You glanced down and lightly tapped the ice on the floor with your foot before bringing your leg up and slamming it down, smashing the ice into pieces. The pressure caused the rest of the ice across the hallway to also shatter. And in a blink of an eye, the floor was now devoid of the sheet of ice.

You shook off the bits of snow and ice on your shoes. "Much better, didn't feel like ice skating today."

The amount of strength that was coursing through your body was both overwhelming and exhilarating. You were surprised, you would've thought the apparitions would either continued to oppose you or moved on somewhere else. But from the looks of it, they were lending you their strength and sticking by you. You could still feel their intense emotions of frustration and vengeance, but you welcomed it and used it to fuel your own determination.

You walked, impervious to the furious snowstorm, and heard the shouts of AEI members from afar. You paused in your steps. From the sound of it, they were coming your way. If they were to see you now, their first instinct would be to exorcise the apparitions before potentially deeming you as a threat.

"Alright then. If you don't want to die a second time, follow me."

You turned around and began running up the stairs, each stride powerful. And with swift kicks from the side you broke down walls as a shortcut; it wasn't necessary, but you wanted to spite the chairman and create more mess for him to clean up. The apparitions even helped you in that endeavour and began destroying walls just for the sake of it.

It didn't take long for you to reach the rooftop. When you walked over to the edge, you thought of where you could direct the apparitions.

"Actually, I know the perfect place," you mumbled.

It was a little bit of a tedious process to get to the location, but their safety can be guaranteed. After you said the instructions, there was a short period of silence before the apparitions began leaving your side. Without their support, you felt your energy gradually deplete and exhaustion catching up to you. Too tired to move, you glanced at the city landscape. Thanks to the building's colossal height, the city appeared small from above. And despite the chaos occurring inside the building, you felt a little at peace sightseeing.

The city is thriving like usual, unaware of the storm inside the AEI. Well, the building was located fairly far away from the busy parts of the city, after all.

You were so immersed in your thoughts that you didn't realise your eyes slowly closing from exhaustion and your body giving out. Without the apparitions here, your fragile state was much more apparent. Though your broken bones had been healed to an extent, you still had wounds inflicted onto you that were causing you to lose a concerning amount of blood. At least the cold numbed the pain, but you needed medical treatment.

You turned around and slowly made your way to an infirmary, a hand holding your shoulder. Keeping your gaze low, you saw spots of blood painting the floor. After a few steps, you tripped and fell onto the ground. But what should've been an impact with the floor was replaced with someone's arms.

"Easy there, I've got you."

Recognising the voice, you weren't surprised when you looked up and met a pair of emerald green eyes.

"Miss support, you just love getting into dangerous situations, don't you?" Caleb chuckled, hoisting you up and carrying you bridal style. "Next time invite me, okay?"

"(Y/n)! Are you okay?"

Amias entered the scene, concern written all over his expression. He approached you and Caleb before wincing once he got a closer look at you. You could feel the blood from your forehead dripping down your face, so you could imagine what your state was like.

"She won't die," Caleb said. "Miss support, don't go closing your eyes on me now, okay?"

You dutifully nodded and did your best to hold onto your consciousness. Well, that wasn't too difficult when a sudden onslaught of snow came rushing in your direction and wiped away any sense of drowsiness from you. Caleb's hold on you tighten and he turned away to shield you from the cold; however, his gaze was fixated to the front focused and alert.

"You guys should turn around." A voice called out from behind. "If you're looking for me, that is."

Silver eyes reflecting a look of nonchalance, short white hair that briefly covered his left eye, and an oversized lab coat that covered his lean frame; you had to admit, his presence was immensely mesmerizing. The male's features were picturesque and his long white eyelashes only enhanced his features. He sat on top of the low wall alongside the edge of the rooftop and crossed one leg over the other.

The apparition's eyes met yours. "...You're alive." A thoughtful hum left him. "Huh, didn't expect that."

"Didn't expect that? Can I assume that you did this to her?" Caleb asked

His tone was lighthearted, but you felt a hidden sense of malice. You had a feeling if it weren't for the fact you were in his arms, he would've already sprung into action.

The apparition yawned. "Ah, sorry if that seemed rude. I've been sleeping for over a decade," he said. "If you think about it, I suppose I did. I didn't intend to, my abilities are out of my control––"

He paused when a streak of yellow suddenly rushed past you and Caleb. It all happened so fast that you barely registered the fact that Amias had swiftly teleported right next to the apparition. A golden glow illuminated from his palm, but before he could exorcise the apparition, a torrent of wind knocked him across the entire roof. Your eyes widened in disbelief. Even though you had already expected such power from the apparition, it still caught you off guard. All that force from just a simple wave of a hand?

Thankfully, Amias managed to break the momentum halfway and stop himself from falling off the edge of the roof.

"Amias! Are you okay?" Your voice came out instinctively and you winced at the strain from your throat because of that.

After quickly catching his breath, he showed you a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, don't worry!"

"I don't intend on dying a second time," the apparition said. "As I said, my abilities are foreign to me. So if you provoke me, I can't guarantee you'll make it out alive."

"Aren't you cocky," Caleb said.

"I'm just being honest." The apparition stood up and looked at you. "What's your name?"

You shot him a confused look. "Uhm...(Y/n)?"

He nodded. "(Y/n). I'll make you my first memory then."

With a snap of his fingers, your vision was momentarily blinded by a blur of white as a downpour of snow and wind came crashing down.

"If you're smart, you'll leave," the apparition said, voice faint underneath the intensity of the snowstorm. "I'm aware the two of you can put up a fight, but your priorities shouldn't be facing me right now. Unless you want to lose her."

The sudden change in ferocity of the environment lasted no more than a few seconds before it abruptly changed to a still and peaceful snowfall. Snowflakes elegantly descended from above and the apparition was gone.

"(Y/n). I'll make you my first memory then."

Those words were the last things that lingered in your mind before you closed your eyes and lost consciousness.

===

After experiencing the snowstorm that took place inside the AEI building, your serotonin shot up to the roof with just a simple cup of your favourite warm drink inside a heated cafe.

You were currently seated in a corner with a newly purchased pen and notebook on the table alongside your drink and a dish of your choice. When you walked into the cafe, you received a bunch of concerned glances from strangers and the staff almost had a heart attack. Well, that made sense considering that you had a bandage wrapped around your forehead, a bandage on the bridge of your nose (you honestly had no idea how that one happened), a bandage on your left cheek, and bandages wrapped around your hands and arms.

It was late at night and after everything you experienced earlier today, you could not sleep. Plus, you were unconscious for basically the entire day after you knocked out. When you woke up you were already all patched up and you quickly changed into your regular clothes and snuck out of the infirmary despite knowing that you were supposed to rest.

After the silver-eyed apparition left, all the other apparitions did the same. If things remained the same according to the game, only Caleb and Amias other than yourself encountered him. The entire incident was kept under wraps and covered as a regular apparition attack. No one found out about the TDD's research lab or displayed even the tiniest bit of doubt in the chairman's words. His influence was truly commendable.

Though, not all the apparitions managed to escape. The ones that broke out of the lab were the ones who died from the last SF trial, the ones who still remain in the research lab were a different case.

After writing down your notes, you flipped the page and tapped your pen on the sheet rhythmically. Another issue that has been prodding your mind was:

You were incredibly horrible at being lowkey.

The silver-eyed apparition saw you on the verge of death before finding out that you had suddenly recovered. Caleb saw you on the rooftop freaking bleeding to death. You literally taught Amias how to exorcise an apparition and he still hasn't confronted you about that yet.

You sighed. "At this point, I should just walk up to the chairman, give him the middle finger, tell him that I know about the secret project he's been developing for years, then dip."

You continued scribbling in your notebook, documenting key bits of information and mapping out what you were going to do from now on. At first, your goal was to play it safe and quietly follow along with the plot or seek an opportunity to distance yourself from it. But, that has obviously changed now.

You twirled the pen in your hands and glanced outside the window. "Should I try rewriting the ending...?"

The ending where Amias massacres everyone, there was no way you could forget it. You were so frustrated with that fate when you played the game, but now you have a chance to change it. You've seen everything through his eyes for 100+ hours. You'll figure something out. An idea of the root of how it all happened was already in your mind.

"And if push comes to shove..." You wrote down a sentence in your book and circled it. "I'll even face him myself and kill him before he does that to anyone else."

Of course, that was a last resort. There was no joy in the idea of murdering Amias. However, if it comes to it and you're unable to stop him from massacring the entire cast, that was the only option left. You were familiar with his abilities and you will improve your own to be able to face him. Heck, not just familiar. You knew his capabilities inside out.

You closed your notebook and locked it. Yes, you bought a notebook with a lock. You even made a necklace with the key. A digital diary may be more secure, but the devices you own were issued by the AEI. Writing down obvious plots against the chairman with those devices obviously made you feel uneasy.

Once you finished up, you headed back to the AEI. The plan was that no one noticed your absence and you would successfully sneak your way back into the infirmary as if nothing had ever happened.

Spoilers, that didn't happen.

Just when you thought you were in the clear, you ran into Caleb. Quite literally since you were turning a corner.

"..."

"..."

"You didn't see me here––"

"Where are you heading off to, miss support?" Caleb grabbed onto your hand, brought it up, and twirled you around as you were trying to speedrun past him. He laughed at how flustered you looked. "You're coming with me."

"Wait, what––"

The male didn't let you finish as he pulled you away and led you to a balcony on one of the highest floors in the building. A fresh and cool breeze rushed past you and when you looked up, you were pleasantly surprised at the sight. For once, grey clouds didn't plague the skies. Instead, it was clear and decorated with stars.

The male let go of your hand and went over to the balcony railing and you followed him. For a while, he was oddly quiet. You simply stood next to him in silence and had an inkling of the type of conversation that was about to take place.

"Miss support."

"...Yes?"

He playfully drummed his nails against the railing. "Hm, how should I start this...I guess I'll just be straightforward," Caleb said, glancing over to you. "Who are you?"

"Uh...(Y/n) (L/n)?"

"C'mon, you know that's not what I meant."

You swallowed, nervous. Even if you wanted to tell the truth, where would you even start?

Seeing your silence and conflicted expression, a chuckle left Caleb and a smile graced his lips. "No need to look like that. I was just teasing."

You shook your head. "No, your question is valid. I have been nothing but suspicious ever since we met," you said. "But I don't have an answer."

"Can't tell?"

"It's very complicated."

"How mysterious, miss support." Caleb sent you a playful wink. "Welp! Have it your way. Just try not to disappear on me before I find out for myself, okay?"

His delivery was casual and carefree, but knowing Caleb's past and the burden he carried only made you dig your nails into your palms to hide a guilty wince. There was a reason why Caleb was always insistent in getting to know others but rarely shared anything about himself.

Feeling a sudden sting on your forehead, you snapped out of your thoughts. Caleb had flicked your forehead and you shot him a look of disbelief.

"I didn't say that so you could look sad. Lighten up a bit!"

"Uh––I. It was sudden. You dropped some responsibility on me there."

"So you're saying that you will disappear on me?"

The cheerful nature in his voice subtly dropped and he looked at you with expectant eyes.

"Obviously not. Watch, I'll pass the SF trial with flying colours." You gave him your best confident smile. "Just don't get sour when I take the spotlight.

Caleb laughed. "No need, we'll be the main act together."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Oh, right!" Caleb snapped his fingers in realisation. "Since you're here, wanna come with me to the kitchen? We can bake something."

"It's midnight...?"

"And what of it? C'mon, it'll be fun! We can sneak inside the cafeteria later and leave it for the others to eat for breakfast," he said. "I usually do it by myself, but I can use a cute assistant."

"Are you going to leave any for yourself?"

"Nah. Unless you want some, we'll just dump it all in the cafeteria."

"Why? I thought you liked sweet things."

"I do. But I'll never eat my own baking. I just do it for fun."

Yup, I expected such a response from him. And knowing the reason behind that only crushes my emotions more. Great.

You nodded. "I'm in, let's go."

Caleb's expression brightened and he smiled cheerfully. "I knew you couldn't refuse my charms!"

"You're making it very hard for me to not turn around and walk the other way."

Ignoring your last comment, the male eagerly gestured to you to follow him. With a small sigh, you complied.

As Caleb was a character that stuck by the protagonist's side the most during the game, saying that you were attached to him shouldn't be a surprise. And now since he's a person in front of you, someone who you have the capability to change the fate of, you were definitely going to take action.

You were going to make sure he doesn't die this time.