Chapter 80: Echoes Of Summer
The ribbon remained in Dillan's hand.
It wasn't expensive.
It wasn't special.
Just an old strip of faded red fabric, its edges softened by time.
Yet…
The moment he looked at it…
His chest tightened.
"…Why…"
He closed his fingers around it.
Warm.
It was warm.
As though someone else had been holding it only moments ago.
A sharp pain stabbed behind his eyes.
A flash.
A playground.
A little girl crying beneath a tree.
"…Don't cry."
A young boy awkwardly untied the ribbon from a wrapped birthday present.
He clumsily tied it around the little girl's hair.
"There."
"…Now you're smiling again."
The memory shattered.
Dillan staggered backward, grabbing the edge of the kitchen counter for support.
"…What…"
His breathing became uneven.
"…Who was that?"
The answer remained trapped somewhere inside him.
The following morning…
Dillan carried the ribbon with him.
Not intentionally.
Every time he tried leaving it behind…
His hand reached for it again.
Almost unconsciously.
Dana noticed almost immediately.
"…What's that?"
He looked down.
"The ribbon?"
She nodded.
"…Yeah."
"I…"
He frowned.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I found it."
"Where?"
"…My pocket."
Dana blinked.
"…You found something…"
"…Inside your own pocket?"
"It sounds stupid."
"It really does."
She gently held out her hand.
"…Can I see it?"
He placed the ribbon into her palm.
Dana examined it.
Old fabric.
Nothing unusual.
"…Looks ancient."
"It feels important."
She looked back at him.
"…Do you remember where it came from?"
"…No."
Silence.
She handed it back.
"…Keep it."
"…Why?"
"…Because your face changes whenever you look at it."
Later that morning…
Dr. Yeon requested another neurological scan.
Dillan sighed.
"…Again?"
"…Humor me."
He lay back inside the scanning chair.
The machine quietly hummed to life.
Blue lights swept across his forehead.
Everything looked normal.
Until…
The ribbon slipped from his jacket pocket onto the floor.
The scanner immediately shrieked.
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
Dr. Yeon frowned.
"What happened?"
One technician looked up.
"…Energy spike."
"From Dillan?"
"…No."
He pointed toward the ribbon.
"…From that."
The room became silent.
Dr. Yeon slowly picked it up using a pair of insulated gloves.
The monitor instantly stabilized.
"…Interesting…"
She placed the ribbon inside a transparent observation container.
The screen displayed unfamiliar readings.
No mana.
No dimensional energy.
No Gate resonance.
Instead…
A completely unknown signature.
"…I've never seen this frequency before."
Commander Yuna arrived minutes later.
"You called?"
Dr. Yeon nodded toward the container.
"…It's the ribbon."
"What about it?"
"It reacts to Dillan."
"…An artifact?"
"I don't think so."
She enlarged the scan results.
"…It's responding…"
"…To memories."
Across headquarters…
Sasha quietly stopped walking.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Not from fear.
Recognition.
She slowly closed her eyes.
"…You found it."
A peaceful smile spread across her face.
"…I wondered when."
That afternoon…
Mira entered the archive room carrying an old cardboard storage box.
"I found something."
Dillan looked up.
"What is it?"
"School records."
He immediately became interested.
"…Again?"
She placed several faded yearbooks on the table.
"I requested copies."
Together…
They flipped through page after page.
Class photographs.
Sports festivals.
Graduation ceremonies.
Nothing.
Until…
Third grade.
"…There."
Mira pointed.
Dillan leaned closer.
His younger self smiled awkwardly in the front row.
Beside him…
Empty space.
Not another child.
Just…
Empty space.
"…Someone cut the photograph."
Dana frowned.
"…You're right."
The edge looked unnatural.
As though another person had once stood there.
Then…
Been carefully removed.
Every copy showed the same thing.
Commander Yuna quietly spoke.
"…Whoever it was…"
"…Someone erased them."
Dillan's stomach tightened.
"…Why?"
No one had an answer.
That evening…
Sera found Sasha sitting alone in the headquarters garden again.
The crimson-haired woman looked toward the setting sun.
"…May I ask you something?"
Sera said.
Sasha smiled.
"…Of course."
"…Have you ever hated Dillan?"
The question lingered.
Sasha looked genuinely surprised.
"…Hated him?"
"Yes."
"…Never."
"Not even after he forgot you?"
Sasha slowly lowered her eyes.
"…For a while…"
"…I hated being forgotten."
She looked back toward the sky.
"…But…"
A warm smile appeared.
"…I never hated him."
"…He was only a child."
Sera quietly studied her expression.
No deception.
Only old sadness.
"…Thank you."
Sasha tilted her head.
"…For what?"
"…For answering honestly."
Night fell over Seoul.
Dillan sat alone in his apartment.
The red ribbon rested on the table before him.
He couldn't stop looking at it.
Slowly…
He reached toward it.
The moment his fingertips brushed the fabric…
The apartment disappeared.
Summer.
Bright sunshine.
Children laughing.
A little girl stood beneath a tree.
Her dark-red hair was tied back…
By the very ribbon resting in his hand.
She smiled brightly.
"…Dillan!"
He turned.
A younger version of himself laughed.
"I'm coming!"
The memory finally held.
Longer than before.
The two children ran toward one another.
The little girl stumbled.
He caught her before she fell.
She laughed.
"…You always catch me."
"…Of course I do."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
She held out her little finger.
He hooked his around hers.
"Pinky promise."
The memory trembled.
Not breaking.
Growing stronger.
Then…
A voice echoed from somewhere far away.
Soft.
Older.
Filled with endless affection.
"…You finally remembered one…"
The world shattered.
Dillan collapsed to one knee inside his apartment.
His breathing was ragged.
Tears rolled down his face before he even realized he was crying.
"…Who…"
He whispered.
"…Sasha…"
Across the city…
Sasha suddenly stopped walking.
Her own tears quietly fell.
She looked toward the distant lights of Guardian Network Headquarters.
Then smiled through them.
"…One promise…"
"…Six hundred and twelve more memories to go."
"…Sasha…"
The name escaped Dillan's lips before he realized he'd spoken.
His apartment was silent.
The memory had vanished.
Yet…
The warmth remained.
The warmth of a tiny hand wrapped around his.
The sound of childish laughter.
A pinky promise made beneath the shade of an old tree.
His fingers unconsciously curled.
As if they still remembered hers.
"…Who were you…?"
He slowly looked down at the red ribbon resting in his palm.
The headache that had haunted him for days was gone.
Not completely.
Just…
Quieter.
The next morning, Guardian Network Headquarters buzzed with activity.
News had spread overnight.
A new B-Class Gate had appeared on the eastern side of Seoul.
Commander Yuna immediately began organizing response teams.
"We'll send Team Two."
Hana nodded.
"Already preparing."
"No civilians near the area?"
"They've been evacuated."
"Good."
Everyone moved with practiced efficiency.
Everyone…
Except Dillan.
He sat staring at his notebook.
One page.
One name.
Sasha.
Nothing else.
He couldn't bring himself to write more.
"…Thinking hard?"
Dana walked over carrying two coffees.
"…A little."
She placed one beside him.
"You remembered something."
He looked up.
"…How do you know?"
"You've been smiling without noticing."
"…Am I?"
She chuckled.
"A tiny one."
"…Only when you look at that ribbon."
Dillan glanced down.
"…I remembered a promise."
Dana's smile slowly faded.
"…A good one?"
"I think so."
"…I don't remember her face."
"But…"
He closed his eyes.
"…She laughed a lot."
Dana quietly nodded.
"…That's a start."
Across headquarters…
Mira entered Dr. Yeon's laboratory.
"I have another question."
Yeon sighed.
"You always do."
"The ribbon."
"What about it?"
"…It triggered a memory."
"It did."
"Can memories create energy?"
Yeon adjusted her glasses.
"…Normally?"
"No."
"But?"
She hesitated.
"…Devour isn't normal."
Silence.
"…Neither is whatever's happening around Dillan."
Meanwhile…
Sasha stood in the headquarters courtyard.
A gentle breeze played with the strands of her crimson hair.
She watched the Hunters preparing to depart.
Then…
She noticed Dillan laughing quietly with Dana through the cafeteria window.
Her smile remained.
But…
Her eyes lingered.
Longer than before.
"…You're smiling again."
She whispered.
"I'm glad."
A young Hunter walked past her.
"Miss Gamilo?"
She turned politely.
"Yes?"
"The Commander wanted me to tell you she'll be busy today."
"I understand."
The Hunter smiled.
"Sorry for the inconvenience."
"There's no inconvenience."
Sasha answered gently.
"I don't mind waiting."
She truly didn't.
After waiting all these years…
One more day meant nothing.
Far above the city…
Lyra stood at the edge of the Resonance Field.
She closed her eyes.
Immediately…
She felt it.
Not hostility.
Not corruption.
Emotion.
So much emotion that it almost overwhelmed the Field itself.
Love.
Loneliness.
Hope.
Regret.
All flowing from one direction.
Toward one person.
Toward Dillan.
"…You're changing the Field."
Lyra whispered.
A faint ripple answered.
"…No…"
The unseen voice replied.
"…He is."
That afternoon…
The B-Class Gate operation concluded successfully.
No casualties.
Minor injuries only.
Dillan remained behind at headquarters.
His excuse was paperwork.
The truth…
He wanted to be alone.
He entered the archive.
Pulled open another dusty storage box.
Inside were forgotten employee records from Ironspire Guild.
Receipts.
Schedules.
Vacation requests.
Performance evaluations.
Nothing important.
Until…
He found a small handwritten note tucked inside an old attendance log.
The handwriting was neat.
Elegant.
Thank you for staying late again.
You always make sure everyone gets home before you leave.
Don't work too hard.
No signature.
No date.
Yet…
His heart tightened.
He knew.
"…She wrote this…"
He didn't know how.
He simply knew.
At that exact moment…
A soft knock echoed from the archive doorway.
Dillan looked up.
Sasha stood there.
She looked at the note in his hand.
Then at him.
Neither spoke.
Finally…
She smiled.
"…You kept it."
"…You wrote this?"
She slowly nodded.
"I wasn't sure you'd remember."
"I don't…"
He looked back at the paper.
"…But it feels familiar."
A silence settled between them.
Comfortable.
Almost nostalgic.
"…Back then…"
Sasha spoke softly.
"…You stayed late every Friday."
"…Why?"
"So none of us walked home alone."
Dillan blinked.
"I did?"
"You never thought it was important."
She laughed quietly.
"But everyone else did."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"…That sounds embarrassing."
"…No."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"It was kind."
Her voice carried such certainty…
That Dillan couldn't joke his way out of it.
Somewhere else in the building…
Dana stopped walking.
"…Do you feel that?"
Sera looked toward her.
"…Feel what?"
"…Nothing."
Dana frowned.
"…Never mind."
She couldn't explain it.
For just a second…
It had felt like someone quietly closed a door.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
As though a memory had found its proper place.
That night…
Dillan dreamed again.
But this time…
There was no blood.
No faceless children.
No endless warnings.
Only a quiet park beneath the summer sun.
Two children sat together beneath a tree.
Sharing a lunchbox.
The little girl smiled.
"…You don't like carrots."
The little boy pushed them toward her.
"…You do."
She laughed.
"…You're impossible."
"…My mom says sharing makes people happy."
"…Does it?"
He nodded confidently.
"…Then I'll always share with you."
The girl looked at him for a long moment.
Then gently hooked her little finger around his.
"…Promise?"
"…Promise."
The dream slowly faded.
No screams.
No horror.
Only laughter carried away by the summer wind.
When Dillan woke…
A single blue notification waited quietly beside his bed.
[Childhood Memory Recovery: 3%]
[Memory Anchor Stabilized]
For the first time…
The System didn't issue a warning.
It simply observed.
And somewhere across the city…
Sasha woke at exactly the same moment.
She placed a hand over her heart and smiled.
"…You remembered another one."
Her voice trembled.
Not from obsession.
From hope.
Because for the first time in years…
She no longer felt like she was remembering alone.