7:13 a.m. — System Status: Undefined
The air was too still.
The city outside Yun Qi's apartment moved like a perfect simulation.
Cars passed at perfectly timed intervals.
Pedestrians walked with robotic precision, their faces blank, their movements eerily synchronized.
No one looks up, she thought. No one questions anything.
She sat by the window, eyes darting between reality and the faint reflection on the glass.
The scent of jasmine lingered, stronger every time she tried to forget.
And every time she checked her phone, it remained a blank, lifeless screen.
But deep inside… she knew.
The system hadn't collapsed.
It had simply reset.
And now, it was waiting—for her to make a choice.
In the depths of the Broadcast Core, unseen by the world, the crimson emoji mask was no longer smiling.
It sat fractured, data bleeding out from its corrupted edges.
Chen Rui's voice echoed faintly through the failing system.
"The Overseer position remains unfilled. The cycle will continue… unless someone breaks the loop from within."
That's when the first anomalies began.
Reports flooded the news:
People disappearing mid-conversation.
Reflections in mirrors smiling when no one did.
Unexplained messages appearing on untouched devices:
[The Overseer Is Watching. Are You?]
Yun Qi understood the horrifying truth—
Even if she refused the Overseer role, the system would assign it automatically.
And worse… it might choose someone even more dangerous.
That night, her phone flickered back to life.
The screen glowed faintly with a final, ominous prompt:
[New Overseer Detected. Cycle Authority Transferred.]
Her heart stopped.
She didn't press anything.
She didn't accept.
Then who did?
Suddenly, the screen glitched violently, and a new figure appeared.
Not Chen Rui.
Not the crimson mask.
A child.
A small girl, no older than ten, standing in a field of endless jasmine flowers.
She turned toward the camera, eyes dark and endless, and spoke with a voice far older than her appearance:
"Welcome back, Overseer."
Before Yun Qi could react, the screen went black.
And this time…
She heard knocking not at the door—
But from inside the mirror.
End of Chapter 28