The first thing Cha Hae-won felt was weight.
Not the weight of chains, or bruises, or bindings. It was heavier than all of those. Eyes.
Thousands of them pressed against the walls of his mind. Watching. Whispering. Judging.
When his eyelids cracked open, he found no sunlight to greet him. Only the lacquered wood of a ceiling and the faint sting of medicinal incense. His chest rose and fell as though he had been breathing through water. The Academy's infirmary.
But even before his sight confirmed it, he already knew where he was.
Because the Fables were awake.
[ 148th Regression stirring… ]
[ Fable: Hymn of the Silent Martyr resonates. ]
[ "You promised me you would live." ]
The voice was not abstract. Not a cold mechanic's whisper like the Modifier's announcements. This one was warm, human, broken.
It was hers.
Hae-won's gaze shifted weakly, and there she was. Seo Ha-young. Sitting cross-legged in the chair beside his bed, chin resting on one palm, her expression unreadable. Her black hair slipped across her cheek like strands of ink.
Alive.
Breathing.
And yet—
When he blinked, her throat split open like a second mouth. The cut ran jagged across her neck. Blood spilled down her chest, soaking her robes, pooling beneath her feet. Her lips still moved soundlessly, forming words without air, syllables without voice.
A hymn sung by someone who no longer had breath to give.
Alive. Dead. Alive. Dead. Every blink switched the reel.
Hae-won's body trembled, his hand clutching the sheets until the fabric tore.
Seo Ha-young's head tilted at him. "What? Already scared of me? You were louder in your sleep."
Her words reached him. But layered over them was her other voice, the one without air, bleeding music into silence.
[ Fable Hymn of the Silent Martyr unfolding. ]
[ Regression 148: Seo Ha-young bled for you. ]
Hae-won's nails dug deeper. His throat shook as he whispered, "…No. That's not real."
Seo narrowed her eyes. "You don't look fine."
"Shut up," he hissed, but the command wasn't for her.
The hymn without sound filled his skull.
The walls of the infirmary trembled faintly. The windows rattled against their frames. He wasn't sure if it was real or if the hymn itself had reached the bones of the world.
And only then did he notice it.
The silence outside the door.
Not an empty silence. A crowded silence.
A thousand hushed breaths pressed against the wood. The infirmary doors shook with the weight of bodies leaning into them. Students, professors, nobles. They hadn't left. For three days, they had gathered and lingered, waiting to see if the aberration called Hae-won would rise or rot.
Whispers trickled through the cracks.
"…three days…"
"…it should have killed him…"
"…seal it, destroy it, bury it—"
The voices clawed across each other until they merged into one ceaseless buzzing. His skull burned.
And over it all, the hymn continued.
Blood. Slit throat. Silent song.
Seo Ha-young's dead eyes met his again, though her living ones sat across from him, narrowing at his silence.
"You're spiraling again," she said flatly.
And then she moved.
Her knee slammed straight into his solar plexus.
The breath ripped from his lungs. His entire body folded, vision flashing white as pain drowned the hymn for a shattering instant. He collapsed forward, choking and gasping, tears springing to his eyes.
Seo sat back without remorse, shaking her knee as if dusting it off. "Better."
"You—" He coughed, voice broken. "You—"
Her smirk was thin and wolfish. "Me. Alive. Here. Stop staring at me like you're watching a ghost."
The words cut deeper than her strike.
Because she was a ghost.
[ Fable Confirms: Regression 148 — Seo Ha-young died for you. ]
[ The hymn is her death-song. ]
Hae-won's body shook. He forced himself to look again — but every time, the slit reappeared. Alive, dead. Alive, dead.
"…148," he whispered.
Her brows furrowed. "What?"
"You died," he said hoarsely. "You… you sang as you bled. Even when your throat was gone, you kept singing. You never let go."
For the first time, her mask slipped. Not much — just a flicker. Confusion, yes, but edged with something colder. His words struck a place she didn't know existed.
But she recovered in an instant, scoffing. "Sounds like you dream too much."
The hymn didn't stop. His vision split again. The dead Seo kneeled in ash, lips forming the hymn without voice, her blood soaking the earth.
Hae-won pressed his palms into his eyes until stars burst.
The whispers outside grew louder.
"Chaos awakens—"
"His Modifier—seal it—"
"He'll bring ruin—"
And through the cracks of their fear, something else stirred.
The dragon on his sleeve. The black-stitched insignia.
Its threads shifted like scales. Its eye opened.
[ Chaos Division Sigil Reacting. ]
[ Do you want to regress? ]
His heart froze.
No. Not here. Not in front of her.
[ Infinite Regression: Active. ]
[ Awaiting trigger. ]
The text burned into his vision.
He gritted his teeth. Not again. Not—
"Look at me."
Her voice cut through.
Seo Ha-young leaned forward, her eyes pinning him in place. "Don't you dare vanish on me. Whatever's clawing at you, you're here. With me. Do you understand?"
His lips parted. No sound.
Her knee rose again, hovering close. This time she didn't strike, but the threat of it was enough. The memory of the pain lingered.
Her smirk curved faintly. "I'll break every bone in your body before I let you disappear."
The hymn faltered.
The bleeding Seo flickered like a broken lantern.
And for one impossible breath — she was only alive. Only human.
Hae-won collapsed back against the mattress, shivering.
The Fables quieted. Not gone. Never gone. But muted under her voice.
Seo sat back, arms crossed. "Good. Keep breathing, Chaos boy."
The doors rattled again. The Academy roared in muffled voices. Professors argued over sealing him. Nobles demanded his exile. Students whispered curses.
Inside the room, only two people.
One cursed with infinite deaths.
One who had already died for him once.
Maybe more.
Hae-won's eyes slid shut. The system text glowed behind them, cruel and unwavering.
[ Infinite Regression Confirmed. ]
[ Fable: Hymn of the Silent Martyr — true origin revealed. ]
[ Seo Ha-young: The companion who always dies. ]
His lips trembled.
"…I remember," he whispered.
And the dragon's eye on his sleeve opened wider.
The first thing Cha Hae-won felt was weight.
Not the weight of chains, or bruises, or bindings. It was heavier than all of those. Eyes.
Thousands of them pressed against the walls of his mind. Watching. Whispering. Judging.
When his eyelids cracked open, he found no sunlight to greet him. Only the lacquered wood of a ceiling and the faint sting of medicinal incense. His chest rose and fell as though he had been breathing through water. The Academy's infirmary.
But even before his sight confirmed it, he already knew where he was.
Because the Fables were awake.
[ 148th Regression stirring… ]
[ Fable: Hymn of the Silent Martyr resonates. ]
[ "You promised me you would live." ]
The voice was not abstract. Not a cold mechanic's whisper like the Modifier's announcements. This one was warm, human, broken.
It was hers.
Hae-won's gaze shifted weakly, and there she was. Seo Ha-young. Sitting cross-legged in the chair beside his bed, chin resting on one palm, her expression unreadable. Her black hair slipped across her cheek like strands of ink.
Alive.
Breathing.
And yet—
When he blinked, her throat split open like a second mouth. The cut ran jagged across her neck. Blood spilled down her chest, soaking her robes, pooling beneath her feet. Her lips still moved soundlessly, forming words without air, syllables without voice.
A hymn sung by someone who no longer had breath to give.
Alive. Dead. Alive. Dead. Every blink switched the reel.
Hae-won's body trembled, his hand clutching the sheets until the fabric tore.
Seo Ha-young's head tilted at him. "What? Already scared of me? You were louder in your sleep."
Her words reached him. But layered over them was her other voice, the one without air, bleeding music into silence.
[ Fable Hymn of the Silent Martyr unfolding. ]
[ Regression 148: Seo Ha-young bled for you. ]
Hae-won's nails dug deeper. His throat shook as he whispered, "…No. That's not real."
Seo narrowed her eyes. "You don't look fine."
"Shut up," he hissed, but the command wasn't for her.
The hymn without sound filled his skull.
The walls of the infirmary trembled faintly. The windows rattled against their frames. He wasn't sure if it was real or if the hymn itself had reached the bones of the world.
And only then did he notice it.
The silence outside the door.
Not an empty silence. A crowded silence.
A thousand hushed breaths pressed against the wood. The infirmary doors shook with the weight of bodies leaning into them. Students, professors, nobles. They hadn't left. For three days, they had gathered and lingered, waiting to see if the aberration called Hae-won would rise or rot.
Whispers trickled through the cracks.
"…three days…"
"…it should have killed him…"
"…seal it, destroy it, bury it—"
The voices clawed across each other until they merged into one ceaseless buzzing. His skull burned.
And over it all, the hymn continued.
Blood. Slit throat. Silent song.
Seo Ha-young's dead eyes met his again, though her living ones sat across from him, narrowing at his silence.
"You're spiraling again," she said flatly.
And then she moved.
Her knee slammed straight into his solar plexus.
The breath ripped from his lungs. His entire body folded, vision flashing white as pain drowned the hymn for a shattering instant. He collapsed forward, choking and gasping, tears springing to his eyes.
Seo sat back without remorse, shaking her knee as if dusting it off. "Better."
"You—" He coughed, voice broken. "You—"
Her smirk was thin and wolfish. "Me. Alive. Here. Stop staring at me like you're watching a ghost."
The words cut deeper than her strike.
Because she was a ghost.
[ Fable Confirms: Regression 148 — Seo Ha-young died for you. ]
[ The hymn is her death-song. ]
Hae-won's body shook. He forced himself to look again — but every time, the slit reappeared. Alive, dead. Alive, dead.
"…148," he whispered.
Her brows furrowed. "What?"
"You died," he said hoarsely. "You… you sang as you bled. Even when your throat was gone, you kept singing. You never let go."
For the first time, her mask slipped. Not much — just a flicker. Confusion, yes, but edged with something colder. His words struck a place she didn't know existed.
But she recovered in an instant, scoffing. "Sounds like you dream too much."
The hymn didn't stop. His vision split again. The dead Seo kneeled in ash, lips forming the hymn without voice, her blood soaking the earth.
Hae-won pressed his palms into his eyes until stars burst.
The whispers outside grew louder.
"Chaos awakens—"
"His Modifier—seal it—"
"He'll bring ruin—"
And through the cracks of their fear, something else stirred.
The dragon on his sleeve. The black-stitched insignia.
Its threads shifted like scales. Its eye opened.
[ Chaos Division Sigil Reacting. ]
[ Do you want to regress? ]
His heart froze.
No. Not here. Not in front of her.
[ Infinite Regression: Active. ]
[ Awaiting trigger. ]
The text burned into his vision.
He gritted his teeth. Not again. Not—
"Look at me."
Her voice cut through.
Seo Ha-young leaned forward, her eyes pinning him in place. "Don't you dare vanish on me. Whatever's clawing at you, you're here. With me. Do you understand?"
His lips parted. No sound.
Her knee rose again, hovering close. This time she didn't strike, but the threat of it was enough. The memory of the pain lingered.
Her smirk curved faintly. "I'll break every bone in your body before I let you disappear."
The hymn faltered.
The bleeding Seo flickered like a broken lantern.
And for one impossible breath — she was only alive. Only human.
Hae-won collapsed back against the mattress, shivering.
The Fables quieted. Not gone. Never gone. But muted under her voice.
Seo sat back, arms crossed. "Good. Keep breathing, Chaos boy."
The doors rattled again. The Academy roared in muffled voices. Professors argued over sealing him. Nobles demanded his exile. Students whispered curses.
Inside the room, only two people.
One cursed with infinite deaths.
One who had already died for him once.
Maybe more.
Hae-won's eyes slid shut. The system text glowed behind them, cruel and unwavering.
[ Infinite Regression Confirmed. ]
[ Fable: Hymn of the Silent Martyr — true origin revealed. ]
[ Seo Ha-young: The companion who always dies. ]
His lips trembled.
"…I remember," he whispered.
And the dragon's eye on his sleeve opened wider.