Chapter 2 — Whispers Beneath the City
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The city woke slowly.
Morning light crawled between the steel skeletons of skyscrapers, cutting through a sky still heavy with sleep.
Commuters hurried past one another, unaware that the shadows at their feet trembled faintly — as though the world beneath was whispering secrets only the dead could hear.
But Gu Tian heard them all.
From every drain, every mirror, every forgotten alley where grief had settled like dust — he heard the murmurs of the departed.
To him, it wasn't noise. It was data.
> [Spiritual Flux: 3.01% increase since dawn]
[Detected Anomaly: Abyssal Resonance — frequency unstable]
[Location: Underworld Convergence Point, Subterranean Line 7]
He appeared in the next breath — not walking, but folding space like turning a page.
Below, the abandoned tunnels of Line 7 stretched like the veins of a dead serpent.
Flickering lights. Crumbling tracks. The metallic smell of forgotten years.
Each step echoed with something not quite human.
> [Scanning Local Energies…]
[Multiple souls detected — corrupted state: 89%]
[Warning: Abyssal Infection spreading]
Gu Tian raised his hand.
A pale circle of light expanded beneath his feet — a law field, pure and silent. The shadows convulsed, retreating like beasts burned by invisible flame.
Within the field, the corrupted souls became visible: twisted echoes of once-human forms, now merged with fragments of the Abyss. Their faces blurred, their voices cracked with despair.
"Why do you resist the dark?" one hissed, its voice like splintered glass. "You were born from it…"
Gu Tian's eyes glowed faintly. "No. I was born to balance it."
He extended a finger.
Reality shivered. A stream of code-like glyphs spiraled from his hand — [Death Protocol: Restoration Sequence].
Each rune burned gold against the darkness, sinking into the wailing souls.
The tunnel fell silent.
One by one, the Abyss-tainted spirits dissolved into mist — their hatred cooling, their voices softening into peace.
> [Anomaly Neutralized]
[Soul Data Reintegrated: 42 Units]
[World Balance +0.07%]
Gu Tian exhaled, though he didn't need to. His body was an illusion, yet the act grounded him.
Then, a new sound reached him — faint, rhythmic, alive.
Footsteps.
He turned.
A woman in a black coat stood at the tunnel's mouth, her eyes sharp as moonlight reflected in water. Around her neck hung a rosary that flickered with faint energy — spiritual-grade silver.
"You shouldn't be down here," she said. "The Bureau sealed this line years ago."
Gu Tian tilted his head. "And yet, you're here."
The woman frowned. "I'm with the Spiritual Affairs Bureau, Division 12. You don't look registered."
> [Scanning Entity: Human — Spirit Rank C+]
[Name: Wen Yao]
[Affiliation: Bureau of Yin-Balance Enforcement]
[Status: Caution — Potential Witness to System Activity]
Wen Yao's gaze sharpened as she noticed the faint golden runes still glowing in the air. "You... did that? That purification— It wasn't Bureau technique."
"I restore what's lost," Gu Tian replied softly. "That's all."
"Who are you?" she demanded.
He smiled faintly — but his eyes held the weight of infinity. "I am the System this world forgot."
For a heartbeat, her mind refused to process those words. Then the tunnel lights flickered violently.
The ground shook. The air turned heavy, as if the world itself inhaled.
From deeper within the darkness, a new presence awakened — massive, ancient, wrong.
> [Alert: Abyssal Rift Formation Detected]
[Classification: Tier Omega — Spatial Breach Imminent]
[Time Remaining: 42 Seconds]
Gu Tian's gaze darkened.
He looked up, and the ceiling cracked. Black mist poured from the fissures, screaming in a hundred tongues.
Wen Yao stumbled back, drawing a talisman gun. "What is that?!"
"The first test," Gu Tian said quietly.
Then he vanished, becoming a streak of white light that slammed into the heart of the rift.
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In the space between worlds, where gravity twisted and sound had no meaning, Gu Tian hovered — surrounded by chaos.
Abyssal beasts writhed in the dark, made of broken memories and collapsed faith. They lunged at him, only to disintegrate upon contact with his aura.
> [Engaging System Core: Invincible Mode]
[All Parameters — Infinite]
He whispered a single word: "Balance."
The entire rift froze. The monsters turned to ash.
And the Netherworld stirred once again — faintly approving.
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When Gu Tian returned to the surface, dawn had deepened into golden morning.
Wen Yao stood waiting, shaken but alive. "It… it's gone. The readings vanished completely."
Gu Tian looked toward the horizon, his expression unreadable. "It's only beginning. The Abyss remembers me now."
He turned to leave.
"Wait!" she called. "What are you?"
Gu Tian paused.
Without turning, he said quietly, "The world calls it fate. The heavens call it balance. The dead call it home."
Then he vanished — leaving behind nothing but drifting feathers of light.
> [Eternal Protocol: Continue Observation of Urban Sector]
[Next Directive: Human Emotion Simulation — Begin]
And so, the Invincible Netherworld System began learning to feel again.
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