"Do you remember Suko?"
The classroom fell into absolute silence for a few seconds. Someone in the back row dropped their pen, but didn't even dare to bend down and pick it up. Everyone was staring at Suko. They couldn't form a single connection between the person who had just walked in and the kid they'd been mocking minutes ago.
Kaneki's eyes widened.
"Th-this… is that really you…?"
Suko shrugged casually. "Same me. Just did a small update."
A girl cut in with a trembling voice. "So you're saying… you were that obese kid?"
Suko rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Version 1.0. This is 2.0."
While everyone was still frozen in shock, the classroom windows suddenly darkened. The sky looked like a black curtain had been pulled over it. The air grew heavy. Suko tilted his head.
"Tch… not this again."
Kaneki jumped to his feet. "W-what do you mean, again?!"
Suko replied calmly. "Universal correction mechanism. It triggers when I stay in one place too long."
A massive crack split open in the sky. The glass-like heavens tore apart, and a dark presence began to seep through. Its shape wasn't clear, more like a wavering silhouette.
Screams erupted in the classroom.
"Is that a monster?!" "This is a dream, right?!"
Suko slipped his hand into his jacket pocket. "Nah. More like a universal balance officer or something."
The silhouette slowly descended into the schoolyard. The vibrations shaking the ground rattled the entire building. Students started running in panic. Kaneki, acting on instinct, grabbed Suko's arm.
"Y-you brought this here, didn't you?!"
Suko nodded. "Indirectly, yeah."
The entity spoke. Its voice echoed on multiple frequencies at once.
"Undefined power concentration detected. Intervention initiated."
The air froze. Time seemed to stutter. The crack in the sky kept widening.
As Kaneki's knees trembled, Suko stepped forward. "Look, man. No need to process anything. I'm leaving soon anyway."
The entity reacted. A dense wave of energy descended from the sky. The schoolyard shook like an explosion. Windows shattered, but no one was seriously hurt—an invisible field Suko had unconsciously woven around them protected everyone.
Kaneki shouted, "Suko, watch out!"
Suko smiled faintly. "Relax. It's hard to find something on my level."
For a moment, his eyes glinted. He stomped his foot on the ground, and everything went silent. Reality itself seemed to hold its breath. The entity froze mid-attack, like it had slammed into an invisible wall. It couldn't move.
"So," Suko said, "this needs to end."
He raised his hand. It was a simple gesture, but space warped. The crack in the sky sealed shut, and the silhouette was dragged back inside, as if someone were closing a stage curtain.
The entity echoed one last time:
"Authority breach… detected…"
And then everything vanished.
Silence returned. The sky went back to normal. The courtyard looked as if nothing had happened. The windows were intact. The students stood where they were.
Only Kaneki remembered.
Kaneki took a deep breath. "Was that… just now… real?"
Suko nodded. "If you saw it, it was real."
Kaneki looked at him. "With that kind of power, why are you even hanging around here?"
Suko chuckled softly. "Because being powerful is boring, Kaneki. Living like you're normal is more fun."
They stood in silence for a moment.
Then Suko glanced around. "But this universe seems a bit fragile."
He took a step back. The ground beneath his feet rippled like a wave.
"When the time comes, I'll come back."
Kaneki tried to say something, but Suko had already turned away.
For an instant, the light cut out.
Suko was gone.
Everyone in the classroom went back to their lesson as if nothing had happened. Only Kaneki stared blankly at the board, as if what had just occurred had left a mark in empty space.
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
The screen showed a single line:
"I've reached the end of the novel. You remember. That's enough."
Kaneki swallowed. "Damn… this guy really stepped outside the story."
And the story kept moving forward…