The system's voice hung in the air like a knife whose sharp edge cut not the eyes
but the heart.
Two options flickered, casting a cold glow across Hana's face.
> YES
NO
The room did not move.
The room did not breathe.
Hana felt like she herself was on the verge of not existing.
The Great Ancestor stood right beside her, but somehow… he felt distant.
As if the system had created a gap
not of space, but of authority.
Hana swallowed.
"Bro… if I choose YES… what disappears first?"
"Consciousness… form… surface memories… the thing you call 'yourself.'"
"Oh. Cool. So I'm basically soft-resetting my life?"
"Hana."
His tone shifted.
Not harsh. Not forceful.
But there was a small fracture inside his voice
one he had never shown before.
"I don't want to choose this for you."
Hana looked at him.
For the first time, she realized:
The Great Ancestor could crush a city, rewind time, lock reality
but even he had no right to choose for the First Light.
And this…
was Hana's decision.
No entity, however grand, had the right to interfere.
Hana closed her eyes.
A Voice That Should Not Exist
Beyond the crack in the light, that voice returned.
Clearer.
More… familiar.
"Hana… I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Her skin prickled.
Not an enemy's voice.
Not a threat.
Not something trying to destroy her.
A voice that…
cared.
Or at least,
considered her important.
"Bro," Hana whispered, "who is that?"
"I don't know."
"Hah?! Bro, don't joke"
"I don't know," the Great Ancestor repeated, firmer this time.
"That's what makes it the most dangerous."
Hana opened her eyes.
The white glow of the YES/NO options reflected in her retinas.
Time Starts Cracking Literally
[WARNING]
Spatial stability: 6%
[WARNING]
Host cognitive drift detected.
[WARNING]
Unknown entity breaching second layer.
Hana felt her mind shift not physically, but as if her consciousness was being held from the outside, gently pulled.
"Bro! The room"
"I know," the Great Ancestor shouted.
The gray walls turned into fragments of Hana's memories:
her school hallway, the old fence of her childhood home, the yard where she used to run around.
But everything shattered.
Layer by layer, like glass sucked into a void.
"The system's using my memories?!"
"It's searching for you," the Great Ancestor answered.
"Or the part of you it wants."
"…Which part?"
"The Light."
Hana stared at the YES/NO symbol, breath heavy.
"Bro… if I choose NO?"
"The room collapses. We get dragged with the entity."
"And if I choose YES?"
"You may survive," he said quietly, "but… not as the Hana you know."
"Nice. So both options are hell."
"No," the Great Ancestor softened.
"Only one… leads home."
Hana clenched her jaw.
The Choice
The foreign voice returned.
"Hana… come home."
Hana closed her eyes.
And amid the chaos, she heard a small voice inside herself:
Whatever happens… I'm done running.
Her hand rose
shaking, its edges already fading, yet still moving.
YES and NO trembled, waiting.
"Hana!" the Great Ancestor called.
But she had already chosen.
Her fingers touched
> YES
The room exploded into shadowless light.
After the Point of No Return
Hana's body lifted from the floor like a rag doll.
No pain.
No weight.
More like…
The world's fabric itself was holding her.
The system screamed:
[FINAL PROTOCOL - ENGAGED]
Host baseline erasure: 18%
Soul-core ignition: 3%
First Light - ONLINE
The Great Ancestor staggered back three steps, shielding himself from the blinding radiance as if it were the sun at zero distance.
"HANA!!"
But Hana did not answer.
Her eyes opened
and for the first time in her life,
those pupils were not black.
Not brown.
Not human.
Pure light streamed through, like a sun disguised as a girl.
And from within the crack, the voice spoke again.
Clearer than ever.
"Welcome, First Light."
Hana whispered
with two overlapping voices.
"I remember you…"
The Great Ancestor froze.
Because those words were the beginning of something that must never happen
and yet
had already begun.