When Mio woke up, the pain was still there.
Rather than the tearing pain she had experienced in her dream, it was a more real, persistent dull ache.
It felt as if something was gently tapping at her sense of existence along her nerves.
She didn't get up immediately.
Instead, she stared at the ceiling and counted her breaths.
By the third breath, the pain had stabilised at a level that wouldn't worsen.
This meant one thing: the world had completed its correction.
In other words, the failed outcomes she had blocked out yesterday had been redistributed.
Mio sat up.
The terminal on the table was lit, as if waiting for her.
She didn't open the prophecy module,
Instead, she accessed the dream intervention layer directly.
This layer was greyed out to begin with.
Access level: Sealed.
Note: Do not guide key targets.
Mio stared at that line of text for a long time.
Before yesterday, she would have hesitated.
But not today.
Li had already seen it.
Once he realised that 'someone was bearing the burden for him', remaining silent and merely watching became another form of cruelty.
Mio pressed the confirmation button.
The terminal emitted a very soft beep.
There was no warning, no obstruction.
It was as if the whole world was watching her, waiting to see how far she would go.
Mio closed her eyes.
This time, she didn't look to the future.
She chose to reverse her location.
She was searching for the only node that hadn't been completely erased by the world.
Deep within the dream, Li's consciousness was clearly visible.
Unlike ordinary people, who float,
, her consciousness was firmly anchored in a position that belonged to neither dream nor reality.
For the first time, Mio did not stand before the crack.
She stood beside him.
She didn't touch him, nor did she shield him.
She simply left a trace.
Li's dream was a familiar corridor.
The lighting was dim and the length of the corridor was asymmetrical, as if its proportions had been altered repeatedly.
Mio walked to the wall.
When Mio woke up, the pain was still there.
Rather than the tearing pain she had experienced in her dream, it was a more real, persistent dull ache.
It felt as if something was gently tapping at her sense of existence along her nerves.
She didn't get up immediately.
Instead, she stared at the ceiling and counted her breaths.
By the third time, the pain had stabilised within a certain range.
She knew she couldn't give a direct answer.
The world wouldn't allow it.
Such guidance would be corrected immediately.
So she chose another way.
'Let him discover it for himself.'
Mio raised her hand and traced a light line on the wall.
There were no words or patterns.
Only a brief blank space remained.
This small section of the wall defied the logic of the dream.
Li's footsteps sounded quickly.
He stopped in front of the blank space.
Mio didn't turn around.
She knew he would notice.
'Here...'
Li reached out, but stopped just before touching it.
This wasn't hesitation.
It was instinct.
He felt it.
That same sense of incongruity as the blank space.
Mio finally spoke.
Not an explanation,
just a very soft sentence:
'You've already seen places like this.'
The dream trembled slightly.
The rules were trying to intervene.
Mio immediately took a step back to minimise her presence.
She couldn't say anything more.
But it was enough.
Li's breathing visibly skipped a beat.
He muttered to himself, 'The piece that was dug out... inside the academy.'
The blank space began to expand on its own.
This wasn't something she could control.
He was filling in the gaps in the logic. Mio stood at a distance, watching the scene unfold.
A new pain shot through her chest.
This wasn't punishment,
but confirmation.
The world had realised what she had done.
Her dream was beginning to crumble.
Mio knew her time was up.
In the last moment before her consciousness faded, she added one final detail.
It wasn't a visual image,
, but a sense of direction.
It was as if an invisible compass had been placed in his heart, pointing towards the 'core of the blank space'.
That was enough.
One more second and she would have been taken away on the spot.
Mio's consciousness rapidly withdrew.
The terminal screen went black.
The room returned to silence.
Mio leaned back in her chair, her breathing slowing.
The pain had clearly intensified.
But she didn't regret it.
This was the first time she hadn't been shielding Rei from the world.
Instead, she was handing the choice to him.
At the same time, Li opened his eyes in his dream and realised something very clearly for the first time.
Someone was showing him the way.It's clear that this is not the path the world wants him to take.
Li was called away at night.
It wasn't a notification or an order.
It was a 'convenient' offer that was hard to refuse.
The message only appeared for a second.
There was no record of it on the terminal and the log was blank.
Like that road, it was meant to exist.
The Night Walker Club's activity area was located in the deepest part of the old school district and was marked on the map as 'Under Maintenance | Closed'.
In reality, this meant that this area wasn't under the jurisdiction of any department.
The lights were brighter than expected.
They weren't white, but a warm, old-fashioned hue, as if deliberately designed to lower one's guard.
The moment Li stepped into the hall, she realised that something was wrong.
It was too quiet.
Not because there was no one there, but because all sounds had been 'modified'.
Footsteps were muted and breathing was subdued.
Even her heartbeat seemed to have its rhythm adjusted.
'Don't be nervous.'
The voice came from ahead.
It wasn't an announcement over a loudspeaker.
It was that feeling where you couldn't see the person, but you knew they were there.
Li stopped.
The seating area ahead slowly lit up.
Only one seat was occupied.
The occupant sat casually with one leg propped on the armrest, twirling an old-fashioned school badge in his hand.
The Night Stalker Club emblem.
It had a black background with white lines, resembling a bird with its eyes wiped off.
"Nice to meet you," said the man, looking up. His smile was not sharp. "I'm the leader of the Night Stalker Club."
He had no name.
None were needed.
Li didn't sit down.
He stood there, looking at the other man.
'You knew I'd come,' he said.
The leader nodded.
'You're already standing on the edge of the empty area,' he said casually. 'If you took another step forward, it would be strange if we didn't see you.'
Li's gaze fell on the school badge.
'You've always known about that place?'
'Of course,' the leader shrugged. 'It's just that before, it wasn't your business.'
The moment those words left his lips, Li understood.
The chessboard had indeed flipped, but not because he had discovered the secret; the secret had drawn him into the game.
The leader finally sat up straight.
The lighting adjusted slightly.
The focus of the entire space was precisely locked between the two of them.
'You should have realised something lately,' the leader said. 'Some rules in the academy aren't for maintaining order.'
Li didn't reply.
The leader continued:
'They're for covering up who's making the move.'
These words landed precisely on the loosened spot in Li's heart like a stone.
'White Crow,' Li said directly.
The leader paused.
Very briefly,
So briefly that Li wouldn't have noticed unless he had been watching closely.
'Looks like you're moving faster than I thought,' the leader sighed. 'That guy really couldn't resist.'
"What is he?" Li asked.
'He used to be a variable; now he's a remnant,' the leader replied.
He looked up, his tone serious for the first time.
"And you are currently the only exception who can still be allowed to exist."
Li's fingers tightened slightly.
'Permission?'
The leader smiled.
'Don't misunderstand; it's not that we permitted it.' He pointed upwards, not to the ceiling but in a more abstract direction.
'It's the world.'
The air seemed to press down for a moment.
It was as if an invisible weight were falling from above.
Li suddenly understood.
What Mio had blocked wasn't just the accident.
It was this pressure.
'What do you want me to do?' he asked.
The leader stood up.
At that moment, the entire nightclub seemed to enter standby mode automatically.
'It's not what you want,' he said, 'but what you're already doing.'
He took a step closer and placed the school badge on the table.
His voice was soft,
but it exploded in Li's ears:
'Go to the core of the Blank Zone and find the "Source" before the world decides to rewrite you.'
The leader stepped back.
The lights began to go out one by one.
'The Night Watch won't help you, nor will it stop you.' His voice echoed in the darkness.
'But remember,' he continued, 'when you truly see what's there, you'll understand why someone had to shield you.'
Before the last light went out, the leader left with his final words:
'Then you'll have to decide whether to continue being a pawn or take my place.' Darkness descended. The terminal returned to normal. Li stood there motionless for a long time.
He finally realised one thing:
Mio hadn't pushed him into the abyss.
She had merely taken him to the centre of the chessboard beforehand.