The time was December 25th, 05:59 AM.
As the minute hand slowly moved to the very top, and the hour hand jumped to the very bottom, at the moment they formed a straight line.
An invisible wave swept across the entire world. Changes that humans could not observe were occurring.
In the Yukinoshita family home.
As the female student was sound asleep in bed, suddenly, light shone in the quiet, dark bedroom.
First, it was the leftover materials for making a bracelet stored in a storage box.
Then, it was a notebook locked in a drawer, filled with diary-like content.
Even the computer screen automatically lit up, as if someone was controlling it remotely. Certain data and cloud drives were called up.
Next, the deletion process began.
Because they recorded facts that did not exist in this world, both the notebook and the data would be sent to another Dimension unknown to anyone, after being completely reset.
Not sent to a grave, not immediately expelled, but another Dimension from which they could never return to the real world.
Thus, the notebook became transparent. Beads and nylon threads transformed into specks of light. Documents in folders and cloud drives, as well as remaining search history, disappeared one by one, leaving no trace, giving no opportunity.
It was as if an invisible existence was trying to prove that this time, absolutely no one would be able to recover the memories!
"Don't..."
The young woman in bed seemed to sense something. Her previously peaceful sleeping face gradually became distorted. She hugged her body due to the cold. Her breathing felt constricted as if she was choking.
"Stop... I don't want to... I've already sworn... I won't forget again..."
She struggled in a nightmare, fighting unconsciously. Although she couldn't wake up or realize everything that was happening at this moment.
She was still muttering. Her tiny body under the blanket tensed. Her fingers clutched the bedsheet tightly, like a child holding onto their most precious treasure and refusing to let go. Her fingertips turned white and trembled.
Nevertheless, the changes would not stop for her.
Things that shouldn't exist in this world, without any external interference, had made the final decision to completely disappear.
However, the next moment—
Completely different from the light symbolizing deletion and forgetting, like the sky after fresh snow melts, a warm ray of sunlight shone through.
Without any warning, a Golden Spherical Ball of Light appeared in the middle of the room, dispelling all shadows, and enveloping its surroundings in a bright and warm domain.
It hovered in the air, silently confronting the computer screen that had suddenly stopped deleting, like a student caught playing on their phone in class. An indescribable awkward atmosphere froze the air.
Just like the wave that swept across the world, the existence called the Ball of Light stood outside the timeline. The phenomena it caused would not be observed by ordinary humans, and it possessed the miraculous power to change the world.
Only the brilliant light it emitted made the female student in bed gradually relax her tensed body, like a green snake hibernating in its nest. The expression of struggle and pain disappeared. Her breathing returned to stable and relieved. She slept soundly.
The clock hands still stopped exactly at 6 AM, and the whole world was silent at this second, as if it would last forever.
Just as the Invisible Force stopped all progress, the Ball of Light did not react actively, only silently 'staring' at the semi-transparent notebook and beads, and the computer whose deletion bar had reached eighty percent.
The atmosphere was subtly tense, as if a great battle was about to break out.
Suddenly, as if testing.
Progress reached eighty-one percent.
The Ball of Light immediately shone brightly, like an enraged viper provoked and attacking. It shot a beam of light that seemed real, as if wanting to burn everything blocking its path.
Progress retreated to seventy-nine percent.
The beam of light suddenly stopped, less than a hair's breadth from the screen, like a knife placed at the throat.
Then, as the progress receded further, the beam of light gradually retracted back into the Ball of Light. Its brightly shining, fierce, and murderous appearance returned to being a gentle and peaceful little sun like before, after all the data files sent to the Other Dimension returned to the cloud drive and desktop.
The Ball of Light slightly changed direction. Although it had no eyes, or what could be called a front, a clearly much thicker light replaced a gaze, looking at the semi-transparent notebook in the drawer.
At this point, there was no longer any need to fight.
The Invisible Force retreated very honestly. All changes were like time rewinding, returning to the initial state where nothing had happened.
The computer did not turn on automatically. The notebook and bracelet remnants did not glow or become transparent. The female student in bed still hugged her blanket and slept soundly, mumbling indistinct dream words.
However, as if meeting the most beautiful thing in her dreams, the corner of her mouth lifted slightly, forming a happy and relieved smile.
And as the light disappeared.
The clock hands began to turn, and a new day arrived.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The same situation also occurred in two other places.
In the Yuuki family home.
Blue light illuminated the warmly styled bedroom. Thousands of murderous intentions transformed into a meteor shower of light, piercing without hesitation the Light Brown-haired girl in bed.
The light shower passed through the girl, through the bed, through the bedroom floor, but brought no injury or damage.
Only the Invisible Force attempting to envelop her floated to the ground like a punctured balloon, then slowly disappeared.
Soon after, the girl turned over.
In the room with closed curtains, quiet, and dark, she was having a beautiful dream from which she was reluctant to wake.
Luxury Apartment, Tenth Floor.
Summer Night Descended. Starlight transformed into a giant hand, slapping the Invisible Force that wanted to touch the notebook, and made a Roaring Tiger hand gesture with sparkling palms. The gesture opened and closed, with a very clear threatening intent.
The invisible existence, completely powerless against the Ball of Light, had not even completed one percent of its progress, miserably disappeared from the real world.
No one remembered, and no one could realize—that in this less-than-a-second pause, three silent wars occurred, and quickly ended.
The victor was the miracle accumulated from the past to the present.
What was protected was a strong belief that did not want to be lost, striving to expand into possible futures.
In a world where there was nothing.
Although the main subject had disappeared, the domain maintained by the Ball of Light did not weaken at all. The sky was still divided into four different parts.
And when they hung high in the sky again, they found that the newly appeared 'Snow Ball of Light,' which did not have enough power to 'come out,' had erected a Snow Tower Reaching to the Sky at the intersection point of the four domains.
Although there was no way to show emotions, it could be clearly felt that the 'Snow Ball of Light' was venting its dissatisfaction in its heart, seeing its appearance continuously strengthening the intensity of wind and snow, trying to make this snow tower pierce the sky and earth.
After all, what was pressed as the base of this giant ice tower was an old screen representing the system.
Observing the 'Snow Ball of Light' cruelly tormenting the system, the three Balls of Light silently communicated for a moment, and seemed to shake their spheres with a slight helplessness.
Then they enthusiastically joined. A colorful and magnificent melee, once again broke out in the boundless and barren world.
Meanwhile, Yuu had just woken up from her sleep, silently experiencing the subtle feeling of welcoming the fifth mission while maintaining her emotions.