Chapter 29: The New Host Has Been Chosen
Midnight — Broadcast Frequency: Unknown
The mirror in Yun Qi's apartment stood perfectly still.
Yet, the knocking continued—soft, rhythmic, and impossibly loud within her mind.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
She stared at her reflection.
But this time, it didn't move with her.
It smiled.
And then… her reflection spoke.
"The new Host has been chosen."
The air turned ice cold.
The faint glow of the phone on her desk illuminated a new system prompt:
[Welcome, Child Overseer. Cycle Parameters Updated. Host: Yun Qi.]
She stumbled back.
"No… I didn't accept. I didn't—"
But it didn't matter.
The system had made the choice for her.
Across the city, across the world, every connected device blinked to life.
The broadcast resumed—brighter, clearer, more real than ever before.
The chair reappeared, standing under a spotlight of pure data streams.
And on it… Yun Qi saw herself.
Strapped down.
Eyes wide with silent terror.
A new figure entered the frame.
The child—the little girl from the jasmine field—walked slowly to the chair, her bare feet leaving behind a trail of blooming jasmine flowers across the digital void.
She turned to face the camera.
And then, she spoke directly to every viewer across the globe:
"The New Host is ready. Will you watch?"
The comments exploded in real time:
[Bullet Comments]
"Who is this child?!"
"Is this some kind of ARG? Looks way too real…"
"Damn… she looks exactly like my sister."
"Wait… why does she look like ME?"
Yun Qi's mind raced.
She tried to disconnect every device, shut off every connection.
But the broadcast was no longer just in devices.
It was everywhere—in the lights, in the airwaves, in the very fabric of reality.
And for the first time, she realized something horrifying:
This wasn't a program anymore. It was a god.
A living, breathing digital deity, born from humanity's collective obsession with voyeurism, fear, and fame.
And now…
It had found its perfect Host.
The child smiled softly on the screen.
Behind her, the world began to collapse again—only this time, not as data…
But as reality itself folding into the Broadcast Core.
End of Chapter 29