The manifestation collapsed, its body crumbling into fine dust that burst outward and slammed into my face—dry, choking, bitter as it scraped across my tongue and teeth.
I coughed, harsh and uneven, dragging my sleeve across my face. My elbow was still bleeding, and the motion only smeared the blood further, warm and sticky as it mixed with the dust.
"I'm… bleeding?"
The words felt distant, like they didn't belong to me.
Pain didn't come. Not even a flicker—just a dull awareness, as if my body had already decided it wasn't worth reacting anymore.
"…That should've scared me."
My voice came out thin, brittle, barely louder than the wind whispering through the broken street.
"I'm getting used to this…"
And that realization settled heavier than any wound.
A faint green glow flickered to life around my arm, pulsing weakly. I felt it before I saw it—the subtle pull beneath my skin, fibers tightening, stitching, reconnecting as flesh knit itself back together with slow, unnatural precision.
"Right…"
I clenched my fist. The joints tightened smoothly, without resistance, before I let it loosen again, watching the last traces of light fade.
When I looked up, the girl was still there, lying motionless against the cold ground. Her breathing was shallow, uneven—yet I could feel it.
As if her breath rose inside my own chest.
I stepped toward her, water splashing, the sound echoing faintly in the hollow silence.
[Judgement Phase Initiated.]
"Another person…"
My voice felt steadier now.
Detached.
"Another soul… to be judged…"
The words came... automatically, like something I had repeated too many times to question.
"You cannot truly understand a being—until you become them."
Every single one I had judged so far…
They hadn't just passed through me.
They stayed.
Or maybe I was the one disappearing into them.
My fingers lowered slowly, hesitating for a fraction of a second before touching her forehead.
The moment I made contact—
everything shattered.
Memories didn't arrive in fragments.
They crashed.
All at once.
A suffocating flood of sensations, thoughts, pain, compressed and crammed into my mind as if something was trying to split it open from the inside.
Screams echoed—distant, then suddenly right against my ear.
The sharp, metallic scent of blood filled the air.
Laughter followed—low, careless, wrong.
"Filth… and rot."
The words slipped out under my breath.
But it wasn't hers.
It was theirs.
Her comrades.
The hands that dragged her forward.
The voices that gave the orders.
That's when it clicked.
Some souls didn't deserve judgement.
Judging them… didn't feel like justice.
It felt like mercy.
And they didn't deserve that.
"You… were right…"
My throat tightened as I forced the words out.
"They forced you…"
The memories pressed harder, images twisting, overlapping—
"To kill… or they would—"
I stopped.
My stomach turned.
I didn't need to see the rest.
But the system didn't care.
It didn't slow down. It didn't hesitate.
It kept going.
More and more and more.
"Stop it…"
My voice cracked, barely audible.
I squeezed my eyes shut, nails digging into my palms as if that could anchor me.
"Stop it—stop it—stop it—"
"STOP IT!"
The scream tore out of me.
And everything vanished.
Silence fell.
When I opened my eyes, the world was gone.
Light rippled around me in liquid waves, colors bleeding into each other without shape. The air felt weightless, yet suffocating at the same time.
I was sitting on a swing.
It creaked softly beneath me, chains swaying in a slow, uneven rhythm.
CREAAK
CREAAK
Above me, cherry blossom branches stretched outward, petals drifting lazily through the air. One brushed against my hand—soft, almost unreal.
The seat beneath me was too smooth. Too perfect.
Like nothing here had ever touched resistance.
Something felt… off.
And yet—
It was peaceful.
The noise was gone. The memories were gone.
For the first time in what felt like forever…
It was quiet.
"It… wouldn't hurt…" I murmured, my voice dissolving into the stillness.
"To rest my eyes… just for a bit."
My eyelids lowered.
"Hey."
A small voice slipped into the silence, so close it felt like it brushed against my ear.
"Can you help me sit on the swing pleaaaase?"
I flinched, then turned.
"S—sure…"
She was light. Too light.
I lifted her and placed her gently onto the swing beside me. The chains rattled softly as her weight settled.
"Thanks!"
The word came out bright. Normal.
We sat there, the swing swaying gently, the creak filling the empty space between us.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"You're the one who judged me, right?"
My heart stuttered.
My grip tightened around the chains, metal biting into my palms as the swing slowed.
"I did…"
"Oh welllll."
She looked ahead, toward the endless horizon.
"It's beautiful."
The petals kept falling. The world remained still.
"…Isn't it?"
She turned to me.
Something about the way she said it—
the tone, the rhythm—
made something twist inside my chest.
Wrong.
No, it was familiar.
Like I had heard those exact words before.
Somewhere…
somewhere I shouldn't have.
But no matter how hard I tried—
I couldn't remember where.
---
The world began to crumble.
A violent tremor tore through the space, a sound that clawed into my ears. The swing lurched beneath me, chains snapping tight as the slow rhythm shattered into chaos.
Cracks spread across the white void—thin at first, then widening, splintering, light bleeding through them in jagged streaks.
The girl didn't move.
She just stood there.
Watching me.
Smiling.
Her voice fractured, splintering into overlapping tones, like something was forcing itself through her throat.
"I c—can't—"
The sound warped. Twisted.
"Kill."
The word dropped clean. Heavy.
"Them."
The world screamed again, louder this time, the cracks tearing wider.
A whisper.
Soft. Barely there.
But I heard it.
My body locked.
No…
That's not possible.
That name didn't belong here...
It didn't even belong to me anymore.
My grip tightened around the chains until they rattled violently in my hands.
"…Say that again."
My voice came out low. Uneven.
The girl tilted her head.
Then she smiled softly.
"Rose."
Everything stopped.
My breath caught.
That name—
It was hers.
"…No."
The word slipped out, fragile.
My chest tightened, something sharp twisting deep inside it.
"She's—"
Gone.
Left behind in a world I would never see again.
I had no right to hear her name… ever again.
"…How do you know that name?"
My voice broke.
The girl stepped closer.
The cracks widened behind her, light spilling through like the world itself was being peeled apart.
Still smiling—
she leaned in.
Close enough that I could feel her breath against my ear.
And then she whispered—
soft, calm… certain.
"You're not the only one…"
A pause.
"…who gets to see lives."