The academy was quiet.
Too quiet.
Not the peaceful kind—the kind that feels staged.
Kai sat on the rooftop, eyes fixed on the horizon. The sky was clear, the air calm… yet something felt off.
Like the world was breathing out of sync.
Nyari leaned beside him, resting her head lightly on his shoulder.
"You're doing it again," she said softly.
Kai frowned."Doing what?"
"Thinking too much."
Kai exhaled.
"Doesn't it feel strange to you?"
Nyari tilted her head."Strange how?"
Kai hesitated.
"…Like everything is… perfect."
Nyari smiled."Isn't that a good thing?"
Kai didn't answer.
Because it wasn't.
Later that day, while walking through the academy halls, Kai stopped mid-step.
A student passed through him.
Not bumped.
Not brushed.
Passed through.
Like a ghost.
Kai's pupils shrank.
"…What?"
He turned back—
The student was gone.
No footsteps.No presence.Nothing.
Jinwi spoke instantly:
"Anomaly detected."
Kai's voice dropped.
— You saw that?
"I do not 'see.'I analyze."
Pause.
"…And that was not normal."
That night, Kai couldn't sleep.
So he didn't try.
He walked.
Through empty halls.Silent corridors.A world that felt… hollow.
Then—
He saw it.
The sky.
That thin line from before…
Was back.
But now—
It was wider.
Deeper.
And pulsing.
Like something behind it was trying to break through.
Jinwi whispered:
"…Kashikari."
Kai's eyes darkened.
— Yeah?
"This world…"
Pause.
"…is not stable."
Kai clenched his fist.
— Say it properly.
Jinwi answered, colder than ever:
"This world… may not be real."
Silence.
Then Kai looked up at the crack again.
And for the first time since the war—
He felt fear.