The night had stretched long over Osaka.
Outside, the city lights flickered against the darkened windows of Jun's small apartment—a modest space cluttered with tech gear and stacks of worn books on meditation, ancient breathing techniques, and forgotten martial arts.
Jun sat cross-legged on the floor, the makeshift neural pod resting beside him like a strange relic. The pale blue glow of his tablet illuminated the room, the screen paused on a schematic of the human respiratory system overlayed with archaic Daoist diagrams.
Minase watched silently from the corner, arms folded. Her usual teasing smirk was gone, replaced by a quiet focus.
"Breath is the root," she said, breaking the silence. "Not your system. Not your level. It's the simplest thing… and the hardest to master."
Jun exhaled slowly, trying to mimic the patterns he'd read about—the ancient cycles of inhale, hold, and exhale.
His body trembled with the effort.
"Feels… nothing," he muttered.
Minase shook her head gently.
"You're trying to force it. Breath isn't forced. It's flow. It's feeling. It's the space between tension and release."
Jun closed his eyes, fingers tracing the edges of the neural pod.
When he'd first tried to link with his brother's breath in the game, the experience had been electric—raw and overwhelming.
That connection had been more than data exchange.
It was a meeting of roots.
Two forces reaching out across worlds—defying the System's walls.
"Today," Minase said softly, "you don't connect with the game. You connect with yourself."
She handed him a thin silk cloth.
"Wrap this around your chest. Feel your ribs expand, contract. Sense the flow of air—not just in your lungs, but in your spirit."
Jun obeyed.
Each breath became a tide washing over his senses.
Inhale—expansion.
Hold—calm.
Exhale—release.
Minutes passed like hours.
The tremor in his limbs slowed.
The chaos inside his mind softened.
A pulse emerged—steady, rhythmic.
A spark.
"Good," Minase nodded.
"This is the beginning of your Root."
Jun opened his eyes to meet hers.
"But I'm not a cultivator. I have no system."
Minase smiled, a trace of reverence in her voice.
"Neither do Rootless. And that's your greatest strength."
Outside the Window
The city hummed below—oblivious to the quiet revolution taking place in one cramped room.
Far from the virtual battlegrounds, the true fight for freedom was a battle within.
The Neural Sync
Minase powered up the pod.
"Ready for another sync?"
Jun nodded.
The helmet clicked in place, sensors humming against his skin.
This time, the connection was different.
No game interface.
No glowing stats.
Just raw, naked breath intertwining across reality and virtuality.
Jun felt it—the faint warmth of his brother's Root reaching through the digital veil.
It was fragile.
Unstable.
But undeniably there.
A New Threat
Back in the System's control hub, operators flagged the unauthorized neural link as a "high-risk anomaly."
Dual Root Activation DetectedUser NULL and User JUN linked via Breath SyncPotential for Rootless Cultivation Outside System Controls
Warnings flashed.
Algorithms scrambled.
But no immediate action was taken.
For now.
Jun's Resolve
Jun removed the helmet, breathing deeply.
"This… this is just the start."
Minase nodded.
"Your Root will grow, but it will test you. In the real world, cultivation has consequences. Physical, mental, even spiritual."
Jun clenched his fists.
"I'm ready."
Outside, the city slept.
But inside, two Rootless brothers had begun to forge their own path—one breath, one flame at a time.