Dinner, as it turned out, was dangerous.Not in the poisoned or "mysterious writhing tentacle stew" way, thankfully. More in the "this feels suspiciously like a wholesome domestic flag" way."You're sure you don't want more?" Lena asked, hovering by my elbow with a pot.I looked down at my bowl—scraped clean of the last traces of thick vegetable stew and soft bread crumbs."I'm pretty sure if I eat more, I'll reincarnate again," I said. "In a slower, more food-coma-based way."Garron chuckled from the other side of the small table they'd set up behind their stall."Then we've done our job," he said. "An adventurer who can't be bribed with food is no adventurer at all."Tom slammed his cup down."Dad, Kai's not just any adventurer," he said. "He's, like, a super adventurer. He fixed the cart with glowing hands!""We are not starting miracle rumors," I said. "Next thing I know, people will line up asking me to fix their love lives.""That's a service we could charge for," MMA muttered in my head."Don't you dare monetize my existence," I thought back.Lena hid a smile behind the pot."…It was good," I said, softer. "Thank you."Her cheeks colored faintly."I, um… added a new herb," she said. "Aria brought some to the market last week. She said it helps with… tiredness.""That explains why my soul feels slightly less like a crumpled homework sheet," I said.Garron stretched, joints popping."Alright, kids," he said. "Tom, help me pack up the stall. Lena, you and Kai wash the dishes. He can pay us back with elbow grease.""Manual labor: my true destiny," I sighed, standing.We moved to the water barrel behind the stall, bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. Lena rolled up her sleeves and handed me a rag."This is probably not what you had in mind when you came to our world," she said lightly."What, washing dishes?" I dipped a bowl in water. "You'd be surprised. This is practically luxury compared to 'get eaten by tutorial wolf.'"She blinked."Tutorial…?""Never mind. Local joke. Very local. Only I get it."We worked in companionable silence for a bit. Street noise softened as stalls closed and lamps were lit. Somewhere, a lute started playing a simple melody."…You're different," Lena said suddenly.I glanced at her."In the 'weird' way or the 'interesting' way?" I asked.She frowned slightly, thinking."Both," she said honestly. "Most adventurers who pass through brag a lot. Or complain a lot. Or both. You… joke a lot, but it feels like you're trying to keep something heavy from falling."I looked down at the bowl in my hands."Sharp, aren't you," I murmured."Tom's the muscle," she said. "I got the brains. And the cabbages.""There are worse stats."She hesitated."Did you leave… someone behind?" she asked. "You said you didn't have family here."Ah.That.My first instinct was to deflect. Make a joke. Turn it into something light.But the question hung there, gentle and real.MMA stayed quiet. For once."…Yeah," I said finally. "I did."I set the bowl down to dry."I wasn't… close to many people," I continued. "But I had parents. A few old friends. A convenience store clerk who always pretended not to judge my snack choices. And then, one day… I didn't."Lena's hands stilled in the water."I'm sorry," she said quietly."It's not your fault," I said automatically."Doesn't mean I can't be sorry it happened."We stood there, the clink of dishes and distant town noise filling the space between us."I didn't get to say goodbye," I admitted. "One second I was worrying about exams and rent and whether my favorite manga would get canceled. The next, I was here. With cracked skies and glowing hands and… you."Her eyes widened slightly at the last word."I mean 'you' in the plural sense," I said quickly. "You, Havenford, the Guild, the shrine—"She laughed, the sound small but genuine."You really are bad at serious moments," she said."I contain multitudes. Mostly awkward ones."She set the last bowl aside."If the spirits brought you here," she said, "maybe it's because this world needed you. But… I think people can need you too. Not just worlds."[Emotional maturity increased: 15% → 17%.] MMA noted softly.I exhaled."Thanks," I said. "For the food. And the… listening."She wiped her hands on a cloth."If you ever want to talk about it more," she said, looking down, "I'll be at the stall. Or the inn. Or running after Tom because he chased a chicken again.""Is chicken chasing a common hazard here?""You have no idea."We finished up just as the sky deepened from orange to purple. Garron and Tom returned, the stall packed."We'll be off," Garron said. "Market opens at sun-up. Try not to get into trouble before breakfast, Kai.""No promises."Lena gave me a small wave."Goodnight, Kai.""Goodnight."As they left, MMA finally spoke.[You handled that better than expected.]"I resisted at least three deflection jokes," I said. "I demand a medal."[You got emotional growth instead. That's better.]"For who?"[For everyone.]I started back toward the inn, hands in my coat pockets, mind buzzing with too many thoughts. The street lamps flickered to life, casting pools of warm light. Laughter and music spilled from tavern doors. Somewhere, a cat yowled in the alley like it had lost a fight with a broom.Then the air… twitched.Not visibly. Not in a way most people would notice.But to me, reality gave a little hiccup.[Spike detected.] MMA's tone sharpened. [West, two streets over. Worldline stress.]"Of course," I muttered. "Can't have one peaceful walk home."I turned down a narrower side street, then another, following the growing… wrongness. It felt like pressure behind my eyes, like walking toward a barely-heard, off-key note.The houses here were smaller, closer together. Laundry lines crisscrossed above. A dog hid under a cart, whining softly.At the end of the lane, I saw it.A crack.Not in the sky this time.In the air.It hung about a meter off the ground, jagged and glowing faintly, like someone had taken a knife to the world and forgotten to close the incision.Directly in front of it stood a small boy, maybe eight years old, hand outstretched, eyes wide."Cool…" he whispered, reaching for the crack."Hey!" I shouted, faster than thought.He froze—and then flinched as the crack pulsed, tendrils of light flickering toward his fingers.I didn't think.I moved.One step.Two.The world slowed.I felt the Presence of the bloodline, humming awake, threads flaring in all directions.Priority Authority."Mine," something in me said—not out loud, but in the language of rules.The crack reacted.The tendrils shifted direction, like water redirected around a stone. They reached for me instead, eager, hungry."Kai," MMA snapped. [Careful—]I grabbed the boy by the collar and yanked him backward, tossing him behind me toward the safety of the alley corner. At the same time, the light reached my outstretched left hand.It was like dipping my fingers into freezing fire.Images slammed into my head: flashes of other streets, other towns, other Havens that never were. A version of this lane flooded. Another burning. Another perfectly normal… but the sky there was whole.Pain knifed behind my eyes.I gritted my teeth."Okay," I hissed. "That's enough."I reached with the same instinct I'd used on the cart wheel—restoration, but bigger, riskier. I pictured the crack closing. Not patching it, not glossing it over. Rewriting this little corner of reality to "unbroken."The bloodline responded.Power surged.For a heartbeat, I stood at the center of intersecting lines—worlds, possibilities, threads stretching infinitely in every direction.Then I pushed.The crack screamed.Not with sound. With pressure. With a sense of wrongness being forcibly evicted.Light flared, blinding.And then…Silence.When my vision cleared, the crack was gone.So was the wrongness.The alley was just an alley again: damp stones, laundry, a very worried dog.I swallowed, chest heaving.[That was reckless.] MMA said quietly. [But effective.]"Reckless," I echoed hoarsely. "Story of my life. And death. And whatever this is."Something tugged at my sleeve.I looked down.The boy stared up at me, eyes huge."H-How did you do that?" he whispered. "Are you a hero?"I opened my mouth to say "no."Stopped.Lena's words floated back: this world needed you. But people could need you too."…Yeah," I said instead, kneeling to his level. "Something like that."He bit his lip."Is the town… going to break?" he asked. "I heard the grown-ups talking about the sky. And then that crack appeared and—""Hey." I rested a hand lightly on his head. "As long as I'm here, I won't let that happen. Okay?""Promise?""Promise."He stared at me a moment longer, then nodded, tension easing from his small shoulders."Thank you, mister hero," he said, then darted away, vanishing into a nearby doorway as someone called his name.I stayed there a second longer, hand still hanging in the air where the crack had been.[New data integrated.] MMA finally spoke. [Direct contact with a micro-fracture accelerated your bloodline awakening.]A notification pinged.——————————
PRIMORDIAL MULTIVERSE BLOODLINE – 9.4% AWAKENEDBRANCH UPDATES:
– Self-Synchronization: 4.5%
– Worldline Access: 2.0%
– Priority Authority: 2.9%NEW EFFECT:
– Minor Fracture Handling: You can safely close small worldline cracks in low-stress zones.
——————————"And the migraine was a free bonus," I muttered.[Side effect of your brain not being designed for multi-world data streams.] MMA said. [You will adapt.]"Comforting."I straightened slowly and started back toward the inn, steps a bit less steady than before."You got your wish," I thought. "Tutorial… or test, or whatever you want to call it."[You passed.] MMA said. There was something almost proud in its tone. [Most new Hosts would have either ignored the fracture or poked it harder.]"I had good teachers," I said. "Bad habits, but good stories."[World Affinity (F-01 – Havenford Region) increased: 4% → 7%.]Lights from The Copper Acorn spilled warmly into the street as I approached. Laughter, clinking dishes, a tuneless song drifted out.Inside, Merra glanced up as I entered."You look like you wrestled a raincloud," she said. "Rough walk?""You know," I said, sliding onto a bench, "just prevented a small existential crisis. No big deal.""I'll put that on your tab," she said dryly. "Stew?""Please."As she ladled food into a bowl, I let my shoulders relax, the normalcy of clattering plates and bad singing washing over me like a balm.For now, the crack was gone.For now, the sky, though fractured, still held.For now, I was just Kai: new adventurer, overpowered idiot, maybe-hero, definitely hungry.Tomorrow would bring more cracks.More people.More flags—romantic and otherwise.But tonight?Tonight, I'd eat, rest, and maybe—just maybe—let myself feel a little proud that, for once, my stupidity had landed me somewhere I could actually make a difference.MMA pinged softly.[Emotional maturity increased: 17% → 19%.]"Hey," I thought.[Yes?]"You said I'd make things more complicated," I said. "For the worlds."[You will.]"Good," I said, lifting the spoon. "They've been too simple without me."