Chapter 26: System Failure Imminent

The sky above the city cracked open—

Not with thunder, but with a digital fracture.

A massive rift tore through the heavens like a glitching screen, reality peeling back to reveal raw, blinding streams of code.

Buildings flickered between states—solid, transparent, collapsing.

People on the streets froze mid-motion, their bodies stuttering as if stuck in a corrupted video file.

Some dissolved into streams of data right where they stood.

Yun Qi stumbled through the chaos, the exit code still flashing across her phone:

[EXIT CODE UNAVAILABLE]

And yet… the weakness she found earlier still pulsed faintly in the corner of her mind like a forgotten memory.

There must be a way out… There has to be!

Suddenly, the world around her collapsed into nothingness.

She stood once again in the endless white void—The Broadcast Core.

This time, it was… different.

The rattan chair was gone.

In its place stood a towering digital obelisk covered in endless streams of ancient code—part binary, part language long forgotten.

And at its base sat Chen Rui, his form flickering between digital and human.

"Yun Qi…" His voice echoed, layered and distorted.

"You've already made the choice. You just don't remember."

Before she could respond, the crimson emoji mask materialized overhead, now the size of the sky itself.

Its blank, grinning face stretched wide.

"System integrity has failed," it announced in a booming, godlike voice.

"Cycle Reset Initiating. New Hosts Required."

A massive countdown appeared:

00:05:00 — Complete System Collapse

Chen Rui turned his glowing eyes toward Yun Qi, a faint smile on his lips.

"This is your only chance, Yun Qi. There's a hidden Exit Node. But to activate it…"

He hesitated.

"…You have to sacrifice your own consciousness."

The world trembled violently.

Buildings crumbled.

The sky turned to static.

Yun Qi's mind raced.

If I don't do this, the world will remain trapped in this endless loop… but if I do, will I ever wake up again?

The final choice appeared on her screen:

[Sacrifice Consciousness to Trigger Exit Node?]

[YES] [NO]

The countdown hit 00:00:01.

And before she could think—

She pressed YES.

The world flashed white.

Her body felt like it was dissolving into light.

But just before everything vanished, she heard a final whisper in her mind:

"See you… in the next cycle."

End of Chapter 26