The world didn't end.
At least, not completely.
When Aki opened his eyes again, he was lying on cracked stone. The sky above him wasn't a sky at all—just a swirling dome of broken data, fragments of text and images looping like shattered glass screens. A piece of the academy courtyard floated upside down in the distance, and beyond it, a forest repeated the same three trees on endless loop.
Aki groaned, pushing himself up. His body felt heavy, like gravity couldn't make up its mind whether to pull him down or throw him sideways.
"…Ugh. Ten out of ten. Worst hangover ever."
He glanced around. The diary was still clutched in his hand, its cover glowing faintly. But it was different now—half the pages were blank, and the ones with writing kept rearranging themselves every time he blinked.
"Cool. Love that. My cheat sheet's got stage fright."
Then he heard footsteps.
Slow, deliberate.
Aki turned.
And there he was.
Riel Arkwood. Not just the ghostly image, not a flicker in the void, but real—solid, breathing, walking across the fractured ground like he belonged here. His presence radiated control, confidence, like the whole collapsing world bent to his existence. His crimson eyes locked on Aki, sharp and unblinking.
"…You survived," Riel said softly.
"Yeah, well." Aki dusted himself off, forcing a smirk. "I'm pretty good at that. Annoyingly good, apparently."
Riel stopped a few steps away, tilting his head. "You shouldn't exist."
"Uh-huh, heard that one before." Aki waved the diary mockingly. "Newsflash: I do. And it looks like I'm not going anywhere."
Riel's expression flickered, for just a second. Then he smiled—a cold, bitter smile. "You're wrong. You're exactly where you're supposed to be. In front of me. At the end."
The ground shook beneath them, cracks glowing with code. Aki stumbled, steadying himself. "End? Yeah, sorry, but my ending's not exactly on schedule. So unless you've got a save point I can borrow—"
"This is not a joke." Riel's voice cut sharp. "Do you even understand what you are?"
"…A guy who keeps failing his way upward?"
"You're an overwrite." Riel stepped closer, eyes blazing. "The system replaced me with you. My death, my suffering, my story—all erased so you could stumble through it like some… parody."
Aki clenched his jaw. "Parody, huh? Funny, coming from the guy whose big character arc was 'be evil, die early, cue sad music.'"
Riel's calm cracked, his voice rising. "I wasn't evil!"
The words echoed through the broken world, shattering a floating pillar nearby.
"I fought against the Princess. I protected the academy. I even saved Eren's life. And how did the story reward me?" His fists clenched at his sides. "It painted me a villain. It turned me into the monster so the hero could shine."
For a moment, Aki froze. He hadn't expected that—raw anger, raw pain.
"…So you really were…"
"Yes." Riel's voice softened, almost a whisper. "I was meant to be the warning. The reminder that power and pride lead to ruin. But instead, I became the scapegoat. And the world—my world—killed me for it."
Silence.
Aki tightened his grip on the diary. "…And then I showed up."
Riel's gaze snapped back to him. "And then you showed up. And Eren smiled at you instead of despising you. And Celis played her little games with you. And even the cursed cat followed you. You stole everything that was mine."
"I didn't steal it!" Aki shouted, voice cracking. "I just… I just wanted to live! To not die like you did! Can you blame me for that?"
Riel stepped closer, face inches away. "Yes. Because while you lived, I rotted. While you laughed, I screamed. Do you know what it's like to be erased but still aware? To feel the story playing without you, with your face on someone else's body?"
Aki flinched. "…No. I don't."
Riel's eyes softened, just for a heartbeat. "Then give it back. Please."
The words hung heavy between them.
For the first time, Aki saw him not as a villain, not as a ghost, but as a boy who had been broken by his own story.
And for one dangerous moment… Aki almost wanted to hand him the diary.
But then, the diary itself reacted.
The pages fluttered wildly, glowing brighter, and scrawled words burned into the paper in Aki's handwriting:
"It's not about taking turns. It's about writing new."
Aki's breath caught. Riel's eyes widened.
"…New?" Riel whispered.
The ground cracked violently, the world collapsing faster. Aki stumbled back, shouting over the noise. "Listen, I get it! You were cheated! You were broken! But if you take it all back, then what was the point of me being here? What was the point of—of everything?!"
Riel's face twisted. "You don't belong here!"
"And maybe neither do you!" Aki roared back.
The collapsing world swallowed their words, thunder echoing all around.
And then, out of the chaos—
A third voice.
Calm. Cold. Inhuman.
"Neither of you belong. This story belongs to me."
Both boys froze.
The ground split, and from the glowing rift rose a figure cloaked in shadows, face hidden by a silver mask. Its voice was layered, like dozens of echoes speaking at once.
The System.
The one who had been pulling the strings.
"Ah," Riel whispered, eyes wide with hatred. "So it was you."
Aki's heart hammered, sweat beading at his temple. "…Great. Because things weren't bad enough, now the guy behind the script wants a cameo."
The masked figure tilted its head. "Not a cameo. The finale."