The Readers' City was still whispering when the ground opened beneath it.
No quake, no warning. Just a silent tear — a black seam cutting through the white mist, widening until the horizon split in half.
Every Reader froze.Every whisper stopped.
And for the first time since I'd entered the Blank Realm, even the world hesitated to breathe.
✦
[ System Notice: Access Point Detected — The Archive of Endings. ]
[ Caution: High Concept Density. Unstable Reality Layer. ]
Arjun's ember pulsed weakly. It's calling you again.
"Story of my life," I said. "Every door's an invitation."
You could ignore it this time.
"Could. Won't."
✦
I stepped toward the fissure.Light bled upward, gold mixed with black, twisting like ink spilt into sunlight.Each pulse of it carried a whisper — thousands of voices murmuring the same word in different tones:
Finish.
It wasn't a demand.It was longing.
✦
