The preparation space had never felt this quiet.
Kaito sat against the wall, staring at the empty space where Hana Mori had disappeared. He hadn't moved in nearly an hour. Around him, players talked in whispers, shifted uncomfortably, or simply stared at the floor. Nobody mentioned Hana. Nobody needed to.
Kaito could still hear her voice.
"Don't drop the thread."
He closed his eyes. For a moment, he imagined she was still sitting beside him, her arms resting in her lap, that faint smile on her face. Then he opened his eyes. Nothing. Only the cold, artificial walls of Elysium.
Kaito looked down at his hands. They were still there. His fingers moved one by one before he clenched them into fists.
"Why am I still checking?"
"Because you're scared."
Kaito looked up. Takeshi was standing several feet away.
"I'm not scared."
Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "You've checked your hands at least twenty times."
Kaito looked away. His coherence indicator appeared in the corner of his vision.
COHERENCE: 78%
He stared at it.
The number flickered.
79%.
Kaito's eyes narrowed.
Then—
78%.
"What?"
He blinked.
80%.
A new message appeared.
[EMOTIONAL RESONANCE DETECTED.]
Another line appeared beneath it.
[UNKNOWN VARIABLE IDENTIFIED.]
Then both messages disappeared.
"What did you see?" Takeshi asked.
"My coherence changed."
Takeshi's expression became serious. "By how much?"
"Two percent."
"That's impossible."
"I know."
Before Takeshi could say anything else, a deep voice came from across the room.
"Nothing is impossible here."
Goro.
He was sitting with his back against the wall, his eyes closed. Kaito looked toward him.
"You know something?"
Goro slowly opened his eyes. "I know that Elysium doesn't change numbers without a reason."
"What reason?"
Goro didn't answer. Instead, he looked toward the enormous opening leading into the outer zone.
"Kurona."
The room became quieter. Even Ren stopped moving.
Kaito stood. "What about him?"
Goro slowly rose to his feet. "Do you know what an Apex player really is?"
"Someone who's reached the highest level."
"No."
Goro's voice was flat.
"An Apex player is someone who has survived every standard match Elysium can create."
Kaito frowned. "And then?"
"There is no then."
Goro looked directly at him.
"That is supposed to be the end."
Kaito remembered Kurona standing above the outer zone. Two identical bodies. Two pairs of emotionless eyes.
"But Kurona exists."
"Exactly."
Goro's expression darkened.
"And that's what scares me."
A sudden sound interrupted them.
BEEP.
Every player's system activated simultaneously. The lights in the preparation space went dark, and a massive display appeared above them.
[ATTENTION, ALL ACTIVE PLAYERS.]
[APEX PROTOCOL INITIATED.]
Kaito's heart began beating faster.
[STANDARD MATCH CYCLES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED.]
The screen changed.
[SPECIAL PAIRING SEQUENCE BEGINNING.]
Names started appearing one after another.
Then the first name appeared in enormous letters.
GORO
Kaito looked at him.
Goro didn't move.
The second name appeared.
KURONA
The entire room went silent.
Someone whispered, "No…"
Goro slowly exhaled.
"So that's how it is."
Takeshi grabbed Kaito's shoulder. "This isn't a normal match."
"I know."
"No, Kaito." Takeshi's voice lowered. "This isn't about winning anymore."
Kaito looked at him. "Then what is it about?"
Takeshi stared at the screen.
"Finding out what Kurona actually is."
The display changed.
A second pairing appeared.
TENGEN
Kaito's breathing stopped.
His eyes widened.
The second name appeared beneath it.
KAITO
Silence.
For several seconds, Kaito couldn't understand what he was seeing.
Then the name hit him.
Tengen.
The masked player.
The person who had once dominated him. The player who had somehow disappeared. The player who had later returned.
Why did the name feel so familiar?
Why did seeing it make his chest tighten?
"Tengen…" Kaito whispered.
Across the room, Ren watched him carefully.
"You know him?" Ren asked.
Kaito shook his head. "I don't think so."
But even as he said it, something inside him disagreed.
Far above the lower tiers, Tengen stood alone in his private room. The same notification appeared before him.
[SPECIAL MATCH ASSIGNMENT]
TENGEN VS KAITO
He stared at the names.
For two years, Tengen had trained himself not to think about home. Not about his parents. Not about his childhood. And especially not about his younger brother.
But now the system had placed Kaito directly in front of him.
Tengen closed his eyes.
A memory surfaced.
Kaito at twelve years old, flour covering his face, laughing in the kitchen.
Tengen had forgotten what that laugh sounded like.
Or at least he had tried to.
His hands tightened.
"He shouldn't be here."
Tengen opened his eyes.
His expression became cold again.
For two years, he had survived Elysium by becoming someone capable of doing whatever was necessary.
But Kaito was different.
Kaito was the one person Tengen had never learned how to fight.
He looked at the notification again.
"I'm sorry."
The screen remained unchanged.
TENGEN VS KAITO
Tengen turned away.
"I wanted to protect you."
He paused.
"But now…"
His eyes hardened.
"…I have to defeat you."
Back in the preparation space, Kaito suddenly received another notification.
[PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED.]
He opened it.
There was only one sentence.
DON'T USE YOUR STRONGEST ABILITY AGAINST TENGEN.
Kaito stared at the message.
His pulse quickened.
"Who sent this?"
There was no response.
He looked around. Everyone seemed focused on the pairing announcement.
Everyone except Ren.
Ren was standing in the corner, watching him.
Their eyes met.
Ren smiled.
Not a friendly smile.
A knowing one.
Kaito's stomach dropped.
"You…"
Ren tilted his head.
"Interesting, isn't it?"
"What did you send me?"
Ren's smile widened.
"I didn't send you anything."
The message disappeared.
Kaito stared at him.
For the first time since entering Elysium, he realized something.
There were players who were trying to escape. Players who were trying to survive. Players who were trying to win.
And then there were players who were trying to understand the game itself.
Ren belonged to the last group.
And somehow, Kaito had become part of it.
Above them, the countdown appeared.
01:59:59
The first pairing was only two hours away.
Kaito looked at Tengen's name.
He didn't know who Tengen really was.
But somewhere deep inside him, a strange feeling remained.
A feeling that this match wasn't going to reveal who was stronger.
It was going to reveal who they really were.