Kei stood amidst the wreckage, his breaths shallow, his vision blurring at the edges. TheFacelessMan had vanished once more, leaving him with nothing but questions and a strange sensation coursing through his veins. It wasn't pain, nor exhaustion—it was something new, something awakening.
His fingers twitched involuntarily, and for a brief moment, the air around him crackled with a faint blue glow. Time fragments. He had felt them before, but now… now they responded to him.
"You're changing," a voice called out. It was Lain, her figure emerging from the shadows. "Your body is starting to attune to this place."
Kei clenched his fists, staring at them. "What does that mean?"
"It means," she smirked, "you might finally stand a chance."
Suddenly, the environment shifted. The walls pulsed with unfamiliar energy, and the prison's structure began to shift as if reacting to Kei's presence. He stumbled, the ground beneath him flickering between solid and transparent. He wasn't just surviving anymore—he was adapting.
Then, it happened.
A surge of energy coursed through him, his senses sharpening, his mind splitting into fragments yet remaining whole. The prison was no longer a cage—it was a system. A system that he could learn to control.
Lain stepped closer. "If you can harness this… you might just find the exit."
Kei exhaled slowly, feeling the pulse of time fragments wrapping around his existence. It wasn't just about escaping anymore.
It was about rewriting the rules of the game.