The Nihilos: Trash Player Who Rewrote Reality

The cold from the concrete balcony clung to Raven's skin like a memory that refused to fade. His eyelids fluttered open to the grey morning sky above, his breath fogging slightly in the chilly air.

"Raven!"

A firm pinch on his cheek yanked him further into consciousness.

"Wake up, idiot!" Ava's voice cut through the haze. She stood over him, bundled in her hoodie, concern written all over her face. Beside her was Sol, arms crossed, eyeing Raven with a strange mix of irritation and relief.

Raven blinked. "Why… am I on the balcony?"

"You tell us," Ava said. "You've been out here since last night. I came to get you for breakfast and found you like this."

Raven sat up slowly, clutching his head. His heart thudded like he had been running through dreams that weren't his. Something about Ava. About Sol. About a memory that didn't want to stay in the past.

He glanced at Ava, hesitation creeping into his voice. "Ava... do you remember… saying Sol didn't exist?"

Ava looked puzzled. "What? Why would I say that? Sol's literally standing right here."

Sol raised an eyebrow. "Feeling okay, man?"

Raven didn't respond immediately. That sentence still echoed in his mind:

> "Who's Sol?"

He could still feel the echo of that moment. The disorientation. The silence. The deep, biting loneliness like he'd lost something important—someone. But now, Sol was right here. Breathing. Talking. Real.

Raven stood, brushing off dust and trying to shake off the fog in his brain.

"I had a weird dream," he muttered, not meeting their eyes. "Really weird."

"Well, welcome back," Sol said dryly. "Come inside. Ava made eggs."

As they moved into the kitchen, Raven's eyes briefly caught his own reflection in the hallway mirror. Just for a flicker—barely a frame—his reflection stayed behind when he turned away. A delay. A shadow.

> "Not everything leaves when you wake up," a whisper echoed in his mind. A voice that wasn't his.

He froze.

But only for a moment.

Then he smiled and joined the others at the table, the smell of breakfast pulling him into the warmth of the now.

The kitchen felt unusually quiet that morning. The clinking of cutlery, the light scrape of toast against teeth, the hum of the old fridge—it all echoed a little too much. Ava chatted about her schoolwork. Sol cracked a lazy joke about a vending machine fight he saw on the way home.

Raven tried to laugh. He really did. But his mind was somewhere else. That whisper hadn't stopped.

> "Not everything leaves when you wake up."

He'd heard whispers before—system echoes, glitch fragments. But this… this felt different. It felt anchored. Realer than a voice should be.

He sipped his tea. "Hey… did either of you… notice anything strange last night?"

Ava shrugged. "Strange how? You passed out on the balcony. That's your 'normal,' right?"

Sol chuckled. "Yeah, we figured it was just one of your dramatic 'think-about-life-under-the-stars' moments."

Raven forced a smile, but his fingers tapped the mug anxiously.

"No... I mean… like a dream that felt more like a warning."

Ava looked at him seriously now. "Did you remember something?"

Raven hesitated. "I'm not sure. Maybe. There was something... off. You were there. But you weren't. You didn't know Sol. Then the world felt like… glass. Cracking."

Sol leaned forward. "You think it was a memory? Like from before?"

A chill ran through the room.

They had made a silent agreement months ago—not to talk about those days. The days of the Nihilos system. Of the Cleaners. Of Kyra. Of pain.

But it was never really gone. Just buried.

Raven stood and walked to the window. The morning sun peeked through the clouds, and yet, the light felt distant.

"I don't think I'm awake," he whispered. "Not fully."

Ava stood too, walking over. "You're scaring me."

"I saw something in the mirror. My reflection—it moved after I did. Just for a second."

Sol frowned. "You sure it wasn't sleep-deprivation or... stress?"

But even he didn't sound convinced.

Just then, Ava's phone buzzed on the table. She picked it up, squinting. Then her face went pale.

"What is it?" Raven asked.

She turned the screen to him.

> [Local News: Gate Anomaly Detected]

[Location: Nearby Park]

[Authorities Confirm It's Not a Dungeon — Gate Behaving Irregularly]

Sol muttered, "That's not supposed to happen. No new dungeons were scheduled this week."

Raven's fingers curled tightly at his side.

The dream. The delay in the mirror. The whisper. The gate.

It was happening again.

> "Not everything leaves when you wake up..."