𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭 | ✓

TWENTY SEVEN.

Warning: Blood. Extreme/Heavy Angst (not a warning but you better prepare tissues but yes continue reading)

First came the warning.

Y/n looked at it incredulously.

[ SYSTEM WARNING: A hidden event has been triggered for breaking the canon!

Failure: Death ]

Breaking the canon! Wasn't he supposed to? Was the system glitching?

And another hidden event. Somehow, Y/n had noticed a slight pattern. Strangely enough, the hidden events appeared when he had successfully broken the timeline. Such as when the vines appeared..

Y/n shook his head, casting all negative thoughts out of his mind. Though the words death had been in most of the events popping up, this felt ominous. Like an imminent threat. And now when he squinted, these hidden events popped up...

Weren't they a different color? Different from the ones telling him to break the timeline. Different from the ones telling him he failed to stop an event.

And it was also peculiar on how Iris constantly disappeared when a hidden event occured.

Y/n looked around him. He was currently at the Aragon Family Manor, unlike the previous occurrences which had been at the academy. It was all peaceful. Everything was quiet. So what did it mean by trigger...?

Unless it was happening elsewhere...

Perhaps, he thought, these hidden events were somehow connected to Iris. She had been manipulating him, causing him harm, and erasing his memories. Could she be the source of these warnings? Was she trying to maintain the game's "canon" and prevent him from disrupting it further?

Y/n felt a chill run down his spine. If these hidden events were indeed tied to Iris, it meant that she held a significant amount of power within this virtual world. And her intentions remained shrouded in mystery.

Wait...

Now that he thought about it—now that he actually thought about it...

"Iris." Y/n swallowed, "Iris."

Please.

Don't let it be the truth.

Don't.

[Ugh! What!]

She sounded on the edge. Trembling. Jittery. She sounded guilty. Like she had just done something..

No.

.

.

No.

.

.

Because that would mean...

Everything that he had done...

Everything that had happened...

But what would get her to admit it? The terrifying new theory that had just popped up in his head was too much to actually form in his head—it was too much for him to think.

Because then it would be his fault. Every single trouble that happened, would be his fault.

Y/n sucked in a breath.

[So?]

"What triggered the hidden event, Iris? Tell me truthfully," His voice was strained, on the verge of breaking—"tell me. Please."

[What are you even talking about?] Nervous. She was nervous.

It only confirmed Y/n's suspicions. And now to pull the trigger.