ZERO: Before the Beginning

 [Final Zone Accessed – Emotional Threshold Breached]

[Emotion Class: Salt / Type – Purification, Loss, Recovery, Truth]

[Physical Response – Tongue Surface Fully Activated / Emotional Release Permitted]

The world beyond the gate… was water.

No flames.

No collapsing illusions.

Just an endless, undulating ocean.

The sea was soaked in bitterness.

Not a sharp sensation on the tongue—

But something deeper.

It was tears.

Blood.

And the weight of all the unsaid words.

I stood upon it.

A single island floating atop the sea of emotion.

At its center lay something familiar.

I stepped closer.

It was…

My childhood diary.

Dust layered thick on the cover.

Worn edges from countless hands.

A broken lock clasp.

I knelt in silence.

My fingertips trembled.

Just touching it—

Waves of memory slammed into me.

My mother's weeping.

The stench of my father's alcohol.

A small boy sitting alone in a cramped room.

The hospital.

Juhui.

And… my silence.

I slowly opened the diary.

One line.

Only one sentence was written:

> "When were you the most honest?"

The sea remained calm.

But not my heart.

The most honest moment?

When I first fell in love with her?

When I held her one last time?

Or…

The day I turned away from everything?

My mind blanked.

My tongue dried.

Words vanished.

> [Purifier Zero – Emotional Freezing Detected]

[Caution – Expression Function Temporarily Halted / Silence Overload Active]

[Emotional Residue: 73% – Unstable]

I stayed silent.

Staring out across the sea.

Within those waters—

Were tears I never shed.

Griefs I never grieved.

Confessions I never voiced.

Silences I was never forgiven for.

The waves surged toward me.

Cold.

And salty.

I didn't need my eyes to know.

My tongue quivered.

> "…The night I held her for the last time."

I spoke.

And the sea quaked.

> "That night… I was honest."

The moment the words left my mouth—

The waters twisted violently.

Waves rose.

The island trembled.

And from the center—

Something rose.

A silver crystal.

Condensed like taste at the tip of the tongue.

It was pure emotion.

A gift only to those who dared speak the truth:

The Tongue of Truth.

> [Emotional Crystal Acquired – Name: Tongue of Truth]

[Ability: Emotional Analysis & Verbalization / Emotional Chain Reaction Amplification]

[Emotion Release Rate: 100%]

[Weapon Synchronization Unlocked / Emotional Channel Expanded]

Then—

Footsteps.

From the other side of the island.

Quiet.

But steady.

Someone was walking across the water.

Her figure shimmered in light.

Short silver hair.

Clear, deep eyes.

Still like the sea—yet heavy as its depths.

She stopped in front of me.

And stared without a word.

> "...You are?"

> "Purifier Zero.

You who swallowed the truth—

I have come to unlock the seal."

Light flared from her fingertips.

It entered my chest.

She wasn't reading me.

She was drawing out the words I couldn't say.

> [Synchronization In Progress – Contact with Core Emotion Weapon]

[Seal Release Detected – Tongue Seal Unlocked]

Then she spoke—

Soft, but resonant.

> "You're ready to speak.

That's why—

I've come to become your voice."

> [New Ally Registered: Lucarin]

[Ability Type: Logospeech (언령)]

[Function: Converts Spoken Emotion into Reality / Emotion Interference Capable]

[Affiliation: Temple of Senses – Tongue Seal Bearer]

[Status: Purification Sync Complete]

I closed my eyes.

The trials washed over me like waves—

Flames, acid, illusions, scars, silence.

And finally—

This voice.

She was a lighthouse in my chaos.

A translator of all the words I couldn't say.

I reached out.

She took my hand.

> "Let's fight together—

For all the emotions left unsaid."

The ocean of emotion stilled.

But that stillness—

Wasn't peace.

It was the calm before the storm.

And beyond it—

I was ready to speak.

> ⟪Gate of Truth: Enter with Closed Eyes⟫

All senses quieted.

The Trial of the Tongue—

Through its five hellish domains,

I had swallowed countless emotions,

And expelled countless memories.

Spicy pain.

Sour guilt.

Sweet temptation.

Bitter self-blame.

Salty tears.

At the end of it all—

Only one sense remained.

> Silence.

> [Temple of Senses – Tongue Trial: Full Completion]

[Purifier Zero – Tongue Seal Acquired]

[Next Gate – Trial of the Eyes Unlocked]

Lucarin stood beside me.

She nodded silently.

Her eyes—clear like glass—

Held emotions yet to be spoken.

> "The second gate now opens."

Her voice was gentle—

Yet it carried weight.

More than speech—

It shook the heart.

I nodded.

And within me—

The five sensory crystals began to overlap—

Forming a new gate.

Not in sight.

But in my mind.

> [Temple of Senses – Gate Two: Trial of the Eyes – Labyrinth of Lies]

[Connection Initiating: Visual Sensory Interface Engaged]

[Warning – Visual Illusion Type / High Risk of Memory Distortion]

> "If you wish to see the truth—

Prepare to close your eyes."

The phrase above the gate made me pause.

Close my eyes to enter?

Then this trial…

Perhaps only those who don't look can truly see.

I shut my eyes.

And stepped forward.

The ground disappeared.

Space twisted.

Time collapsed.

> [Connection Complete – Visual Circuits Reconfigured]

[Environment: Memory-Based Illusion Realm Generating]

[Sensory Filters Applied: Vision 97% / Hearing 12% / Smell 0%]

I opened my eyes.

And froze.

A narrow alley.

Twisting path.

Flickering fluorescent lights.

Damp-stained walls.

A place from my memory—

Where kids kicked balls and shouted.

But I already knew—

This wasn't real.

This was illusion.

Born from my memory.

> "The trial of truth…

Begins in falsehood."

A voice echoed in my mind.

Familiar.

Yet unfamiliar.

I walked down the alley.

Flyers on walls.

A utility pole.

And then—

Sneakers.

Worn. White.

Stained with blood.

They blocked the center of the path.

I stopped.

And then—

The sneakers looked up.

Yes—looked up.

It made no logical sense—

But that's exactly what I felt.

And behind them—

The pole moved too.

> [Initial Hostile Entities Detected – Gatekeepers of Falsehood: Memory Distortions]

[Form: Visual Contaminants / Illusion-Based Mimics]

[Warning – Do Not Trust Emotional Judgments / Recommend Ignoring Visual Input]

> "…So this trial isn't fought with eyes."

I drew my Shard of Pyroblossom.

But no flame appeared.

Because in this world of sight—

Truth is often a lie.

Then—

Truth must be pierced not with sight—

But with memory and emotion.

I lowered my gaze.

I stepped forward—eyes closed.

The sneakers screamed.

The pole wrapped around me.

Countless gazes scraped my skin.

But I kept moving.

Because truth—

Cannot be seen.

It grows—

In the dark corners of the senses.

And beyond that darkness—

The real me waits.