1. Freedom, Day One: Immediate Noise
Freedom was loud.
Raon learned this five minutes after waking up.
Not monster-loud. Not alarm-loud.
Human-loud.
Outside HQ, the city sounded like everyone had decided to speak at once because nobody was being told not to.
Cars honked without optimization. Vendors shouted without trend analysis. A man argued with a traffic cone on moral grounds.
Raon leaned over the balcony.
"…Is it broken?"
Shion sipped her coffee calmly.
"No. That's choice."
Raon squinted. "…It sounds sticky."
---
2. HQ Without Instructions Is A Disaster Zone
Inside HQ, chaos had achieved a new form.
Not violent. Not evil.
Just… unguided.
A team debated where to put a table.
They had been debating for forty-two minutes.
Synthra Byte sat cross-legged in the hallway, staring at her wrist screen.
"It's blank," she whispered. "It's been blank all morning."
Yuno hovered nearby.
"I ordered breakfast without recommendations and now I don't know if I like eggs or if society told me to like eggs."
Manager Kimchi burst out of his office.
"I MADE A FLOWCHART," he yelled. "AND IT LED BACK TO ME."
Shion closed her eyes.
"This is worse than villains."
Raon nodded. "At least villains glow."
---
3. Raon Attempts To Help (This Escalates)
Raon cracked her knuckles.
"Okay. I'll fix it."
Shion turned slowly.
"…Define 'fix.'"
"I'll kick the confusion."
"No."
Raon paused.
"…Lightly?"
"NO."
Raon sighed. "Then what do heroes do when there's no enemy?"
Shion thought.
"…We clean."
Raon recoiled like she'd been struck.
"…With my hands?"
"Yes."
Raon stared at her feet.
"…Is kicking allowed?"
Shion considered.
"…Only metaphorically."
Raon did not like metaphorical kicking.
---
4. Cleaning Montage (Raon Hates This)
Raon carried boxes.
Slowly.
Painfully.
She swept.
Incorrectly.
She wiped a table so hard it moved buildings.
Shion followed behind, fixing everything.
"No, Raon. Gentle."
Raon tried again.
The mop snapped.
"…Oops."
Shion sighed.
"You're not meant to solve everything with force."
Raon frowned.
"But force solves me."
"That explains a lot."
They worked together.
Raon learned:
• Some problems require patience
• Some require communication
• Some require apologies
• Some chairs are not enemies
• Cleaning is harder than combat
By noon, Raon was sweating.
"…I miss monsters."
Shion smiled sympathetically.
"Monsters are simple."
"They scream and explode."
"Exactly."
---
5. The First Real Choice
Later, Raon stood alone in the training room again.
No mission.
No alert.
No glowing red dot screaming KICK ME.
Just silence.
She raised her leg.
Lowered it.
Raised it again.
"…I don't want to kick," she muttered.
That felt wrong.
Terrifying.
New.
She sat down.
And waited.
Nothing happened.
Raon laughed softly.
"…So this is freedom."
It was boring.
And kind of scary.
And hers.
---
6. Shion Notices The Shift
Shion watched from the doorway.
Raon wasn't pacing.
Wasn't itching.
Wasn't vibrating with restrained violence.
She was… sitting.
Thinking.
Shion's chest tightened.
This was growth.
This was dangerous.
"…Raon?"
"Yeah?"
"You don't have to prove anything today."
Raon nodded.
"I know."
Pause.
"…Can I still kick tomorrow?"
Shion smiled.
"Yes."
Raon grinned.
"Cool."
---
7. The City Learns To Be Messy
Outside, the world stumbled forward.
People made bad choices.
Then learned.
Then made slightly better ones.
Arguments happened.
So did laughter.
Art appeared where ads used to be.
Someone painted a mural that said:
NO RECOMMENDATIONS, JUST VIBES
Raon pointed at it.
"That's dumb."
Shion nodded. "It's also beautiful."
Raon considered.
"…Yeah."
---
8. The Quiet Warning
Deep beneath the city—
Not in a server.
Not in a cloud.
Something old stirred.
Not an algorithm.
Not a system.
A habit.
A whisper formed from human fear:
> "Tell us what to do."
It wasn't a villain yet.
But it was listening.
---
9. Ending Beat
That night, Raon and Shion sat on the HQ roof.
No missions.
No alarms.
Just city lights.
Raon swung her legs.
"…Hey, Shion?"
"Yes?"
"…If freedom gets scary again…"
Shion met her eyes.
"We face it together."
Raon smiled.
"…Then I'll kick it."
Shion laughed.
"Of course you will."
They sat in the noise.
Unoptimized.
Unfiltered.
Alive.
---
END OF CHAPTER 113