Felt was dumbfounded.

The woman in front of her was heaving like she'd just run a marathon through hell itself.

Her shoulders trembled with each labored breath, and her face had gone so pale it looked like all the blood had drained straight out of her body.

The words left Felt's mouth before she could stop them.

"... Ms. Celis?"

The woman flinched.

Just a tiny movement, but visible enough to confirm she'd heard.

Slowly, with visible effort that suggested it cost her more than it should, Celis straightened her posture.

The carefully maintained composure slid back into place like a mask being adjusted, though the cracks showed around the edges.

"What's wrong, dear Felt?"

Her voice came out strained, forced into that gentle tone she always used despite the obvious pain underneath.

Felt's eyebrows furrowed.

Something was very wrong here.

"Are you... okay?"

The question sounded stupid even as she said it.

Obviously Celis wasn't okay.

Anyone with functioning eyes could see that.

But what else was she supposed to say?

She took a cautious step closer, her medical instincts kicking in despite the alarm bells ringing in her head.

The complexion was bad.

Way worse than it should be for someone who'd just been sitting against a wall.

And the trembling, faint but definitely there, suggested either extreme pain or complete exhaustion.

Maybe both.

Before Celis could deflect with some mysterious non-answer, something changed.

The woman's expression twisted.

Her hand shot to her chest and gripped the fabric there hard enough to turn knuckles white.

'Futile. Truly futile. I'll be released soon, woman.'

Felt didn't hear the voice.

But she saw the reaction.

Saw the way Celis's teeth gritted together so hard it looked painful, the way her entire body went rigid like she was fighting against something invisible.

"Ms. Celis?!"

Felt rushed forward.

Her hands reached out instinctively, though she had no idea what she could actually do to help.

Celis tried to say something.

Her lips moved, forming words that never quite made it to sound.

Then vision lost its colors.

Her body went limp.

Felt barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground completely.

"No no no, hey! Ms. Celis! Stay with me!"

Panic flooded through her system as she lowered the unconscious woman carefully.

Her medical training screamed at her to check vitals, assess the situation, and figure out what was happening.

But her hands trembled too much to be steady.

What the hell was this?

What kind of condition caused someone to just collapse like that?

"Someone! Anyone! I need help here!"

Her voice cracked as she shouted toward the settlement.

The sound of Velraeth's sparring match echoed in the distance, too loud and too far away to hear one person screaming.

Felt looked down at Celis's pale face.

Whatever was happening to her, it wasn't natural.

Couldn't be.

Not with the way she'd clutched her chest like something was trying to claw its way out from the inside.

"Please... someone..."

***

Nero sat alone in his room.

The conversation with Luna replayed in his head on loop, each pass making the implications feel heavier.

His system was a paradox.

Not broken, not glitched, not malfunctioning.

A fundamental contradiction in how it existed.

Drawing from past, present, and future simultaneously like time was just another resource to be harvested.

He leaned back against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

How was he supposed to process that?

Everything he'd summoned, every person who'd appeared when he used those tickets, they weren't created from nothing.

They were pulled.

Taken from somewhere, somewhen, and deposited directly into his service.

Aurelia had been dead, erased from existence according to divine records.

Yet here she was, alive and well, with fragmented memories of a past that shouldn't exist anymore.

The same goes for other summons who were supposed to be dead from the long past…

Luna's research referenced magical theories that wouldn't be discovered for decades according to normal progression.

And if the system truly operated across all timelines...

Then whoever created it had access to powers that made gods look like children playing with toys.

The kind of being that could reach into the fabric of reality itself and rewrite fundamental rules without breaking a sweat.

"How the hell am I supposed to find someone like that?"

The question came out as a frustrated mutter.

His goals were simple when this started.

Survive the apocalypse, summon some waifus, maybe touch some boobs along the way.

Standard degenerate protagonist dreams.

But now?

Now he was sitting here contemplating the existence of a being that operated outside linear time and had enough power to create a system that violated basic laws of reality.

And worse, there was something else.

Someone who'd tried to seal his system.

The `<???>` section that refused to display properly, was filled with corrupted data and error messages.

From what they had gathered so far is that there are at least two entities at play here.

One who created the Waifu System with impossible capabilities.

Another who tried to lock it away, hide its true nature, keep it from being fully accessed.

The question was why…?

What kind of threat did his system pose that required that level of containment?

Sure, he could understand that reviving someone from the past into the present is very much overpowered… but Nero was at least sure that there are other upper beings out there who have abilities more overpowered than him.

Take that murderer who can absorb any abilities from the start of the apocalypse as an example.

If he was given time to grow, he would've probably been a legendary figure by now.

And Nero was sure there are more abilities out there who're broken if not even more broken than that stealing ability.

Though that also begs the question…

'... Right, that mysterious black-haired woman.'

That obsessive woman who grabbed his first kiss.

Although his memory was faint at that time, he could tell she was speaking things that were quite confidential is she not?

The woman was also wrapped in lots of mystery.

"Haaah…"

'What a damn headache.'

The more he dug for answers, the more questions and messier things seemed to be.

It's like a bunch of puzzle pieces that he needs to fit all together to get the whole picture.

Past, present, future.

Paradox.

Hidden creator.

Sealed functions.

And now apparently his entire existence was tied to something that shouldn't be able to function but did anyway through sheer impossibility.

'Are you really sure, Aria? You don't really know?'

He directed the question toward the interface that materialized in response to his attention.

The cheerful voice that always accompanied the system answered immediately.

[Mouu! Aria really doesn't know, Master!]

She sounded genuinely frustrated.

Not defensive or evasive like she was hiding something.

Just annoyed that she couldn't provide the answer he wanted.

He'd asked before, multiple times before.

Same question, same result.

According to Aria, the only things she knew with certainty were her purpose and her knowledge base.

Assist Master to the fullest capability possible.

Provide information about waifus, items, abilities, mechanics.

Guide him through the system's functions and help optimize his usage.

That was it.

Everything else?

Blank.

No memories of creation, no knowledge of her creator, no understanding of why she existed or how.

Not even awareness of her own personality before the system activated.

Just purpose and function, nothing more.

And the `<???>` section?

She had zero access to it.

Couldn't read it, couldn't explain it, couldn't even acknowledge what might be hidden there beyond admitting it existed.

Nero could tell she wasn't lying.

The emotional honesty in her voice, the way she reacted with genuine confusion when he pressed for details.

Aria didn't come across as someone capable of elaborate deception.

Her personality was too straightforward, too openly expressive.

Hiding something this significant would require acting skills she clearly didn't possess.

Which meant the information really was blocked from her.

Sealed away deliberately by whoever designed the system's architecture.

That left only one conclusion.

The culprit behind all the mysteries, all the questions, all the impossible contradictions...

It was the `<???>` itself.

The hidden section that glitched when Luna's revelation hit too close to something important.

Whatever existed behind those corrupted characters and error messages held the truth he was looking for.

The identity of his system's creator.

The reason for this crazy paradox.

The explanation for why someone tried to seal it.

All of it locked away in digital obscurity, waiting for... what exactly?

For him to get strong enough to access it?

For specific conditions to be met?

Or was it protecting him from knowledge that could break his mind if revealed too early?

Nero closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

Too many questions.

Not enough answers.

And the one source that should have information was deliberately withholding everything behind walls he couldn't break through yet.

His HUD flickered.

Just barely.

A single frame of distortion where the `<???>` section sat.

Then it stabilized again, returning to its usual corrupted state.

"..."

He stared at it.

Something was definitely in there behind the broken abilities that it gave him.

But before he could further ponder…

"Master Nero!"

Felt barged into the room with a sense of urgency as a foreboding feeling climbed up his chest.

"It's Ms. Celis! She…!"

Before Felt could even finish, Nero was already moving.

The wheels have started to turn.

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