VOL. 2: CHAPTER 19 — "TO ME, THE STRANGER I'VE LOVED FOREVER. TO YOU, THE GHOST OF YESTERDAY'S FUTURE AND TOMORROW'S PAST"

— CHORONA’S POV —

She was running.
That was the only certainty.

Not where she was.
Not why her chest burned.
Not what chased her.

Only that her legs moved across a world that felt like snow—cold, pale, endless—yet left no footprints behind.

No matter how fast she ran, the ground never remembered her.
The sky above was wrong.
Not dark.
Not bright.

Just… unfinished.

As if someone had begun painting the world and stopped halfway, leaving it suspended between intention and abandonment.

Her breath came out in thin white clouds that vanished too quickly.
She stopped.
Her heart screamed at her to stop.
Ahead of her—
Someone was walking away.
A boy.

She couldn’t see his face.
Every time she tried to focus, his outline blurred, like ink dissolving in water. His shape existed, but his details refused to settle—as if the dream itself was protecting him from being known.

And yet—
She knew him.
Not by name.
Not by memory.
But by something deeper.

A certainty lodged painfully in her chest.
If he kept walking…
Something would break.

“Wait,” she called.
Her voice echoed strangely, as if the world paused before deciding whether to allow the sound to exist.

The boy didn’t turn.
Her chest tightened.

“Please…” she said, voice trembling. “Don’t go.”
She didn’t understand why the words hurt so much.

Only that they did.
She ran again.
Her legs burned now.
Each step felt heavier than the last, as if the air itself resisted her movement.
Yet no matter how hard she pushed, the distance between them never changed.

Always just out of reach.
Always close enough to hope.
Her vision flickered.

For a heartbeat, the ground beneath her cracked.
Red seeped upward through the white.
Blood.
She froze.

The boy stopped walking.
Relief surged through her—
sharp, desperate, almost painful—
Until he began to fall.

“No—!”
She lunged forward, fingers stretching, nails scraping against nothing—
And missed.

Her hands closed on empty air.
The world inverted.
The blood flowed backward into the ground, retreating like a mistake being erased.
Cracks sealed.

The white returned, pristine and unforgiving.
The boy stood again.

Alive.
Unharmed.

As if the moment had never existed.
As if she had never mattered.
Her legs gave out.
She collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest as a pain she didn’t recognize tore through her.

“…Why does this hurt?” she whispered.

She didn’t remember being wounded.
Didn’t remember losing anything.
So why did it feel like her heart was breaking?

The dream did not answer.
Instead—
A sound echoed across the empty sky.
A bell.It rang—
Then rang again.

Half a heartbeat too late.
Her head snapped up.
The boy turned.
Just for a second.

She still couldn’t see his face.
But she felt his gaze.

Warm.

Tired.
Apologetic.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

The words didn’t reach her ears.
They reached her soul.
Her throat closed.

“I don’t understand,” she cried, tears spilling freely now. 
“I don’t even know you… so why—why does it feel like you’re leaving me behind?”

The boy smiled.
She couldn’t see it.
But she felt it.
A smile that carried gratitude.
Regret.
And something unbearably gentle.

Then he took a step backward—
And vanished.
The world shattered into light.

Chorona jolted awake with a sharp gasp. Her heart hammered violently, hands clutching the sheets as if she’d been falling from a great height. For several seconds, she could only breathe—short, uneven breaths—until the room around her came into focus.

A small inn room.
Plain wooden walls.
Morning light spilling through thin curtains.

“…Another one,” she murmured.

Her voice was hoarse.
She pressed a hand to her chest.
It still hurt.

Slowly, she sat up.
Her fingers were trembling.

It’s just a dream, she told herself.
They always were.

And yet—
Her gaze drifted to her wrist.
A thin silver thread was tied there, delicate as moonlight.

She didn’t remember where it came from.

She had tried to remove it before—
carefully, gently—
but it never loosened.
Never broke.
Never aged.

Sometimes, she thought it pulsed.
Chorona touched it lightly.
For a brief moment—
Just a moment—

The ache in her chest eased.

“…It’s okay,” she whispered softly.
“I’m awake.”

The pain retreated, leaving behind only a quiet sadness she had no words for.
Downstairs, the inn stirred to life.

Voices rose.
Plates clattered.
Someone laughed loudly about an early quest.

Ordinary people.
Ordinary sounds.
Ordinary life.

She stood, smoothed her clothes, and took a steadying breath.

Today will be normal, she decided.
She didn’t know why her heart disagreed.

As she reached for the door, a thought surfaced—
soft, fleeting, and terrifying in its certainty.

If I meet him…
Her hand paused on the handle.…
Don’t let him walk away.
Her brows knit together.

“…Who?” she asked the empty room.

No answer came.
But somewhere deep inside her—
Something mourned.

— KAI’S POV —

The Valenheim Empire smelled like iron.
Not blood—
not yet—
but steel, oil, and ambition. The kind of scent that clung to cities built for war and never bothered washing their hands afterward.

I stood at the edge of the capital district, hood pulled low, watching people move.

They moved fast here.

Humans always did.
Merchants argued loudly over prices.
Soldiers marched in clean formations, armor polished to reflect sunlight like a declaration.

Adventurers passed by in mismatched gear—
laughing, swearing, boasting about kills they exaggerated by at least thirty percent.

Life went on.
As if the world hadn’t cracked open three months ago.
As if a kid hadn’t died screaming under a sky that refused to intervene.
I exhaled slowly.

Karma?
Mother used to swear by it.
A fairy tale for the faithful.
A bedtime story whispered to keep children kind in a cruel world.
I believed it once—

Believed that if I poured light into others’ shadows, something somewhere would balance the scales.

I never raised my hand in harm unless forced.
Never took more than I needed.
Never asked why bad things happened to good people.
And now fate demanded my death.

Unprovoked.
Unanswered.
What justice is this?

Karma wasn’t a cosmic balancer.
It was the weak’s delusion.
A lie they spun to feel safe in a world this unfair.
Hoping it would avenge their frailty while chaining the strong.

No more.
Actions didn’t echo in some divine ledger.
They echoed in the void we carved ourselves—
where fate bent to the wielder, not the wheel.

I rejected its lie.
My scars were mine alone—
forged in defiance, not retribution.

I was different now.
I would destroy anyone who stood in my way.

Even Fate.
Even destiny.
Even the cosmos itself.

I’ll avenge you, Aerin. I’ll carve your vengeance from fate's rotting heart, Aerin. Fate's authority be damned.

My fingers tightened unconsciously.
“Amara,” I murmured.

『Status stable. Identity concealment intact.』

“Name?”

『Current alias confirmed: Kairen Nacht.』

Good.
Kai Rajput didn’t exist here.
Only an adventurer did.
I stepped forward.



— VALENHEIM CAPITAL POV (OMNISCIENT SNAPSHOT) —

The Valenheim Adventurer’s Guild dominated the central district like a fortress pretending to be a tavern.

Stone walls reinforced with mana-steel.
Sigils etched into every beam.
A massive emblem carved above the entrance—
a sword piercing a sun, declaring human supremacy without bothering to hide it.

Inside, the noise hit like a wave.
Shouting.
Laughter.
Arguments.
The clatter of mugs and armor.

This was where lives were measured in coin and corpses.
This was where heroes were born.
And where monsters learned to smile.



— KAI’S POV —

The moment I stepped inside, Amara reacted.
『Multiple high-output mana signatures detected. Adventurer density: extreme. Hostile probability: moderate.』

“Relax,” I muttered.
“I’m here to sign paperwork, not overthrow the Empire.”

『Correction: Probability of accidental provocation due to your personality: high.』

“…Wow.”

The guild hall was massive—high ceilings supported by rune-carved pillars, notice boards plastered with requests ranging from “escort caravan” to “exterminate subterranean abomination.”

Classic.
I moved toward the registration counter.
And then—

I felt it.
Not mana.
Not hostility.
Something… wrong.

The air shifted.
Like time hesitating for half a heartbeat.

I stopped.
So did someone else.



— CHORONA’S POV —

The moment the door opened—
My chest hurt.

Not sharply.
Not suddenly.
Just… quietly.
Like an old bruise pressed without warning.

I looked up from the guild board, fingers still holding a parchment quest slip. The noise around me faded—not completely, but enough to make the world feel distant.

Someone had entered.
A boy.
Human.
Hooded.
Quiet.
Ordinary.

That was the first lie.
I didn’t know his face.
Didn’t know his name.
Didn’t know why my heart had started pounding like it recognized him.

My breath caught.
Don’t go, something inside me whispered.
I frowned.

Why would I think that?
The silver thread at my wrist warmed faintly.
I lowered my hand instinctively, fingers brushing it as if seeking reassurance.

The boy paused near the entrance.
For a brief moment—

Our gazes almost met.
And my vision blurred.
Not like dizziness.
Like… refusal.

As if the world itself didn’t want me to see him too clearly.
My fingers trembled.

“…That’s strange,” I whispered.

Behind me, a familiar voice laughed.



— POV: NEW CHARACTER (HUMAN MALE, 17) —

“Oi, Chorona! You spacing out again?”

I turned.

A boy with messy brown hair leaned against a pillar, grinning like the world hadn’t personally offended him this morning. Leather armor, slightly worn. Sword at his hip. Not exceptional—but solid.

Name: Ryn Halvors
Power: Slightly above-average mana reinforcement
Special Skill: Somehow surviving things he shouldn’t

He waved a hand in front of my face.
“Hello? Earth to Chorona?”

“I’m fine,” I said quickly.

He followed my gaze toward the entrance.
“…Huh. New guy?”

“I think so.”

Ryn shrugged.
“Guild’s been busy lately. War rumors will do that.”

Then he smiled.
The easy kind.

“Hey. Maybe he’ll join our party. We could use someone who doesn’t look like he’ll explode if I make a joke.”



— KAI’S POV —

I didn’t know why my chest felt tight.
I scanned the hall.
That’s when I noticed her.

Black hair.
Quiet posture.
Eyes that looked like they were trying to remember something they’d never been told.

She was staring at me.
Not aggressively.
Not curiously.
Like she was afraid I’d vanish if she blinked.

Our eyes didn’t meet fully.
Something… interfered.

『Alert,』 Amara said.
『Undefined constant detected.』

My pulse spiked.
“Define ‘undefined,’” I whispered.

『Unable to calculate probability. Fate visibility: zero.』

That—
That didn’t happen.
Ever.

I felt it then.
Not danger.
Not threat.

A strange, unsettling familiarity.
Like standing beside a grave you didn’t remember digging.
I turned away first.
Bad idea.

I walked toward the counter.
But the feeling followed me.



— CHORONA’S POV —

He looked away.
The ache worsened.
I didn’t understand it.
Didn’t understand why my chest felt too tight to breathe properly.

Why my legs wanted to move—
Why my heart whispered:
Don’t let him leave.

I clenched my hands.
Get it together, I scolded myself.
You don’t even know him.
And yet—

Somewhere deep inside—
Something mourned.