Home / Yandere Stream / Chapter 96: — The Man at the Beginning

Read free on Ficlyn

Yandere Stream

Chapter 96: — The Man at the Beginning · Oct 14, 2026

Prev Chapter Novel Info Next Chapter

Chapter List (187)

Page number / 4

51 Chapter 51: The Wrong Apartment 2026-10-14
52 Chapter 52: Before You 2026-10-14
53 Chapter 53: The First Viewer 2026-10-14
54 Chapter 54: Knock Back 2026-10-14
55 Chapter 55: The Hallway Ends 2026-10-14
56 Chapter 56: The Missing Apartment 2026-10-14
57 Chapter 57: Don’t Blink 2026-10-14
58 Chapter 58: The Other Stream 2026-10-14
59 Chapter 59: Awake 2026-10-14
60 Chapter 60: Behind the Wall 2026-10-14
61 Chapter 61: Don’t Open It 2026-10-14
62 Chapter 62: The Rules 2026-10-14
63 Chapter 63: Rule One 2026-10-14
64 Chapter 64: The Ceiling 2026-10-14
65 Chapter 65: Home 2026-10-14
66 Chapter 66: The Photograph 2026-10-14
67 Chapter 67: The Floor Above 2026-10-14
68 Chapter 68: Sunrise 2026-10-14
69 Chapter 69: Someone Else’s Memory 2026-10-14
70 Chapter 70: Her Name 2026-10-14
71 Chapter 71: The Things It Couldn’t Erase 2026-10-14
72 Chapter 72: The Letter 2026-10-14
73 Chapter 73: Apartment 7C 2026-10-14
74 Chapter 74: Sixty Seconds 2026-10-14
75 Chapter 75: Two Years 2026-10-14
76 Chapter 76: It Woke Up 2026-10-14
77 Chapter 77: The First Time I Lost You 2026-10-14
78 Chapter 78: Answer 2026-10-14
79 Chapter 79: The Door That Shouldn’t Exist 2026-10-14
80 Chapter 80: The Promise 2026-10-14
81 Chapter 81: It Knows Your Name 2026-10-14
82 Chapter 82: The Original Bargain 2026-10-14
83 Chapter 83: The Price of Remembering 2026-10-14
84 Chapter 84: Elias 2026-10-14
85 Chapter 85: The Eighth Floor 2026-10-14
86 Chapter 86: Mrs. Ashcroft 2026-10-14
87 Chapter 87: Down 2026-10-14
88 Chapter 88: Christmas Morning 2026-10-14
89 Chapter 89: The First Witness 2026-10-14
90 Chapter 90: The Story That Refused to End 2026-10-14
91 Chapter 91: Wake Up 2026-10-14
92 Chapter 92: Loop Zero 2026-10-14
93 Chapter 93: The Day Before - One 2026-10-14
94 Chapter 94: The Empty Box 2026-10-14
95 Chapter 95: The Boy Who Was Never Written 2026-10-14
96 Chapter 96: — The Man at the Beginning 2026-10-14
97 Chapter 97: The Reader 2026-10-14
98 Chapter 98: The First Blank Page 2026-10-14
99 Chapter 99: The Question 2026-10-14
100 Chapter 100: The First Morning 2026-10-14

The door closed.

Not with a slam.

Not with a dramatic crash.

Not even with the sound of something ancient and impossible finally ending.

Just...

Click.

A quiet, ordinary sound.

And somehow, that made it worse.

For a long moment, nobody moved.

The rain remained frozen in the air, countless droplets suspended between the sky and the empty road as if the entire world had forgotten how to continue.

The other Kai stood beyond the doorway, surrounded by the impossible silence.

His hands rested loosely at his sides.

He wasn’t threatening.

He wasn’t preparing to attack.

He simply stood there, watching.

Kai didn’t move either.

The two of them stared at each other across the empty street, separated by only a few steps, yet somehow separated by everything that had happened before.

Every loop.

Every death.

Every sacrifice.

Every unanswered question.

It all seemed to lead to this moment.

Finally, Kai broke the silence.

”...Who are you?”

The other Kai’s lips curved slightly.

Not into a mocking smile.

Not into amusement.

Something closer to sadness.

”I was hoping you’d ask something harder.”

Kai’s expression darkened.

”I’m serious.”

”So am I.”

Behind Kai, the First Witness watched the exchange quietly.

The boy didn’t look scared.

That was the strangest part.

After everything Kai had seen, after everything that existed beyond normal understanding, the child standing beside him looked almost calm.

Almost.

But underneath that calm was exhaustion.

The kind that came from carrying the same burden for far too long.

”As I suspected...”

The First Witness released a slow breath.

”You’ve arrived earlier this time.”

Kai immediately looked back at him.

”Earlier?”

The boy nodded.

”You usually don’t meet him until after the Library burns.”

A cold feeling settled in Kai’s chest.

Usually.

That word bothered him more than anything else.

Kai looked between the two of them.

”What do you mean, usually?”

Before the First Witness could answer, the other Kai spoke.

”It means we’ve already had this conversation.”

The words struck harder than Kai expected.

For a moment, he simply stared.

Then something inside him snapped.

”No.”

He pointed directly at the stranger.

”I’m done.”

His voice grew sharper.

”No more riddles.”

”No more half-answers.”

”No more people telling me I’ll understand later.”

The frustration that had been building inside him for so long finally broke free.

”I want the truth.”

His voice echoed through the frozen rain.

The other Kai didn’t respond immediately.

He only watched him.

Studying him.

Almost like he was remembering something.

Then, after several seconds, he nodded.

”...Fair enough.”

He stepped forward.

The frozen raindrops shifted around him.

They didn’t hit him.

They bent away, moving around his body as if reality itself refused to let them touch him.

Kai noticed.

Another impossible thing.

Another reminder that whoever this person was...

He wasn’t normal.

When the stranger stopped only a few feet away, Kai could finally see him clearly.

”You asked who I am.”

His voice was quiet.

”I’ll answer.”

He inhaled slowly.

”My name...”

A faint smile crossed his face.

”...is Kai Mercer.”

Kai didn’t react.

”I know that.”

”No.”

The smile faded.

”You know your name.”

His eyes locked onto Kai’s.

”I answered mine.”

Silence settled between them.

Kai stared harder.

At first glance, there was no difference.

Same face.

Same height.

Same eyes.

Same silver ring.

It was like looking into a mirror.

But the longer Kai looked, the more he noticed.

A thin scar beneath the stranger’s right eye.

Hands rougher than his own.

A posture weighed down by memories Kai couldn’t imagine carrying.

This wasn’t someone who was older because of years.

This was someone who was older because of survival.

Kai’s expression tightened.

”...You’re another loop.”

The stranger slowly shook his head.

”No.”

”The first one?”

”No.”

”The last?”

”No.”

Kai clenched his fists.

”Then who are you?”

The answer came quietly.

”I’m the original.”

Everything stopped.

Even the frozen rain suddenly felt meaningless.

Kai stared.

Then he laughed.

A short, hollow sound.

”No.”

The stranger didn’t react.

”There isn’t an original.”

Kai shook his head.

”There are only loops.”

The original Kai looked at him with genuine sadness.

”That’s what the story wants you to believe.”

Kai felt his heartbeat accelerate.

”...What does that mean?”

The original Kai glanced toward the First Witness.

”May I?”

The boy nodded once.

”You’ve earned it.”

The original Kai looked back at him.

”There were never hundreds of Kai Mercers.”

His voice was calm.

”There was only one.”

He placed a hand against his chest.

”Me.”

Then he pointed toward Kai.

”And you.”

Kai frowned.

”That’s two.”

The original Kai shook his head.

”No.”

”It’s one.”

The words hung between them.

”You aren’t my descendant.”

”You aren’t my replacement.”

”You aren’t another version of me.”

His expression softened.

”You’re a page.”

Kai froze.

”...What?”

The original Kai lowered his gaze.

”When I wrote the first story...”

His fingers curled slightly.

”I couldn’t bear writing about my own failures.”

A quiet sadness entered his voice.

”So I divided myself.”

”Every regret.”

”Every hope.”

”Every fear.”

”Every kindness.”

”I separated them.”

”So each part of me could continue fighting.”

Kai took a step backward.

”No...”

The original Kai nodded.

”You’re the part of me that refused to give up.”

The words settled over Kai like falling snow.

Slowly.

Quietly.

But with a weight he couldn’t escape.

The First Witness spoke.

”Elias...”

The boy looked toward Kai.

”...was the part that refused to leave anyone behind.”

Kai’s breathing became unsteady.

”...Luna?”

The original Kai smiled sadly.

”The future I wanted to reach.”

Kai swallowed.

”Daniel?”

”My ordinary life.”

”Mrs. Ashcroft?”

”My faith.”

”The Editor?”

”My curiosity.”

The original Kai looked toward the First Witness.

”And him...”

”My innocence.”

Kai felt his vision blur.

All of them.

Every person who had stood beside him.

Every person who had helped him survive.

They weren’t random.

They weren’t accidents.

They were pieces of someone who had shattered himself just to keep moving forward.

”No...”

Kai shook his head.

”This...”

His voice cracked.

”It doesn’t make sense.”

”I know.”

The original Kai stepped closer.

”I broke something that should never have been broken.”

He looked directly into Kai’s eyes.

”The human heart.”

The world seemed to grow quieter.

”I tore it apart.”

”So every piece could survive.”

Kai looked around the room.

The child’s toys.

The blurred family photograph.

The frozen rain outside.

Then back at the man standing before him.

”So...”

His throat tightened.

”...none of us are real?”

The original Kai’s expression changed instantly.

”No.”

He moved closer.

His voice carried a force Kai had never heard before.

”Don’t ever say that.”

”You cried.”

”You laughed.”

”You loved.”

”You chose.”

”You suffered.”

He placed a hand against Kai’s chest.

”That makes you more real than anything I ever wrote.”

Kai stood frozen.

Because he knew.

The words were true.

The original Kai wasn’t trying to comfort him.

He was correcting him.

Kai swallowed.

”Then...”

His voice trembled.

”...why do I exist?”

For the first time, the original Kai looked ashamed.

He closed his eyes.

And when he answered, his voice was barely above a whisper.

”Because...”

A pause.

”...I was too much of a coward to survive alone.”

Silence followed.

Then one frozen raindrop finally fell.

It struck the pavement.

A tiny sound.

A small reminder that time had started moving again.

Then another drop fell.

And another.

Within seconds, the rain returned completely.

The world continued.

But Kai felt like his entire understanding of reality had been destroyed.

The original Kai turned toward the black door.

”It found me first.”

His voice became distant.

”It found a broken man trying to rewrite grief.”

”I believed I could control it.”

”I believed stories obeyed their authors.”

A bitter laugh escaped him.

”They don’t.”

”They obey readers.”

Kai frowned.

”...Readers?”

The original Kai nodded.

”The more people believed the story...”

”...the stronger it became.”

A cold feeling spread through Kai.

”My streams...”

”Yes.”

”My viewers...”

”Every person who believed.”

”The comments.”

”The donations.”

”The theories.”

The original Kai looked at him.

”They weren’t feeding you.”

A pause.

”They were feeding the story.”

Kai felt sick.

Millions of viewers.

Millions of readers.

Every Chapter.

Every discussion.

Every prediction.

Every theory about what would happen next.

All of it.

Every single belief.

Had given the Author more power.

The original Kai met his eyes.

”That’s why this is Loop Zero.”

Kai swallowed.

”...Why?”

A sad smile appeared on the original Kai’s face.

”Because for the first time...”

The room trembled.

”...the story has stopped being about me.”

Three knocks echoed through the bedroom.

Slow.

Clear.

Impossible.

The original Kai’s expression changed instantly.

”He found us.”

The First Witness quietly picked up his notebook.

”It’s time.”

Kai looked between them.

”Time for what?”

The original Kai didn’t answer.

Instead, he reached into his coat.

From inside, he pulled out an old fountain pen.

Its black lacquer was chipped with age.

Silver lined the nib.

Tiny cracks covered the barrel, as if the pen itself had survived countless battles.

He extended it toward Kai.

Kai hesitated.

”...What’s this?”

The original Kai looked at him.

”The pen that wrote everything.”

The fountain pen trembled.

Then, for the first time since Kai entered the room...

It moved.

Not across paper.

Not inside a book.

Across the empty air.

Golden letters slowly formed between them.

Five words.

The Author has started reading.

Prev Chapter Novel Info Next Chapter

Recommended Novels

Arcane Academy: The Divine Extraction Legacy xlntz

The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse P_Drop

THE GOD EATER DMadLord

Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely 半壶生姜水

Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary! Entrail_JI

The Witcher: Evolution Liu Yuheng

Supreme Husband System! & Supreme Wife System! Ongoing_Expert

Evolution Begins With A Big Tree Crimson Night

Zhan Shen: It’s Just a Sacrifice, How Can I Become a Villain? Xiao Shu Bu Dao Wo B

Reborn at Boot Camp: General, Don’t Mess Around! 直上青云

Starting from the Wizarding World Koi Loves Water

Radiant Blade of the Wilderness Cuttlefish That Loves Diving

Outbreak Chronicles: Dead Pandemic Kyosei

Mystery: The Outer God Is Actually Myself If you listen to the

From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men San Geng Jian Yue Gu