Chapter 8: Everyone Remembers the End
The announcement did not come with thunder.
It came quietly, which somehow made it worse.
Bai Ze heard about it while stealing snacks from the inner hall kitchen.
A junior attendant whispered it to another, voice trembling with the kind of excitement that only came from knowing something you shouldn't.
"They say… it's been confirmed."
"Confirmed what?"
"The Variable."
Bai Ze paused mid-bite.
"…Oh."
He finished chewing.
Then took another bun.
By noon, there was no hiding it anymore.
Spirit Hall released an internal directive — not secret, not classified, not loud either. It was posted where everyone could see it, written in neutral, careful language that failed completely to hide the truth.
World-Line Anomaly Confirmed
Designation: Variable
Name: Bai Ze
No titles.
No embellishment.
Just his name.
And below it, a single line that made the entire hall fall silent.
Multiple high-level existences retain fragmented memories of a future ending.
Bai Ze stared at the notice for a long moment.
Then he scratched his head.
"…So that's leaking already."
Ling Yu stood beside him, arms folded, expression unreadable.
"You don't look surprised."
"I'm not," he replied. "I was hoping it would take longer."
"Longer than a week?"
"Optimistically? Yes."
She sighed.
"You realize what this means."
"That people will start acting weird?"
"That they already are."
Across the hall, a veteran elder stood frozen in place.
His hands were shaking.
Not from fear.
From recognition.
Images flickered behind his eyes — a battlefield drowned in divine light, gods clashing, Spirit Hall burning, and at the center of it all… someone lying down on shattered stone, looking bored while the sky collapsed.
He swallowed hard.
"That man…" he whispered, staring at Bai Ze's back.
"…was there at the end."
The same thing was happening everywhere.
Not clear memories.
Not full recollections.
Fragments.
Dreams that felt too real.
Deaths that still hurt.
Victories that tasted bitter.
In Nuoding City, Tang San woke up drenched in sweat.
His heart was racing.
His hands trembled as he sat up, breathing hard.
He had dreamed of dying.
No — worse.
He had dreamed of winning.
Winning everything… and still losing.
At the center of that dream stood a man whose face he couldn't see clearly, whose presence bent the world around him like gravity.
Tang San pressed a hand to his chest.
"…So it wasn't just me."
Outside his room, Xiao Wu was already awake.
She looked pale.
"You dreamed it too," she said softly.
Tang San didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Back in Spirit Hall, Bai Ze was being stared at like a walking disaster.
He waved awkwardly at a group of disciples.
"…Hi?"
They immediately looked away.
Ling Yu pinched the bridge of her nose.
"This is going to be a problem."
"I prefer to call it character development."
"You're smiling."
"I smile when things get complicated."
She glanced at him sharply.
"You remember it too, don't you?"
He didn't deny it.
"Bits and pieces," Bai Ze said. "Endgame stuff. Ugly lighting. Too much yelling. Someone crying dramatically. Very cliché."
"…You're joking."
"Mostly."
Ding.
System Event Triggered: World Awareness Synchronization
Effect: Key characters regain partial memory of final timeline
Note: Emotional inconsistencies expected
Bonus Reward Issued
Bai Ze blinked.
"Oh? Compensation?"
Reward 1: Luck Amplification (Social) – Your accidental charm now affects destiny-level figures
Reward 2: Comedy Anchor – Once per major arc, reality will favor embarrassment over death
Reward 3: Useless but Useful Item – Infinite Tea Cup (Never empty. Always the wrong temperature.)
Bai Ze stared at the cup that appeared in his hand.
It was lukewarm.
"…I hate how accurate this system is."
Ling Yu looked at the cup.
"…Why are you holding it like it insulted your ancestors?"
"It knows what it did."
By evening, the reactions grew more extreme.
Some feared him.
Some hated him.
Some were relieved.
A few… were angry.
Very angry.
Tang San stood before Yu Xiaogang, fists clenched.
"So everyone remembers."
"Not everyone," Yu Xiaogang corrected. "Only those who mattered at the end."
Tang San's jaw tightened.
"And him?"
Yu Xiaogang hesitated.
"…He was alive."
That single sentence hit harder than any prophecy.
Tang San closed his eyes.
In his memories, the world had ended with certainty.
Now, that certainty had a name.
In Spirit Hall, Bai Ze was dragged again.
This time, not by Ling Yu.
By his only other friend.
"You idiot!" she shouted, punching his shoulder. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"
"I literally existed!"
She punched him again.
"You always say that!"
Ling Yu watched from the side, arms crossed.
"No killing," she warned.
The girl froze.
"…I wasn't going to."
Bai Ze lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
"…I feel loved."
"You feel beaten," Ling Yu corrected.
"Emotionally, yes."
Later that night, Bai Ze sat alone on the rooftop.
Stars stretched endlessly above him.
The world had changed.
Not yet broken.
But aware.
Everyone now knew the ending was real.
And that he was part of it.
Ding.
Upcoming Event Detected:
"First Direct Intersection with the Protagonist"
Estimated Time: 30 days
Bai Ze exhaled slowly.
"…That soon."
"World impatience increasing."
He lay back.
Hands behind his head.
"Well," he murmured to the stars,
"guess I should keep doing nothing properly."
Somewhere far away, Tang San looked at the same sky.
And this time, fate looked back.