ZERO: Before the Beginning

The corridor began to warp the moment the Nameless Lion took a step forward in silence.

At first, nothing seemed to change. But from where his foot touched the ground, space began to swell and deform.

And then— Sound vanished.

More precisely, it felt as though all sound had been stolen. Even my breath, my heartbeat, the scrape of Lucarin's blade against the floor— None of it existed anymore.

"Absolute Silence Zone."

Lephtir moved his lips, but no sound came out. Reading his mouth, I understood his words.

He traced the number '7' with his fingertip and pointed to his ear.

—Seven days ago. Sound imbued with emotion. It was the signal that Lephtir's ability, Echo, could now be used.

I nodded slightly. And at that moment— Lephtir released a 'sound' that gripped all our hearts.

["It's okay… I don't blame you."]

That voice—so familiar. Joo-hee. The final words she left behind. Words I had only carried as a memory, now echoed across the entire space.

'This is the emotion he recorded that day…'

That day, she hadn't resented me. She had… accepted it all. Even the things I could never say.

The Nameless Lion trembled. He had always wielded silence. But now, a single 'sound' was breaking him.

His lips moved.

"…That voice…"

It was barely a whisper, but the field of silence trembled. For the first time, his 'will' was shaken.

I locked eyes with him.

In those eyes, I saw it.

Hesitation. And… loss.

"You lost her too, didn't you?" I said.

He stopped moving. A faint tremor in his chest. It spread like a black mist, peeling away the mask of 'emotionlessness.'

"She once told me…"

"It's okay. You don't have to say it. I already knew your heart."

His voice was soft, but those words widened the fracture in the corridor.

I walked toward that crack. And I drew my Reverse Soul.

With my own blood, I wrote, letter by letter, on the floor:

「주희」

As the name was completed, everything fell silent.

But it wasn't just silence. It was a moment where emotion, memory, and time all froze— a moment of confession.

The Nameless Lion's eyes widened.

"You… remember her name?"

I said nothing. Instead, I traced the letters again, slowly and deliberately:

Ju— Hee—

His eyes trembled. Within them, I saw a past that mirrored mine. A love left unspoken. A person left behind.

He spoke not to himself, but to me:

"Say it. Say what I couldn't say. Say it for me."

I lifted my Reverse Soul high. Blood flowed along its edge.

"…I'm sorry. And thank you."

As the words left my lips, he fell to his knees.

"…I finally heard it."

Slowly, he reached for his chest. From his heart, he pulled forth the core of the corridor. The material that had upheld the absolute silence— the Seal of Soundlessness.

It was solid, transparent, and if you listened closely, it seemed to endlessly repeat a single unforgettable name.

He handed it to me.

"It's yours now."

And in that moment, his body began to collapse.

He didn't turn to wind or dust. He dissolved… into sound.

His final echo— the only voice he left behind—

"…Joo-hee…"

Like a quiet, sorrowful song, it lingered in my ears for a long time.

Once his form had vanished, the silence that had haunted the corridor lifted.

Lucarin was the first to inhale. Grasping her throat, she gasped for air. As her voice returned, we knew this place was finally restored.

"…This place was created from his guilt."

I nodded, staring at the Seal of Soundlessness in my hand. It wasn't just a source of power. It was the weight of unspoken words. Proof of how silence can destroy a person.

Lucarin spoke again.

"He was… originally a crafter of emotional weapons. He stayed here, sealing his own voice, so that the art of word-binding would not be lost."

"A punishment for the name he couldn't say… He imprisoned himself." I whispered.

Lephtir stumbled toward us. Sweat glistened on his forehead. His eyes were unfocused and trembling.

"You okay?"

He barely nodded. And then collapsed. I caught him.

"You overdid it. Two Echos in a row…"

Lephtir's Echo wasn't just sensory playback. He had to absorb another's emotion through his body and then resurrect it as sound.

Which meant— that wasn't just my memory.

He had been there that day. He had heard Joo-hee's final words.

"…Lephtir. You were watching that day, weren't you?"

He closed his eyes and said:

"Yeah. I always knew. You and her… couldn't erase each other."

"When she died, you…"

"I tried not to forget her voice. Because someone had to remember."

And I… had no words left.

We headed to the corridor's central hall. This was the fortress of emotions, a tomb for the nameless.

At its center, I raised the Seal of Soundlessness.

And the entire space lit up.

Waves of white light shimmered. The 'Blades of Silence' embedded in the walls melted one by one.

[SYSTEM – Emotional Liberation Complete] [Seal of Soundlessness Acquired] [Throat Corridor Purification Rate: 100%] [Trial Cleared – Vocalization Restored]

Lucarin straightened herself.

"We can speak again."

I nodded at her.

"Now, it's our turn. To carry the voices of those who couldn't speak."

As I finished speaking, a door opened at the edge of the quiet corridor.

A breeze flowed through. Dry, harsh, carrying the scent of dust.

Lucarin turned her head.

"It's the wind from the Lung Kingdom."

"The air… it's different."

I stepped toward the door.

"Lephtir, can you walk?"

He hesitated, then slowly rose.

"Yeah. Now, I'll speak too. I'll voice my emotions. My truth."

He smiled.

"Silence ends here."

The three of us stepped through the door. And one by one, the corridor's lights faded.

Just before the last light went out, a faint echo whispered from afar:

"Thank you… for remembering her name."

And then— The Corridor of the Throat fell into final silence.

Now we head toward 『The Lung Kingdom – The Suffocation of Aéros』.