Reset After Solo Clear: Shadow Master Rebirth

The Person Who Should Have Disappeared

"Sit down. We're talking now."

Amara closed the door to her private office, her voice firm even though a hint of caution still lingered beneath it.

A few minutes earlier, as they walked down the hallway, neatly dressed staff members had stared at Raka with puzzled expressions, wondering why their superior had brought a man in a worn black hoodie straight into her private office without a word of explanation. Amara ignored every curious glance, giving the receptionist a brief signal to make sure no one disturbed them.

Raka sat in the chair she indicated, while Amara remained standing several steps away, keeping her distance. Her eyes never left him, watching his every move.

"Who are you?" Amara said. It sounded less like a question and more like a demand. "And how do you know the name Azrael?"

"I came because there's something I need to tell you," Raka replied calmly.

"That's not the answer," Amara cut in.

"I know. But I need you to trust me before I explain any further."

Amara folded her arms and let out a short sigh.

"Fine. If you really know Azrael, answer this! How did he choose his dungeons?"

"He always picked the ones with the fewest people. Not because he was afraid of crowds. He just hated waiting for spawn queues."

"When did he usually use his ultimate skill?"

"Only when the enemy's HP dropped below thirty percent. He didn't like wasting the cooldown as a precaution."

Amara nodded slowly, but her expression remained unchanged.

"Anyone could find that information," she said. "It's on the forums. People have written analyses of his playstyle."

"True," Raka replied, making no attempt to argue.

Amara stepped closer, lowering her voice.

"Then answer something that was never made public. The night before he disappeared, what did he discuss with me about Floor Forty-Nine?"

"The alternate route on the eastern side. You said it was a waste of time. I said it was less risky than taking the main route full of traps."

Amara fell silent. The composure on her face began to crack.

"The two lines you quoted outside the building," she continued, almost whispering. "How do you know those?"

"Only two people knew those words," Raka answered quietly. "Lumine and Azrael."

Amara stared at him for a long moment, her chest rising and falling as she struggled to process everything.

"One last question. When we were doing the hidden quest in the northern ruins, something small happened that I never told anyone. What was it?"

Raka met her gaze, recalling a detail that even he had nearly forgotten.

"You slipped into a mud trap, then insisted it was part of your strategy so the enemies wouldn't suspect anything."

Amara froze completely, her eyes widening.

"Azrael," she whispered, more to herself than to Raka.

Raka said nothing.

"You're... Azrael?" she repeated, this time looking directly into his eyes.

"If I say yes, what would you do?" Raka asked quietly.

Amara fell silent. The question struck her harder than she had expected.

"I'm Raka. In there, I'm Nox."

Amara covered her mouth with one hand, trying to contain the flood of emotions crashing over her all at once.

"Why didn't you contact me?" she asked, her voice on the verge of breaking. "I sent you so many messages."

"Because Azrael is gone. I didn't know how to explain that without making everything even more complicated," Raka answered honestly.

Amara finally sat down in the chair across from him. Her legs felt weak beneath the weight of the conversation.

"Nox," she murmured softly, as though piecing everything together in her mind. "I've seen several reports about him. The way he reads his opponents, the way he makes decisions in the middle of battle, even the Shadow Step he uses."

She looked at Raka intently.

"It all matches," she continued, sounding as though she could barely believe her own conclusion. "Nox is you too."

Raka didn't deny it.

"What really happened on Floor Fifty?" she asked quietly.

Raka let out a long breath, remembering Malacath, the anomaly notification, and the class that had appeared without explanation.

"I still don't know everything. What I do know is that Azrael's account was completely deleted, his character was reset to level one. Then I was given a new identity as Nox with a class I'd never seen anywhere before."

"What class?" Amara asked immediately.

"Shadow Master. It's not on the wiki, not on the forums. No one's ever heard of it before."

Amara frowned, trying to process the unfamiliar information.

"That doesn't make any sense. A character that's been completely deleted shouldn't be able to come back. That's beyond the logic of any system I know."

"That's what I thought too," Raka replied. "But I'm living proof. Something that was supposed to be impossible happened anyway. I feel like there's something behind the reset, something even the system itself can't fully control."

Amara looked at him for a long moment, then slowly nodded, as if making a major decision in silence.

"If you need answers, I can help. Not as Lumine, the famous player."

"Why?" Raka asked.

"Because I want to know what really happened to your Azrael," Amara answered firmly. "And now that I know he's still here, just in a different form, I'm not going to let you search for those answers alone."

Raka looked at her in silence, taking a moment to absorb the determination behind her offer.

"You don't have to get involved this deeply. It could be dangerous."

"I got involved the moment I sent that message," Amara replied without the slightest hesitation. "Besides, I'm one of the few people who knew Azrael before all of this."

Amara stood and walked closer. Her voice became even more serious than before, and she looked him straight in the eye without a trace of hesitation.

"I want to know what really happened to Azrael."