Jason Wu froze.
The man who stepped out of that ripple didn't radiate killing intent, divine pressure, or cosmic authority.He radiated something far worse—
Contradiction.
As if the universe wasn't sure whether he should exist.
The man's spear bent the air around it—not the way power does,but like the laws of reality were trying to erase it and failing.
Jason swallowed.
"…You're glitching."
The man smiled wearily.
"That's one way to describe it."
Longwu Sword hummed tensely.
["Jason. Be polite. He's not someone you want annoyed."]
"Why? He's the first Defier ever? The spear guy?" Jason whispered.
["No. Because he's barely holding himself together and if he sneezes wrong, he might collapse the next three realms."]
Jason stiffened immediately.
"…Sir, please don't sneeze."
The man chuckled.
"Relax. If I were going to accidentally destroy a realm, it wouldn't be this one."
"…Why does that not comfort me?"
THE MAN WITH A BROKEN FATE
Jason stepped back, eyeing him carefully.
"What do I call you, mister 'I Shouldn't Exist but Still Pay Rent'?"
The man twirled the spear once, the motion perfectly controlled yet… flickering.
"My name was once Yun Shisan."
Jason blinked.
"…Was?"
"Yes. I have lived under six names, across three forgotten cycles.But this one will do for now."
Jason scratched his cheek.
"So you're like… an immortal with identity issues?"
Yun Shisan's eyebrow twitched.
"Identity issues? I prefer the term victim of cosmic mismanagement."
Longwu snorted.
["Finally, someone who gets it."]
Jason sighed.
"Okay, so… why are you here? To explain why Fate murdered my entire clan? To give me a cryptic warning? Are you the tutorial NPC? Because if you hand me a starter potion I swear—"
"Jason Wu."
Shisan's voice cut through the sarcasm.
Calm.Steady.Heavy.
"I am here because I saw the day your clan fell."
Jason's throat tightened.
Longwu buzzed low.
["Careful, boy."]
Shisan continued.
"I wasn't supposed to see it.I wasn't supposed to BE there.But their final stand—your father's defiance—tore open something even Fate could not seal."
He pointed the spear downward.
The ground cracked silently.
"A fracture in destiny.And through that fracture… I witnessed the Wu Clan die with their heads held high."
Jason exhaled shakily.
"You saw them. All of them."
"I did."
Jason clenched his fists.
His voice cracked.
"…Then why didn't you help?"
Longwu stiffened.
["Jason—!"]
But Shisan didn't get angry.He simply looked… older.Far older.
"Because I was already dead."
Jason froze.
"…I'm sorry, what—"
"I died long before that battle.Only a fragment of me remains."
He gestured at his own cracked fate-mark.
"This body, this mind—are a recording that refused to fade."
Jason stared at the flickering edges of the man's form.
No breath.No heartbeat.No qi circulation.
Only stubborn existence.
Longwu murmured:
["He's a ghost with too much willpower."]
Shisan added:
"A ghost Fate could not erase."
Jason muttered:
"…Great. I've unlocked the glitch NPC."
THE FIRST DEFIANCE
Jason composed himself.
"So—what's your deal?You fought Fate before my clan did?"
Shisan nodded.
"Yes.Long before you were born.Long before your ancestors rose."
Jason raised an eyebrow.
"…How long?"
Shisan didn't answer with a number.
He answered with a gesture.
He pointed upward.
Jason looked.
And saw—
Two broken constellations.Three missing stars.A scar across the sky itself.
Shisan spoke:
"Those scars were made in my era."
Jason nearly choked.
"You damaged the sky?!"
"I tried to kill Fate."
"…Okay, damn."
Longwu made a low whistle.
["Overachiever."]
Shisan continued, ignoring them.
"My attempt failed.But I proved something."
He stepped toward Jason.
Every step left a momentary afterimage—like reality needed time to redraw him.
"Fate is not absolute.It can be questioned.It can be resisted.And… it can be hurt."
Jason's heartbeat quickened.
"…My clan hurt it, didn't they?"
Shisan nodded.
"Enough that the entire multiverse trembled."
Jason whispered:
"And that's why they were erased."
"No.They were erased because you survived."
Jason blinked.
"…Excuse me?"
THE TARGET OF FATE
Shisan raised his hand.
A faint image appeared—Jason as an infant, wrapped in a cloth marked with faint Wu sigils.
Jason's gut twisted.
"Hey—where did you get that?! Did you rob my baby pictures?!"
Shisan ignored him.
"You were born with no predetermined path.That is impossible.Every living being has a thread of destiny… even those meant to rebel against it."
He looked Jason in the eyes.
"But you?Your thread was blank."
Jason froze.
"…Blank?"
"Empty. As if the universe lost the page where your story was written."
Longwu hissed.
["Jason… this is worse than I feared."]
Jason looked between them.
"Whoa, whoa—explain! Why is blank-baby-Jason suddenly the apocalypse?!"
Shisan drew a shape in the air.
A thread of fate appeared—golden, vibrant.
Then it unraveled.
Every fiber coming loose.
"Fate cannot control what it cannot predict.A blank destiny is not neutrality—it is danger."
Jason swallowed.
"So… I'm a bug in the system?"
"You are a variable."
Jason rubbed his face.
"Damn it. I don't even get to be a cool chosen one? I'm just a… badly written spreadsheet error?!"
Longwu patted his consciousness gently.
["Cheer up. Bugs are terrifying."]
WHO SURVIVED
Jason took a breath.
"Fine.Then tell me something.If my whole clan died so I could escape… why are you still around?Why did you survive?"
Shisan didn't hesitate.
"I survived because Fate forgot to delete me."
Jason blinked.
"…Fate forgot?"
"Not by carelessness.Because it used all its power erasing your clan.Every law.Every thread.Every trace."
Jason felt sick.
Shisan finished:
"In its zeal… it missed one echo.Me."
Jason exhaled.
"So you're a remnant.A leftover glitch."
Shisan nodded.
"A mistake… just like you."
Jason grinned.
"…Then we're brothers in cosmic clerical errors."
Shisan actually laughed.
It was a tired laugh.But real.
THE WARNING
Shisan's expression sharpened.
"Jason Wu.You must understand why I came."
Jason straightened.
Longwu hummed nervously.
["Brace yourself, boy."]
Shisan lowered his voice.
"Fate learned from the day the Wu defied it.You will not be attacked the same way."
Jason frowned.
"…Meaning?"
Shisan pointed behind Jason.
A distant shadow stirred—something large, skeletal, and impossibly slow.
"Fate will not send armies.Nor Heralds.Nor Purifiers."
Jason turned fully.
The shadow grew.
Twisted.Crawled.Not toward him—but toward the path behind him.
Shisan spoke:
"It will erase every step you take.Not you.Your impact.Your relationships.Your victories.Your family.Your love."
Jason's blood ran cold.
"…It will make it like I never existed."
"Exactly."
Jason shook with anger.
"No.NO.I refuse—"
Shisan cut him off.
"Jason.This is a hunt.And the enemy is not chasing you—it is chasing your meaning."
Jason's eyes widened.
"…Then what do I do?"
Shisan smiled faintly.
A sad smile.
A proud smile.
"You do what the Wu always did."
He lifted his spear.
The world trembled.
"You exist loudly."
Jason froze.
"…Loudly?"
Longwu cackled.
["He means break things, make friends, ruin plans, talk too much, fight too hard—basically be yourself."]
Jason grinned despite the pressure closing around them.
"Yeah.Yeah!Fate wants me erased?"
He cracked his knuckles.
"Then I'll make it WORK for it."
THE GIFT OF THE FIRST DEFIer
Shisan twirled his spear again.
"Then let me help."
He touched the spear-tip to Jason's forehead.
Reality convulsed.
Jason's vision blurred—and suddenly—
He saw dozens of Shisan's memories:his battles, his failures, his escapes, his sacrifices.
He also felt something else:
A mark.
A symbol burned into his soul.
Shisan whispered:
"The Defier's Mark.""The same mark I once bore…The same mark your father refused to accept…And the same mark Fate fears most."
Jason staggered.
"What does it do?"
Shisan smiled.
"It lets you break… one rule."
Jason blinked.
"…Which rule?"
Shisan's form flickered harshly.
He stepped back—the ripple swallowing half his body.
"Any of them."
Jason's jaw dropped.
"That's—THAT'S CHEATING!"
Shisan winked.
"So is Fate."
His form collapsed into fragments.
But before the ripple consumed him—
He pointed at Jason one last time.
"The next step is yours.Don't waste it."
And he vanished.
Jason stood alone in the silent, broken void.
Longwu finally exhaled.
["…Jason?"]
"…Yeah?"
["We're completely screwed."]
Jason grinned.
"Good.Being screwed means I get to be creative."
He turned toward the path back to the living realms.
Eyes blazing.
Jaw set.
Heart burning.
"Let Fate hunt me all it wants—I'll drag it down with me."
He stepped forward.
The void trembled.