The plaza smelled of smoke and blood.
The beast's corpse still twitched, its charred hide steaming where the Inkblade's shadows had devoured it. Shattered stone lay everywhere, and above us the sky looked wrong—split like cracked glass, threads of crimson light leaking through.
The survivors huddled together, wide-eyed and silent. Only their breathing and the crackle of dying flames broke the air.
I leaned on the Inkblade, chest heaving. Shadows still coiled around my arm, restless, hungry. They whispered, but even they seemed subdued by what had just happened.
Dev limped toward me, his sword dragging on the stone. His clothes were scorched, his hair matted with blood, but his eyes were steady.
"You should be dead."
It wasn't anger. Not disbelief, either. Just fact.
I met his gaze. "Maybe."
He snorted. "Maybe? You took that thing's fire head-on. No shield, no wall, no formation. And you're still standing."
The girl—Kavya, I'd learned her name was—hugged herself. "He's not human."
The old man spat. "He's cursed. We follow him, we all die."
The boy gripped his staff tighter. "No… he saved us."
The mother placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, her eyes unreadable.
They were all looking at me now. Waiting. Weighing.
And I hated it.
✦
[ Scenario: Act II Initiation. ][ Title: The War of Realms. ][ Condition: Choose your allegiance. ]
The words blazed across the sky, cold and absolute.
Kavya gasped. "Another one? Already?"
The old man cursed, falling to his knees. "No, no, no… give us time. Give us time to breathe—"
But the system never gave time.
The plaza trembled. Above us, the cracks widened, spilling light in two directions.
On the left, crimson skies stretched open, mountains of bone rising like broken teeth. Rivers of beasts flowed across the land, their roars echoing into our world. The air stank of blood and ash.
On the right, steel banners unfurled, armies marching in perfect lines. Warriors in flowing robes chanted sutras that shook the ground, Murim sects clashing in endless duels across mountains and valleys. The clang of swords and the cries of martial masters thundered in our ears.
Two realms. Two choices.
The survivors froze, staring at the impossible landscapes tearing into the sky.
The boy whispered, "We… we have to pick one?"
The system answered for him.
[ Decision Required. Time Limit: 10 minutes. ]
✦
Panic broke like a wave.
The old man scrambled to his feet, pointing at the crimson skies. "That one! We go there! The beasts are strong, yes, but flesh is flesh! Easier than fighting armies of men!"
Kavya shoved him back. "Are you insane? You saw those monsters! One of them nearly killed us here! You want to throw us into a world made of them?"
The mother's voice cut through, calm but steady. "The armies look… organized. Maybe they'd let us join."
"Join?" the old man snapped. "As what? Fodder? Cannon meat? At least beasts kill you quick. Humans make you suffer."
Dev exhaled slowly, running a hand through his blood-soaked hair. "Both sides look like hell to me."
His gaze slid to me. "What do you think, Reed?"
The others turned instantly. Their arguments paused, all eyes falling on me like weights.
The Inkblade pulsed in my hand, shadows stretching toward both rifts.
The whispers hissed. "…choose… devour… feast on both…"
✦
I looked at the crimson beastlands. The endless roars shook the air. Claws like mountains, rivers of teeth.
Then I looked at the Murim armies, their banners raised, their chants vibrating with power. Masters who could crush me with a flick of their fingers.
Either choice was death.
But worse than death was this: both paths were written. Scripted.
The gods weren't offering survival. They were offering a stage.
And I was sick of being their actor.
I raised my head. "No."
✦
Kavya blinked. "No? What do you mean no?"
The old man's face twisted. "Don't you dare—don't you dare defy it again—"
"I'm not playing their game."
The words came out quiet. Final.
The system pulsed in response, its voice colder than ever.
[ Invalid input. Please select allegiance. ]
Dev hissed, stepping closer. "Reed. Think. We don't have time. We'll all die if you—"
"I said no."
My voice echoed across the plaza, louder than it should have been. The shadows around me surged, wrapping tighter around my arm.
✦
The boy's lip trembled. "But… if you don't pick, what happens to us?"
The mother pulled him close, but her gaze never left mine.
The old man's eyes burned with rage. "You'll kill us all!"
Kavya's voice cracked. "You can't keep doing this. You can't keep breaking the system. It's not just your life—it's ours!"
Dev stood rigid, torn between fury and loyalty. His jaw clenched. "Then we break it together."
Silence fell.
The mother's lips curved into the faintest smile.
And I—
I tightened my grip on the Inkblade.
"Let's see what happens when I refuse."
✦
[ Warning: Script deviation detected. ][ Error. Stabilization failing. ][ Anchor probability rising. ]
The words stuttered, glitching across the air.
The rifts above spasmed, both realms colliding, their borders bleeding into each other. Beasts clawed at martial masters, armies clashed against rivers of teeth. The sky screamed as if reality itself couldn't hold them apart.
The ground cracked, splitting beneath us.
The survivors shrieked, clutching rubble as the plaza shook like a dying beast.
The Inkblade howled in my hand, shadows exploding upward, lashing at the sky.
And then—
A new voice slipped through the cracks.
Smooth. Cold. Too close.
[ …So you refuse the script. Interesting. ]
The plaza buckled.
Stone shattered like brittle glass, pillars toppling as the cracks widened. Survivors screamed, clutching each other, scrambling for stable ground that didn't exist.
Above us, the sky convulsed.
The crimson beastlands and the steel march of Murim overlapped, their borders bleeding. A river of beasts surged into martial mountains. Sect masters unleashed waves of qi that split rivers in half. Blades rang against claws, roars drowned out war-cries.
It wasn't a choice anymore. It was chaos.
✦
[ Warning: Scenario destabilized. ][ Error. Script deviation increasing. ][ Anchor probability… rising… ]
The words stuttered across the air, letters twisting, breaking apart mid-sentence.
Kavya clutched her head, shrieking. "Make it stop! Just pick, damn you!"
The old man lunged toward me, spittle flying. "You'll doom us! Choose, you fool!"
I didn't move.
The shadows around me surged, wrapping tighter, hissing with hunger.
The Inkblade pulsed, almost gleeful. "…break more… devour all… feed us…"
I clenched my jaw.
"I won't bow."
✦
The boy cried out, clutching his staff. "Reed, please! They'll kill us!"
The mother held him close, whispering something I couldn't hear. Her eyes never left me, steady despite the quake.
Dev swore, his sword gripped white-knuckled. "If he says no, then we stand with him. That's it."
Kavya spun toward him, eyes wide. "Are you insane? He's not a savior—he's a death sentence!"
Dev's gaze didn't waver. "Then we die on our own terms."
The old man's face twisted with rage. "You'll kill us all for your pride!"
I turned to him, voice low. "Not pride. Freedom."
✦
The system screeched, its voice warping like metal torn apart.
[ Invalid response. Choose. ][ Choose. ][ CHOOSE. ]
The sky split wider, the light blinding.
From the crimson side, a beast the size of a mountain lunged through, its jaws dripping rivers of flame. From the steel side, a Murim master descended, his blade trailing starlight.
They struck each other—and the world howled.
The plaza cracked open. Stone, flame, and bodies plunged into the abyss. Survivors clung to me, their cries raw.
Kavya sobbed. "We're going to die—we're all going to die—"
And still, I didn't choose.
✦
[ Error. Error. Script collapse imminent. ][ Anchor probability rising. Rising. Rising. ]
The words bled into each other, glitching across the sky like broken lightning.
The Inkblade screeched, shadows writhing up to the heavens, wrapping the cracks, trying to hold them closed—or rip them wider. I couldn't tell.
The world bent, twisted, screamed.
And then—silence.
The chaos froze. Beasts halted mid-roar, masters paused mid-strike, fire hung suspended in the air. Survivors froze in terror, their mouths open but soundless.
Only I moved.
And only one voice spoke.
✦
Smooth. Cold. Too close.
[ …So you refuse the script. Interesting. ]
The words crawled under my skin, familiar and foreign at once.
[ Do not fear. They cannot hear me. This is for you alone, Ishaan Reed. ]
The Inkblade trembled violently, shadows collapsing around my hand as if hiding.
My breath caught in my throat. "Who—?"
The voice chuckled, low and amused.
[ Names do not matter. Not yet. Call me… Unknown. ]
The void rippled in the cracks of the sky. A figure blurred across my vision—shrouded, fractured, impossible to hold in my eyes.
And I knew, deep in my bones, that this was not part of the script.
✦
The plaza, the survivors, the realms—all of it flickered, trembling like an image on breaking glass.
The voice lingered, whispering only for me.
[ What matters is this: you are not in their script. ]
The Inkblade screamed, shadows lashing upward.
And the world shattered into nothing.