The night stretched endlessly, a vast canvas of ink-black sky speckled with distant, glimmering stars—a silent witness to the stillness below. The nocturnal world whispered around him, the occasional—Whoo-Hoo—of an owl punctuating the quiet.
Kyorin sat cross-legged in his room, his silhouette outlined against the dim glow of the crescent moon.
The hush of the world was absolute, save for the faint hum of the floating mechanical wonder, DEVA, and the distant murmur of the frigid wind.
His breathing was deep, measured, each inhale and exhale a steady rhythm. His hands shifted fluidly through mudras as time slipped past him.
The air pulsed. Resonance stirred, attuning to his frequency, flowing in sync with his breath. With a final exhale, his meditation ended, yet his heart remained heavy.
Again, that same constipated expression.
Though he had long since grown accustomed to letting his emotions flicker across his face in solitude, he quickly donned the mask of indifference.
"Is something bothering you?" DEVA's voice cut through the silence, her form hovering slightly closer.
Kyorin's gaze remained distant. "I'm just pondering myself," he murmured.
"Self?" DEVA echoed, circuits buzzing with inquiry.
He sighed. "I wonder if I am still the Dan Kyorin who once stood against the Dao."
The memories surfaced like specters, only to dissipate just as swiftly. Fleeting. Elusive. Gone.
"You may have memories," DEVA replied, her tone clinical yet precise, "but right now, you are a Resonator."
A present-focused answer. It grounded him, and he nodded. "Indeed." A dry chuckle escaped him, though bitterness lingered in its wake.
"A lot has changed," he admitted, his gaze drifting toward the moonlit window. 'My methods of cultivating power have changed. My perception of beliefs, of truths, of things I once held sacred—have changed. Even my desires have changed.'
His expression darkened, torn between acceptance and resistance.
Were these so-called changes good?
A man who once lived by unwavering convictions now faced an entirely different perspective, forcing him to confront the question:
'Was he still himself?'
Noticing Kyorin's prolonged silence and the weight of his ponderings, DEVA decided to shift the subject.
"Resonator, may I inquire about something?" Her mechanical voice cut through the stillness.
Kyorin exhaled, dragging himself out of his thoughts. "Ask away," he said, and then frowned slightly, finding it strange—even for himself. He was never one to focus on other matters before finishing what had already consumed his mind.
Perhaps even his senses were trying to pull him away from his self-reflection about self.
"Tch."
He inwardly clicked his tongue, annoyed by his own distraction, but the feeling dissipated quickly as he turned his attention to DEVA.
"What was that strange power that flowed from you during your fight today?" she asked, her tone carrying the crisp precision of machine logic.
Kyorin raised a brow. "Wasn't it just Resonance Energy?"
DEVA gave a small oscillation, shaking her spherical form in denial. "No. RE doesn't produce that kind of energy, at least not in that manner."
Her certainty intrigued him. "What did you experience?"
"A natural force coated me—something distinct from RE. It provided a slight enhancement." She blurted the best possible description she could.
Kyorin frowned. "I didn't feel anything other than Resonance Energy. Are you sure it wasn't just your imagination?"
"I do not imagine things," DEVA said firmly. "I am certain of my analysis."
He hummed in thought, considering. Then, an idea.
"Turn into your scythe form for a moment," he instructed.
DEVA complied, her shape elongating, restructuring, until she took the form of a massive scythe, three times his height. Kyorin gripped the handle and performed a simple, basic swing.
"There. I felt it again," DEVA confirmed.
Intrigued, Kyorin repeated the motion. Swing after swing, his movements remained precise, controlled—until realization struck him.
'Strange. What is this linkage?' He wondered as he felt a foreign connection.
He released DEVA, allowing her to return to her spherical form, before sitting cross-legged once more. The moment he closed his eyes, something pulled at his consciousness.
A pond? No, a puddle as the land felt like its was drought-struck.
It emanated a red hue, an eerie glow that pulsed in the void of his perception.
His awareness drifted toward it, drawn deeper into its depths. At first glance, it was unremarkable—a still body of water, its surface mirroring the celestial expanse above.
Yet, the moment he reached out to touch it, a ripple coursed through his consciousness, forcing him back.
When he came to, he wasn't empty-handed.
A single droplet clung to the tip of his finger.
DEVA hovered closer, analyzing the drop with keen interest. "May I examine it further?"
Kyorin glanced at her. "You can do that?"
"I can analyze nearly anything," she stated.
Nodding, Kyorin extended his hand toward her. DEVA collected the sample and immediately activated her internal diagnostic systems.
"How long will it take?" Kyorin asked.
"With conventional equipment? Two weeks. With my processing capabilities?" She paused. "Twenty seconds."
Kyorin raised a brow, mildly impressed.
Skill: Haste Processing.
Using her rapid processing, DEVA initiated a full-scale analysis: Microscopic Examination, Chemical Analysis, Genetic Sequencing, and Isotope Analysis.
A short while later, her sensors pulsed with an alert.
"Whoa," she murmured, a rare slip of excitement in her otherwise machine-like tone.
"Something interesting?" Kyorin asked.
"Very," DEVA responded, before elaborating. "This feels like the primordial soup."
Kyorin narrowed his eyes. "Primordial soup?"
"Don't mistake my words for an actual soup," DEVA clarified, her spherical form bobbing in the air with an unusual energy. A faint, almost imperceptible hum emanated from her core, a telltale sign of heightened activity.
She whirred in a quick spin before continuing, "The term refers to the hypothetical conditions present on Sol III—Earth—billions of years ago."
Her body pulsed lightly, a rhythmic flicker of luminescence coursing along her metallic frame as she explained, "It is a key component of the heterotrophic theory regarding the origin of life."
DEVA dipped slightly, almost as if mimicking a scholar leaning forward in excitement.
"The theory suggests that a mixture of organic compounds in the early oceans may have given rise to life," she went on, her voice carrying an uncharacteristic enthusiasm.
Then, with an abrupt oscillation, she spun again, her panels shifting with a click. "And! This process could have been triggered by an external energy source—like a lightning strike or ultraviolet radiation!"
She practically buzzed in place, as if the revelation itself sent a current of exhilaration through her circuits.
She then paused, her circuits whirring in contemplation.
"This sample… it resembles that description almost perfectly." She stated, finding this simple drop of water very interesting. "It is also super charged with the lightning and UV radiations in it."
A discovery of monumental scale.
Yet, despite the significance of the revelation, Kyorin merely sighed.
Fascinating, yes.
But for now, it was nothing more than knowledge. A tool not yet within his grasp.
He turned toward the outside world, where darkness reigned supreme, an unbroken shroud stretching across the horizon.
With a quiet sigh, he resigned himself to the growing slumber.
'Tomorrow will be a long day. Might as well get some rest.' The thought settled in his mind as he shifted onto his futon, eyes closing with the weight of exhaustion.
Meanwhile, DEVA remained utterly flabbergasted, her core flickering erratically in disbelief.
'Seriously?!' she thought, circuits buzzing with sheer incredulity.
Kyorin had just brushed aside what could very well be a revelation of cosmic proportions—as if it were nothing more than a passing breeze.
She huffed, the low mechanical hum of her body carrying an edge of irritation.
'Humph! One day, you'll realize what you're missing.' A final disgruntled whir echoed in the quiet room before she hovered over to the table, her form dimming as she entered power-saving mode.
Silence settled. Only the wind remained, whispering through the night.
The following day, stillness was highlighted by the high unforgiving sun and wandering—yes, wandering as Changli wandered the streets of Hongzhen.
Her salmon-pink hair clung to her skin, her ragged clothes doing little to shield her from exhaustion and hunger.
She licked her dry lips, recalling her teacher's words—she could only eat if someone offered. But what was the lesson in this?
Her stomach twisted as she passed sizzling meat, steaming buns, and the sharp tang of pickled vegetables. Each scent taunted her, yet the bustling crowd paid her no mind.
Reaching a shaded alley, she sank onto the cool stone, arms wrapped around herself. Was this about endurance? Or something deeper she had yet to understand?
The sun blazed, the streets carried on, and Changli, caught between pride and need, waited. The world around her blurred, sounds fading into incoherent murmurs as the edges of her vision darkened.
"This."
"Have this."
"Here, take it."
Her breath hitched. A hand extended toward her, offering a Jeon pancake. Tears welled in her eyes at the unexpected kindness—until she saw the giver's face.
Her expression twisted in revulsion, disbelief snapping her out of her haze.
" Pervert?! You?!"
Kyorin sighed inwardly, already feeling a headache forming just from encountering this girl again.
To be continued...
--
A/N: You guys really like Purple, huh?
Well, alright. It seems like Vol 2 won't be that long, but Vol 3 will likely be the longest, possibly exceeding 50 chapters since it's a volume focused on growth.
The current progression looks more like this:
Vol 1 End – Confusion → Vol 2 – Confusion → Illusion of understanding → Shattering of that fragile understanding → Vol 2 End – A bit of a mental breakdown → State of disarray → Agony → Vol 3 End – Growth.
So yeah, no real character development until the end of Vol 3. Massive spoiler, btw.