Chapter 23: The Host Awakens

The broadcast wasn't supposed to start yet.

And yet, every device worldwide flickered back to life.

This time, no countdown.

No warning.

Just a single, cold system message flashing in stark white letters across every screen:

[The Host Has Awakened. The Final Selection Begins Now.]

In a dark corner of the room, Yun Qi stood frozen.

Her phone camera continued to record without her permission.

The figure wearing the crimson emoji mask stepped forward from the shadows behind her reflection.

It tilted its head, as if examining her.

And then it spoke for the first time—

A distorted, layered voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

"Yun Qi… you've always been a perfect candidate."

At the same time, in every major city, people began to disappear—vanishing mid-conversation, mid-broadcast, even live on public news reports.

Those who vanished were never the ordinary.

They were the influencers, the trendsetters, the people whose lives revolved around the eyes of others.

They had become permanent hosts—eternally streaming, eternally suffering.

The cost of their fame.

Meanwhile, in the digital world…

Chen Rui's consciousness stirred.

For weeks, he had been trapped in a digital loop, a consciousness fragmented across billions of devices.

But now, he felt it.

The Host—the true origin of the curse—had merged with the collective fear and obsession of humanity.

It was no longer a single entity.

It was a god, forged from data, powered by human weakness.

And it was awake.

Back in Yun Qi's apartment, the voice continued.

"This is your choice. Join us willingly… or resist, and be consumed."

The final system prompt appeared on her cracked phone screen:

[Do you accept your role as the Final Host?

[YES] [NO]]

Yun Qi clenched her fists, her heart pounding in her ears.

But before she could make a choice, the figure in the crimson mask raised its hand.

The screen flashed one final message:

[Choice Overridden. Integration In Progress…]

Her body froze.

Her mind spiraled into darkness.

And across the world, millions of viewers watched in real-time as Yun Qi became the new face of the eternal livestream.

Her final expression was captured forever—

Tears streaming down her cheeks.

A forced, lifeless smile twisting her lips.

The crimson mask appeared one last time on every device, its blank emoji expression curving into something almost… satisfied.

"The cycle continues."

End of Chapter 23