Subject Zero."
End Log.