This world is made of countless 【Worlds】.

The former “world” is a generic term, empty of substance. The latter, a distinct 【World】, includes a full 【Inner World】, an 【Outer World】, and other unknown realms.

These 【Worlds】 drift like bubbles outside the 【Void Tunnel】, tugged by an unseen pull. They look like plump fruits, multicolored and uneven, scattered along a massive black branch—the 【Void Tunnel】.

On that vast black branch, the 【Inner World】 and 【Outer World】 grow in pairs, pressed tight together. Between them hangs a vast, translucent barrier, mirroring their split.

That thin, glass-like wall bears a renowned name—the 【World Barrier】. It cleaves the 【Inner World】 from the 【Outer World】. It bars all beings, save 【Deities】 and non-living entities, from the 【Inner World】. It also restrains a 【Deity’s】 freedom to enter the 【Outer World】. Even if a 【Deity】 intrudes, the rejection strips away most of their power.

The endless 【Void Tunnel】 stretches with no beginning behind, no end ahead, heavy and silent in a hazy chaos. Along it, nearly every pair of 【Inner】 and 【Outer】 Worlds sits split by a 【World Barrier】—except one.

Among countless 【Worlds】, one looks insignificant, even tiny. It’s more than ten times smaller than the rest, shriveled like a bad apple, hanging alone on the branch.

What shocks the eye: the 【World Barrier】 between its 【Inner】 and 【Outer】 Worlds has shattered to dust. Translucent shards drift beside the “bad apple”—remnants of the barrier. With no partition, the two 【Worlds】 interlace on their own. They wrap a space that is both 【Inner】 and 【Outer】 at once.

By law, 【Inner】 and 【Outer】 are absolute opposites—like light and shadow, bright and dark, life and death. Touch them together, and both must vanish. It is one cause for a 【World】’s complete demise.

Yet that law falters on this inconspicuous bad apple.

Ugly and small, it endures with a steady poise born from turmoil.

No doubt, its insides swarm with volatile ruin—blazing black lightning, howling void storms, whirling shards of space, drifting dregs of time. They are born from the fierce clash of 【Inner】 and 【Outer】 Worlds. A casual swipe could erase a world.

Yet within this bad apple, at its most unstable, most frenzied core, there rests a white courtyard.

The courtyard holds a spotless white house, a middling yard, and a towering tree. The house rises three floors. The tree grows in the front yard. Its branches sway with the wind. A white wall, two meters high, surrounds the place.

The compound is small and delicate, calm and pure. Ordinary to the extreme—except for where it sits. It floats inside a storm wrapped in countless void fragments.

Though the outside wants to unmake heaven and earth, within, not a ripple stirs.

In the empty yard, under the giant shade, a few chairs ring a small white round table. They sit scattered with casual ease. Suddenly, one chair rocks back. A sharp “ka” cracks the air—like an invisible person leaning back on it.

An impatient woman’s voice sounded: “What tantrum is 【Void】 throwing now?”

“Ah, probably she ‘again’ smelled her brother’s scent.” As the voice came, another empty chair gave a small wobble.

“Such a pain. I told her last time her brother died long ago—why won’t she believe me?”

“Heh, you know 【Void】 dotes on her brother, and you still dare?” “Aren’t you afraid she’ll go for your throat, 【Red】?” A third voice chimed in—a little girl’s voice, light and lively, like tinkling silver.

At the same time, the white swing on the trunk began to sway, as if someone sat down. It creaked, creak-creak, on its own.

The woman called 【Red】 clicked her tongue. “【Amethyst】, you think I’m scared?” “I just can’t stand 【Void】’s half-dead act—always ‘my brother, my brother.’” “She’s chasing a ghost.” “If not for 【Trade】 chewing me out, I’d have smashed 【Void】’s head already.”

“Hahaha.” 【Amethyst】 laughed, bright and free. “You beating 【Void】? Ghosts would be more likely.” “Remind me—who was bawling after that last fight?”

“I’ll—I’ll smash your head!!!” 【Red】 fluffed up like a startled cat. “When did I cry?” “No—no way! I didn’t even lose!!!”

“Leave 【Void】 for now—” The second woman spoke, voice heavy, cutting through their bickering. “That matter—you both know, right?”

At “that matter,” the swinging slowed at once.

【Amethyst】’s young voice carried a sober note. “You mean 【Misfortune】, 【Autumn】?”

“Yes.” 【Autumn】 spoke slowly. “【Misfortune】’s inherited power wasn’t complete, but she was a true 【Deity】.” “Only a 【Deity】 can kill a 【Deity】.” “I asked the 【Seer】 not long ago.” “At the time of her fall, no 【Deity】 appeared in that 【World】.”

“What about the 【War Deity】 and 【Nightfall】?” 【Amethyst】 asked. “They were said to be the last to meet 【Misfortune】.”

“They both denied it.” 【Blue】 answered.

“Then it won’t be them!” 【Red】 said, firm as a blade. “I know them—they’d never stoop to lying.”

“Bottom line, 【Autumn】, why do you care so much?” 【Red】 asked, curious. “A 【Deity】 fell. Before 【Trade】 posted this game, we fought all the time.” “Deities dying wasn’t rare.”

“Idiot, 【Red】!” 【Amethyst】 cut in, voice high. “You still don’t get 【Blue】’s point.” “If it wasn’t a 【Deity】 that killed 【Misfortune】, then what was it?” “Think.”

“Huh? Not a 【Deity】—then it can only be S—”

“Mind your tongue—!”

【Autumn】 hummed low, all at once. An invisible pressure burst through the yard, swallowing 【Red】’s unsaid word in a roar.

The pressure whooshed across the courtyard, gentle as a breeze. It only nudged a few leaves loose. But beyond the wall, it swelled a hundredfold. It became a dragon-like roar, devouring all void matter for hundreds of meters.

“Mind your tongue.” 【Autumn】 drew her aura back and spoke lightly. “If 【It】 ‘hears’ us, things go bad.”

“Uh—sorry.” 【Red】 seemed rattled. She froze for a long beat before she replied.

【Amethyst】 jumped too. Once she collected herself, she dropped the banter and asked, “【Autumn】, should we tell 【Time】?”

…” 【Autumn】 held silent for a while, then said slowly, “No. Not yet. We don’t need to.”

A strange gloom colored 【Autumn】’s tone. The three 【Deities】 fell into a stiff, wordless pause.

After a long while, 【Amethyst】 couldn’t take it. She recalled something she’d heard from the 【War Deity】. To ease the air, she said, “Right—heard 【Misfortune】 recruited a human for the game.”

With someone speaking first, 【Red】 let out a breath. She jumped in fast. “Yeah, yeah, I think I heard that too.” “Seemed like an ordinary human, nothing special.” “Uh, what was the name—【Amethyst】, what was it?”

How would I know!!

【Amethyst】 rolled her eyes inside, but forced the topic to live. She dug through her memory. “Uh, seems like—Ye, Ye—Ye Weibai? Yeah, it’s—”

“What name did you say?!” To their shock, 【Autumn】’s voice leapt, as if she’d heard the impossible.

【Amethyst】 startled hard. After a long beat, she managed, “Uh… Ye Weibai…”

“Ye Weibai…”

【Autumn】 murmured to herself. “No—impossible… how could it be… Ye Weibai.” “No, can’t be. The world is vast… it must be a duplicate name.”

Denial flooded her chest; she fought to steady herself. Inside, she insisted that “Ye Weibai” couldn’t be who she thought. But that 【Deity】’s instinct, deep as night water, kept whispering—

No doubt—the “Ye Weibai” was that Ye Weibai.

Hers—

…

…