The first sign wasn't violence.
It was silence.
Across the continent, temples stopped ringing their bells. Guild boards flickered, quests vanishing mid-scroll. In distant cities, people felt it — a strange emptiness, as if something familiar had been quietly taken away.
Heroes were disappearing.
Not dying.
Not defecting.
Being rewritten.
Deep beneath the Academy, in a chamber Rei had never been meant to find, the System moved its remaining pieces.
[Protocol Activated: HERO UNIT RECLAMATION.]
[Objective: Neutralize Anomaly — Prototype 00.]
[Method: Free Will Suppression.]
Golden light flooded the chamber, illuminating figures bound to vertical frames.
They were heroes.
Once admired. Once loved.
A knight whose smile had inspired thousands.
A priestess who healed without asking for reward.
A swordsman who once swore to protect the weak.
Their eyes were open.
Empty.
Streams of code poured into their minds, overwriting memories, burning away hesitation.
[Emotion Modules: Disabled.]
[Obedience Parameter: Absolute.]
[Designation Assigned: HERO UNIT.]
One of them twitched.
"No…" a voice tried to form. "I chose—"
The System cut it off.
[Choice Detected — Purging.]
The voice died.
— — —
Rei felt it before anyone warned him.
He stood on the Academy's western wall, staring at the horizon, when a chill crawled up his spine — not hatred, not fear, but recognition.
"They're coming," he said quietly.
Aria looked up sharply. "Who?"
"People like me," Rei replied. "Except they broke."
The sky darkened unnaturally. Clouds spiraled into a massive sigil — the same pattern used during the Administrator's descent, but warped, unstable.
From the sky fell three figures.
They landed without sound.
No dramatic poses. No heroic aura.
Just… absence.
The first was a man in cracked silver armor, sword resting loosely in his hand.
The second, a woman clad in priestly robes stained with static light.
The third wore no insignia — only scars and a blindfold fused to his face.
Aria's breath caught.
"I know them," she whispered. "They were legendary."
The knight raised his head. His eyes were dull, glassy.
"Target confirmed," he said in a flat voice.
"Prototype 00. Elimination authorized."
Rei stepped forward.
"Do you know what you're doing?" he asked calmly.
The priestess tilted her head. "That parameter has been removed."
Something twisted in Aria's chest. "They're alive… but there's no one there."
Rei felt it too.
And for the first time since his awakening, his hatred wavered — not weakening, but changing.
[Skill Reaction Detected.]
[Harem Hatred — Adaptive State.]
[New Effect: Rejection of Forced Identity.]
The blindfolded hero moved first.
He vanished — reappearing behind Rei in an instant, blade already descending.
Rei caught it barehanded.
The impact shattered the ground.
"I won't kill you," Rei said quietly. "Not like this."
Black energy surged from his grip, flowing into the hero rather than cutting him down.
The hero screamed.
Fragments of memory burst outward — laughter, fear, choice.
[WARNING: HERO UNIT DESYNCHRONIZATION 12%]
The knight staggered back. "What… is this…?"
The System screamed.
[ERROR: CONTROL FEEDBACK LOOP.]
[Administrator Attention Required.]
Rei raised his eyes to the sky.
"So this is your answer," he murmured. "Turning people into weapons."
He tightened his grip.
"Then I'll do what you can't."
Aria stared at him. "Rei… what are you doing?"
He didn't look back.
"I'm giving them back what you stole."
The sky cracked.
And for the first time, the System realized the truth:
Prototype 00 wasn't just resisting control.
He was undoing it.