Jason Wu expected to appear in some normal place—trees, dirt, sky, whatever counted as "natural" after everything he'd been through.
Instead—
He stepped onto steps.
Old stone steps.Ancient, worn, chipped… but arranged with meticulous precision.
A staircase descending into an ocean of mist.
Jason blinked. "…A staircase? To what?"
Longwu hummed.
["Jason… be careful. Staircases in forbidden realms never lead somewhere relaxing."]
Jason rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, at this point I'll take anything that doesn't want to erase my existence."
He descended cautiously.
One step.Two.The air grew warmer.Quiet. Too quiet.
Longwu whispered:
["Jason… something is breathing down there."]
Jason tightened his grip. "Breathing? As in… a creature?"
["…as in a presence."]
Wonderful.
After thirty-nine steps, Jason reached the bottom.
The fog parted.
Revealing—
A door.
Not grand.Not glowing.Not ominous.
Just a simple wooden door, slightly crooked, with a rusty handle and oddly familiar scratches along the edges. It looked like something stolen from a mortal village cottage.
Jason frowned.
"…This realm makes no sense."
Longwu muttered:
["Forbidden realms rarely do. But this is new even to me."]
Jason reached for the handle—
"Don't."
Jason froze.
That voice came from behind him.
But when he turned—no one was there.
Jason scanned the mist. "…Who said that?"
Longwu sharpened.
["Jason. The voice came from the door."]
Jason blinked.
"…the door talked to me?"
Before Longwu could answer, the wooden door shuddered slightly—like someone tapping from the other side.
"Knocking is rude," a whisper drifted from the door.Soft.Breathy.Almost… polite.
Jason took a giant step back.
"…WHAT."
The whisper continued gently:
"Please avoid touching the handle. It bites."
Jason screamed internally.
Longwu whispered:
["It WHAT—"]
Jason pointed accusingly. "You're a—talking door."
The Whispering Door answered calmly.
"A Gatekeeper, technically. Talking is part of the job description."
Jason rubbed his temples. "Of course. Why wouldn't the door talk? Why wouldn't the handle bite? Why wouldn't everything in this realm be insane?"
The door chuckled softly.
"You must be Jason Wu."
Jason choked. "You… know my name?"
"Everyone in this realm knows your name."
Jason blanched. "That is NOT comforting."
Longwu muttered:
["I do not like the way it said 'everyone'."]
Jason swallowed and forced his voice steady.
"What is this place? That fog realm was… horrifying, but this—"
"This is the Threshold," the door whispered."Where wanderers exiting the Realm That Should Not Exist must be… evaluated."
Jason stiffened."Oh great. Another evaluation. Does this one try to kill me too?"
The door chuckled quietly.
"No. Killing you would defeat the purpose. My role is to assess stability."
Jason blinked. "…my what?"
"Your stability. Your coherence. Your resistance to dissolution."
Jason stared in horror. "…Are you saying I might fall apart?!"
"A possibility. The Realm That Should Not Exist leaves marks."The door leaned closer—somehow, despite being a door."Most wanderers do not exit intact."
Longwu vibrated.
["Jason—don't listen to it. This thing talks in riddles."]
The door responded instantly.
"I do not speak riddles. I speak contingencies."
Jason inhaled sharply.
"Okay. Fine. What do you want from me?"
The door creaked, pleased.
"Three answers."
Jason tensed. "Three… answers?"
"I will ask three questions. You must answer honestly. Not correctly.Truth weighs more than correctness."
Jason eyed Longwu nervously.
"Uh. Should I—?"
["It's a Gatekeeper. You don't have a choice."]
The fog thickened around the door, forming a faint outline of a face—smooth, featureless, but… expressive.
The Gatekeeper whispered:
"First question."
Jason braced.
The fog pulsed.
"When you saw the faceless versions of yourself… did you envy any of them?"
Jason stiffened.
He opened his mouth—closed it—looked at Longwu, who shrugged helplessly.
Jason inhaled deeply.
"…No."
Silence.
Jason continued.
"…I pitied them.And I hated that they existed because fate wanted me to die early.But envy?No.I wouldn't trade places with any of them."
The door hummed—pleased.
"Honest. Very good."
Jason exhaled in relief.
Longwu whispered:
["One down. Two to go."]
Jason whispered back: "Don't sound like an exam proctor—"
"Second question."
Jason tensed again.
Fog spiraled elegantly above the door.
"Jason Wu… if you discovered your mother severed her fate for selfish reasons, not noble ones—would you still seek the truth?"
Jason froze.
His heartbeat thudded painfully in his ears.
That question—felt targeted.Personal.Dangerously precise.
The shard of his mother's severance pulsed faintly inside Jason's sleeve.
Jason swallowed.
"I… yes."
Silence.
Jason continued, voice steadier:
"No matter her reason—noble, selfish, desperate, or cruel—she's still my mother.And I need to know."He exhaled shakily."I deserve that truth."
The door hummed again.
"Good. You seek truth, not comfort."
Jason muttered, "Feels less like a test and more like therapy."
Longwu snorted.
["I would pay money to see you in therapy."]
"Not helping."
The fog around the door swirled faster, growing denser.
Jason's breath caught.
"…Is this the last question?"
"Yes."
Jason's hands clenched.
The Gatekeeper's voice dropped—gentle, quiet, almost sympathetic.
"Third question…Jason Wu…Do you want to remain who you are?"
Jason blinked.
"What?"
The fog tightened around him like soft chains.
"Do you want to keep being Jason Wu?Or… would you rather become someone else?"
Jason's chest tightened painfully.
He remembered—
The weight of being hunted.The burden of severance.The death sentences.The fear.The loneliness.
Part of him—a very small part—remembered the faceless versions bowing.
He swallowed hard.
"…I…"
Longwu whispered softly:
["Jason. Choose carefully."]
Jason closed his eyes.
In the darkness of his mind—he saw Lily.Lan Yuren.Wei Qing.The sect.His friends.His dreams.The man he wanted to become.
He breathed out.
"…I want to remain me."His voice strengthened."Because Jason Wu is the one walking forward.The one making choices.The one living."He opened his eyes."And I'm not done."
Silence.
Then—
CLACK.
The door unlocked.
Slowly, it opened inward.
Light poured through the opening—warm, golden, pure.
The Gatekeeper whispered:
"Then be welcome, Jason Wu.You remain yourself.For now."
Jason stiffened. "For now? What does that mea—"
"Go."
The light seized him—
And pulled him through.
Jason stumbled into—
Sky.
Open sky.
A floating platform carved from drifting stone, suspended above a sea of swirling clouds stretching endlessly below.
Jason gasped.
Longwu whispered:
["…We're back in reality."]
Jason blinked, overwhelmed.
"…What realm is this?"
Longwu hesitated.
["…Jason… that platform… those clouds… that horizon…This isn't just any realm."]
Jason swallowed. "Longwu… what are you saying?"
Longwu took a breath.
["Jason Wu…I think we have reached the Origin Layer."]
Jason froze.
"…Origin Layer? As in—"
["The layer where 'worlds' begin.Where creation is still warm.Where gods do not walk—because they are made."]
Jason lost all breath.
He staggered toward the edge—looking down at the shimmering ocean of embryonic worlds swirling below.
Suddenly, a voice behind him whispered:
"…You're early."
Jason spun.
A figure stood at the far edge of the platform—tall, robed, but not masked.Face shadowed.Presence heavy.
Longwu gasped.
["Jason—this is not Seeker-class…This one is above them."]
Jason's heart pounded.
"…Who—who are you?"
The figure tilted his head.
A faint smile—cold and knowing—appeared beneath the hood.
"I am the one who tends the Origins."
Jason stepped back.
The figure raised a hand.
"And you, Jason Wu…are the first anomaly to reach here alive."
Jason swallowed hard.
"Why… why does everyone keep calling me an anomaly—"
The figure interrupted.
"Because you are.And I am here to determine…whether you should continue existing."
Jason's blood ran cold.
Longwu trembled violently.
["Jason… this is BAD. This is worse than the Seeker. Worse than the Administrator. This one—this one could erase our entire bloodline before it's even born."]
Jason raised Longwu instinctively.
The robed figure chuckled.
"Don't bother.We're not going to fight."
Jason narrowed his eyes.
"…Then what do you want?"
The figure lifted his hand—and the entire sky cracked.
Lightning split the clouds.Stars dimmed.Reality warped.
In the shattering reflection—
Jason saw something impossible.
His mother.
Standing in the broken mirror.
Reaching toward him.
Jason's heart nearly stopped.
"M-Mother—?!"
The figure whispered:
"Jason Wu.Your trial here is simple."
He lowered his hand.
The sky healed.
The figure's voice changed—gentle, too gentle.
"Choose…Do you pursue her?Or do you turn away?"
Jason froze.
Longwu whispered:
["Jason… this is a TRAP—"]
Jason's hands shook.
The figure extended an open palm.
"Tell me, Jason Wu…Do you chase the past?Or carve the future?"
Jason couldn't breathe.
He couldn't think.
The world waited—