The city changed slowly.
At first, Haru didn't notice.
But something in the air felt different.
Heavier.
The silence here wasn't empty anymore.
It was watching.
Haru walked through the abandoned streets carefully.
"Something feels wrong," he said.
Joceka didn't argue.
"You're no longer hiding," he replied.
"You're approaching the core."
Haru stopped walking.
"The core of what?"
Joceka raised his hand.
The city reacted instantly.
Four distant lights appeared across the horizon.
Each in a different direction.
They were faint.
Unstable.
As if they didn't fully belong to this world.
"Doors," Joceka said.
Haru felt his heartbeat quicken.
"Four of them?"
"Yes."
Joceka's voice remained calm.
"Not more. Not less."
Haru instinctively stepped toward the nearest light.
Joceka stopped him.
"Not yet."
Haru turned to him.
"Why show them to me if I can't enter?"
Joceka looked toward the distant lights.
"Because once you see them…"
"You can't pretend they don't exist."
Haru studied them carefully.
Each one felt different.
One felt cold.
One heavy.
One suffocating.
And one…
Painfully familiar.
"What happens if I refuse?" Haru asked quietly.
Joceka was silent for a long moment.
Then he answered.
"Then this world will push back."
"It always does."
Haru swallowed.
"For what purpose?"
Joceka looked directly at him.
"To see if you truly want to wake up."
The lights faded slowly.
The city returned to silence again.
But Haru knew something had changed.
This world wasn't created to save him.
It was created to confront him.