The memory shattered once again.
Fragments of darkness scattered endlessly throughout the abyss while Rio remained frozen amidst the void.
Questions flooded his mind endlessly.
Why did Rio become a Retainer?
Who—or what—was that Sovereign?
And how had Rio Valen even reached such a being?
Yet before he could grasp an answer—
the world shifted once more.
Then—
Rio's pupils constricted violently.
"…T-This…"
"…This is Earth?"
A dimly lit room unfolded before him.
A boy sat silently before a desk cluttered with countless books, mock papers, and examination sheets.
Brown hair.
Tired eyes.
A familiar face.
The boy studied desperately beneath the pale glow of a desk lamp while trembling fingers flipped through pages endlessly.
Then—
the whispers began.
Disappointment.
Rio's body froze.
Failure.
The abyss itself seemed to murmur those words directly into his skull.
Expectation.
He suddenly fell to his knees while clutching his head painfully.
"Ngh—!"
The pressure felt unbearable.
Not physical.
Emotional.
The memory shifted.
The brown-haired boy now stood before two figures.
A man.
And a woman.
Their faces carried only exhaustion.
Only anger.
"How is this even possible, Rio?"
The woman's voice trembled furiously.
"All your friends have already entered proper colleges."
"And you?"
"You've brought nothing but failure after failure."
SLAP.
The boy's head snapped sideways violently.
"Get out!!"
Silence followed.
Then—
"…Yes, ma'am."
Rio's eyes widened slowly.
Recognition struck him instantly.
This was not Rio Valen.
This—
was himself.
This was Rio from Earth.
The original world.
The memory shifted once more.
The brown-haired Rio silently entered his room before closing the door behind him.
Slowly—
he pulled a chair toward the center of the room.
Then—
a rope.
Rio's breathing stopped.
"…No…"
The brown-haired boy climbed onto the chair silently before tying the rope carefully against a hook on the ceiling.
No hesitation remained within his eyes anymore.
Only emptiness.
The abyss whispered once more.
Expectation.
Failure.
Disappointment.
The boy placed the rope around his neck.
Then—
stepped forward.
CRACK.
Rio's pupils trembled violently.
Even Reina.
Even Rio Valen.
In the end—
perhaps all of them carried the same wounds.
The same despair.
The same crushing weight of expectation.
The abyss shifted gently.
Then—
two figures stood before him.
One possessed silver hair and scarred crimson eyes.
The other—
brown hair and exhausted hollow pupils.
Rio Valen.
And Rio from Earth.
Both stood side by side within the endless darkness.
Then—
the brown-haired Rio laughed softly.
A bitter laugh.
"…I see."
"So I created a lie for myself."
His tired eyes slowly turned toward the abyss.
"I never suddenly transmigrated into another world."
"…I killed myself."
Silence consumed everything.
Then—
he slowly looked toward the silver-haired Rio beside him.
Unlike me…
"You still had the will to continue."
"Even if you walked the wrong path."
"I suppose…"
The brown-haired Rio laughed weakly.
"…we were both pathetic in our own ways."
Silence followed.
Then—
the silver-haired Rio slowly turned his scarred eyes toward him.
And suddenly—
their memories began flowing together.
Intertwining.
Blending endlessly throughout the abyss.
The brown-haired Rio's past surfaced first.
He had not grown beside loving parents.
No—
they had died long ago.
The child had instead been adopted into his aunt's household.
A home that had never once truly accepted him.
To them—
he was not family.
Only labor.
Only burden.
Only expectation.
Days became years.
Years became suffering.
Abuse arrived endlessly regardless of whether he was five years old—
or fifteen.
The memory shifted.
A child stood trembling while holding an exam paper tightly.
90/100.
The aunt's expression distorted instantly.
"Only ninety?"
The child trembled violently.
"I-I'm sorry—"
Then—
blood splattered across the floor.
The child screamed.
His fingers had been cut apart merely for failing to achieve perfection.
The abyss trembled softly.
The child later sat alone beside a window while gazing silently outside.
Children laughed happily while walking home beside their parents beneath the evening sun.
Warmth.
Love.
Normalcy.
Things he had never truly possessed.
The child slowly lowered his head.
Why was life so cruel?
Then—
the memories shifted once more.
This time—
they belonged to Rio Valen.
The moment his D-Rank talent and affinityless body had been revealed to the world—
his life had shattered completely.
Abuse followed immediately afterward.
Not only from servants.
Not only from strangers.
But from his own bloodline.
The maids mocked him openly.
The nobles ridiculed him endlessly.
Even Lucivar and Helena no longer bothered acknowledging his existence.
Yet perhaps the most painful of all—
was Lucinda.
Another memory surfaced.
Little Rio sat silently within a filthy broken room hidden deep within the Valen estate.
The heir of the Valen Family—
forced to live somewhere worse than servant quarters.
The walls carried mold.
The blankets smelled rotten.
The room barely resembled somewhere fit for human life.
Then—
the door opened.
A woman entered.
A maid.
In her hands rested a small pot containing foul-smelling food.
"Eat, brat."
SLAP.
His head snapped sideways instantly.
The contents were dumped before him carelessly.
It looked rotten.
Poisonous.
At this point—
Rio himself no longer knew.
Days passed.
Months passed.
No one from his family ever once visited him.
Not once.
The memory shifted again.
Little Rio carefully walked through the main halls of the Valen estate one day.
His eyes widened slightly.
Lucinda stood there speaking with several noble children.
For a brief moment—
hope surfaced within his expression.
"S-Sis—"
Lucinda slowly turned toward him.
And those eyes—
those cold amethyst eyes identical to Helena's—
filled themselves with disgust instantly.
"Get out."
...
At last—
Rio finally understood.
Rio.
And Rio Valen.
Neither of them had stolen the other's life.
Neither of them had been a mere replacement.
Both of them—
were the same existence.
Two shattered souls born within different worlds.
Both abandoned.
Both crushed beneath expectation.
Both drowning endlessly within misery.
One suffered beneath the cruelty of Earth.
The other beneath the cruelty of Aetherion.
Yet in the end—
their pain had always been identical.
Silence filled the abyss.
Rio slowly raised his head toward the silver-haired boy before him.
And the silver-haired Rio gazed back.
Then—
for the very first time—
he smiled.
Not the hollow smile from before.
Not the empty expression forged from despair.
But a broken smile filled with quiet warmth.
"…Thank you."
Rio froze slightly.
Thankful?
For what?
He did not know.
Perhaps—
it no longer mattered.
Because at that very moment—
Rio had finally discovered something he had spent both lifetimes searching for endlessly.
Happiness.
Not power.
Not revenge.
Not acknowledgment.
Just—
happiness.
The abyss around them slowly began crumbling apart.
Fragments of darkness shattered endlessly like glass drifting throughout the void.
Yet strangely—
it looked beautiful.
Rio smiled softly while gazing at the collapsing realm around him.
Then—
the familiar screen appeared once more.
[Synchronization: 50%]
...
Rio slowly opened his eyes.
Bright light assaulted his vision instantly.
A dull ache spread across his entire body as though every bone had been shattered and forcefully stitched back together.
"…Tch…"
He slowly pushed himself upright while holding his forehead weakly.
The white walls.
The smell of medicine.
The soft curtains fluttering beside the window.
A familiar place.
A weak laugh escaped him.
"…Looks like I'm back in the academy infirmary."
Soon—
he noticed a small maid standing nearby.
The timid girl stared at him with widened eyes before immediately panicking.
"H-H-He's awake!"
Her voice echoed throughout the infirmary.
Then chaos followed.
The door burst open instantly.
Silver entered first.
Behind him came Elena, Leon, Ogram, Aurelia, Samuel, Yelena, Reinheart, and several others.
Voices overlapped immediately.
"Rio!"
"You idiot!"
"You actually survived…"
"How are your injuries?"
"Can you move?"
Concern.
Relief.
Disbelief.
For a brief moment Rio simply stared at all of them silently.
Then—
his eyes shifted slightly toward the side of his bed.
A girl with soft pink hair slept peacefully while sitting beside him.
Alyssa Croft.
Her small head rested against the bed while she quietly breathed in her sleep.
Rio blinked slowly.
"…Huh."
The room remained noisy..
Leon looked like he wanted to insult him and punch him at the same time.
Even Silver silently exhaled while lowering his shoulders slightly.
Aurelia simply stood there quietly, but i could feel the wave of concern.
Watching him.
Rio slowly closed his eyes once more.
Then—
within the quiet darkness behind his eyelids—
he spoke silently..
Rio.
This time…
I'll make sure you always have a reason to smile.