🌄 Dawn – Abandoned Rooftop, Sector 8
Ren opened his eyes.
His heart was on fire.
Not metaphorically — literally glowing from the inside out, like there was a thread of lightning stitched across his ribcage. He groaned and sat up, shirt damp with sweat.
"Still alive," he muttered. "Not… insane yet."
Kiyomi leaned on the rail nearby, watching the sun break through polluted clouds.
"You passed out mid-air. Zephyr caught you with a feather spell. Don't ask."
Ren blinked. "Where's Zephyr?"
"He's on the lower floor meditating," she said, cracking her neck. "Burned half his mana shielding us from your god-complex moment."
🧶 The Soul-Tether
Ren looked down at the pulsing white line across his chest.
It hummed softly.
Like a heartbeat.
Not his.
Kiyomi noticed. "Aya did that. Anchored you to keep the Gate from swallowing you."
Then, Ren heard it again.
Aya's voice. Soft. Close.
> "Renny… I'm okay."
He spun around. "Did you hear that?"
Kiyomi shook her head. "Hear what?"
> "You're linked to me now. But I don't think I'm the only one watching."
Ren stood still.
Chills.
📱 Back in the Real World – A New Threat
At the academy, classrooms were buzzing.
Everyone was whispering.
Phones buzzed with footage. Blurred. Distorted. But clear enough to see Ren's Mark.
> "Did you see the fight?"
"That was definitely him."
"He's like… a monster now."
One message stood out:
> From: Unknown Number
"Subject: Ren Kaido – Classified Threat Level 5B. Do not engage alone. Report sightings immediately."
Below it was a photo:
Ren. Unconscious. Being carried by Zephyr.
Someone h
ad leaked their location.
🍜 Jin's Shop – Uninvited Guest
Jin flipped a pancake over a burner, humming to himself.
Nathaniel sat across the counter, sipping miso soup like it was the last warm thing on Earth.
Then the bell rang.
And a man walked in.
Dressed in a school uniform. Calm. Clean. Too calm.
Jin didn't flinch. But his eyes changed.
> "You're not a student."
The man smiled.
> "No. But I've studied your kind."
He held out a small Rift crystal — pitch black.
> "Would you like to see what your nephew will become… if he opens the Sixth Gate?"
Nathaniel stood immediat
ely. Jin dropped the spatula.
🧠 Aya's Mind – Memory Loop Breaks
Back inside the Rift remnants, Aya stood in a mirrored hallway of her childhood bedroom.
But something was different now.
She touched the air — and it rippled.
> "The link works both ways now…"
She whispered:
> "Renny… can
you hear me?"
🌌 Ren's Mind – The Whisper Becomes a Vision
Ren sat alone, knees pulled up, on the rooftop.
Suddenly — the world dimmed.
And in front of him… Aya appeared. Half-transparent. Glowing softly.
He froze.
She stepped closer, tears glimmering in her eyes.
> "You found me…"
Ren reached out — but his hand passed through her.
> "I'm not fully back yet," she whispered. "But the more we sync… the more I can help."
> "And Ren… someone is coming for you."
> "He w
ears your school's face."
🕶 Who Is Watching?
Somewhere in Sector 1, a wall of screens flickered.
Ren's face. Zephyr's files. Aya's encrypted code signature. Kiyomi's sealed birth record.
And standing in front of it all — a figure in red.
The Watcher.
Wearing a teacher's uniform.
He smiled.
> "Let the prodigy play hero."
> "Let him try to save her."
> "By the time he realizes the truth…"
He tapped a control pad. The screens flashed white.
> "…he'll have opened
the Fifth Gate on his own."
End of Chapter 20
🧩 Secret Mechanic Revealed – The Tether
> Soul-Tether: A high-level Rift bond that links two individuals through shared energy threads.
🔹 Allows memory bleed
🔹 Can transmit emotion, sound, vision under stress
🔹 Breakable only by death or complete Gate Collapse
⚠ Side effect: Identity overlap, loss of self if not sta
bilized
🔥 Chapter 21 Teaser:
> Ren, Kiyomi, and Zephyr are ambushed on the run — by a new enemy who claims he knows Ren's original birth name. Meanwhile, Aya discovers the Rift's true goal: not to destroy the world… but to rewrite who controls it. And back at the academy, a sealed file labeled "Kaido Project" is unlocked.