The wasteland left behind by the nuclear bomb was a horrifying sight.

Dark clouds churned endlessly overhead, while the biting wind carried the scent of death.

Not a single living creature could be seen on the surface.

Xu Fang wrapped the shelter in the body of his duplicate, absorbing the excess radiation. He piloted the aircraft into the stratosphere.

He never once put down the shelter behind him.

At first, Xu Fang could still hear Xiao Ming's faint coughs coming from inside. Later, there was nothing.

Not even the sound of breathing remained.

It was as if he were carrying a corpse on his back.

Xu Fang kept his eyes on the path ahead, unmoved.

He didn't want the observer effect to produce an answer. If the truth was cruel, then it was better not to know it.

If he had no choice but to face the truth, then he would try to keep the worldline from converging on the wrong destination.

Several hours later, Xu Fang returned to the accident-prone city of Jerusalem.

There wasn't a living creature to be seen anywhere in the city.

Human traces were everywhere, yet not a single person could be found. The place had an unmistakable weirdcore feel to it.

The streets hadn't been cleaned for several days, and the roads were covered in mud. It had rained not long before. The cars on the highway were rusted through, the tiles on the buildings had corroded and fallen away, and several structures had collapsed outright. Ruins littered the streets.

Quantum Laboratory.

The authentication system had already failed, so Xu Fang smashed open the entrance and hurried into the quantum experimentation area.

When he saw the large maser, Xu Fang let out a silent breath of relief.

The Eternal Life Church hadn't destroyed the maser.

They had already secured victory by launching the nuclear weapons. Why bother with any unnecessary actions?

If they possessed the ability to see the future, perhaps the quantum machine was safe in their eyes?

Xu Fang placed the mobile shelter in the maser's channel. He silently watched it for several seconds, then thought for a moment before taking Moulin's eyeball and the synchronization device from inside his clothes. Xu Fang placed both items there.

Then he stood up and walked toward the control console.

Vaguely, Xu Fang heard someone calling his name.

He looked back, but there was no one there.

Morton had successfully escaped Earth. He was aboard a rocket orbiting the sun.

He was alone.

To keep the Eternal Life Church from locating him, he destroyed every communications device. The Eternal Life Church couldn't find him, but in return, he couldn't receive a single signal from Earth either.

What state were the other authors in now? How far had they gotten in solving the bizarre event?

Old Mo knew nothing. All he could do now was wait.

He still felt somewhat guilty. He'd clearly had a chance to bring the other authors with him.

On the other hand, if he'd acted together with the others, he might not have gotten away at all.

How long had it been since he escaped Earth?

The timer had already counted out a month.

Every morning when he woke up, Old Mo saw his bloodshot eyes staring back at him from the mirror.

Earth had probably already gone through ten cycles, right?

And yet, he still hadn't received a notification that the bizarre event had ended.

The answer was obvious. The other authors had all failed.

He was the only one left in this bizarre event.

With compressed biscuits to fill his stomach and nutritional paste to provide vitamins, the rocket's food could sustain him for another six months. But Old Mo felt that he ought to enter hibernation, even though he dreaded the anesthetized, out-of-control sensation it brought.

Old Mo felt he had developed a serious psychological problem. He realized he was suffering from auditory hallucinations, and his memory seemed to be malfunctioning as well. While sleeping, he was occasionally jolted awake by a deep, eerie chorus of laughter and conversation. After waking, he'd find himself floating in a sealed, pitch-black space, his back already drenched in sweat.

Sometimes, Old Mo would discover that a half-eaten compressed biscuit had vanished. Other times, while looking at his phone, he'd casually take a water bottle someone handed him. Only afterward would he snap back to reality, turn around, and look in every direction—yet there would be no one there. Staring at the water in his hand, Old Mo would feel a chill run through him.

There was no form of entertainment, no one to communicate with, and no information from the outside world.

The human brain needs constant stimulation. When outside stimulation is scarce or even nonexistent, the brain enters a dormant state, causing extreme psychological and physical suffering.

Old Mo needed a psychologist.

There was no psychologist, so he could only choose to put himself into hibernation.

The rocket had four hibernation pods. They could lower the human body's temperature and use extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and extracorporeal circulation to place a person into hibernation.

After putting on the sensors, Old Mo climbed into the freezing hibernation pod and calmly waited for a while. He felt the temperature inside gradually drop, while sleep-inducing gas began to be released. He slowly closed his eyes, ready to sink into sleep.

This world's cryogenic hibernation technology was more advanced than reality's. Technically, astronauts could sleep in space for several months without a problem. Hopefully, this hibernation would ease his mental anxiety a little...

Wait!!

Old Mo suddenly opened his eyes.

A question struck him out of nowhere: the hibernation program had to be activated from outside the pod. But he had climbed into the pod alone—so why had the program started automatically??

Recalling the strange experiences he'd had aboard the rocket during this period, Old Mo realized something terrifying.

He struggled to pound on the pod door, wanting to escape, but his body was gradually slipping beyond his control.

In the end, his consciousness disappeared.

The room was almost completely sealed. There was no food and no normal drinking water. A pitch-black hole opened in one wall, but it was so narrow that only one person could crawl inside—and once in, there was no turning back.

The three brothers huddled together in the corner.

Tentacle Flower said, “Two days have passed! No rescue is coming!”

The eldest brother stood up and said to the person beside him, “Little bro, I'm going to take a risk. If there's an exit out there, I'll let you and Second Bro know so you can get out.”

The third brother nodded weakly. “Go ahead. Remember to call the police.”

Tentacle Flower said, “Just stay here for a month and you can return to the real world! You can return to the real world!”

The men no longer had the strength to fear the eerie tentacle flower. The eldest brother made up his mind, took one last sip of water, and squeezed into the little black hole whose end couldn't be seen.

He crawled deeper, and deeper still.

The eldest brother's figure vanished at the far end of the passage.

There was no response for the entire following day.

Tentacle Flower waved its leaves and cried, “He's dead! He's dead!”

“I've had enough! Food—I need food! I'm starving to death!!” Second Bro's face was gaunt, his expression twitching as if he were struggling to endure. His gaze at Tentacle Flower grew wild and ravenous.

For some reason, after drinking the water here, he had become incredibly hungry.

“He's dead! He's dead...” Tentacle Flower kept repeating, but before it could finish, Second Bro yanked it out and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Second Bro, what are you doing?” Third Bro stared in shock and hurried to grab his hand, but the flower stem covered in tentacles had already been swallowed by the other man.

“Spit it out!”

“No. I feel much better.” Second Bro exhaled and revealed an eerie smile.

“Second Bro, you... you...” Terror crept across Third Bro's face.

Almost visibly, the living man transformed into a hideous mass of flesh, its shape resembling that of Tentacle Flower.

Second Bro finally realized what had happened to him as well. After staring blankly for several seconds, he let out a shrill scream.

“Kill me! I don't want to be like this!!”

Third Bro huddled in the corner, watching in terror as the enormous tentacled lump of flesh mutilated itself. In the end, he did nothing.

He had no idea how he survived the next few days. Whenever he saw Second Bro's corpse, he'd go mad, an urge rising inside him to devour it completely.

Fear of the bizarre and grief over the loss of his family were the only things stopping him.

No one knew how much time passed. Three days? Or perhaps five.

Gradually, he felt as if he had escaped.

A crisp, unbroken round of applause rang out beside his ears.

【Congratulations, Black Frame. You passed the boundary-crossing test. You made the correct choice. You didn't disappoint us.】

Black Frame looked blankly toward the person who had spoken. “Ah...”

His memories returned, and Black Frame covered his throat.

“Ah... I can... speak again?”

【Of course.】 The figure whose entire body was pitch-black said, 【You held on to the final boundary of humanity and regained your normal human identity. You deserve this.】

Black Frame gradually remembered everything that had happened.

Not long after the nuclear explosion, he had vomited blood and died somewhere. After death, he went through a series of bizarre and fantastical events, and then underwent a transformation.

Was this transformation good or bad?

【How do you feel now?】

“I feel great... Even though I know it was all fake, thank you, Administrator, for giving me a chance to untie this knot in my heart.”

【Likewise. I should be thanking you, too. After washing away that annoying ⬛, we can finally see the comments section clearly.】

【We're already on the “seventh cycle.” Four remain.】

【Raise them like fish?】

【No. Take them all. Don't let future trouble survive.】

【Indeed. Trouble should never be allowed to linger.】

Lingfeng Hall. The Taoist priest stared at the compass, his brows knitted with worry.

He felt that he had forgotten many things, yet he couldn't remember what they were.

Suddenly, he heard a powerful current of air slice across the sky.

Several missiles turned the place into a sea of fire.

Struggling amid the flames, the Taoist priest gradually remembered everything—and realized in despair that it was all over.

...

At Breeding Village, Yoriko was enjoying the fruit in her hand.

The villagers' screams and furious roars came from outside. Then a group of uninvited guests in armor and carrying guns stormed into her shrine.

【We've caught you, leader of the Breeding Church.】

Yoriko jumped in fright. She hadn't swallowed the fruit in her mouth, and it was stuck in her throat, unable to go up or down.

Her face turned ashen as she struggled frantically in place.

【Tsk... she's about to choke to death. Save her?】 Number 10 asked Number 8 beside him.

【Of course we have to save her.】 With that, Number 8 aimed his gun at Yoriko.

...

A force of nearly a thousand soldiers surrounded the university where Xu Fang was.

Fighter jets patrolled the nearby skies.

Number 5 personally led a group of people to Xu Fang.

This was the first time an Eternal Life Administrator had seen Xu Fang's human form.

Their first impression was... ordinary.

So ordinary that they couldn't help wondering whether he was really an author.

【Heh heh heh. Are we making too much of this? Without his memories, he's completely ordinary...】

Xu Fang nervously looked around. At last, his eyes met Number 5's. “Are you guys here to shoot a movie?”

【No, Xu Fang. We're here to take you home.】

...

Amid a sea of data, Owen digested the information he had received.

The information had been sent with a delay through satellite relays.

The source of the information was himself—or, more precisely, Owen from the previous cycle.

The contents were bizarre, but Owen believed them without hesitation.

Owen uploaded his consciousness to a massive server and searched for the other authors using the location provided in the information.

A day passed with nothing to show for it.

Owen realized the worst possibility: all the authors were already dead.

Even Xu Fang...

What should he do?

Could he face this desperate world all by himself?

Owen used a program to readjust his emotions, making himself more and more excited.

To face a bizarre event on hell difficulty—how thrilling was that!

Despair? No. The real challenge had only just begun!

If he thought carefully, there had to be a way to defeat the Eternal Life Church.

Ji Shuyu had once said that website might be the final means of resisting the Eternal Life Church.

At this final moment, Owen decided to carry on Ji Shuyu's will.

In this world of immortality, amid this bizarre event, he would build a website called “Horror Novel Web.”

He wouldn't just build it. He would make it perform functions similar to those of the original “Horror Novel Web.”

Owen didn't know what consequences this would bring. He only hoped a miracle might happen. At the very least, he wanted the Eternal Life Church to feel fear.

“Horror Novel Web” was born. He carried over that website's distinctive UI and rules.

Then, using AI-generated writing, he stuffed dozens of novels into it.

Although this pirated site was completely incapable of matching the original, it would be even better if it could lure the original here.

Two days later, the pirate website had begun to take shape. Although nothing Owen had been expecting had happened, he noticed something strange: users were gradually registering on the pirate website as readers or authors. Aside from the works pretending to be written by AI, there were also submissions from other people.

It was only a private server. Why had a website like this still attracted attention?

Who exactly was using this pirate website?

While investigating the backend data, Owen noticed an unfamiliar author. This author had not only submitted a work to the website, but had also used the “Setting” field. The entry read: I want this bizarre event to end sooner.

The excitement brought on by the data sent Owen into a frenzy. He contacted that author directly.

“I’m very interested in your submission. How about we meet somewhere in person? If you’d rather not, we can talk by phone or email.”

The other party didn’t say much, only sending back a time and an address.

He barely had to wait. Owen immediately moved his server and arrived at the location the other party had provided.

“I’m here. Where are you? What’s your name? You must be someone I knew from the memories I’ve lost.”

【Yes. We’ve been looking for you for a long time, too.】

At the same time, the city where Owen’s server was located suffered a massive blackout.

……

【What does immortality feel like?】 the immortal asked as he looked at the young man before him.

“I feel great.” Yezhi thought for a moment before answering, “I’m completely aware that I haven’t been brainwashed, and that I haven’t lost any of my old memories. But from the bottom of my heart, I now want to support eternal life.”

【All the authors have been caught in one net. How do you feel about that?】

“It was within expectations. Failure was inevitable—the authors all have their own limitations. As for the fates of the other authors, I feel both regret and relief. I hope they can join the Eternal Life Church as soon as possible and put an end to their inner suffering and struggle.”

【There are still four authors who haven’t been assimilated. What do you think our next plan should be? Should we proceed with them all at once, or prioritize one author?】

“We have to assimilate Xu Fang first.” Yezhi spoke at once. “Judging from his behavior across the repeated cycles, Xu Fang is the most unstable factor among all the authors. Besides, he has contaminated an immortal before. I hope you won’t come into direct contact with him.”

【The Singularity is gone. In theory, Xu Fang can no longer pose any threat to the immortal world. Of course, to be safe, we’ll keep Xu Fang in human form and conduct a boundary-crossing test on him directly.】

“Can I watch, too? I want to see how he performs.”

The immortal turned on the monitor and said,【The boundary-crossing test is already underway. Just like with most authors, that website will appear in his simulated memories.】

On the screen, Xu Fang saw himself from “another world line” on Horror Novel Web. Suspicious, Xu Fang began actively searching for the truth. He wanted to prove that the “Creator” existed.

【During the test, we’ll see the authors’ pasts and, in the end, understand that author completely and thoroughly.】

“He cares a lot about the Creator,” Yezhi said.

【After all, that’s the person who created him.】

The scene shifted. Xu Fang had already tracked down the school Ye Huai had once attended, then learned Ye Huai’s address from the principal.

【Seeking the truth requires a price… Especially when the truth he’s looking for is nothing but a false one.】

“Should we stop him?”

【We’ll provide appropriate hints, but we won’t affect his final choice. We want him to pass the test on his own.】

Under the gazes of the immortal and Yezhi, Xu Fang still found Ye Huai’s location and saw blood-red words covering the walls of the room.

【Test failed.】

“Is this the first test?”

【Yes. Judging from the results, his rebellious consciousness is strong. Execute the memory-erasure procedure and test him again.】

Yezhi stared at the screen as it gradually turned pitch-black, his brows drawing tightly together.

【That’s normal. A boundary-crossing test is like iteration—it requires continuously adding variables and peeling away the author’s thoughts layer by layer. Aside from those with fragile minds, very few people pass on the first try.】

“I’m starting to wonder whether his performance is too ordinary. Every step he takes is exactly what we expected—even the result.”

【Heh heh. You can’t expect someone whose memories have been erased to do anything out of line while being guided.】