Epilogue

A year had passed since the nightmare of Abyss Code Online had ended.
That death game, the abyss that devoured lives was finally cleared, vanishing from every server on Earth as if it had never existed.

All the players returned home, reunited with their loved ones. 

GOD 404 was defeated, erased without a trace.

It became a moment etched into history, explained away by governments and scientists as some unprecedented, supernatural phenomenon, an intrusion by beings beyond Earth.

Those who had fought in the final raid were celebrated. The Japanese government awarded them commendations, and the key players were hailed as heroes of the world by United Nations.

I, Akabane Ayane, became the face of that victory, the “heroine” who struck down the final boss of the dungeon’s tenth floor and saved the Earth.

My comrades, Kurogane, Tsukiyami, Tsukihana, and Zetsumei, stood beside me, honored for their courage and sacrifice.

The five of us became known as the “Five Heroes of the Modern World.”

And yet… something was missing.

I remembered striking down E.N.D., but not the one behind it all. Not GOD 404.

There was a hollow ache in my chest....a wound I couldn’t name. Something precious, irreplaceable, had been torn from me.

But I didn’t know what it was.

Every day, the emptiness gnawed at me.

Every evening I escaped to a quiet lake near my home, staring at the still water while my thoughts spiraled.

I couldn’t relax in my own house, my family had become overprotective, terrified of losing me again. Crowds were worse. Wherever I went, strangers swarmed me, wanting to touch a “hero.”

Here, at least, by the silent lake, I could breathe.

I used to be a faceless office worker with no time to live. Now I worked for the United Nations, a symbol of peace traveling the globe, speaking at nations about unity.

It was, in many ways, my dream job—a life of freedom at last.

And yet… the emptiness remained.

That missing “piece” of my soul.

This evening, sitting at the lake’s edge, my mind drifted again to that void within me.

Then..ripples tore through the sky above the water.

A distortion like shattering glass split the air, forming a vast, glowing ring. From it descended a massive airship of impossible, futuristic design, its engines humming with alien light.

Figures stepped out, figures I knew.

“Major Lorelei?! Ayaka-sama! Zack?! Even Grideon and Necroval...how… how are you here?! You disappeared!” My voice broke.

“Ayane… it’s good to see you again.” Major Lorelei smiled faintly. “Forgive the sudden entrance, but we don’t have much time. We’re calling the others.”

At her signal, Grideon summoned five more matrix rings. Shapes emerged people I knew, people I had fought beside.

“Tsukihana… Kurogane… Tsukiyami… Zetsumei… Mikan?!” I staggered back. Words failed me.

They looked as lost as I was. They had each received the same mysterious notification, an offer too strange to refuse. They pressed “Yes,” and were brought here.

“Ayane-chan! I missed you!” Tsukihana cried, hugging me tight. Mikan followed, tears in her eyes.

We had grown so close after Abyss Code Online.

“A touching reunion,” Major Lorelei said, her voice low, “but we must move quickly.” She extended her hand to me. “Heroes of Earth… will you come with us?”

“What… what do you mean? Where are we going?” My heart hammered. My friends exchanged the same confused looks.

“To other isekai..to follow him..He is the one who fights against the evil gods and guards this world without being noticed...” Lorelei said simply.

A screen flickered to life before us, showing a lone warrior fighting in a world unlike any we had seen.

He had dark blue hair, piercing blue eyes, and a cold, determined face. He fought alone, relentlessly, without pause.

Lonely. But unbroken.

“Is that…?” Mikan murmured, her voice cracking.

Something inside me shattered. My chest tightened, my vision blurred.

I knew him.

The memories surged back like a dam bursting.

My lips moved before I could stop them.

“Kyouze… no… Mikazuki Kyouya…”

I whispered his name and tears poured down my face.

At last, I knew what I had lost.

It was him. The man I loved.

The one who had saved us all.

The hero the world had forgotten.

Without hesitation, I seized Lorelei’s outstretched hand. My friends followed, one by one, without a word.

We would find him.

We would not let him be lost to the void.

“I will see you again, Kyouya!” I whispered to the sky.

....

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