W1 (7)

There were many things Dina was told other existences across the Omniverse had in common with humans.

Certain things were within her expectations, like sentience, and certain things weren't. For example—fiction.

Fictions were… corrupted worlds.

Dina had let out a yelp when she learned of this. She wasn't told the in-depth exposition, just a summary.

A certain law, nicknamed the Corrupted Law because its official name was too mouthy, had once hacked into the very concept of sentience, imbuing corruption within it and almost causing chaos throughout the Omniverse.

To stop this, an unknown force known only as the Interference stepped in and created the First Counter Law.

> First Counter Law:

All corruption caused by the Corrupted Law shall be diverted into a single Multiverse, where it will manifest as Fictional Narratives.

In other words, instead of infecting all sentient beings, the corruption was isolated. It became fiction—stories, plays, ideas, and fantasies. All of it was real somewhere… in one specific place.

That place was known as the Corrupted Multiverse. It was sealed away from the rest of the Omniverse.

Fictions imagined. Fictions spoken. Fictions written—every format of fiction ever conceived was a wicked law written into sentience, capable of corrupting and controlling a soul, but now sealed away safely.

Despite being sealed, the Corrupted Multiverse still followed the principles of the Omniverse just like every other existence—but there was a minor problematic difference:

The worlds created in the Corrupted Multiverse would be tainted by the Fictional Narratives as soon as they were born.

The taint to these worlds would turn them into Fictional Worlds—which is the 'setting' of a Fictional Narrative. This wouldn't have been an issue, if not for the appearance of souls.

As the Corrupted Multiverse was still a part of the Omniverse, it was impossible for souls not to appear within it.

But they could only exist there if their internal architecture, known as the Three Cosmic Frameworks, matched the Fictional Narrative of that world.

Hence making them 'fictional characters.'

However, this is where it gets tricky.

Souls were governed by their Three Cosmic Frameworks (time/space, fate/purpose, and karma). These frameworks guarantee free will.

But the Fictional Narrative wanted the opposite. It sought to control.

This created a paradox: even when a soul entered a fictional world, its frameworks wouldn't align perfectly with the Fictional Narrative. This partial mismatch causes the world itself to adjust slightly to fit the soul's frameworks instead.

For example, if a character's Fictional Narrative was to be a madman, but their fate instead was to suffer from trauma, the world would be adjusted to fit their fate.

To make this automatic adjustment system reliable, the Interference issued a Second Counter Law:

>Second Counter Law:

All worlds within the Corrupted Multiverse must be subtly edited to ensure perfect synchronization and create environments in which souls can exist and thrive.

But the Fictional Narrative still sought to mold all souls to the formula of its life.

Over time, it began to enforce itself by taking a substantial form—as a World Spirit. This entity became the living will of the Fictional Narrative.

Its goal was to override the subtle edits made by the Second Counter Law for free will, gradually reshaping the world so the story wins and the soul loses itself.

To stop this evolving threat, the Interference issued a third safeguard:

> Third Counter Law:

To assist the Second Counter Law by investigating, calculating, and mitigating all attempts made by the Fictional Narrative to erode free will.

This Third Law manifested as the Bureau, a conceptual intelligence whose job was to oversee all corrupted worlds, protect the freedom of souls, and limit the World Spirit's influence.

***

After listening to such cosmic brilliance of a tale, Dina heavily suspected IT was a creation of the Fictional Narrative. However, she couldn't confirm—not only because her level was too low, but because it was 'too early an information' or whatever excuse Zero had given.

Among the information given to a Transmigrator on arrival to a world was "The Fictional Narrative," a memory file detailing the events to happen if the World Spirit succeeded, and the eventual end of such a world and fates of the souls within.

In the memory file given to Dina, Jack's life had been miserable, and he made the world pay by bringing it to destruction.

***

After dealing with his injuries, Jerry went to the kitchen and poured himself a cold glass of milk, which helped calm the buzzing pain in his head.

'I didn't know the bullying was THIS bad. Why exactly did the writer of this fiction brush it off so easily?' Dina grumbled in distress.

Apart from that, who even wrote such a fucked-up story? Torment the male lead to the very end then destroy the entire world—was the writer a nihilist, edgy, or just had a one-sided view of the world?

"...Some details in the story are more enunciated within the world. This is something we cannot prevent since our interference can only go so far without alerting the World Spirit and destabilizing the Transmigrator's travel."

Dina shrugged but said nothing. She wasn't blaming the Bureau, but the writer. What psychology did they have to write something so… limiting?

'Is that even the right word?'

Jerry sighed, feeling a bit refreshed after finishing a whole carton of cold milk, before grabbing a couple of fruits and heading over to the young master's room.

This time, he didn't need to use his keys, because after the first two knocks the door parted slightly to reveal a pale teen who immediately retreated as soon as he opened it.

He entered, placed down the bowl of fruits, glass, and can of chocolate milk, before sitting across the room.

There was a discomforting silence that suffocated Jerry, forcing him to speak.

"Wanna have some fruits?"

Jack, who was seated on his bed as usual while playing with his phone, finally looked at him.

His eyes were listless as always. Before the bullying incident, Dina had racked her brain for a long while to understand why a kid would have such eyes until… she came to understand.

"I don't feel like eating them," Jack muttered in response.

If he had been enduring such animalistic abuse from the young age of eight after he differentiated into a Pure, it was no wonder he had fallen into depression.

She felt a bit of comradeship with the child—not because he was depressed, but because of his tenacity. Even she had stubbornly held on despite the misery of it all… until she no longer could.

Jerry smiled sweetly. "Then can I simply accompany you?"

Jack frowned, momentarily dazzled by the brilliance of his smile. "No."

"I won't say a thing. I'll just remain here silently eating fruits, and you can join me if you wish," Jerry pleaded, pointing to the tray of fruits.

Jack looked up into the pair of bright eyes and felt a bit unnerved. Even THAT person had been heavily traumatized after receiving their first beating.

But this man, he had bruises all over him, some more ghastly than others, and yet his eyes held more life and beauty than a blooming flower.

…Just how much had he suffered?

He whispered, so quietly that Jerry had to reboot for a couple of minutes before he understood.

And as soon as he did, he smiled even brighter. "Sure! I'll go get a plate and a knife."

Jack watched the male giddily make his way to the kitchen, and a wicked urge to lock his door and reclaim his peace spiked within.

But then he remembered the multipurpose keys and felt his confidence tank.

How troublesome.

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