Chapter 9

-In White Space-

“Okay, now that Kierra can understand us, let’s move on to the next part!” Leo stood with his legs spread dramatically, one hand pointing upward like a hero on a poster.

“What’s that?” Kierra asked.

“Training you to make a portal and—”

Before he could finish, a swirling portal appeared beside Kierra.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” she said flatly.

The twins froze, wide-eyed.

“W-Well! That’s great!” Leo stammered. “But do you know your job as a clock person, hmm?”

“Yeah, yeah. I need to protect you guys because the void world is dangerous, blah blah blah.”

“... GREAT!! Ahaha… ha…” Leo laughed nervously, clearly defeated. He had hoped to show off a little as their ‘trainer’.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go,” Remon said, walking toward the portal.

“Not so fast, other me!” Leo suddenly grabbed Remon’s arm.

“Ughhh, what is it now?”

“We need something that shows we’re twins!”

“Huh?”

“Look at our clothes. You’re lime, I’m lemon. Green and yellow, right?”

“...Yeah? So what? You wanna make custom outfits or something?”

“Let’s add sprouts to our hair!”

“You mean like… ahoge? That stupid hair?”

“Nope.”

Leo twisted a bit of his and Remon’s hair, and suddenly, little leafy sprouts appeared. Leo’s had two leaves connected together, while Remon’s were separated, like a quirky variation.

“How did you—”

“OKAY! KIERRA, OPEN THE PORTAL TO THE VOID WORLD!! Specifically Rein’s!”

“Don’t yell—whoa—” Remon yelped as Leo yanked his arm again.

And just like that, all three of them stepped into the swirling portal.

-Some Day-

At school, Remon asked Mallory to come over to her house after class. Mallory agreed without hesitation.

As they made their way toward the school gate, hushed whispers rippled through the crowd. Mallory felt their stares prickling at her skin. Ever since Rein’s death, unwanted attention had clung to her like a shadow.

"I heard she skipped a bunch of classes after her boyfriend died."
"I’d never catch up if that were me, lol. This school is brutal."
"Hey, did you hear? Some people say she’s the one who killed him."
"What? No way."
"Shhh—she’s right there."

Remon didn’t react, pretending she hadn’t heard a thing. But Mallory had. Her body tensed, her face drained of color. The weight of their words pressed down on her chest like an iron grip.

Before she could linger on it, Remon grabbed her wrist and pulled her away.

"Don't listen to them," Remon muttered.

Mallory didn’t respond. She couldn't. The voices echoed in her mind, growing louder with every step.

When they arrived at Remon's house, they entered her room. Remon casually tossed her bag aside and powered on her laptop, still in her school uniform.

Mallory stood frozen in the doorway.

"Come in," Remon said without looking up.

"…Remon?"

"Hm?"

Mallory hesitated. Then, in a quiet voice, she asked, "Did I kill Rein?"

Remon’s fingers paused over the keyboard. "Don't be ridiculous. You didn’t do anything."

"But… because I didn’t do anything, Rein died."

"Mallory, it wasn’t your fault."

"If only… if only I had picked him up that day. If I had been more understanding. If I had known what would happen-"

"No one knew what would happen, Mallory."

"But what if… what if he asked me to pick him up and I forgot?"

"Mal-"

"Or what if—what if he wanted to drink boba milk because he knew he was going to die?"

"Ma-"

"Maybe he didn't love me anymore. Maybe that's why he never showed up that day."

"Mal-"

"Maybe… maybe I was the one who hit him."

"MALLORY."

Remon grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, snapping her out of her downward spiral. She gestured for Mallory to breathe. Slow down. Stay with me.

Mallory sucked in a shaky breath. Remon handed her a glass of water, and she sat down on the bed, her hands trembling around the cup.

As Mallory gradually calmed, Remon turned back to her laptop. She pulled up several tabs, then opened Rein’s old account, the one where he published his book chapters.

Mallory peeked over her shoulder just as Remon scrolled down and stopped.

“Mallory. I found something."

Mallory got up and moved beside her. On the screen was a post directly targeting Rein’s account.

User7834: This author is copying Mr. Dave_skii’s book!! I was reading this and it felt way too familiar. Turns out this guy’s been stealing Mr. Dave’s story! No creativity.
(Attached: a screenshot of one of Rein’s chapters)

Comments:
User0987: How shameless.
User8365: If that were me, I’d just kill myself lol.
User2354: Just read it. Yeah, this guy definitely copied Mr. Dave.

The post had 20 likes, 5 reposts, and 3 comments. But the view count was at 128. Not huge, but enough to make Rein disappear from the platform entirely.

Mallory’s chest ached. "My god… poor him." She swallowed. "But…was he really copying?"

"Of course not," Remon said flatly. "These people are just haters. You can read both stories yourself and compare if you want."

Mallory hesitated, her fingers curling into her sleeves. She’s not ready to read his book, at least not yet.

"From what I’ve read, their concepts are similar, sure, but the stories themselves are different. They both use mind-reading and clones, but-" Remon stopped herself. "Ah. Never mind. Spoiling isn’t fun."

"Eh?"

"Anyway," Remon continued, "Rein never responded to the accusations. Never posted again after this. But, he still logged in a few times before abandoning the account forever."

"When did this happen?" Mallory asked.

Remon scrolled down slightly, then pointed at the date. "Two years ago."

"That’s… quite a while,"

"Yeah," Remon sighed. "I kept waiting for a new update, but turns out, he just abandoned it."

Mallory frowned. "How do you know he still logged in before disappearing completely?"

"Login history," Remon explained. "As subscribers, we can see his last online status."

Mallory’s eyes lingered on the screen. "Now… who do you think made that post?"

Remon hesitated, then spoke carefully. "Hmm… I have a suspicion." She paused, then met Mallory’s gaze.

"It’s Malvine."