Only One Knew

[11:03 PM | Post-Scenario Space: Memory Reintegration Vault – Sector: Zero]

[You have successfully completed the Sub-Scenario: The Storyweaver's Burden]

[Class Evolution Path Unlocked: Stabilized Storyweaver]

[System Adjusting Narrative Authority – Please wait...]

The air inside the Vault was too still.

It wasn't silence. It was the absence of narration.

No footsteps echoing. No ambient wind. Even Jin-hee's breathing sounded filtered—muted like text redacted from a book that had never passed editing.

Jae-hwan sat with the page in his hand.

The one that had torn free at the end of the last scenario.

[Manuscript Page – Title: "Only One Knew"]

[Author: Kang Jae-hwan]

[Draft Status: In Progress – Authority Level: Provisional Canon]

Jin-hee crouched beside him, holding a flask that wasn't there a minute ago. He offered it. "Drink. You'll need it."

Jae-hwan took a sip. Bitter. Sharp. Like the memories that came with it.

"What happens now?" he asked.

Jin-hee tapped the air.

[Main Scenario Thread Resuming: Canon Divergence]

[Accessing Timeline Fork – Branch 3C: The Survival of the Forgotten]

"We follow the divergence," Jin-hee said. "And hope it doesn't erase us before we finish writing it."

[System Reconstruction – Transitioning to Canon Divergence Arc]

[Initializing New Scenario…]

[Scenario #3: Divergent Path – Timeline: Branch 3C]

[Time Limit: 48 Hours | Goal: Prevent Premature Collapse of Forked Canon]

[Reward: Class Stabilization | Penalty: Canon Collapse – Total Narrative Reset]

Jae-hwan blinked.

They were on a train.

A rusted subway car. The kind Seoul abandoned after the second Cataclysm. The windows were shattered. Seats stitched together with wire. Shadows of passengers flickered like dying dialogue boxes.

"Where are we?" he whispered.

Jin-hee's face was pale. "This is a what-if timeline. A branch that never got picked. We're riding toward an ending that got rejected."

[Warning: Time Anchor Insecure. Events may not unfold in chronological order.]

[You have entered: Divergence Zone – Chapter 3C: 'If the Reader Died Instead']

"Wait—what?" Jae-hwan frowned.

The system beeped.

[In this branch, Kang Jae-hwan never became the Inheritor. He died at Platform 2-1.]

A figure across the car lifted its head.

Jae-hwan froze.

It was him.

Or rather, the version of him that had died. His hair soaked in blood. Eyes sunken. Skin grayscale, as if the story had been drained from him.

[Encounter: Dead Canon – Echo of the Forgotten Reader]

[Initiating Combat: Narrative Duel]

"Of course," Jin-hee muttered. "You can't write a new version until you defeat the one that failed."

The Echo spoke.

"You shouldn't exist. I died. The story ended. You're a glitch."

Jae-hwan stepped forward.

"Maybe," he said. "But I remember everything you forgot."

The Echo charged.

Blades of corrupted text wrapped around its arms, slicing air into paragraphs.

Jae-hwan dodged. Activated Ghost Step, slid across a collapsing timeline, and countered with his own authority.

[Skill Activated: Inkblood Manifestation – Rewrite Arc Initiated]

He slashed with a blade of memory.

A quote from Chapter 2 cut the Echo across the chest.

The Echo shrieked.

[Narrative Clash – Integrity: 67% → 49% → 31%]

"Why do you fight?" the Echo screamed. "There's no point!"

Jae-hwan's voice was low. "Because someone has to finish the story."

[Trait Activation: Storyweaver – Truth Layer Unlocked]

His words struck.

The Echo's body distorted—its fonts breaking. Its grammar fractured. Then it exploded into torn dialogue.

[Victory: Echo Defeated]

[Narrative Authority Confirmed – Branch 3C Accepted into Canon]

[Class Stabilization Achieved – Storyweaver (Stable)]

[Skill Unlocked: Canon Thread Bind Lv. 1]

Jae-hwan collapsed to one knee.

Jin-hee caught him. "You good?"

"No," Jae-hwan muttered. "But I'm not dead yet."

[System Message: Scenario #3 Progress – 12%]

[Next Phase: Find the Character Who Remembers You in Every Version]

He stood.

And the train kept moving.

Somewhere ahead, the next lost chapter waited.

To be continue...