Chapter 17: The Broken City Awakens
The city wasn't on any map until the map remembered it.
Not in history books. Not in ancient songs. Not even in the memories of the oldest spirits who whispered through the wind. But the moment Yan resolved the first divergence, the city woke up.
Not like a place rediscovered.
Like a beast stirred from sleep.
---
From the edge of a sheer black canyon, they saw it:
The Broken City.
It sprawled across the valley floor like a shattered mirror, towers half-sunken and streets cracked open like bones. Bridges ended mid-air. Roads looped into themselves. Every building looked built by different hands — some by mortals, some by systems, some by something in between.
It shouldn't have existed.
And yet it breathed.
Low, like a machine trying to remember how lungs work.
---
"Okay," Bai whispered. "I've seen cursed temples, corrupted graveyards, and a demon that lived in a gourd. But this? This is new level messed up."
Daojin peered down through a spyglass. "Some of those structures are flickering in and out of phase. Half a second here, half a second… somewhere else."
"Time wounds," Fragmenta said quietly. "When too many versions of a thing are forced into one place, the seams rip."
Seraphon pointed toward the center.
"There," he said. "That's the Heart Core. The System's original archive nexus. If anything's left… it'll be there."
Yan nodded.
"Let's go break something that's already broken."
---
The air changed as they descended.
Not just colder. Heavier. Each step echoed like it was being recorded. Faint lines of code shimmered in the mist — reminders of paths once walked by forgotten players. Dialogue scripts hovered in midair, then flickered out when touched.
Near the edge of a broken market square, a voice whispered:
> "Protagonist detected."
Yan froze.
Then, a humanoid figure stepped out of a ruined alley. She wore half a coat, cybernetic eyes flickering red. A sword was fused into her arm. Her skin was lined with code that bled when she moved.
"Another one," she rasped. "Another main character."
She raised her blade.
"I was you once."
---
The duel was brutal.
She moved like she'd fought this fight before — not just once, but dozens of times. Her strikes mirrored Yan's own forms. Every skill he used, she already knew.
"I remember the System better than it remembers itself!" she snarled.
Yan dodged, breathing hard. "Who are you?"
"Your predecessor," she said. "Version 5.2. Narrative Priority Rank: Alpha. I completed the arc — and then they deleted me when your version tested better."
He parried her next strike. "I didn't choose that!"
She lunged — and he dropped his blade.
"Then choose now!" she shouted.
But he didn't counter.
He opened his arms.
She froze.
"I'm not here to overwrite you," Yan said quietly. "I'm here to remember you."
The blade trembled.
And then… it shattered.
So did she — not into dust, but into light.
---
> [Archived Echo Integrated: Alpha-5.2]
[System Stability +3%]
[Skill Gained: Memory Sync – Passive Insight into Legacy Threads]
---
In the center of the city stood a tower made of glass and regret.
The doors opened before him, as if they knew this time would come. Inside: silence. Dust. Data.
A throne sat at the top. Empty.
And above it, a crystal screen flickered to life.
> [Welcome, Yan Long.]
[You have arrived at the end of all beginnings.]
Yan stepped forward.
And the System spoke one last time:
> [Final Choice Incoming – Awaiting Companion Alignment and Past Thread Integration]