Player World—October 1. Cycle 12.
Ethan stayed quiet for a long time after Xueyu finished speaking.
The notebook lay open on the coffee table like a confession.
Players.
False gods.
A System that might be someone else’s machine.
He let out a slow breath and tried to put his thoughts back in order.
Xueyu, apparently unable to stand the silence, pointed at the notebook and said, “So. If the Seven are players… does that mean Shia can turn into a human too?”
Ethan blinked. “That’s what you took from all this?”
Xueyu shrugged. “Dragons can shapeshift in some stories.”
Ethan’s mouth twitched. “Shia can already turn into a cat.”
“That’s different,” Xueyu said with a straight face. “Cat is cute. Human is… complicated.”
Ethan gave her a look. “You’re basically asking if Shia can cosplay as a person.”
Xueyu’s eyes lit up. “Exactly.”
Ethan rubbed his temples. “Why are you so invested?”
Xueyu leaned back, entirely unashamed. “Because you look like the type to have… preferences.”
“Preferences?” Ethan echoed.
Xueyu nodded gravely. “Furry preferences.”
Ethan choked. “I do not!”
“Uh‑huh,” Xueyu said, unconvinced. “Sure.”
Ethan opened his mouth to argue—
And the System cut in.
Not with a voice.
With a weight.
A pressure behind his eyes, like time itself had taken a step closer.
Ethan’s expression snapped serious.
He stood and looked out the window.
The city was asleep. Streetlights glowed in the fog.
But inside him, something was counting down.
Cycle 12 was ending.
He checked the System interface and saw the timer: minutes remaining.
Ethan’s mind sharpened.
He’d spent this entire cycle in the player world—hunting X, dealing with the institute, learning what he could.
But in the Endless Sea, Storm Island was still a knife’s edge.
Shia was moving.
Panglos Fell was moving.
And Rhine—his in‑game self—had been left in the middle of it.
Ethan’s gaze hardened.
“I need to go back,” he said.
Xueyu’s teasing faded. “Now?”
“In a few minutes,” Ethan replied. “When the cycle ends.”
She watched him, tail curling tighter. “Will you be okay?”
Ethan didn’t give her false comfort. “I don’t know.”
He remembered something else—something that had been gnawing at him since he found the notebook.
“A player like Faranir…” he murmured. “If he really wrote that… then there are people in the Endless Sea who know far more than they should.”
Xueyu frowned. “You’re going to look for him?”
“If I get the chance,” Ethan said.
Because if the Seven were players…
Somewhere, someone had seen the beginning of this game.
And Ethan needed that piece of the map.
The timer hit its final seconds.
Ethan felt his body go light, like gravity was letting go.
The System’s countdown arrived—clear, simple, unavoidable.
[SYSTEM]
Cycle 12 complete.
Returning to Endless Sea in 3… 2… 1…
The world blinked out.
…
Endless Sea—October 1. Cycle 13.
Rhine’s eyes snapped open.
Cold stone under his palms.
A metallic taste in his mouth.
He drew a breath—and realized something immediately.
The pain was gone.
A moment ago, he’d been bleeding out. A brick‑arrow had torn into his abdomen, leaving him slumped on the ground like a discarded puppet.
Now his body felt… whole.
Not just stabilized.
Restored.
Across from him, Panglos Fell stared as if he’d seen a ghost climb out of its own grave.
The governor’s face twitched. His pupils tightened.
“…Impossible,” Panglos whispered.
Rhine pushed himself upright.
His shirt was still stained with dried blood, but the wound beneath it was sealed, as if it had never existed.
He rolled his shoulders once, testing.
Everything responded.
Panglos took half a step back.
Rhine met his eyes.
“Did you really think you could kill me in the gap between cycles?” Rhine asked calmly.
Panglos’s jaw clenched.
His gaze flicked to Rhine’s abdomen, to the vanished injury, then to Rhine’s eyes again.
Fear seeped into his expression in spite of his authority.
Rhine could see the calculation behind it.
What are you?
Before Panglos could force words out, Rhine felt something else.
A presence.
A tether.
A pressure that didn’t come from the System.
His gaze shifted toward the corridor behind him.
Heat.
Not normal heat.
Heat like a god’s fury.
The darkness at the end of the hall erupted—
And a sea of fire rolled in.