The light slowly faded.
Arou, Airi, Lin, and Nora stood in the real world—alone.
There was no Rei.
No Shi, Hikari, or Lumina.
No Julian, Riel, Shion, Nova, Ruin, Feeth, Priscilla, Asther, Yui, Nano, or Chiyo.
The afternoon felt strangely quiet.
Arou looked around, holding his breath.
"So…"
"Only us came back."
Lin lowered her head.
"I'm sorry…"
"Because of my dream, your friends couldn't come back."
Arou slowly shook his head.
"It's okay."
"I'll find a way to bring them all back."
Nora folded her arms.
"Can you really do that?"
Arou fell silent for a moment.
"I don't know," he answered honestly.
"But one thing is certain…"
"I'll try."
Airi turned toward him.
"You're going to try?"
"Try what?"
Arou looked at her.
"To find a way to bring them back."
"Didn't you hear me?"
Airi fell silent for a moment.
"Oh…"
They looked around once again.
The world seemed normal.
Too normal—as if everything that had happened had merely been a dream.
Arou turned toward Lin.
"Lin…"
"Hmm?"
"Aren't you going home?"
Lin gave him a small smile.
"I want to…"
"But I'm lonely."
Nora immediately cut in.
"Then just stay at Arou's house."
"With us."
Lin looked surprised.
"Eh… is that really okay?"
Arou nodded.
"Sure."
"Thank you," Lin said softly.
"No need to thank me," Arou replied.
---
That Night
The sky was dark, and the house had grown quiet.
Lin stood hesitantly near the living room.
"Umm… Arou…"
Arou was playing a video game.
"Hmm? Yeah?"
"Where am I supposed to sleep?"
"Anywhere you want," Arou answered casually.
"There are plenty of rooms."
"You can sleep in Airi's room too."
Lin nodded.
"Alright… thank you."
"You don't have to thank me."
Lin hesitated for a moment.
"Aren't you going to sleep?"
"In a little while."
"Then… good night."
"Good night."
Lin walked toward Airi's room.
Inside, Airi was reading a novel.
"Airi…" Lin called softly.
Airi smiled.
"Just call me Airi, okay?"
"Uh… alright."
"Airi."
"What is it?"
"Can I sleep here?"
"Of course."
"But why don't you sleep alone?"
Lin lowered her head.
"I… I'm scared."
Airi chuckled softly.
"Alright, come here."
"Eh? Really?"
"Of course."
The two of them lay down and slowly fell asleep.
---
Meanwhile, Arou went to the kitchen to get something to drink.
As he stood in front of the refrigerator, he stopped.
A small white cat was sleeping soundly on the floor.
Arou stared at it.
"You really can sleep anywhere, can't you?"
He carefully picked up the cat and placed it on the sofa in the living room.
After that, Arou opened the refrigerator, took out a drink, and closed it again.
The house became quiet once more.
But beneath that peaceful silence—
a determination had already taken root.
Arou stared ahead.
They would come back.
No matter what it took.
---
Arou entered his room and immediately lay down.
It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.
---
Inside his dream—
Arou stood in the middle of a vast desert.
A hot breeze blew gently across the sand.
The desert stretched as far as the eye could see.
"What…?"
"Why am I in a desert?"
He began walking across the endless sand.
Not long after, he saw something in the distance.
A gigantic pyramid towered over the desert.
"A pyramid…?"
Arou approached it.
When he reached the structure, he carefully observed his surroundings.
Nothing seemed unusual.
It was simply too quiet.
Too peaceful.
His eyes turned toward the entrance of the pyramid.
The doorway resembled a row of enormous teeth, packed tightly together and giving the entire structure a terrifying appearance.
Suddenly—
A long tongue emerged from inside the doorway.
Arou froze in surprise.
---
He woke up gasping for breath.
Arou immediately looked around in panic.
His room.
But before he could calm down, the walls around him slowly began to fade.
Then they disappeared completely.
All that remained was Arou—
and an endless sea of stars.
He was now floating in outer space.
"What is this…?"
"I'm dreaming, right?"
"But… why am I in space?"
He pinched his own arm.
Pain shot through his body.
"This isn't a dream…?"
"Then… what is happening?"
Arou slowly stood up.
Strangely, despite being in the vacuum of space, his feet felt as though they were standing on solid ground.
As if an invisible floor existed beneath him.
"I… can walk here?"
In front of him, something familiar appeared.
Earth.
It looked incredibly small.
Arou looked around, his eyes widening.
He could see the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—
all of them looked tiny, as if he could hold them in the palm of his hand.
Beside Neptune, slightly farther away—
Pluto.
"So… Pluto left the solar system because it was too far away," Arou muttered.
He fell silent.
"Then… why am I here?"
One by one, the planets slowly disappeared.
Only Pluto remained.
"They're disappearing…?"
"But this one isn't?"
Arou pointed toward Pluto.
He stared at it carefully.
"Hmm…"
"This must be a clue."
"The reason I was brought here."
Suddenly—
Pluto shattered.
A burst of light exploded outward before disappearing into cosmic dust.
"What…?!"
At that moment—
several white, glowing figures appeared behind Arou.
There were dozens of them.
Tall.
Faceless.
Their forms resembled human beings.
They stood silently, surrounding him.
They were the Creators—
not gods, but the beings who created the rules.
One of them stepped forward.
Arou immediately felt an immense pressure.
They were demanding that he answer for his actions—
for disrupting the narrative that had been predetermined.
"Me…?"
Arou looked at them.
"Who are you?"
Their voices echoed together.
"We are the ones who created you."
"Created me…?"
"Then what are you going to do?"
"We will remove you from our narrative."
"And end everything we have created."
Arou smiled faintly.
"So…"
"You're the ones who created me."
He raised his head, his gaze calm but firm.
"Then…"
"I will oppose you."
The Creators fell silent.
"Why do you wish to fight us?"
"Because I believe," Arou answered,
"that you are not God."
"We are God," they replied.
"We created you."
Arou slowly shook his head.
"There is only one thing I believe."
"God is one."
"Not a group."
---
Arou stood face-to-face with the Creators.
The dozens of glowing white figures remained motionless.
There was no attack.
No sound.
Only their empty gazes—
as if they were judging Arou's very existence.
Suddenly, a voice echoed inside his mind.
Zata.
"Arou…"
"You're really going to oppose them?"
Arou didn't turn around.
"Yes."
"You're reckless," Zata said.
Arou let out a quiet breath.
"I'll stop these false gods."
Zata remained silent for a moment.
"They aren't entities you can simply defeat."
"Relax," Arou replied calmly.
"I am the Anti-Rule."
"But that's exactly the problem," Zata answered.
"They are the ones who made you the Anti-Rule."
"They are the ones who wrote you."
Arou smiled faintly.
"So what?"
"Are you afraid?"
"The Zata I know is always confident."
"But you're different now."
"Would you lose if you fought them?"
Zata answered in a flat voice.
"No."
"If I fought those Creators, I would have already won without needing to fight."
"Then…"
Arou looked forward.
"Why are you hesitating?"
"Because this is no longer the narrative it once was," Zata replied quietly.
"I'm starting to worry."
"They could twist your entire existence."
Arou raised his head.
"Don't worry."
"I'll prove it."
Arou's expression hardened.
"I, Zao…"
"Will erase beings like them from existence."
Zata remained silent for a long time.
Then he let out a small sigh.
"Seriously…"
"Do whatever you want."
Silence once again filled the cosmic space.
The Creators remained standing before Arou.
And for the first time—
Arou stepped forward.
He was no longer running from the narrative.
He was walking toward its creators.