Chapter Three Part Two
The Light-Screen
A soundless pulse swept across the world.
Every phone died.
Every television flickered.
Every satellite feed cut to white.
Then—
the sky itself became a screen.
Above every city, above every ocean, above every village—
a vast projection appeared.
Letters formed.
Not English.
Not Chinese.
Not any human language.
Yet somehow…
everyone understood.
A universal meaning pressed directly into the mind.
[EARTH TRIAL: INITIATION]
Species: Human
Status: Unawakened
Protection: Removed
Survival Probability: 0.03%
Panic erupted like fire.
People screamed.
Some laughed hysterically.
Some fell to their knees.
In Washington, generals shouted orders that no one believed anymore.
In Rome, priests sobbed openly.
In Seoul, a child asked her mother:
"Are we going to die?"
Her mother could not answer.
Because the sky had already answered for her.
Zheng Wen Te
In one dim apartment…
Zheng Wen Te sat frozen.
The light-screen reflected in his bloodshot eyes.
He thought he was dreaming.
He thought maybe the alcohol had finally destroyed his brain.
But the air felt too real.
The silence too heavy.
Outside his window, the city roared with terror.
He turned slowly toward the curtains.
The grey daylight was gone.
The world outside was bathed in pale cosmic light.
And then—
his name appeared.
The sky-screen shifted.
New text formed.
Billions saw it at the same time.
[OBSERVATION TARGET SELECTED]
Candidate: Zheng Wen Te
Age: 50
Status: Broken
Potential: Unknown
Zheng Wen Te's breath stopped.
His cigarette slipped from his fingers.
Ash scattered.
He stared upward as if the heavens themselves were staring back.
"No…"
His voice cracked.
"…why me?"
Outside, someone screamed his name.
Then another.
Then another.
Because every human on Earth could see it.
Every human on Earth now knew him.
The man the world forgot—
was forgotten no longer.
The World Watches
In New York, a livestreamer shouted:
"Who the hell is Zheng Wen Te?!"
In Beijing, officials scrambled.
"Find him. Now."
In Moscow, a general whispered:
"Is he the first?"
In India, gurus bowed.
"A chosen vessel…"
On the internet, the last surviving servers flooded with one question:
WHO IS ZHENG WEN TE?
His face appeared.
Pulled from old records.
Business documents.
Identity archives.
A tired, broken man with smoke-stained fingers.
And billions watched him breathe.
Zheng Wen Te backed away from the window.
His heart hammered.
He had wanted to disappear.
To fade quietly.
But Heaven itself had dragged him into the center.
The voice spoke again.
And this time…
it spoke directly to him.
The First Command
"Zheng Wen Te."
The words struck his soul like iron.
"You have reached the end of your path."
"You may now begin another."
A symbol appeared in the air before him.
Not on the sky-screen.
Inside his room.
A floating glyph of pale light.
It rotated slowly, humming with power.
[AWAKENING AVAILABLE]
Do you accept the Path?
YES / NO
Zheng Wen Te stared at it.
His hands trembled.
Outside, the world screamed.
Inside, the universe waited.
He thought of his wife.
His children.
The door closing.
Five years of emptiness.
A ghost while still breathing.
He let out a broken whisper.
"…What do I have left to lose?"
His finger lifted.
Hovered.
Then—
he pressed YES.
Interference
The glyph shattered.
Light poured into his veins like molten fire.
Zheng Wen Te screamed, collapsing to the floor—
and the Trial should have begun.
It should have.
But then…
something went wrong.
The light froze.
The air shuddered violently, as if reality itself had struck an unseen wall.
The sky-screen flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
static.
A harsh distortion ripped across the heavens.
Across the entire planet, billions saw the same thing:
The Creator's words stuttered.
The giants above the tear paused.
For the first time…
they hesitated.
The voice returned, colder than ever.
"Interference?"