That's right, Yoren woke up.
Yoren blood in the flas, but he was not reborn in them.
Instead, nineteen days after being reduced to charcoal, he was reborn in the ward of Base No. 3.
With a sudden burst of white light from his right eye, the necrotic tissue across his body repaired itself in an instant, and all pain vanished.
On this day, June 24, the second cycle of the Black and White Twins was complete.
Though he felt no discomfort, Snowsant still helped him back into bed.
Lying down, Yoren began to think.
Not only was he awake, but his body had fully healed—like a ship girl freshly repaired in the dock. His skin was now smooth and unblemished, almost unnaturally so.
Unfortunately, his hair was gone. Again.
News of his recovery spread like wildfire throughout Base No. 3.
BANG!
The door slamd open.
Aside from Dr. Gran, who had been overseeing his condition, nearly every dical expert in the facility rushed in, crowding the ward. A mass of white coats and eager faces filled every available space.
A young Filin nurse in the crowd winked at Yoren.
Dr. Gran wasted no ti, performing a routine check-up before stepping back and raising a hand.
"I believe we are witnessing one of the greatest dical miracles in Terra's history."
Thunderous applause.
One by one, the layers of gauze were removed from Yoren's body. The room fell silent as everyone held their breath, watching as his snow-white skin was slowly revealed.
Yoren, however, was not enjoying the attention.
He was a man, damn it—not a museum exhibit.
A doctor draped a quilt over him to preserve so modesty, much to the disappointnt of several young nurses in the crowd.
As the final strip of gauze ca off, another round of applause erupted.
Then, curiosity took over. The once orderly crowd surged forward, eager to see up close. Snowsant, the shortest of them all, was promptly squeezed under the bed.
A middle-aged doctor with a diterranean hairstyle was the first to speak.
"Mr. 020, do you feel anything unusual?"
Yoren eyed the energetic man warily.
"Uh... not really. Just hungry. Do you guys serve food here?"
A bespectacled female doctor shoved past the diterranean man and leaned in close.
"Mr. Yoren, while you were in a coma, did you experience any visions? Perhaps a glimpse of the afterlife?"
"You researchers actually believe in that stuff?"
"I... I was just curious."
And then, the floodgates opened.
"Mr. Patient, are you happy?"
"My na is Yoren."
"Mr. Yoren, what brand of skincare do you use?"
"I... just use soap?"
"Mr. Soap, do you have a girlfriend?"
The questions only got stranger, spiraling out of control. Yoren found himself trapped on the hospital bed like a cornered animal.
This was hell.
FLASH!
A cara went off.
Yoren turned sharply, pointing at a young nurse. "Hey! Who gave you permission to take pictures?!"
Before he could continue his protest, an ancient, wrinkled hand suddenly stretched out toward him.
"May I touch you?"
"GET LOST!" Yoren recoiled in horror. "DON'T CO ANY CLOSER!"
The chaos reached its peak.
Finally, he snapped.
With one swift motion, he threw off the quilt, leapt onto the bed, and yelled at the top of his lungs.
"HAVE YOU NEVER SEEN SOONE CO BACK FROM THE DEAD?! SCRAM! ALL OF YOU—OUT!"
The room fell silent.
It was only then that Yoren realized... he was completely naked.
The stunned crowd slowly turned away, their expressions ranging from horrified to deeply disturbed.
From under the bed, Snowsant poked her head out and spoke in a small voice.
"Big Windmill just woke up... Can everyone please let him rest? I... I don't know the rules here, but if you want to do experints or research, could you at least take turns?"
One by one, the dical staff began filing out of the room. Truthfully, most were just eager to erase the ntal image of a bald, naked man yelling at them from atop a hospital bed.
Yoren watched them go, standing there like a school disciplinary officer.
Then his expression froze.
At the door stood Her.
At so point, she had arrived. Adjusting her glasses, she looked him up and down, completely expressionless.
"Didn't expect you to be so... energetic."
Yoren's entire face turned bright red. He dove under the covers.
With Base No. 4 gone, Her had been stationed at Base No. 3. The mont she heard about Yoren's recovery, she had rushed over.
In the ward, she perford a quick physical check-up before sitting down beside him.
Then, she told him her theory.
Even when his condition had seed hopeless, she had clung to a sliver of faith.
Because, from the very first day she t Yoren, she had studied the mysterious force within him. Aside from Yoren himself, no one understood this power better than she did.
Based on her research, at the end of each cycle—exactly thirty days—the white energy would purge the black energy from his body. This purge would also heal all injuries.
It wasn't a one-ti effect, but a fixed rule of his existence.
Which ant... as long as Yoren could survive until the end of a cycle, he would always recover—no matter how severe the injuries.
And there was more.
The black energy inside him wasn't as unstable as before. In fact, during this second cycle, it had beco more stable. If this trend continued, his body's ability to handle both forces would only grow stronger with ti.
After listening to her explanation, Yoren felt relieved—but also terrified.
Because if he didn't make it to the end of a cycle?
Then that was it.
No second chances.
Her handed him a familiar object—his custom-made bracelet.
"I can return this to you now."
"Oh, thanks."
Yoren slipped the bracelet back onto his wrist. New data appeared.
[Somatic Cell and Originium Fusion Rate: 12%]
[Blood Origin Stone Crystal Density: 0.48u/L]
[Individual Strength: 87]
[Critical Cycle: 3]
[Countdown to Next Cycle: 29 Days]
The Black and White Twins had entered their third cycle.
Which ant he had been unconscious for nineteen days.
But none of that mattered.
Because he was alive.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to Her.
"Her... what about Ifrit?"
She smiled softly.
"Compared to you? She's doing much better."
In the ward, Her told Yoren about Ifrit's condition.
Ifrit was the 19th experintal subject of the Fire Demon Project. The previous 18 subjects—all from different races—had all died.
In the initial experints, every ti a Fire Demon Stone was introduced into a subject's body, they would instantly combust, turning to ash in monts, leaving only the Fire Demon Stone behind.
The results were the sa across all races—without exception.
However, there was one race where the burning process was briefly delayed: the Sarkaz.
With enough theoretical data collected, Rhine Life finally moved forward with their 19th test subject—Ifrit, a Sarkaz.
Using biotechnology, Rhine Life altered Ifrit's DNA, attempting to artificially create a new race capable of surviving the Fire Demon Stone's power.
The results were alarming.
Ifrit's muscles atrophied. The horns on her head began to crystallize. Her Oripathy infection worsened—the density of Originium crystals in her blood reached 0.51u/L, and her somatic cell fusion rate hit an astonishing 19%.
Yet, despite all these modifications, big data calculations predicted that the fusion was still unlikely to succeed. If it failed, she would burn to ash like the previous 18 subjects.
The Fire Demon Project had reached a deadlock.
Then one day, that deadlock was broken.
The day Her brought Yoren back from Ursus.
Through DNA analysis, Rhine Life discovered a key breakthrough. Yoren's body held the answer to fusing the Fire Demon Stone with Ifrit. Their theory had been correct—if they fine-tuned Ifrit's DNA to resemble Yoren's, the fusion rate would drastically increase.
Day by day, the research progressed.
It wasn't until the day Yoren first broke through his critical threshold that Rhine Life finally confird the thod for fusing Ifrit with the Fire Demon Stone.
Her had been confident in the experint.
But the result?
A disaster.
Though he knew Ifrit was safe, Yoren let out a sigh from his hospital bed.
"The Fire Demon Project failed after all."
"No."
"Huh?"
Yoren looked up in surprise.
"Her, what do you an?"
Her expression was serious. Her voice, grave.
"To the outside world, this may seem like an accident. But I know the truth. The Fire Demon Project didn't go as expected—but it didn't fail either. Ifrit survived. And the Fire Demon Stone... is gone.
There's no doubt—it has completely fused into Ifrit's body."
Yoren's eyes widened in shock.
Success?
The ancient stone that legends claid could never be integrated with Terra's races... had actually fused with Ifrit?
Seeing his disbelief, Her continued, her tone steady.
"The Fire Demon Project was successful. According to our previous estimates, the Fire Demon's power would rival the divine flas. And Ifrit... unleashed it.
Base No. 4—a fortress-like facility—was reduced to ashes in an instant."
"This..."
Then Her's expression shifted.
"However... it wasn't the success Rhine Life wanted.
I know what the higher-ups were expecting—a controllable, humanoid ultimate weapon. But what they got... was different. The weapon has been created.
But it cannot be controlled."
Yoren narrowed his eyes. "What do you an?"
"For so reason, Ifrit cannot control the Fire Demon's power.
Not on the day of the fusion.
Not now.
The power exists inside her—but she cannot sense it. It's buried deep, inaccessible to her conscious mind."
Yoren frowned, lost in thought.
The Fire Demon's power was completely different from the Black and White Twins. Yet when he fused with his power in Mandel City, he had full control over it—whether it was knocking back Dark Crow and Big Bob or facing off against Red Knife, every movent had been entirely his own.
Even when Rhine Life tried to manipulate his emotions with drugs, he could still control the power while conscious.
There was only one logical explanation.
Ifrit is not human.
Even with DNA modifications, she wasn't an exact match to a normal human. The Fire Demon Stone may have recognized her body and fused with it, but her brain lacked the ability to command that power.
Like a gorilla sneaking into a human city, Ifrit had bypassed the system's defenses and been accepted—but she couldn't use what she had gained.
Her continued.
"To prevent Ifrit from experiencing emotional outbursts—like you did—the Rhine Life executives didn't restrict her freedom. Instead, they placed her under my supervision while preparing for more experints.
But I know the truth.
Ifrit's power isn't controlled by emotions. That's why I didn't report this to the higher-ups. I wanted her to stay with —as a normal child."
Yoren nodded.
Clearly, Rhine Life was celebrating their success while simultaneously fearing Ifrit's potential loss of control.
They would keep experinting. Keep trying to turn her into sothing more predictable. More controllable. But until then, they had no choice but to handle her carefully.
anwhile, Yoren realized sothing else.
Because of his existence, history had changed.
Three years from now, Rhodes Island's records never ntioned Ifrit successfully fusing with an ancient stone.
The tiline had shifted—again.
After learning about Ifrit's condition, Yoren finally felt relieved.
With business out of the way, Her lowered her head slightly, avoiding his gaze.
Yoren tilted his head. "Her? What's wrong?"
She clenched the bedsheet tightly, her voice quiet.
"Yoren... thank you. For saving Ifrit. Again. I... I don't know how to repay you. I... I was so scared that day. I thought she was gone. That I'd never see her again. I... woooo..."
Tears stread down her face.
This wasn't the first ti Yoren had seen Dr. Her let her true emotions show.
To the outside world, she was a rational, serious scientist. But inside? She was an exhausted, guilt-ridden little owl, burdened by failures she could never forget.
Yoren smiled gently.
"Her, you don't need to thank . You probably won't believe , but in another world—a world parallel to Terra—you and everyone else helped survive countless struggles. So this ti, it was my turn to protect you."
Her wiped her tears and touched his forehead.
"You're still running a slight fever. Seems like your injuries left so side effects—you're talking nonsense."
BANG!
The door slamd open.
Ifrit swaggered in with a bag of fruit.
"Yo, Yoren! You finally woke up!"
Yoren froze.
Then, rembering his bald head, he imdiately shouted in frustration.
"Shut up! You're the one who's 'yo-yoing'! I lost my hair saving your ass!"
Ifrit grinned. "Heh. Thanks, baldy. Didn't know you were such a nice guy."
Then she pulled out a huge apple and shoved it into his mouth.
"Here. Have an apple."
Yoren nearly choked.
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