Yu Yung-An · The Search Begins After Integration
"Why does that name keep showing up in parts I can't remember?"—
He didn't choose to go to Bai Zhiming right away.Though he already knew what Bai would say, he also understood—Those words only hurt when you're not ready.
Now, he needed to confirm one thing first:Whether the memories and information he possessedcontained something that truly belonged to a third party.—
LUOYEH Base, Sublevel 5: Personal Video Records ArchiveYu Yung-An logged into an old account.The system showed he had viewed a recording three months ago—but left no backup.
[Title]: Log of Warning Point – Zone X (2025/02/19)[Note]: Surveillance Summary on the Day of Li An-Ching's Incident
He opened the file.The screen turned white at first,then faded into a blurry scene.
In the footage—he saw a vague figure collapsed by a wall.The image was unstable,but he could recognize the place:It was the last location where Li An-Ching appeared.She died that day.But the timestamp at the bottom right corner read:
2024/12/17 18:40
He froze.That wasn't the time Li An-Ching died—It was the exact moment Chang Yu-An disappeared from the real world.—
He immediately rewound the video, slowed it down.There, next to Li An-Ching, lay an object.
He thought it was a phone.But upon zooming in, the reflected image stunned him—
It was a Triple Cross.But unlike the one he remembered,this one had no engraving in the center—only a fracture.—
That's when he realized something:
"So I didn't find that cross...""She... handed it to me before her final breath."
A brief hollow opened in his memory.He recalled seeing her in a dream—mouth open,but no words spoken.
It wasn't a dream.It was the moment her consciousness was passed on.—
He returned to his notebook, flipping through Chang Yu-An's handwritten drafts.One unfinished line made him pause:
[…If the cross had never actually left her side…][…Then where did the one I hold come from?]
He looked up,his gaze suddenly calm to the extreme.
It was an overlap.Two crosses,existing in different timelines—at the exact same moment.—
This was the beginning of the investigation.He wrote down today's observation:
[Post-Integration · Observation Record No.1]・Time of Li An-Ching's death matches my (Chang's) disappearance・An anomalous cross appeared at her death site・Two versions of the cross exist: Fractured & Engraved
→ Timeline divergence occurred on December 17 / Dual transmission→ If she handed the cross to me, then… is the one I now hold a forgery?
→ Next step: Return to Zone X, reconstruct that day's memory—
He took a deep breath and murmured:
"Did you die by accident, or... were you forced to let me live?"—
This was Yu Yung-An's first step.Not to ask who was wrong,but to ask—In that moment of choice, was I there too, just not ready to remember?
Yu Yung-An · Alternate TimelinePost-Integration Awakening and Environmental Echoes
—
He didn't get out of bed right away when he sat up.
Because he noticed something—His body was responding to a habit that wasn't his.
His hand lifted to touch the back of his neck.There had once been an old wound there—a fracture left by Chang Yu-An during an unexpected incident.The scar had long healed,but the sensation remained.
He'd never experienced that accident,yet he could clearly recall the angle,the sound,even the cold of blood seeping into his collar.
It wasn't a memory.It was a reenactment by the body.
As if time had left stage markingsinside this shell where the play had already been performed.—
He finally stood up.
His steps were steady—but his balance was different.
The stance he once hadwas now replaced by a slightly forward lean,left shoulder subtly pulled back—Chang Yu-An's usual posture.
He didn't correct it.Because he understood:Integration wasn't about erasing each other—but learning to coexist in one being.—
It was quiet all around.
This was the "Expired Zone"—the lowest level of LUOYEH Base:a storage of memories and datano longer updated,no longer trusted,no longer verifiable.
All these years,he had secretly pieced together an unbelievable narrative here—under the name of Chang Yu-An.
But now, returning as himself,he felt a strange sense of peace—as if this space had been waiting for himfor a long, long time.—
A light panel on the wall flickered back to life,displaying a long-dormant message:
[Authorized Identity Reactivated]Interlaced Subject: YUNGAN-22_mergedAccess Rights Opened · Partial Write Enabled
Yu Yung-An slowly placed his hand on the ID pad.What once belonged only to Chang Yu-Annow opened for him—without any verification.
He understood:This was Chang's choice,and their silent rite of passing.—
He walked toward the archive wall to the right—a row of folders labeled:
Zone X / Residual Images of Multiple Timelines (Unresolved)
He opened one.Inside was a faded photograph—a shadow at the corner,bent at an impossible angle,
A person stood in time,but could not align with space.
He stared at the photo,fingers brushing its edge,and a thought surged through him:
"Every place you've been still holds traces of you...Then maybe—so do I."
He didn't know whose voice those words belonged to,but they sounded like longing—or maybe prayer.—
Ten minutes later,he activated LUOYEH's personal communication terminal.The screen automatically displayed the latest message:
[Come see me.][I know you're awake.]
——Bai ZhimingTimestamp: 3 minutes ago.—
Yu Yung-An let out a soft laugh.That smile wasn't the old him—but it wasn't Chang Yu-An either.
It was—finally, the self formed after integration.—
He closed the file folder and murmured:
"Fine, I'll come see you. But this time… I'm not here to ask for answers.""I'm here to tell you—I remember."