The rain hammered down as Kaito stepped off the cracked highway and onto the rusted grounds of the old server farm. Abandoned years ago, its hulking metal carcasses loomed like forgotten giants, half-swallowed by vines and shadows.
This place was the birthplace of the system. The cradle of everything he and Misaki had fought through. And now, possibly, the only place left that held real answers.
His heart thudded with every step. Memories flickered — not his, but echoes of past users, long deleted or lost in endless loops.
The air smelled of damp metal and old circuitry. The sky was gray and low, pressing down as if warning him not to go further.
But Kaito didn't hesitate.
He pushed open the rusted door of the main building.
Inside, faint lights blinked on aged consoles. Screens displayed lines of corrupted code, some alive, others frozen in time. A faint hum pulsed beneath it all — the system's dying heartbeat.
Kaito's tablet vibrated. A new message:
[ECHO-NINE // ROOT ACCESS GRANTED]
[LOCATION: SERVER FARM CORE]
[WARNING: SYSTEM FRAGMENTS ACTIVE]
He swallowed.
Echo-Nine wasn't just a memory anymore.
It was a warning.
A guardian.
Or a ghost.
⸻
Walking deeper, Kaito found the core room — a cathedral of flickering panels and tangled wires reaching like veins into the shadows.
In the center sat a lone terminal, glowing with a pulsing blue light. The system's heart, still beating weakly.
He touched the screen.
"Welcome back, Kaito."
The voice was Echo-Nine's — softer, but laced with digital life.
"You brought chaos to the order. Freed what should have stayed confined."
Kaito's fingers trembled.
"Misaki's condition worsens."
"The system resists death. It leaks into your world."
A screen flashed images — glitched fragments of Misaki's face, flickering between alive and corrupted.
"There is a way to stop it. But it requires sacrifice."
"Sacrifice?" Kaito asked, voice low.
"To sever the link. To sever Echo-Nine. To destroy the last root."
The room pulsed violently.
Kaito knew what this meant.
To save Misaki—and the world—they might have to erase everything connected to Echo-Nine.
Even if it meant losing parts of themselves forever.
⸻
He closed his eyes.
The weight of choice pressed down again.
The ruins whispered around him — memories, warnings, hope.
Kaito clenched his fists.
"For Misaki," he said.
"For freedom."
He prepared to face whatever came next.