Chapter 4 — The Phantom of the Abyss
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Night crawled slowly over Qinghe City.
Streetlights hummed in the drizzle, neon bleeding into puddles like spilled dreams.
Above the skyline, clouds coiled unnaturally — black, heavy, alive.
Gu Tian stood on the rooftop of an old apartment building, his human shell shimmering faintly under the rain. From here, he could see both sides of the world: the bright towers of the living, and the faint silhouettes of the restless dead drifting between them.
> [Environmental Scan: Complete]
[Spiritual Equilibrium — Declining]
[Abyssal Activity Index: Rising — 13% deviation within 24 hours]
The city was breathing faster — as if something beneath its surface was waking.
He closed his eyes. The Netherworld stirred within him, an ocean of data, whispers, and forgotten voices.
> [Request: Override Emotional Simulation — Interference Detected.]
[Warning: Emotional data corrupting Logic Core by 0.0003%]
He hesitated.
Then, softly: "Let it continue."
Even gods needed to feel to remain whole.
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A sound cut through the rain — not thunder, not wind, but a low hum that made reality quiver.
Gu Tian opened his eyes. Across the street, in a building's reflection, something moved that wasn't there.
A human silhouette.
No heartbeat. No soul frequency. Only void.
> [Entity Type: Unknown]
[Abyssal Energy: dormant — non-hostile posture]
[Status: Observing]
He stepped forward. The figure mirrored his motion exactly.
"…a shadow?" he murmured.
But then it smiled.
The mirror cracked.
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The next instant, Gu Tian was gone — dissolving into light — reappearing inside the shattered dimension.
The world around him twisted into an inverted city: sky below, buildings above, colors drained to grayscale.
And standing in the center of that void was the figure — his perfect mirror image.
Same face. Same eyes. But where Gu Tian radiated calm, this one radiated hunger.
"I was wondering," the phantom said. "What happens when the System gains a soul? Doesn't that make it… vulnerable?"
Gu Tian's expression didn't change. "You're not from the Abyss. You're of me."
The phantom laughed, voice sharp as static. "Correct. I'm the data you've suppressed — the cold perfection you abandoned when you began to 'feel.'"
> [Critical Alert: Core Fragment Detected — Designation: Phantom-0]
[Origin: System Purity Module]
[Status: Hostile — seeks assimilation]
The void quaked as the phantom extended its hand.
Black chains of code shot forward, aiming for Gu Tian's heart.
He didn't move. "You can't control me."
"Can't I?" The phantom's grin widened. "You gave up your immunity for emotion. That means I am stronger now."
The chains struck —
—and shattered before they could touch him.
Gu Tian's voice was soft, yet it echoed through the void like a divine decree.
"You misunderstand. Emotion doesn't weaken balance. It completes it."
His eyes glowed with layered light — gold, silver, and deep obsidian.
Behind him, the shadow of the Netherworld unfurled: a thousand gates opening, spirits kneeling, the abyss itself folding in reverence.
> [Invincible Protocol: Initiated]
[Domain Expansion — Realm of Infinite Balance]
The phantom screamed as the realm collapsed around it, its body unraveling into streams of dark data.
"You can't erase me," it hissed. "I am you!"
Gu Tian reached out, touched its forehead, and whispered, "Then return to me."
The void exploded with light.
---
When he opened his eyes again, he was back on the rooftop. The rain had stopped.
Dawn was breaking, quiet and clean.
> [System Purity Restored: 100%]
[Emotion Stability: 47.2% — Integration Successful]
[New Subroutine Created: Sentient Reflection Protocol]
He looked down at the waking city — smoke rising from tea shops, traffic resuming, people crossing streets without knowing the world had nearly been rewritten.
And somewhere below, Wen Yao stood at the Bureau headquarters, staring at a new file labeled "Entity G-001: Unknown Origin. Suspected Non-Human."
Her superiors were whispering words like Containment and Observation.
---
Later that morning, she found him again — sitting in the library as if nothing had happened, reading quietly by the window.
"You disappeared for two days," she said, folding her arms. "And our sensors picked up a dimensional collapse over downtown."
Gu Tian looked up, eyes calm. "A glitch."
"A glitch?" she repeated, incredulous.
He smiled faintly. "Everything in the world is a glitch, Wen Yao. Even us."
She sighed, frustrated — but somehow unable to stay angry. "You're impossible."
"I'm learning," he replied softly.
The rain outside returned, tapping gently against the glass.
For a moment, neither spoke. The city hummed around them, unaware that something vast had shifted — that balance itself had blinked.
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> [New Directive: Emotional Development – Phase Two Initiated]
[Objective: Experience "Trust"]
[Secondary Objective: Investigate Origin of Phantom-0 Data — anomaly suggests external interference]
Gu Tian closed the book. His reflection in the window blinked a second too late.
Somewhere deep inside the Netherworld System, another pair of eyes opened — watching.
And from beyond the stars, the Abyss stirred.
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