Isaac felt like only a single second had passed.
He woke up again.
A mild headache throbbed at the back of his skull, and his vision was blurry.
Other than that, he didn’t feel any major discomfort.
He blinked a few times and noticed a screen hovering in front of him.
Your Subject, Alice Calloway, has awakened as a Conqueror Candidate.
Reward: Golden Gacha Ticket x1
"Huh?" Isaac muttered under his breath.
He tried to make sense of the message while pushing himself upright, but a voice reached him before he could process anything.
"He— He is revived."
He turned his head and saw Celia.
Her usual bright smile was gone.
Instead, her expression was tight, almost frozen.
Her eyes looked strained, like she hadn’t blinked in a long time. She stared at him with a mixture of relief and worry that felt heavy even from across the room.
He realized he was still in the living room, lying on the sofa where he had collapsed.
Before he could look around properly, someone grabbed his collar and forced his head sideways.
"Why did you do that!? Do you think dying is a joke? Why were you so impatient? I never said you couldn’t be with Professor Catherine. Even Emily and Celia didn’t say anything. So why couldn’t you just wait!?"
Alice’s voice shook as she yelled. There was no calmness in her tone. She wasn’t trying to be composed or cold. She was just... emotional.
"Alice, it was—"
"I don’t want to hear your excuses."
She cut him off sharply.
Isaac opened his mouth again, but his vision fully cleared at that moment, and he saw her face properly.
He froze.
He forgot to breathe.
Alice—who always showed that stone-cold expression... who rarely smiled even when they were alone... who acted unfazed even in danger—was crying.
Tears rolled down her cheeks without pause. Her eyes were red. Her gaze trembled.
She wasn’t angry anymore.
She wasn’t even scolding him anymore.
She looked devastated.
"Why did you have to do this...?"
Her voice cracked.
"Did you even think about what we would go through—"
Isaac didn’t let her finish.
His hand moved on instinct, and he pulled her into his arms.
The moment he hugged her, something twisted painfully inside his chest.
He didn’t want this.
He didn’t want to be the reason Alice cried.
He didn’t want any of them to suffer like this.
He had forgotten life wasn’t a game. Revival didn’t erase fear. It didn’t erase the image of a dead body lying on the floor. It didn’t erase the shock or the helplessness of the people watching.
With everything happening—the stress of leading a city, the pressure from "Mother," the excitement of being with Catherine—his thoughts had become tangled. He had been chasing strength with a narrow focus.
He failed to think about what his death would do to them.
He hugged Alice tighter.
"I’m sorry," he whispered.
"I don’t need your sorry! And— don’t touch me!"
She tried to push him away, hitting his chest weakly. But Isaac didn’t let go.
Her struggles slowed. Her fists loosened. The anger in her voice faded until only the quiet sound of sobbing remained. Her tears soaked into his shoulder.
"Life isn’t a game, Isaac," she said between breaths. "I know you like Professor Catherine, but you can’t just die. Think about how we would feel. It— It felt like I was dying when I saw you lying there. You wouldn’t move. You wouldn’t respond. It was terrifying. Please... I’m begging you... never do it again."
Isaac gently rubbed her back.
"I promise. I won’t do it again."
Alice clung to him harder, as if she didn’t trust his apology unless she could physically hold him.
He let her.
Finally, Isaac looked past her shoulder and saw Emily.
Emily always traveled with the large flying cushion she sat on. Normally she would be floating around with it, jumping from one side of the room to another, full of energy.
But right now, the cushion was resting on the ground.
Emily was sitting on it with her knees pulled to her chest.
Her head was buried in her arms.
She was shaking.
Her shoulders trembled nonstop.
She didn’t even notice he had revived.
Isaac’s throat tightened.
"Emily," he called softly.
No response.
He used Telekinesis to lift her—cushion included—and gently pulled her toward him.
She blinked rapidly as she raised her head. Her red eyes opened wide the moment she saw him.
"Isaac!"
She launched herself at him without hesitation. She didn’t care about her position, her balance, or anything else.
He softened her movement with Telekinesis and caught her in his arms. Alice was still holding onto him from the side, but Emily forced herself into the hug anyway.
"Please don’t die. Please don’t die. Please don’t die."
She repeated the words over and over, like she was stuck in a loop.
"Emily, I’m alive," Isaac said softly.
"I know..." she whispered, but she didn’t loosen her grip.
He rested his hand on her head and slowly brushed her hair.
"I... sniff... can’t live without you, Isaac. If you die, then I will have to kill—"
"Don’t say things like that," Isaac said quickly.
Emily buried her face in his chest, trembling as she held onto him like she was afraid he would vanish if she blinked.
Alice still hadn’t let go of his sleeve.
He kept his arm around both of them and looked toward Celia.
She stood a few steps away, staring at him. She didn’t cry. She didn’t shout. She didn’t move.
But the look in her eyes...
It wasn’t calm.
It wasn’t collected.
It was... broken.
Despair. Horror. Relief.
Everything mixed together in one expression.
Seeing Celia like that made Isaac want to bite his lip.
But he kept his expression composed. He had to stay calm for them. They needed him steady, not shaking or panicking. He needed to be the support that they used to stand back again.
"Celia," he said quietly.
She didn’t move.
She just kept staring as if she was trying to memorize him.
As if she feared he would disappear again.
Seeing as how Celia was not coming to him, he spoke, "Alice, Emily, can you let me go for a minute."
Alice shook her head immediately, and Emily tightened her grip.
They weren’t letting go.
Isaac let out a slow breath.
He needed to reach Celia too. He couldn’t leave her in that state.
He gently pulled Emily back, just enough to lift her chin. Then he kissed her forehead.
She froze in surprise.
He turned and kissed Alice’s forehead as well.
Alice stopped breathing for a second, stunned.
That moment of surprise was enough.
They didn’t pull him back immediately.
"Just one minute," Isaac said softly.
He stood up from the sofa and walked toward Celia.
She didn’t step back.
She didn’t move forward either.
Her hands were trembling.
"Is-Isaac..."
Her voice cracked. She grabbed the hem of his shirt with both hands, gripping it tightly.
"Never die," she whispered. "If— If you do... I don’t know what I will do."
Her tone was a mix of desperation and warning.
She looked at him the same way a child looks at a parent after a nightmare. Lost and terrified.
Isaac understood immediately.
Trauma.
Celia had grown up in constant danger. She ran from her home to a world just as violent. Her only support back then had been her brother.
Being alone together gave that word—family—a different weight for her.
Losing someone important wasn’t something she could handle casually.
Now Isaac was part of that family.
Seeing him die triggered everything she had buried.
"S-So don’t die, okay? I’m saying this—"
Isaac hugged her before she could finish.
He wrapped her tightly in his arms and rested his head on hers, holding her close so she wouldn’t have to look at anything else.
"Who are you? My Celia doesn’t talk like that," he joked.
It broke the fog in her eyes.
She bit her lip and tried to smile. She failed, but she tried.
"Hmph... stop acting so cheesy. I still haven’t forgiven you for dying on us."
Isaac smiled a little.
Before he knew it, Alice and Emily wrapped their arms around him again from behind.
He didn’t stop them.
They stayed like that for a long moment.
He finally looked around the room.
Two people were missing.
Leora.
And Professor Catherine.
That made Isaac’s stomach tighten.
Last time, when Catherine almost kissed him, Leora had drawn her sword on the spot. If she saw Isaac die from a kiss...
’I need to ask. I have to make sure sis is okay.’
He knew mentioning her name would make everything tense again. Alice would react instantly. But he needed to know.
He took a breath.
"Where is sis... Professor Catherine?" he asked. He corrected himself halfway, which didn’t help the mood.
Alice’s arms tightened around him immediately.
He didn’t need to see her face to know she was gritting her teeth.