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"Hah, Maria was right. I really need to find someone. I can't keep living like this—I'm used to company. Being single has its benefits, but feeling this lonely is the worst."

As she sighed and checked her phone, she suddenly felt something.

"Huh?"

She looked behind her shadow and noticed it twisting, forming a massive portal, a gate to another world.

From it, a phantasmal figure emerged.

"Maria?!"

"Hey, Amelia. It's been a couple of days. How are you holding up?"

"Are you coming back already?! You're not leaving again, right?"

Amelia ran toward Maria and hugged her tightly, as if trying to keep her from ever leaving again.

"I'm sorry. I'm not returning just yet," Maria said. "But I came because... well, I met someone. Someone who might be really connected to you—to us."

"...Huh?" Amelia blinked, confused. "What? Where? In another world?"

"Yes, precisely," Maria nodded. "This person is... well, I'll be blunt. Does the name Veronica ring any bells?"

"...!"

Amelia's eyes widened. The world around her seemed to freeze for a moment as memories she thought were long forgotten surged back into her mind.

It was almost painful.

She saw someone, a little girl she had watched grow up over the years. Playful. Adorable.

With long white hair and large, golden eyes.

She had been clumsy, but full of spirit. As she grew up, she became someone admirable. Amelia had done her best to raise her after their parents passed away.

This wasn't her "sister" Maria.

No, this was—

Her real sister.

The one who had used her powers to create an endless loop in this world, repeating every seven days.

Always just before the Nightmare Demons or the Original Nightmare Curse could consume everything.

Each loop took something from her, her memories, her identity. And when she had nothing left to give but her name, the world began to forget her entirely.

Eventually, she was erased from existence, replaced by those who visited the world between loops. Only Amelia remembered her, watching strangers pretend to be her sister.

Disgusting people.

And yet, in the final loop—when she had lost all hope—those very people she despised ended up saving the world.

"That's the name of my sister..." Amelia whispered. "Of... my real sister? What? How did you even...?"

"I met her," Maria said. "I don't know how. I don't know why. But she's alive—somehow."

"...?!" Amelia's heart began to race.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

After all this time mourning her sister... was she truly alive?

Somewhere in the tower?

"W-What?! How?! How do you know it's her?!" Amelia demanded. "You're not joking, right Maria?! You're not messing with me?"

"No," Maria said seriously. "She remembers you. She remembers your parents. But she's changed... It's hard to say she's even a living being anymore. I don't know if I was speaking with a Dream Spirit, a Soul, or something else entirely—but it's her."

"What? I don't understand..." Amelia said. "I thought she disappeared. That she was forgotten forever. How... how is this possible?"

"She lives in a manor, much like this one," Maria explained. "A Haunted Manor filled with ghosts she calls her friends. She's lost most of her memories—except her name, and yours. Somewhere in the cosmos, or another dimension, a fragment of her—or maybe a Memory of her—survives in this being. The tower assimilated it into a 'World' called Nocturnhall."

"...Nocturnhall?" Amelia's eyes widened.

"Wait, you recognize that name too?" Maria asked.

"That's the name of a show about ghost friends she loved when she was little..." Amelia was stunned. "Maria... is this really true?"

"Yes," Maria nodded. "But even now, I'm not completely sure. That's why I wanted you to meet her. Please, don't be afraid of how she looks. She forgot her own appearance. Her form is... distorted. She's regressed to childhood. But she needs someone—her big sister—to help her remember."

"Bring me to her," Amelia said, standing up. "I want to see her for myself. Can you do it?"

"Yes. Come with me. I'll add you to my party temporarily and... done," Maria nodded. "Now, hold my hand."

Amelia took Maria's pale white hand, and together they sank into the miasma-like shadows, vanishing.

FLUOSH!

Amelia's eyes opened. She was in the attic of her own house. She recognized it instantly—she had visited it just yesterday, crying as she looked through her sister's old toys.

"This is really... Ah!"

Then she saw a System notification:

[You have been granted temporary Player Status by joining the Party of [Player: Maria]]

[You have entered {Floor 41}: [Nocturnhall]]

"Floor 41?! I'm really in another world right now! But this is my house?! What's going on?!"

Amelia panicked. It made no sense for a world so distant to perfectly replicate her home.

"Here she is, Nyx," Maria said. "Sorry for making you wait. How is she?"

"Almost asleep," Nyx replied. "Come on, Veronica. Look who came to see you—your big sis!"

"...?"

Veronica slowly sat up on the bed, glancing around before locking eyes with Amelia.

Maria had warned her, but Amelia still felt something strange.

It was... bizarre.

That feeling crept into her very soul.

She felt nauseous and dropped to her knees, groaning in pain.

"Oops, let me help with that."

Maria enveloped her in an Aura of Light, soothing the discomfort. The effects of gazing upon the strange child faded.

But even then, Amelia felt something else, a strange closeness. A bond that shouldn't exist.

This entity. This child-like being.

"BiG sIsTeR...?"

Amelia looked up. The girl was already in front of her. Her face, mostly featureless and white, semitransparent, slowly revealed a strange "face" drawn in black lines, like ink on paper.

"A-Ah..."

Though distorted, the voice was unmistakable.

It was her sister's voice. Veronica's voice.

"Is it really you? I-Is it really you, Veronica?! What... is it really you?!"

She stepped forward, grabbing the girl's dress. A slight sting ran through her fingers, but she didn't care.

"Veronica...! You don't know how much I missed you...! My little sister...!"

"..."

Amelia burst into tears.

Despite how different she looked—this entity...

No, this girl—

She was her sister.

Amelia knew it the moment she saw her.

Even if she had become something else entirely.

To her, she was still her baby sister.

"Big sister... is it really you?"

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