Morning came slow.
For the first time in what felt like centuries, the sun rose without interference. No resets. No echoes. No loops.
Just light.
I woke on the cracked floor of what used to be the vault. Dust floated through shafts of sunlight bleeding in through broken concrete. The Core's hum was gone—replaced by the fragile quiet of a world relearning how to breathe.
Beside me, Airi's body lay still.
I reached out with shaking hands and brushed the ash from her face. Her skin was cold, but peaceful. She looked like she was dreaming—maybe of a world where none of this had ever happened. Where we were just two students running late for class, laughing under the rain.
My heart ached in a way no wound could match.Revenge had driven me this far. But love had finished what hatred could not.
A faint crackle sounded in my earpiece—Ren's voice, faint but alive."Ryo... are you there?"
"I'm here," I said, my voice hollow.
"The collapse stabilized," he murmured. "All memory loops—wiped. The seed's gone. You did it."
"We did it," I corrected. "But Airi—" My throat closed around her name. "She didn't make it."
There was a long silence. Then Ren spoke, softer than I'd ever heard him."She knew that was the price. She made her peace with it before you even stepped inside."
I stared at the lifeless cube shards in my palm—the same ones that had once pulsed with her heartbeat. "She didn't deserve this."
"Neither of you did," Ren said. "But because of you, the world just woke up from its nightmare. People will start to remember the days that never were. They'll think it was all a dream. But you'll know."
"Yeah," I whispered. "I'll know."
Ren sighed. "You can't stay there. The building's unstable. Get out before it buries you."
I looked at Airi one last time. "I'm not leaving her here."
I lifted her into my arms. She felt weightless. The light caught her hair in a way that made her look alive again. Together, we climbed through the ruined corridors, past dead screens and twisted metal, until the cold night air kissed my face.
Outside, the city stretched endlessly beneath a dawn I had never seen before. The sky wasn't red or electric blue—it was soft, gold, almost fragile. For the first time, it looked human.
I carried her to the river—the same one where I'd once died. The water was still, reflecting the sunrise like glass. I set her down at the edge, wrapped her in my jacket, and whispered, "You can rest now."
I sat there until the light swallowed the night.
Ren found me hours later. He looked broken—burned, bandaged, but breathing. He sat beside me without a word. The silence between us wasn't heavy. It was honest.
"So what now?" I asked.
He watched the horizon. "Now? We rebuild. But this time... without the machine. Without the lies."
I nodded slowly. "And me?"
He looked at me for a long time. "You could disappear. Start over. The world's forgetting the Cycle; you could, too."
I smiled bitterly. "I think I've had enough of starting over."
Ren's gaze softened. "Then live, Ryo. Not for revenge, not for the past. Live because she gave you that chance."
I closed my eyes. Her voice echoed faintly in my head—soft, warm, real.'Promise me you'll keep living, even if I can't.'
The wind stirred, carrying the scent of rain. I stood, feeling the weight in my chest lift, just a little. "Yeah," I said quietly. "I'll live."
As the sun climbed higher, I turned from the river. The streets below were already waking—vendors opening shops, children running to school, people laughing as if the world had never been broken. Maybe it hadn't. Not anymore.
I walked until the river disappeared behind me.Every step forward felt lighter than the last.
And for the first time since I'd died, I wasn't haunted by the past.I was guided by it.
By her.
By Airi.
Epilogue
Weeks later, I found a small envelope in the ruins of the vault. It was sealed in plastic, marked with her handwriting.
"To Ryo, if the world survives."
Inside was a single note.
"If you're reading this, it means I did it. Don't blame yourself. We were both reborn for a reason—to end what should never have begun.So promise me one last thing.When you see the sunrise, don't think of me as gone. Think of me as part of it.—Airi."
I folded the letter and tucked it in my coat. Then I watched the sunrise again.
And this time, I smiled.