Jason Wu felt it before it happened.
A pressure—thin at first, barely a whisper against his skin.
Then heavier… like a fingertip tapping the edge of the world.
Not to break it—
but to check whether it *should* be broken.
Jason stopped mid-step.
Everyone else froze with him.
Lan Yuren frowned. "Why did—"
Longwu Sword snarled in Jason's mind:
**["KID—DON'T MOVE."]**
Jason swallowed.
"…Longwu?"
**["It's looking."]**
A single pulse swept across the Pavilion.
Silent.
Colorless.
Cold.
Everyone—Lan Yuren, Wei Qing, Curator, even random stone tiles—stiffened as if the air had turned to glass.
Only Meilin gasped.
Her hand flew to her chest.
A faint shimmer flickered behind her pupils—
threads of silver weaving and twisting.
Jason grabbed her shoulders.
"Meilin—what's wrong?"
"I… I feel something touching my fate," she whispered.
"Something huge. Like… a world leaning down."
The Curator turned pale.
"It's early. Too early. It shouldn't have woken yet."
Jason glared. "What woke?"
The Curator whispered a single sentence:
**"The Prime Witness has opened one eye."**
---
### **THE EYE ABOVE THE SKY**
The Pavilion's ceiling—normally solid marble—rippled.
Lines bent.
Light curled.
Shapes inverted.
Then—
A colossal eye formed above them.
Not flesh.
Not spirit.
Not anything from any world Jason had seen.
It wasn't even looking *at* them—
it was looking *through* them.
Through everything.
Meilin trembled violently.
Jason pulled her closer.
Longwu hissed:
**["Don't breathe weird. Don't blink weird. Don't exist weird."]**
Jason whispered back, "How do I not exist weird?! My entire existence is weird!"
**["EXACTLY!"]**
The eye did not blink.
It simply took in every thread of fate in the hall—
each one a shining line connected to every person.
Then one thread flared brighter.
Meilin's.
She stumbled as if struck.
Jason shouted, "HEY—HEY! Stop looking at her!"
The eye dimmed slightly.
Then another thread glowed.
Jason's.
The temperature dropped to nothing.
Wei Qing could barely speak.
"Jason… it's marking your fate path."
Lan Yuren whispered, "No—no, worse. It's *measuring* him."
Jason frowned. "Measuring?"
The Curator inhaled with effort.
"The Witness analyzes every anomaly. If it decides you're too disruptive—"
Jason interrupted, "Yeah, yeah, it deletes me. I get it. I've been threatened with deletion more times than I can count."
Longwu grumbled:
**["And yet you still never die. Annoying cockroach child."]**
Jason glared. "Supportive as always, thanks."
---
### **MEILIN'S FATAL GIFT**
The eye's gaze shifted to Meilin again.
Her breath hitched.
Threads of fate began to glow around her—
all of them tied to Jason.
The Curator's eyes widened.
"No. It sees her connection. It sees she can adjust fate. If it decides her existence is unstable—"
Jason snapped, "NO. I won't let it."
Meilin's knees buckled.
Jason caught her before she hit the floor.
"Jason…" she whispered weakly.
"I can… feel it pulling at me.
Like it's deciding if I'm a mistake."
Jason's jaw tightened.
"You're not a mistake. You're *mine*."
Longwu screamed:
**["BOY—DON'T SAY THAT. IT'S STUDYING YOU TWO!"]**
Jason shouted at the sky:
"HEY! Cosmic eyeball! STOP STARING AT MY GIRLFRIEND!"
Silence.
Everyone stared at him.
Lan Yuren hissed, "Jason. Shut. Up."
Wei Qing muttered, "We're going to die."
But something strange happened:
The eye focused harder.
Jason felt its attention like a mountain pressing on his chest.
Meilin's voice trembled.
"Jason… I think you provoked it."
Jason gulped.
"…Oh."
Longwu sighed the sigh of an immortal sword regretting all its life choices.
**["Why do you speak like this during cosmic danger?"]**
"Habit."
---
### **THE WITNESS SPEAKS — IN CODE**
A shape formed under the eye.
Lines.
Patterns.
Symbols.
The Curator gasped.
"It's writing… a verdict."
Jason blinked. "I can't read that."
Wei Qing whispered, "It's not language. It's… measurement."
Lan Yuren added, "It's scoring your existence."
Jason's soul left his body for a second.
"…I'm being graded?!"
Longwu cackled.
**["I hope it deducts points for your personality!"]**
The symbols rearranged.
A single concept formed:
**DEVIATION:
UNEXPECTED.
UNACCEPTABLE.
UNSTABLE.
UNREMOVABLE.**
Jason froze.
"'Unremovable'? That's… good, right?"
The Curator shook his head slowly.
"No. It means deleting you would cause more damage."
Jason blinked.
"…That's also good, right?"
"No," the Curator said gravely.
"It simply means the Witness must examine you deeper."
Jason paled.
---
### **MEILIN'S DECISION**
The eye shifted toward Meilin again.
Her threads began to unravel—
"STOP!"
Meilin suddenly grabbed Jason's arm.
Her eyes glowed bright silver.
"Jason—don't move."
Then she stepped forward.
Jason's blood turned to ice.
"What are you doing?!"
Meilin smiled softly.
"Sharing a destiny means sharing risks."
And then—
She raised her hand…
And touched one of the fate threads connecting her to Jason.
The thread changed color.
The eye froze.
Then—
**Everything cracked.**
Reality vibrated like glass hit with a hammer.
Longwu screamed:
**["MEILIN, ARE YOU INSANE?! YOU JUST TOUCHED FATE IN FRONT OF THE THING THAT INVENTED FATE!"]**
Jason grabbed her hand.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"
She whispered:
"…Because it was judging you alone."
Jason stared.
Meilin looked up at the eye.
"If you judge him… judge me too."
For a long second—
the entire universe didn't breathe.
Wei Qing covered her mouth.
Lan Yuren whispered, "She… she just challenged the Witness."
The Curator nearly fell to his knees.
"No mortal has done that. No mortal *can*."
The eye dimmed.
The fate threads thickened.
A single new word formed in the air:
**BOUND.**
Jason blinked.
"Bound? Like… bound how?"
Longwu answered grimly:
**["Your fates are now fully locked. Whatever happens to one of you—happens to both."]**
Jason turned to Meilin.
She smiled faintly.
"I'm… not afraid."
Jason pulled her into his arms.
"I am."
---
### **THE FIRST BLINK**
The eye closed halfway.
The Pavilion shook.
The Curator screamed, "IT'S ABOUT TO BLINK—RUN!"
Jason shouted, "What happens if it blinks?!"
Wei Qing yelled, "I DON'T KNOW BUT IT'S BAD!"
Longwu shrieked:
**["IF IT FULLY BLINKS, YOU GET ERASED FROM EVERY VERSION OF EXISTENCE!"]**
Jason grabbed Meilin with one arm and Longwu with the other.
"OKAY—
THAT COUNTS AS BAD!"
The hall twisted violently.
Light inverted.
Gravity flipped.
Time shook.
Jason used every ounce of qi to shield Meilin.
"LONGWU—HELP ME OUT!"
Longwu roared:
**["ON IT!"]**
A burst of sword light slashed across the collapsing space—
Creating a tear wide enough for the group to jump through.
Jason shouted:
"EVERYONE—MOVE!"
The world broke behind them.
The eye blinked.
The Pavilion shattered.
And Jason, Meilin, Lan Yuren, Wei Qing, and the Curator fell through the tear—
into whatever reality hadn't collapsed yet.
-----------