No one knows—it's like mining light in a world that constantly stirs up storms, gathering positive Bank Memories. Meanwhile, wounds, disappointment, and anger... they don't need to be invited. They simply come. And they stay.
When Knnight's eyes caught the sight of that girl, he didn't know what he was supposed to feel. There was a flicker of happiness, but also a bitterness that slowly cut deep. That moral dilemma didn't just shake his heart; it stoked the embers that had long been buried.
Bank Memory: Anger—it grew, slowly but surely, from shards of an unexplainable irritation. Angry because he could feel... something. Angry because the emotion had no clear shape. Blurry. Faint. Yet real.
His body had already surrendered. His breath came in ragged gasps, as if the world itself refused him air. His soul... had been carrying wounds for far too long. Yet even crawling through despair, he still searched—for a sliver of positive memory, no matter how dim its light.
Not for power.
But simply to survive as a human.
Because only he knew: the price of the Law of Remnant… was sanity itself.
With a broken body, a torn soul, and a mind on the verge of collapse, Knnight fought to hold back the storm. He clung tightly to the fragments of warm memories, battling the dark tides ready to explode and consume the world around him.
And that day, for the first time... he succeeded.
He held back the destruction. He refused to surrender his choice to fate. He—a human on the brink of falling—managed to stand.
Silent. Wounded. But
still standing.
---
But the world didn't grant much time for that small victory.
Because just as Knnight drew a breath—trying to steady his trembling mind…
…the front door creaked again.
BRAAAAK!!
"STUPID JERK OF A GUY!!!"
Knnight reflexively turned around. The dark aura that had almost faded flared up again, triggered by the shock of that voice.
It was the same girl who had asked to come in because of the rain outside, but once inside, it was like an alter ego had taken over... each of her stomping steps sounding like she was mad at every tile in the world.
Her.
The girl who appeared amidst the storm.
The girl now staring at Knnight with a scowl and an emotion so strong even the Remnanctum couldn't contain it.
"I DON'T CARE IF THIS PLACE IS HAUNTED, CURSED, OR FEELS LIKE AZAZEL'S STORAGE ROOM—AS LONG AS THERE ARE NO HYPOCRITE GUYS HERE, I'M STAYING!!!"
Knnight just stared. Then calmly said:
"...You... got dumped?"
She turned away sharply. Her eyes red, nose a little runny from held-back tears... and the flashlight she was holding was now wielded like a baton, swinging at the air.
"NO! I'M JUST... MOVED!"
She sobbed a little, then shouted again:
"SO MOVED TO FIND MY BOYFRIEND CHATTING UP OTHER GIRLS USING A GHOST ACCOUNT!! AND EVEN NAMED IT 'LOYALTY KING 88'!!"
There, Knnight almost lost himself.
Inside his heart, the Remnanctum's darkness seemed to pause, equally confused by this new emotion: absurd sadness and the girl's raging anger.
"He said, 'I wasn't cheating, it was just for social research.'"
"WHAT—WHAT KIND OF RESEARCH?! RESEARCHING HOT GIRLS' LOVE LANGUAGES?!"
Knnight didn't know whether to laugh, hug her, or run to another room. But one thing was certain—the girl had brought a storm, not one that destroyed the world, but...
a storm that shattered his loneliness.
He sighed, then said:
"...You know you're standing in an emotional field strong enough to collapse this old building, right?"
Lily glanced around, then casually sat down on the dusty floor and said:
"If this place is gonna crumble because of my anger, then good. My heart's already collapsed anyway."
And Remnanctum—the place that harbored Knnight's darkness and pain—
...fell silent.
Not out of fear.
But because that day, for the first time...
the emotional wave that entered wasn't destruction. It was the absurd wound called heartbreak.
And that—wasn't listed in the Law of Remnant.
---
Lily sat cross-legged on the cold, cracked floor, using a piece of old plastic as a mat.
Knnight still stood there, frozen like a statue amidst a museum of broken feelings. Maybe because the Remnanctum's power was still stirring... or maybe because he truly didn't know what to say.
"You know," Lily spoke, twirling the flashlight in her hand.
"I found this place because it looked spooky. 'Cursed Building That'll Never Sell Until Doomsday'—kinda suits my love life, don't you think?"
Knnight turned slightly.
The Remnanctum rumbled faintly—either laughing or trying to seal this absurd girl into another dimension.
"And why did you still come in?"
"Because my Online Maps glitched. I cried in the street. So... I just walked in. I figured, if this place was haunted, at least a ghost could cry with me."
Knnight exhaled.
The world was mad.
But this…
this was absurd emotional chaos he had never even wished for.
"...And instead of a ghost, you found me."
Lily glanced at him.
"Yeah... but the vibe's kinda similar."
Knnight nearly laughed.
"You came here just to insult me?"
"No," she said, placing her small bag in a corner.
"I came to run away. But maybe... I ended up in the wrong place."
She looked down. And for the first time, her voice grew soft. Fragile. Real.
"I'm just... tired. Tired of hoping. Tired of pretending to be strong. Tired of acting like I'm okay, when inside I'm like that crooked locker in the corner of a school hallway—just waiting to collapse."
Knnight watched her.
Heartbreak. Disappointment. Injustice. The shame of being made a fool of.
All too familiar.
It was the very fuel of Remnanctum.
"You know," he said quietly.
"This place... doesn't reject broken people. But it doesn't promise they'll leave whole, either."
Lily looked at him, then gave a small smile, though her eyes were still red.
"Good. I'm not looking for salvation. Just... honesty."
And perhaps for the first time in who knows how long,
Knnight didn't feel alone.
Not because someone understood his pain.
But because for the first time—someone sat with him in the ruins of his emotions...
not to save him,
…but simply to stay.
---
Silence blanketed the second floor of the old building.
Only the heavy rain and the howling wind through broken windows could be heard.
Lily leaned against the wall, knees drawn to her chest. She looked exhausted, but not afraid. Like someone who had long stopped caring whether tomorrow would bring sunshine or ruin.
Knnight stood not far from her, half-shrouded in shadows. His mind wrestled within the quiet.
"That face... it's too similar.
The school uniform.
The way she ties her hair.
Even her gaze."
But he knew it clearly—Lily was not Elara.
Elara wouldn't just show up, knocking on the door seeking shelter from the rain.
Elara... had been long gone from his life. Either erased by time, or buried by Remnanctum.
"Hey," Lily suddenly said, breaking his thoughts.
"You never answered. Can I crash here just for tonight?"
Knnight fell silent. He should have refused. Should have spoken coldly and detached as he usually did. But…
Those eyes.
The same kind of eyes as the one he once tried to protect.
Even if now... it was merely a false reflection of the past.
"...Whatever," he muttered at last.
"But don't blame me if you have nightmares."
Lily grinned.
"Relax. My life's already a nightmare."
Knnight nearly choked on air.
"And don't ask too many questions," he added.
"This place... doesn't like questions."
"Same," Lily murmured, lying down.
"I'm tired of asking why people keep hurting me."
The Remnanctum sighed.
Not in sound, but in the faint sensation of a place burdened by a human's sorrow—both painful and absurd.
Knnight sat against the wall, a few meters away from Lily. His gaze drifted toward the shadowed ceiling.
"She's not Elara."
"But why... does it feel like I have to protect her, even if just for tonight?"
And Remnanctum grew calm.
Because for the first time, maybe...
its master would finally have something new.
---