After Nox stepped into that shattered fragment of reality, they crashed into a strange place—
Nox plummeted with no room to draw breath, no time to think. Their body spun inward rapidly, a sensation of being unmade washing over them. The space around them didn't look broken anymore.
For an instant, there was only one feeling—too significant to be chance.
Then—
Nox gasped sharply, nearly choking.
Air slammed into their lungs with force, their chest heaving fast. Their hand clutched something hard—dirt? Stone?
They lay on the ground, panting, their body trembling, every nerve taut and rigid.
Nox forced their eyes open, looking up. Above them was not a sky, but something like unfinished fabric—layers of pale gray interwoven with dim, slow-moving veins of light.
"Where…" Their voice was hoarse, barely audible. The place was so silent that when Nox opened their mouth, only a whisper escaped.
They waited for someone to answer, but no one spoke. No system responded.
Nox pushed themselves up slowly, their knees nearly buckling. Every movement felt like their bones might snap. Step by step, they walked forward, searching for something.
They looked around—no stones or objects in sight, only a vast expanse as if newly forged.
Nox's lips parted slightly.
"Loom…?" they said unconsciously.
The name surfaced without warning, swallowed by the vast space with no echo.
Nox pressed a hand to their chest, feeling it tighten. But still they moved forward, even as it ached. But…
Something stirred in the silence.
Not ahead—instead, it felt like someone stood far too close behind them.
Nox spun around quickly, looking for the source of the movement, certain they weren't alone here.
On the faintly glowing ground stood a girl—calm, as if this place were familiar to her.
Her black hair fell straight down her back. Her eyes—clear blue—fixed on Nox with an unreadable expression, neither cold nor disdainful.
Nox suddenly realized she cast no shadow.
They swallowed hard, opening their mouth.
"…You," they said slowly. "From before."
The girl didn't answer right away. She only glanced around, as if assessing the stability of the space. The glowing cracks in the ground stopped trembling the moment her gaze passed over them.
"This place won't hold much longer," she said at last. Her voice was calm but firm. "You shouldn't be here."
"Like… every other place," Nox replied, a bitter smile touching their lips before they could stop it.
The girl looked at them again, this time for longer.
"Your name," she said. "Nox."
Nox's heart raced. "How—"
"I heard it called out," she answered simply. "Places that aren't fully created tend to whisper."
It wasn't a reassuring answer, but it felt oddly comforting to hear.
Nox rubbed their injured shoulder. The wound from Rin's attack still throbbed and burned, though the blood had dried. Strangely, this place didn't seem to speed healing—or maybe it only felt that way.
"What is this place?" Nox asked. "Is this… outside Loom?"
The girl fell silent for a moment.
"Remnants," she said finally. "Spaces Loom never finished making. Or chose to abandon."
Nox lifted their gaze to the slowly pulsing gray sky. "So… is this place safe?" they asked, a pang of pity rising in them.
The girl let out a soft laugh. The sound was gentle, and her quiet voice soothed Nox's ears.
"No," she said bluntly. "It just hasn't started rejecting you yet."
As if in response, the distant space trembled. The glowing cracks began to merge. The entire area shook, piece by piece.
Nox could feel it—the pressure shifting around their body.
"What happens when it 'starts acting'?" Nox asked in a quiet tone.
The girl turned to them. Her eyes gleamed faintly in the pale light.
"Your existence will be judged," she said. "As either a hero, or a threat."
Nox spoke quickly.
"So which am I?"
A pause. Then—
"An error too obvious to erase," she said coldly.
At that moment, the ground shook violently. Rifts in reality tore open in the air, revealing endless darkness.
A warning surged through Nox's body—not through sound, but directly into their mind.
Incompatible Presence Detected
The system chimed again…
Nox staggered backward, their breath short. "Rin…?" they called out quickly.
"No," the girl said sharply. "This is something like her. But not quite."
She stepped forward, positioning herself between Nox and the widening rift. A reality-splitting weapon materialized in her hand, and the light around her dimmed further.
"Listen carefully, Null," she said—for the first time using the title without scorn.
"If you want to keep existing—don't let this place decide your fate."
"What do you mean?" Nox nearly shouted. "I don't know how to—" Their words cut off.
"Fate," she said simply. "The system, Loom, all of it shapes existence to have meaning."
Nox shifted slightly, just enough to see her full face—strikingly beautiful.
"But you have none of that," she continued, without a hint of pity. "So," she went on, "you'll have to do something more dangerous."
Nox clenched their hands, their voice shocked.
"…What?"
The girl met their eyes directly, moving close enough that their faces were nearly inches apart, with serious.
"Choose."
For a moment—just a moment—everything seemed to stop.
And in that imperfect space, Nox finally understood this that was not an escape.
It was just a beginning.