The hallway after the feast was dark, but humming. Each step echoed not just through the corridor—but through Ayato's bones. He kept glancing back, expecting someone. But he didn't know who.
'Why do I keep looking for her? Why does it feel like someone's missing?'
His chest tightened, a hollow ache where a memory should have been. He clenched his fists, his mind a storm of confusion and pain.
'It's like there's a hole in me. And I don't know how to fill it.'
Mio walked beside him, her fingers brushing the pendant at her neck.
'He doesn't remember. He doesn't know what he's lost.'
She felt the weight of every lie, every secret, every memory she'd carried since the first cycle.
'This Tower kills people in more ways than one.'
Her breath was shallow, her heart a drumbeat in her chest. She wanted to scream, to cry, to make the Tower pay for every loss, every lie, every memory it had stolen. But she kept walking, because stopping meant admitting defeat.
They emerged into what looked like a library. If libraries bled.
Towering bookshelves floated in a spiral, suspended midair. Ink dripped from the pages like veins had been sliced open. A great dome of parchment glowed above them, covered in glowing runes and writhing names.
'This isn't just a floor,' Mio whispered, her voice trembling. 'It's a memory trap.'
Ayato's stomach twisted.
'This place is alive. It's watching. It's eating us from the inside out.'
He looked around, his eyes lingering on the floating shelves, the dripping ink, the way the light bent and twisted around them.
'Why does this feel familiar? Why does it hurt to look at those pages?'
A system notification blazed in the air, casting eerie blue light across their faces.
[Floor 14: The Archive That Eats]
"Everything you know was written. Everything you forgot was eaten."
– Goal: Find your Lost Page
– Rule: Give a memory to gain one
– Warning: Overfeeding the Archive may erase you entirely
Ayato stepped onto the central platform.
At its center was a pedestal. One book rested on it—blank.
[Ayato's Archive Codex Created]
"Input one memory. Receive one truth."
He looked at the others.
'What would I trade? What memory is worth the truth?'
Yui was already lost—or was she? His mind was a blank where her name should have been. His sister was a blur. Kazuki's betrayal burned, a wound that wouldn't heal.
'Fine. Take something I don't want.'
He pressed his palm to the page.
Memory Given: First Kiss (Middle School Theater Camp)
"Useless. Embarrassing. Irrelevant."
The page glowed—then burned.
In return, the book flipped to a new page.
TRUTH GAINED:
"Kazuki did not disappear. He fell deeper. He now serves as the Tower's Inner Proxy."
Ayato's blood ran cold.
'So he's still in play. And now… deeper than any of us.'
He clenched his fists, the pain in his chest sharp and sudden.
'Why does this hurt so much? Why can't I remember what I've lost?'
Mio placed her hand on her own page without hesitation.
She sacrificed:
Memory Given: "The sound of my mother's voice."
TRUTH GAINED:
"Mio's Archivist bloodline is tied to the First Cycle.
The Tower remembers her even when others forget."
She staggered back, breath hitching.
'I never wanted this. But I was always part of it, wasn't I?'
She felt the weight of every lie, every secret, every memory she'd carried since the first cycle.
'This Tower kills people in more ways than one.'
A system ping echoed through the chamber.
[Proxy Activity Detected – Sub-Floor Breach Below Archive]
Corruption rising. Internal memory fragmenting.
The shelves began to scream.
Literally.
Pages tore themselves open. Memories flooded the room—not theirs. Other students. Other cycles.
'What is happening? Why is it screaming?'
Ayato's heart pounded, his hands shaking.
'This isn't just a test. This is a battle. And we're losing.'
Ayato's codex flipped on its own.
[Unlocked: Lost Karma Profiles – Students You Forgot]
Names began to appear.
Aika Tono: "Crushed under Floor 2 debris. No one remembered."
Naoto Kiyama: "Sacrificed himself for Kazuki. Erased by Tower."
Yui Asano: "Unknown."
"Unknown? How is that—"
His head throbbed, a sharp pain behind his eyes.
'Who is Yui Asano? Why does her name hurt so much?'
He clenched his fists, the frustration bubbling up inside him.
'Why can't I remember? Why does it hurt so much?'
Far below, in a shattered mirror realm, Kazuki stood surrounded by burning tomes.
His eyes were empty. His body—stitched by runes. He wore the Tower's crest on his spine.
"You gave me your guilt, Ayato," he whispered. "Now I'll write the ending."
He turned a page in his codex. It read:
"When Ayato ascends, he will break."
"I'll make sure of it."
Ayato's chest tightened, a hollow ache where a memory should have been.
'Why does he hate me so much? What did I do to him?'
He felt the weight of every loss, every lie, every memory he'd carried since the first cycle.
'This Tower kills people in more ways than one.'
The Archive exploded outward.
Manifestations of forgotten students surged into the hall—writhing silhouettes of pain and half-formed faces.
One shrieked Ayato's name, its voice mangled.
Another looked like Ren, but crying blood.
One looked like Yui—or was it?
Ayato froze.
'Do I remember you?'
His mind was a blank where her face should have been.
'Why can't I remember? Why does it hurt so much?'
Mio pulled him back, chanting Archivist glyphs.
'He doesn't remember. He doesn't know what he's lost.'
She felt the weight of every lie, every secret, every memory she'd carried since the first cycle.
'This Tower kills people in more ways than one.'
Ren cut down two of them with his blade, his hands shaking, his mind a storm of doubt and anger.
'We're all breaking. And there's nothing we can do to stop it.'
To seal the Archive, Ayato had to write a name he should have remembered.
His hands hovered over the page.
And without knowing why, he wrote:
"Yui Asano"
The glyph pulsed red.
"Name not found in memory."
"But Archive responds."
Seal initiated. Memory debt deferred.
The breach collapsed inward.
The shelves folded. The books closed. The blood evaporated.
They stood alone on the marble platform again.
Ayato didn't know the name he wrote.
But it felt right.
'I need to know who she is,' he whispered, his voice cracking.
'Why does her name hurt so much? Why can't I remember her face?'
"You will," Mio said, her voice soft but steady.
"When?"
She didn't answer.
A system update echoed through the chamber.
[Floor 14 Cleared]
Codexes unlocked. Memory exchange enabled.
Next Floor: 15 – The Lie Garden
Prepare for social trial: Truth vs Survival
In his isolated chamber, Kazuki wrote in his own book.
"Ayato is getting closer."
He smiled.
"Let's see what he forgets next."
Ayato stood, his mind a blank where a memory should have been.
He felt the weight of every loss, every lie, every memory he'd carried since the first cycle.
'What am I missing? Who am I forgetting? Why does it hurt so much?'
He clenched his fists, the frustration bubbling up inside him.
He wanted to scream, to rage, to make the Tower pay for every loss, every lie, every memory it had stolen. But he kept walking, because stopping meant giving up.
Mio walked beside him, her heart heavy, her mind a storm of confusion and pain.
'He doesn't remember. He doesn't know what he's lost.'
She felt the weight of every lie, every secret, every memory she'd carried since the first cycle.
'This Tower kills people in more ways than one.'
She turned to follow him, her heart a drumbeat in her chest, her mind a storm of confusion and pain.
The three of them moved forward, their hearts heavy, their minds a storm of confusion and pain.
They were all breaking.
And there was nothing they could do to stop it.
(Chapter 21 End)