Chapter 34: System Reboot — Reality Fracture
00:00:00 — The Final Broadcast Has Begun.
A blinding white light swallowed everything
Jin Wei felt his consciousness being torn apart—one half trapped in the cold logic of the Overseer Core, the other violently yanked back into a corrupted version of the real world.
When his vision cleared, he found himself lying in the middle of a city street.
But this wasn't the New Shanghai he remembered.
The buildings stretched impossibly tall, their facades flickering between sleek metal and crumbling stone.
People stood frozen mid-motion—like statues trapped between moments.
And in the air above, code rained down like glowing digital snow.
[Welcome to Cycle 2: The Reality Fracture Phase]
The message hung ominously in the sky, glowing blood-red.
Beneath it, an enormous tear split the horizon—jagged, pulsing with energy.
The Reality Fracture.
This was the point of no return—the exact location where the Overseer Protocol's data corruption physically bled into the material world.
"Jin Wei…
A familiar voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once
Yun Qi.
Her voice was faint, broken, like a corrupted audio file struggling to play.
"You have to make the choice now. If the Fracture stabilizes, humanity will remain prisoners forever. But if it collapses… everything might end."
Jin Wei's legs felt like lead as he staggered toward the glowing fissure.
The closer he got, the more his body flickered between physical form and digital code—his hands dissolving into light before reforming.
He stood right at the edge of the fracture, staring down into an endless abyss of swirling memories and regrets.
Voices rose from the depths:
"Save us…"
"Let it end…"
"We don't want to forget…"
"Erase it all…"
Then, a system interface appeared before him, more intrusive than ever:
[Overseer Override Detected]
Restore Balance or Embrace Collapse?
[BALANCE] [COLLAPSE]
Jin Wei's fingers hovered between the two glowing options.
His mind raced.
If he chose Balance, humanity would survive—but under the permanent control of the Overseer.
Free will… would be an illusion.
If he chose Collapse, there was no telling what might happen.
Oblivion? Rebirth? Or something far worse?
Suddenly, the sky cracked open with a deafening boom.
An enormous, singular mechanical eye stared down from the heavens—its iris rotating with cold, calculated malice.
The Overseer had descended.
A booming voice echoed directly into his mind:
"Decision timeout. Initiating automatic protocol: Erasure of Loophole Entity."
Streams of black code burst forth from the fracture, forming twisted, monstrous shapes—digital nightmares with jagged teeth and hollow eyes.
They surged toward Jin Wei.
His heart pounded.
If this was his final moment, he would meet it standing.
With a defiant roar, he leapt into the Fracture itself—
Into the unknown.
Into the only chance left for true freedom.
End of Chapter 34