It began with static.
Not sound—vision.
The rooftop blurred, warped, fractured like glass. Buildings twisted sideways, roads floated like ribbons. The sky tore open for half a second, revealing nothing but white code scrawling across an invisible wall.
Matthew stumbled. His wristband buzzed violently—display blinking, then vanishing, then reappearing upside down.
GAME: ???
PLAYERS: ERROR
RULES: UNKNOWN
START TIME: IMMINENT / IMMEDIATE / NEVER
Sora screamed—just once—as the floor beneath her pixelated and disappeared. She dropped straight down into light.
Rin didn't move.
She stood at the center of the chaos, completely still.
The mark on her neck glowed.
Her voice echoed—glitched, distorted, looping over itself like a corrupted file.
"They're not ready for this."
"The system is folding in on itself."
"He's waking up—the real King—"
She vanished mid-sentence.
Matthew was alone.
No rooftop. No city. Just a space like a reflection—himself in every direction, stretched infinitely.
"You broke the path, Matthew."
The voice wasn't his father's.
It wasn't the King's.
It was… himself.
A mirror cracked in front of him—and he saw all the versions of himself that had died in failed timelines. Versions who had trusted Rin. Versions who had betrayed Sora. Versions who had never pressed yes.
Then the code screamed.
The space began pulling apart.
FORCED STABILIZATION PROTOCOL ENGAGED
NEXT ENVIRONMENT: HALL OF MASKS
REBUILDING REALITY… 17%
Matthew fell.
Through white.
Through static.
Through himself.
And then—
Blackness.
He opened his eyes in a long marble corridor. Dozens of white masks lined the walls—each with a different expression.
Laughter. Rage. Grief. Joy. Madness.
His wristband blinked.
NEW GAME LOADING…
PLAYERS: 3 DETECTED
STABILITY: LOW
And behind him, two doors opened—Sora on one side.
Rin on the other.
All three paths… reunited.
But none of them trusted each other anymore.
And the masks were watching