The floor of the underground training chamber pulsed, ancient patterns glowing slowly like the breath of the earth waking from a long sleep. Pale blue light crept up the walls, into the air, onto Hana's skin searching for a place to enter.
The System appeared, its cold voice echoing:
> [TRAINING MODE: IDENTITY RESONANCE]
[RISK: 87%]
[WARNING: HOST MAY LOSE HUMAN IDENTITY]
Hana swallowed hard.
"Bro… that's the kind of number that makes sane people walk away, you know."
The Great Ancestor stood two meters away, both palms open releasing dark light swirling like living ink.
"You are not walking away," he said.
His tone was forged steel.
"You just refused Ensaria-Prime. Retreat is no longer an option."
Hana exhaled. "Yeah. But that 87% looks like… a failed midnight corporate audit rate."
"Focus, Hana."
Hana went silent.
The Great Ancestor pointed at the floor, its glow intensifying.
"This Resonance Training… will force two parts of you to speak. Not taking turns. But simultaneously."
Hana rolled her eyes. "Bro… talking with one voice already drains me. Now two?"
"Yes."
"Is this even legal?"
"No."
"…perfect."
The Great Ancestor stepped closer.
He raised his hand, forming a circle of light around Hana a ring that seemed to split the world into two layers of reality.
"Hana. Listen to me."
Hana nodded, though her knees trembled a little.
"I cannot help directly. If I go too deep, Ensaria-Prime can trace your resonance."
He paused. "You must do this alone."
Hana looked at him scared, but brave.
"So… I'm supposed to talk to… myself?"
"No."
The Great Ancestor looked straight into Hana's eyes.
"You must speak to the First Light within you. Not as a host… but as an equal."
Hana opened her mouth to argue
but the System cut her off:
> [RESONANCE STARTS IN: 3]
Light crawled up Hana's legs cold, but pulsing like a heartbeat.
> [2]
Hana shut her eyes, breath speeding up.
> [1]
The room went silent
a silence that thundered.
> [RESONANCE — ACTIVE]
The Meeting of Two Hanas
Dark.
Then not dark.
Hana stood in a place with no floor, no sky just a sea of light flowing like silver ink.
And in front of her…
the figure appeared.
Hana.
But not Hana.
The same face.
But those eyes were not human.
They glowed like a star being forced not to explode.
The figure smiled gently.
"At last," she said.
"You called me."
Hana swallowed.
"…You're the one from the cracks?"
"Yes."
The figure stepped forward. Each step broke the light into floating fragments.
"A part of you that was sealed. The First Light identity. The memory never delivered. The name never spoken."
Hana raised a trembling hand.
"Then… who exactly am I talking to?"
The figure looked at Hana with a strange warmth
like someone who had known Hana longer than her own lifetime.
"You're speaking with the version of you that should have been."
"The one Ensaria-Prime is waiting for."
"The one the Great Ancestor hid."
Hana clenched her fists.
"But I've chosen. I'm staying Hana."
The figure smiled.
"Yes. And that is why I'm here."
She reached her hand toward Hana.
"Because I… am not your enemy."
"I am part of you."
"But if you want to survive we must become one."
Hana froze.
"If I merge… do I disappear?"
The figure shook her head slowly, compassionately.
"No, Hana. You remain you."
"We simply become… complete."
Light pulsed in her hand.
"The world outside has 68 hours left. Ensaria-Prime is coming to take you."
"If we stay separate… he will win."
Hana closed her eyes.
Then whispered:
"…If we merge… do I still get choices?"
The figure smiled a smile identical to Hana's own when trying to stay strong.
"You forget," she said softly.
"You are the Second Light."
"You were born from choice."
She extended her hand closer.
"Choose again, Hana."
The whole space shuddered.
The System trembled.
The floor of the physical room cracked.
The Great Ancestor watched from outside the circle, worried yet proud.
"Hana… do this with your heart. Don't force it."
Hana opened her eyes.
Two versions of her stared at each other
like two notes waiting for which one would touch the air first.
Then…
Hana lifted her hand slowly.
And touched the hand of her light-self.
Light exploded.
The System screamed:
> [RESONANCE RISING]
27%… 34%… 41%…
[HUMAN IDENTITY: DISTURBED]
[LIGHT IDENTITY: MERGING]
The Great Ancestor shouted, "Hana! Remember who you are!"
Hana screamed from within the light two voices overlapping:
"I I'm Hana!"
The light surged.
50%.
58%.
65%.
Energy tore the floor apart, snapped wall joints, shattered the air.
The Great Ancestor held back the blast with both hands, voice heavy:
"DON'T LOSE YOUR CHOICE, HANA!"
67%.
70%.
72%.
Hana froze in the center of the light half human, half star.
And she said:
"I won't disappear. I won't become Ensaria-Prime. I won't become just a fragment of myself."
The light collapsed into her body.
> [IDENTITY: SYNCHRONIZED]
[RESONANCE: 78%]
[SECOND LIGHT MODE: RECOGNIZED]
The Great Ancestor staggered in shock.
Hana stood glowing, but still Hana.
Still human.
Still herself.
But different.
Greater.
Heavier.
More… complete.
And through the System, Ensaria-Prime spoke
from a place he should not reach:
"Hana… you truly chose to become something new."
The voice was soft.
But dangerous.
"In that case… I will come sooner."
The System trembled.
> [COUNTDOWN UPDATED]
[61:00:00]
Hana froze.
"…Bro?"
The Great Ancestor stared, pale.
"Hana… he moved his arrival forward."
Hana swallowed slowly, shaking, but steady.
"Good."
She took a deep breath.
"That means I have less time to be scared."
The light in her body pulsed
stronger than ever.
And this chapter closes with Hana's first step as something never seen before:
The Second Light.
An entity with its own will.
And one who will refuse to be taken
even if the world collapses.