Sky Realm.
The clouds weren't just thinning anymore.
They were unraveling—like the sky was forgetting how to exist.
Silence stretched between them.
Mitsuki finally spoke.
"Why are we only left?"
From the fading light ahead, a girl appeared.
Not walking in. Not descending.
Just… there. As if reality had placed her there without permission.
Mitsuki stepped back slightly.
"…Who are you?"
"I'm the Goddess… the one who brought you here."
A pause.
Mitsuki's brows tightened.
"Why aren't we transported yet?"
The Goddess tilted her head faintly.
"…Because I haven't finished deciding what you're meant to hear."
Ishikawa's eyes narrowed.
"Is it about my status?"
A faint pause.
"You always reach the surface too quickly."
Mitsuki shifted.
"But why am I here?"
The Goddess looked at her—long enough to make it uncomfortable.
"…You weren't supposed to be separate."
Mitsuki blinked.
"…Separate?"
No answer.
The silence didn't feel empty.
It felt avoided.
Mitsuki turned slightly.
"…Ishikawa?"
The Goddess spoke instead.
"You're not showing a status because there is nothing that recognizes you."
Ishikawa clicked his tongue.
"…That's not an answer."
The Goddess didn't correct him.
Mitsuki frowned.
"Then what is he?"
A pause.
"…Something that doesn't align with the system that brought him here."
Ishikawa's expression tightened slightly.
"…System?"
The Goddess didn't elaborate.
Instead—
"…Your name doesn't register correctly here."
Mitsuki felt a chill.
"What does that even mean?"
Silence again.
Ishikawa's voice lowered.
"…Stop talking like you know something I don't."
The Goddess simply watched him.
Then quietly—
"…You feel it too."
His hand twitched slightly.
"…Something missing."
Mitsuki stepped forward.
"What are you hiding from him?"
The air shifted instantly.
The Goddess's gaze dropped—to Mitsuki's pendant.
"…That."
Mitsuki instinctively touched it.
"What about it?"
A faint pause.
"…It shouldn't react here."
The pendant pulsed once—warm, almost alive—then went still.
Like it had waited sixteen years for this exact moment.
Mitsuki froze.
"…It just… reacted."
Ishikawa frowned.
"Just explain already."
For the first time, the Goddess didn't feel calm.
"…If I say it now, you won't remain the same after hearing it."
Silence dropped hard.
Mitsuki whispered.
"…Same how?"
No answer.
Only a small gesture.
"Give it to him."
Mitsuki hesitated.
"…Why?"
The Goddess didn't repeat herself.
Ishikawa stepped forward.
"…Just give it."
Mitsuki slowly handed it over.
The moment it touched his palm—
the air tightened.
Like the world had inhaled and forgotten how to exhale.
Ishikawa flinched.
"…What is—"
His fingers curled instinctively around it.
Something in his voice slipped.
<…First…>
He froze.
"…What did I just say?"
The Goddess didn't react.
"Say Status Open."
He didn't speak immediately.
It came out like something slipping through him.
<..Status Open.>
Name: Grey Crimson
Age: 16
Class: Hero (0+)
The name sat there.
Still. Absolute. Wrong.
Grey Crimson.
It didn't feel new.
It felt remembered by something inside him.
His throat tightened.
"…That's not mine."
Mitsuki's voice followed a second later.
"…Grey?" Her voice cracked on the word.
Ishikawa didn't look away from the screen.
"…So that's what I am called."
A silence followed that wasn't empty anymore.
It was recognition.
The Goddess finally spoke again.
"…Not called."
A pause.
"…Rewritten."
Mitsuki took a small step back.
"…Rewritten?"
The Goddess's gaze remained steady on Ishikawa.
"The first seal has begun to loosen. There are five in total. Each one was placed to hide what you are."
She tilted her head slightly, almost clinical.
"Breaking them will not be gentle. And once the final seal falls… you will no longer be able to pretend you belong on Earth."
"Go and find your home "
The air trembled faintly.
The sky above them cracked with soft light.
And the Goddess looked at them both — not like a guide anymore… but like someone running out of time.
"…And now it has started reacting."
Light surged.
No warning this time.
Only disappearance.
The sky realm reformed—thinner, quieter. Like nothing had ever happened.
Another figure materialized beside her. Not a goddess, not quite. A shadow with wings, voice like frost on glass.
"Why were you harsh on them?"
The Goddess didn't turn. Her eyes stayed on the empty space where they'd vanished.
"They have to face more brutal situations."
She exhaled—barely. "His goals are bigger than he would ever imagine."
A pause. The shadow tilted its head.
"And the girl?"
The Goddess finally looked over.
"She's the anchor. If she breaks… he breaks faster."
The shadow laughed—soft, without warmth.
"You're betting on pain."
"I'm betting on survival."
The sky unraveled again.
This time, no light. Just silence.