The Psychic Incident Investigation Department's temporary cordoned-off area was swallowed by night, with only a few barrier lights flickering down the corridor. Kazama Rei stood before the door, listening to the low, breath-like vibrations emanating from behind it. He knew it wasn't the wind.
It was the 'Echo of Resentment' — the sound of a girl consumed by sin, leaving only fragments of her memory behind.
'Are you ready?'
Shintoji Hai, standing beside him, lifted her eyes, her voice steady as a blade.
'...I suppose so.' Kazama Rei took a deep breath.
Despite his words, his heart pounded as if it would burst from his chest.
Ayase Rika — the suspect in the case.
The perpetrator who had invoked forbidden spirit summoning, ultimately causing multiple injuries.
Her physical body had been moved to a secure ward, but the 'residual echoes' of her sin-corroded soul still lingered in this classroom.
Kazama Rei pressed his hand against the door and murmured, 'Her physical form is asleep, but the sin will try to pull you in. Kazama Rei, your eyes can see the 'truth', but that also means the truth will devour you."
"Got it."
Rei clenched the muscles near her right eye. Since the first 'trial', the oppressive sensation had felt as though it was embedded in her nerves, stinging every time she looked into the darkness.
The moment the door opened, the air seemed to shudder.
Cold, clammy, waterlogged darkness seeped in from all directions.
The classroom walls were corroded by black mist, melting before her eyes, while the shadows of the desks stretched out like twisted, elongated fingers.
In the centre, a figure in a school uniform knelt with their hair obscuring their face. They trembled as if trapped in some endless loop.
Jingūji Hai murmured a warning: 'She still retains a shred of humanity. You must enter her memory layer to observe and understand, and then render your judgment."
Kazama Rei's throat tightened. 'I understand.'
He took a step forward.
The shadow jerked its head up.
"Are you here to take me too?"
The girl's voice cracked and sounded inhumanly dry, yet her tone conveyed profound unease.
Rei crouched down, striving to soften his voice. 'Ayase Rika, I'm not here to take anything from you. I'm here to see your memories."
The shadow froze.
The next instant, it seemed as if the classroom floor had been pulled into an abyss and the entire world had flipped upside down.
Soul Realm: The Realm of Echoes
The scene before Rei faded to grey.
Rei stood in a rainy corridor, the sound of raindrops pelting the window echoing unnaturally. He saw a tiny Ayase Rika sitting on the floor, clutching a tattered spellbook.
Beside her stood two girls whose faces were devoid of features — mere hollows of light and shadow.
"You're messing with necromancy again? Gross."
'Is she trying to summon her mum? Lol, get real.'
Rika shivered, but didn't argue, merely clutching the notebook tighter.
A sharp pain stabbed Rei in the chest.
This wasn't mere bullying.
This was a child who had been driven to the edge and was clinging on to the last shred of hope through forbidden magic.
The next instant, the memory shifted.
The array that Rika had copied from the necromancy notebook glowed. She knelt amid blood and ashes, sobbing so violently that her whole body shook.
"Please... bring her back... just once..."
"Please..."
It wasn't madness.
It was pure, utter loneliness.
Rei reached out to touch the figure in her memory, but her hand passed right through.
'I just had no other choice.'
Rika's voice, torn with agony, flowed from all directions.
Suddenly, a black shadow erupted from behind her.
The sin manifested as a colossal demonic mask that lunged at Rei like a hound.
The Eye of Judgment has been activated.
Kazama Rei was forced back, narrowly avoiding the black mist's grasp several times. He dared not close his eyes, knowing that doing so would allow those memories to consume him.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp, agonising pain in his right eye, as if something were writhing beneath his skin.
The next instant, a golden engraving unfolded within his iris.
Like a chain unfurling across his vision, it bound the sinful spectre.
Simultaneously, the familiar whisper echoed in his ear:
'See.
The truth never lies.'
Rei shouted, 'Ayase Rika! You didn't want to hurt anyone! You just... it hurt too much!"
The shadow paused for a moment.
Rika's voice seeped from the depths: 'I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted someone to stay..."
The black mist began to shatter like glass pierced by a blade.
Rei reached out with all her strength and grasped the figure as it became transparent.
'I saw your sins, but I also saw your wish.
You're not a monster.
You were just abandoned.'
In that moment, the golden pattern of the Judgment Eye flashed.
This time, it was not the cold, cruel light of before, but a certain warmth that carried forgiveness.
The spectre shattered completely.
Rika collapsed to her knees, sobbing like a child who has just woken up.
'I'm sorry... I really didn't mean to..."
Rei replied softly, 'I know.'
The world began to crumble.
Back to reality!
When he opened his eyes, Rei found himself kneeling in the centre of a dilapidated classroom, drenched in cold sweat.
Not far away, Shinjuku Rei stood watching him silently.
'Kazama Rei, your "judgement" just now...'
For the first time, there was a hint of surprise in Rei's voice.
'You chose to pardon her.'
Rei wiped the sweat from his brow; his throat was too dry to speak. Yet he lifted his head.
'Because she... is still human.'
Shinkuji Hai stared at him for a long moment, as if reassessing the young man before him.
'Only those who can truly see "humanity" are worthy of wielding the power of the Judgment Eye.'
He slowly extended his hand.
'Kazama Rei, you have officially passed the trial.'
Rei froze.
Shinkuji Hai smiled faintly — a rare smile, pale as moonlight.
"Welcome to the Core. From now on, you won't just observe the truth...
You will safeguard the destiny of this academy.'
Rei took a deep breath, then grasped that hand.