System: Sins of the Dead

When we crossed the gate into Layer 4, I expected darkness.

Instead, we walked into a field of light.

Sunlight poured down from a sky that didn't look real—too perfect, like it had been painted. The air smelled like roses and static.

We stood on a cobblestone path, cracked and overgrown with red vines. Flowers bloomed everywhere—some tall as trees. Some no bigger than a tear.

Each one had a tag.

A name tag.

And every single one of them had my handwriting.

---

> [WELCOME TO LAYER 4 – GARDEN OF FORGOTTEN THINGS]

System-Class Zone: Personal Memory Manifestation

Path Tilt: Deep Silver / Hidden Red Branches Detected

Warning: Objects here are bound to your suppressed past. Do not touch what you do not remember.

---

Adrian stepped on a vine.

It screamed.

Just once.

High. Sharp. Real.

He backed up immediately. "This place… this is worse than the meat church."

Harper crouched next to a flower. "This one says Jason. You know him?"

I felt a jolt in my chest.

A flicker.

Jason.

> A boy from junior year.

I bullied him. Not with fists. With silence.

I let the others do it, so I'd belong.

"Yeah," I said. "I forgot him on purpose."

The flower twitched.

---

Then the vines moved.

Not fast.

Not like monsters.

Like they knew we were intruding.

And then a familiar ping:

> [NEW TRIAL UNLOCKED – THE FORGOTTEN BLOOM]

Objective: Uproot your own buried past.

Warning: Each memory you reclaim alters your Path Tilt.

Reward: Stability, Sin Resistance, or New Ability.

Failure: Memory Burn / Path Fragmentation / Madness Risk.

---

I moved to the center of the path.

There stood a tree.

Twisted. Old. Its bark made of journal pages—scorched at the edges.

At its base?

A gravestone.

> KAI TURNER

"Here lies the truths he didn't want to carry."

I touched the stone.

And the world ripped open.

---

I was pulled into memory.

Not a vision.

A full-body experience.

---

> I was nine.

My mom had just left.

My dad was drunk.

Emily was crying.

He told me to shut her up.

I didn't.

He grabbed her arm. Too tight.

And I… didn't stop him.

I turned away.

Put in my earbuds.

And let it happen.

---

I collapsed to my knees.

"STOP IT!" I screamed.

Harper pulled me back.

But the garden didn't stop.

Now it was bleeding.

The vines turned black.

The sky cracked.

A new flower bloomed at my feet.

It was made of skin and paper.

The tag read:

> "I could've protected her. But I chose peace over pain."

---

The System shuddered.

> [TRIAL SUCCESSFUL – MEMORY REINTEGRATED]

Sin Level: 0.6 → 0.5

Humanity: +1

Emotional Anchor Recovered: "Emily's First Scream"

New Trait Unlocked: Woundwalker – Gain clarity in corrupted memory zones

Status: Kai's Path is now stable… but cracking.

---

Then the ground shook.

Vines parted like curtains.

A new entity stood at the edge of the garden.

Tall.

Thin.

Wrapped in cloaks made of discarded homework, apology notes, old photos.

No face.

Just a stitched mouth.

But I knew it instantly.

> THE GARDENER.

---

> [NEW ENTITY IDENTIFIED: "The Gardener of Guilt"]

Class: Unknown (System-Linked Sin Binder)

Function: Preserves what you buried. Grows what you abandoned.

Host: Unknown

Danger Rating: Adaptive

---

It raised one hand.

A bloom opened at my feet.

Inside was a photograph.

Me and Emily.

Smiling.

And in the photo… I had no eyes.

The Gardener spoke in a whisper of torn paper:

> "You've buried so much.

But you left her roots exposed."

It reached toward Harper and Adrian.

"You want to forget them too someday, don't you?"

---

I stepped forward, teeth clenched.

"No," I growled. "Not this time."

The System buzzed again.

> [BATTLE TRIAL – BEGINNING]

Final Challenge of Layer 4: Face the Gardener or Walk Away

Walking away secures stability. Facing it may break you.

Your Path will never be the same.

---

I looked at Harper.

At Adrian.

Then at the withering photo of Emily.

And I made my choice:

> "Let's burn this garden to the ground."