[Giant Daifuku (Tsunade)]: Wait, no—earlier you and your brother were doing great! So why the moment this "mayor" shows up, you two suddenly drop ten IQ points? (table-slam.gif)
[Giant Daifuku (Tsunade)]: He's obviously using you as a gun! How could you not see that?! (anxious and furious.jpg)
[Grilled Eggplant (Mash)]: Exactly, Senior Ling! And the key point is—you actually went into the Hollow yourself afterward?! Seven times?! Seven! And every time someone had to rescue you! That's way too dangerous! Why did you insist on going in personally? Couldn't you just keep sending Eous into the Hollow? (pinching the bridge of her nose.jpg)
[Purple Sweet Potato Taro (Kafka)]: Being used and taking risks aren't the real issue—high risk, high reward, sure. The problem is… after paying that much and risking that much, it looks like you still didn't get any decisive information about your teacher in the end. (an awkward-but-polite smile.jpg)
[Group Assistant — Live Text Relay]
As the group members kept roasting [Sporty Lunchbox], her cheeks grew hotter and hotter, turning brighter red by the second.
When [Sporty Lunchbox] saw the relay log, the sheer, crushing embarrassment made her toes curl so hard she wanted to dig a three-bedroom apartment into the floor on the spot.
Visible steam practically started puffing off her head, and her eyes filled with little beads of grievance that were just about to spill.
(Image: "Cancer of the Earth")
Eisen seemed to have finished organizing his thoughts. He spoke at exactly the right moment—his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable weight that instantly drowned out the scrolling mockery.
"Alright. Enough. We have more important business."
The chat fell silent at once.
He looked at Ling, who was still drowning in embarrassment and self-doubt, and thoughtfully gave her a moment—letting her steady herself after the public execution.
The girl took several deep breaths, barely forced the "tiny pearls" back into her eyes, and though her cheeks still held a blush, her gaze finally refocused.
Only then did Eisen continue.
"First, I'll tell you my guess."
"I think your biggest strategic mistake throughout all of this… was choosing to enter the Hollow in person."
Ling immediately clutched her head again and let out a tortured groan of regret.
"Ugh! I know, I know! I admit going in that many times was reckless! I won't do it again, okay?!"
She thought Eisen was talking about what everyone had mocked—getting played by the mayor and nearly dying seven times.
But Eisen shook his head slightly, still serious.
"I think you're missing the point. I don't think you shouldn't have entered the Hollow because the mayor used you—or because you had to be hauled out seven times… though yes, those are absolutely roast-worthy. I get why everyone reacted."
Then his tone sharpened, driving straight into the core.
"The core problem I'm talking about is the Primordial Lord."
"The… Primordial Lord?"
Ling froze, lowering her hands from her head, her face blank with confusion.
Eisen nodded.
"In my understanding, those Hollows are very likely the Primordial Lord's divine realm. Inside that realm, It holds the authority to set rules—possibly even to rewrite them at will."
"Ghk—!"
Ling sucked in a sharp breath, contributing a tiny bit to global warming.
Then she suddenly remembered a bizarre commission she'd handled before.
In that commission, a presence in the Hollow had called itself a Prophet.
According to the Prophet's "script," even Eous could gain unbelievable power—only to have it stripped away effortlessly in an instant.
(Image: "Mission Under the Prophecy")
That sounded disturbingly similar to what Eisen described: the power to define and alter rules.
She immediately told Eisen about that experience, hesitating as she asked:
"So… my past was altered by the Primordial Lord?"
But unexpectedly, Eisen stroked his chin and shook his head again.
"No. The one who directly altered your past… probably wasn't the Primordial Lord itself. Based on what you described earlier, the one more likely to have done it is… Ye Shunguang."
"Huh?! Senior Sister?!"
Ling was completely stunned. That answer was even harder to process than the Primordial Lord.
"From your description, those Void-Hunter weapons likely contain a portion of the Primordial Lord's power—or a fragment of Its will."
(Image: "Qingming Sword")
Eisen's analysis stayed cool and methodical, like he was pulling threads out of a knot.
"Ye Shunguang most likely—either by accident, or under certain conditions—triggered that fragment of the Primordial Lord's power through the Qingming Sword in her hand. And that, in turn, twisted past reality and overwrote your true experiences."
Hearing that it may have been her senior sister's unintended mistake, Ling's taut nerves loosened slightly. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
Thank goodness it wasn't the Primordial Lord itself directly locking onto her…
But before the relief could settle, Eisen splashed her with cold water.
"Don't relax too soon."
"The fundamental reason Ye Shunguang could alter your past at all is because you entered the Hollow in person multiple times—and in doing so, formed a deep connection with the Primordial Lord behind it."
He looked at Ling's face as the color drained away, and added mercilessly:
"Otherwise, with only Ye Shunguang and the fragment in her Qingming Sword, she likely wouldn't have been able to pull off temporal tampering on that scale."
Then he threw out an even sharper question:
"But at the same time—why was only your past altered? Why not Wise's? Why not Ye Shunguang's, or anyone else who's been in contact with the Hollows or the Eulogist Society?"
"Or to put it another way—if the Primordial Lord can alter the past so easily, why hasn't It already ruled the world? Why hasn't reality already been completely swallowed by the Hollows?"
Ling shook her head helplessly, her heart lifting into her throat again.
Eisen's eyes were razor-sharp.
"My guess is… because you yourself possess a power with a nature similar to the Primordial Lord's."
Ling's eyes widened. "Huh? Me?"
"Yes. You."
Eisen affirmed it—and began explaining the conclusion that upended everything.
"You said before that you can even eliminate Ether corrosion by controlling Ether. That kind of power's 'signature' is astonishingly similar, in essence, to the Primordial Lord's rule-dominating ability."
He paused—then delivered a more shocking inference.
"Maybe in the future, it's precisely because of this unique power that you're able to return to the past again and again, initiating the loop."
"And because you have this trait, other people's pasts are fixed—but yours is, to a certain extent, like the future: it can depend on the present."
He stared straight into Ling's terrified eyes and spoke the most scalp-numbing conclusion of all:
"So the Primordial Lord has likely already noticed this same-origin—or similar—power within you, through Ye Shunguang's accidental operation."
"In Its eyes, you're no longer a disposable insect. You're a variable—one that needs to be watched, perhaps even dealt with."
"Entering the Hollow in person may very well be the fatal foreshadowing of your eventual failure."
Ling's scalp instantly prickled. She felt as if an invisible gaze from the void had locked onto her. Panicked, she blurted:
"Then what do I do?! I won't go into Hollows anymore! If I stop, can I sever the connection?"
Join here to read ahead.
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 80)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter50)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter50)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter50)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter50)
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