The first time the System spoke to me in this life, it felt like my skin was being peeled away, layer by layer, and something older underneath was grinning.
I hadn't heard its voice in years. Not since the moment I killed the Hero.
That victory was supposed to sever the divine tether. And yet—
[System Notice: Unique Soul Signature Detected.]
[Initializing alignment scan...]
[Subject: VEYR. Title: N/A. Affiliation: None. Status: Regression Detected.]
[Error. Error. Error.]
[Adjusting.]
[Initializing hidden branch: "Unwritten Path."]
My breath caught. The world froze. Lira didn't notice. She was kicking a stone down the road, grumbling about "city stink" and how the air tasted like boiled rats.
But me?
I was falling again.
Through code.
Through light.
Through the unblinking, watching eye that stitched fate to flesh.
The System was never meant to talk to people like me. It gave blessings to farm boys and oracles, to chosen ones and cowards. But to me? It gave targets. Names. Wars.
And now…
It was bending.
[You are an anomaly.]
[No role detected.]
[Assigning temporary designation: Villain.]
[Mission: Unknown. System Observation: Active.]
"Of course," I muttered.
It wasn't giving me quests. No rewards. No guidance.
Just eyes.
It was watching.
"Something wrong?" Lira asked, glancing back.
I shook my head. "Just thinking."
"You do a lot of that," she muttered. "Creepy."
But I wasn't thinking. I was calculating.
The System recognized me. It wasn't resetting everything. It wasn't erasing me.
That meant I wasn't just fighting people this time.
I was fighting fate itself.
We reached the old crypt by dusk. A ruin on the edge of town, swallowed by ivy and long-forgotten prayers. This had been my first hideout during the War of Ash. Before the Hero's rise. Before the world got so cleanly divided between right and wrong.
Lira kicked open the rusted gate like it owed her money.
"Charming," she muttered.
"It's not the palace," I said, "but no one will look for you here."
She didn't respond. But she didn't argue either.
I led her inside. Broken pews, shattered murals, and a silence so thick it made your ears ring. It felt like home.
"You said something yesterday," she said as she sat down on an overturned altar. "About knowing what fate planned for me."
I turned my back to her. "Did I?"
"Yeah," she said. "So say it."
Here it was. The first test.
Not of my strength. But of my ability to shape the story.
I turned slowly.
She was staring at me now. Hard. Like she'd made a decision and didn't care if it killed her.
"You want the truth?" I asked.
"I want something real."
I nodded. Sat down across from her. Close, but not too close. Let her watch my eyes.
"I've seen you before," I said.
"That's impossible."
"No," I whispered. "Just unlikely."
I leaned forward. "You'll meet a boy soon. Golden eyes. Smiles too easy. Talks about justice like it's a hymn."
Her brow furrowed. She didn't stop me.
"He'll help you. He'll listen. You'll trust him."
"Sounds like a miracle."
"It'll feel like one," I said. "Until you realize you're not a person to him. You're a symbol. A fire to light the way. A sacrifice."
She flinched.
I pressed in, voice low.
"He'll make you believe you're choosing. But you won't be. Not really. You'll burn for him, Lira. And when you scream… he won't even look back."
Silence.
Her fists clenched on her knees.
"I've seen it," I said. "I lived it. And I remember."
Lira didn't cry.
She was the kind that skipped grief and went straight to fury.
Her eyes were glass. Her lips bloodless.
And I knew I had her.
Not completely. Not yet. But the wedge was in.
"So what?" she said finally, voice shaking. "You want me to run?"
"No," I said. "I want you to fight."
I reached into my coat and laid it on the ground between us.
An ember crystal. Dull now. Drained.
But it remembered fire.
"I can teach you," I said. "Not the way he would've. Not polished. Not righteous."
She stared at it.
"I don't want righteous," she whispered.
"No," I said. "You want to survive."
She didn't answer. But her fingers brushed the crystal.
And this time… she didn't flinch.
[System Update: Flame Catalyst Linkage Established.]
[Potential Branch Shift Detected: Hero's Timeline Unstable.]
[Warning: Hero's Dream has been delayed.]
Good.
Let it crumble.