The night is still.
Nir sleeps on the chair beside the bed.
Kim is awake.
His left eye aches—
not physical pain,
but the sensation that something wants to open.
He remembers the Abyss' words.
"Fractures… lies… rewritten memories."
He whispers:
"Show me… the truth."
He opens his left eye fully.
The world cracks.
The walls of the house disappear.
Time rewinds.
He does not see the past—
he sees the hidden layer above it.
---
The True Memory — The Night of the Fire
The house is burning.
But the flames are not red.
They are golden.
His mother stands before him.
She is not crying.
She is not screaming.
Instead—
Two wings of light behind her.
Not whole wings…
but remnants of burned radiance.
His eyes widen.
His voice escapes in a whisper:
"Mom…?"
The Abyss murmurs from afar:
"She was not human."
Kim sees his father fallen.
Sees black shadows surrounding the house.
Entities.
Not human.
His mother turns toward him.
Her eyes—
are not human.
An entire sky exists within them.
She kneels close.
Places her hand on his chest.
And speaks in a voice he has never heard before:
"Forgive me… my son."
His small hand clutches her clothes.
"Mom…?"
She smiles with deep sorrow.
"You are not ordinary."
The shadows close in.
She raises her hand.
Light erupts.
Not to attack—
But to seal.
A massive symbol appears on young Kim's chest.
A circle with a black fracture inside it.
The light fuses into his heart.
The shadows scream.
His mother collapses to her knees.
Her wings crumble like ash.
Her final whisper:
"I hid them from you… and hid you from them."
Then—
The explosion.
The memory ends.
---
Return to the Present
Kim collapses to the floor.
He breathes violently.
His hand clutches his chest.
He feels something there.
A different pulse.
The system appears:
High-level entity seal detected
Name: Seal of the Fallen Paradise
Status: Partially Stable
Function: Conceal existential signature + suppress undefined internal entity
Warning: Removing the seal may cause cosmic catastrophe
The Abyss whispers:
"She was an angel."
"A fugitive angel."
"And she sealed something inside you."
Kim whispers, broken:
"What… did she seal?"
Silence.
Then—
"Not power."
"But something… that wanted to be born."
His eye trembles.
All his memories begin to rearrange.
He was not only a victim.
He was hidden.
Protected.
Sealed.
His tears finally fall.
"So…"
His voice shakes.
"You didn't curse me…"
Instead—
"You saved me."
The Abyss laughs softly.
"Your mother did not fear you."
"She feared… what is inside you."
A heavy silence.
Kim presses his hand to his chest.
He feels the symbol.
He feels something moving behind it.
Something not yet born.
He sits on the floor.
Crying silently.
Not screaming.
Not raging.
But a slow, aching grief.
"You were alone…"
"Fighting them alone…"
"And I thought… you abandoned me."
The system trembles.
Emotional stability: Low
Abyssal Trace expansion: +3%
His left eye flickers for a moment.
And the black fracture within the symbol on his chest…
Heartbeat