The floor beneath their feet rippled.
Not cracked. Not shifted.
Ripples.
As if they were standing on the surface of water… and then they were.
They stood ankle-deep in crystal-clear liquid. The air was warm, still, and filled with the scent of blooming lotus. The Tower's brutal architecture was gone—replaced by a serene oasis, lit by starlight that had no source.
Ayato felt the change immediately.
"This isn't an illusion. It's memory magic."
'No monsters. No traps. That's what makes it dangerous.'
He looked around. The water was so clear he could see his own toes, distorted by the ripples. The others were silent, staring at their reflections. For a second, it almost felt peaceful. Almost.
A system notification shimmered above the water.
[Welcome to Floor 6: The Wishing Pool]
"Your desire is your downfall. Your truth, your weapon. Speak your wish… but beware its reflection."
– Each player may make one wish.
– Cost is applied silently.
– Only one may reject the wish.
– Karma may rise or fall based on sincerity.
Ayato's body tensed.
"This is the most dangerous kind of test," he muttered. "It doesn't kill you outright. It changes what you think you are."
Mio narrowed her eyes. "It's alchemical. Memory as currency."
'Yeah, and the price is always worse than you think.'
The Wishing Pool shimmered.
One by one, the students were drawn toward the edge—each pool reflecting a vision of their deepest want.
Ren stepped up first. He didn't hesitate. The water shimmered, and a woman appeared—his older sister, still alive, arms open, smiling.
"I wish I'd saved her that day," Ren whispered.
The pool glowed gold. His eyes glazed. A tear fell. But he smiled for the first time in days.
The system chimed:
Karma Adjusted: +17
Wish granted: Memory rewritten. Ren no longer recalls the failure. Only the love.
Ayato stared at him, unsettled.
'So the cost… was truth.'
Yui's turn. Her pool showed her family—safe, proud of her, not blaming her.
"I… wish they weren't ashamed of me," she whispered.
She clutched her arms as the pool shimmered. Her body relaxed. A soft sigh.
Karma Adjusted: +11
Wish granted. Emotional burden removed.
But Ayato saw her eyes dim, just slightly.
'She lost part of herself. Maybe the part that cared about what they thought.'
Mio stepped up. Her pool didn't show family or safety. It showed books—hundreds of them, glowing, whispering.
The Archive.
"I wish to remember everything I've ever lost," Mio said.
Ayato's head snapped up.
'Mio—wait!'
But it was too late.
The pool turned black. Her body convulsed. Her nose bled. The system flared:
Karma Adjusted: +23
Wish granted: Cycle Memories Partially Restored
She collapsed to her knees, trembling.
"Too much… too fast…"
Ayato knelt beside her, steadying her shoulder.
'She's remembering the other cycles. All the pain, all the loss. Why would she want that?'
Mio looked up at him, eyes wild but fierce. "We need to know. Someone has to remember."
Ayato squeezed her hand.
'Yeah, but not at the cost of breaking yourself.'
His turn.
Ayato stood at the pool's edge. It showed nothing. Just his reflection. He waited. Nothing changed.
Then the system whispered:
"You cannot wish. You are already a paradox."
'Figures. I can't even have a wish. Maybe that's for the best. What would I even wish for? To go back? To forget? To save them all? I don't even know anymore.'
The screen shifted.
[Only one may reject their wish.]
Ayato turned. Yui, Mio, and Ren stared at him.
"It has to be you," Mio said weakly. "You're the only one who can see through the cost."
Ayato nodded. "I reject the wish."
Karma Adjusted: +5
Choice Logged: Observer refuses narrative distortion.
He felt a strange relief.
'At least I'm still me. Whatever that means.'
The pool shimmered again.
A sixth reflection appeared.
Kazuki's voice echoed across the water.
"Wishes are just lies that feel good. So I made one too."
Suddenly, Ren doubled over—eyes bleeding.
"He… he's in my head!" Ren gasped, clutching his skull.
Yui screamed. Mio drew a ward sigil in the air, her hands shaking.
Ayato clenched his fist.
'He planted a backdoor during the last floor. This pool made it real. Damn it, Kazuki. You couldn't just lose, could you?'
Kazuki's voice laughed from nowhere.
"See you in the next act, Ayato."
The water rippled violently. Ayato rushed to Ren's side, grabbing his shoulders.
"Ren! Stay with me!"
Ren's eyes rolled back, but then he gasped and slumped forward, breathing hard.
Yui knelt beside them, voice trembling. "Is he… is he okay?"
Ayato checked for a pulse. "He's alive. For now."
Mio wiped blood from her nose, her voice hoarse. "Kazuki's Proxy role… it's inside him. The system let it through."
Ayato's jaw clenched.
'Great. Now we have a time bomb in our party. And the system's just sitting back, eating popcorn.'
A final message appeared.
[Floor 6 Cleared]
All wishes granted. All costs pending.
Next Floor: The Spiral Garden
Side Effect: Kazuki's Proxy role now partially embedded in Ren.
As the world faded back to the hub, Ayato helped Mio stand. She looked up, eyes fogged but fierce.
"He's not just playing roles anymore," she whispered. "He's rewriting rules."
Ayato nodded. "Then we rewrite harder."
'No way I'm letting Kazuki win. Not after all this. Not after what he did to Ren. Not after what he did to all of us.'
The hub room felt colder, emptier. Ren lay on a mat, breathing shallow. Yui hovered over him, worry etched on her face. Mio sat beside Ayato, her hands shaking as she tried to write in her book.
Ayato watched them all, feeling the weight of the floor pressing down on his shoulders.
'How much more can we take? How many more tricks does the Tower have left? I'm sick of playing its games.'
He looked at his own reflection in the pool, still rippling faintly in his memory.
'What would I have wished for, if I could? To go home? To forget? Or just to stop being so damn scared all the time?'
He shook his head.
'Doesn't matter. I'm still here. I'm still me. And I'm not done fighting.'
Mio closed her book and leaned her head on his shoulder. "We'll get through this, Ayato. We have to."
He nodded, squeezing her hand. "Yeah. We will."
'Even if it kills me.'
As the lights in the hub flickered and the system's voice faded, Ayato stared into the darkness, vowing silently that he would outlast the Tower's games. That he would protect the others. That he would never, ever let Kazuki win.
And for now, that was enough.
(Chapter 13 End)