CHAPTER 59 – When Fate Starts Breaking Things
The filming moved to an intricate, unstable outdoor obstacle course designed for team building.
But something was fundamentally off with the environment.
The wind blew too sharply, seeming to target Xiao Xi's movement.
Shadows stretched unnaturally long and thin.
Time skipped every few minutes, causing vertigo.
Xiao Xi stumbled as her System buzzed violently, fighting the external force.
[Fate pressure increasing. Host presence actively rejected.]
[Environment destabilizing around Anchor points.]
[Warning: Physical danger probability: 72%.]
Gu caught her waist, his body moving in perfect synchronicity with her instability.
"Talk to me, Xiao Xi. What's wrong? Is it the hacker?"
She whispered, her lips close to his ear.
"The world… doesn't want me here.
It's trying to use the setting to force a correction."
Gu's jaw clenched, his eyes scanning the course for threats.
Ling Qiuyue watched them, her eyes narrowed slightly, her perfect smile gone. She stepped closer to Xiao Xi, her voice gentle but unsettlingly insightful.
"Xiao Xi…" she said softly.
"You feel it too, don't you? This strange instability? This world… it isn't stable around you."
Shen Yichen approached as well, his narrative curiosity fully piqued.
"There's something about you, Xiao Xi," he said, still studying her with that unnerving narrative recognition.
"Something the original story can't place."
Xiao Xi forced a brittle smile.
"I'm just a nobody who got lucky."
Shen's gaze sharpened, cutting through her defense.
"No," he said quietly, his voice carrying the weight of destiny.
"Fate reacts to you.
Violently."
Ling added softly, her voice barely a whisper: "You feel… borrowed.
Like a piece of code that shouldn't be in this program."
Xiao Xi froze, the cold terror returning.
Her System trembled:
[ALERT: Protagonists detecting temporal anomaly around Host. Their narrative power is amplifying the collapse.]
Gu stepped between them instantly, placing a hand on the shoulder of each original protagonist, his movement radiating authority.
"That's enough.
Focus on the competition."
Shen Yichen shrugged, backing away slightly, but his interest was clear.
But Ling Qiuyue paused, locking eyes with Xiao Xi, and whispered, just loud enough for her rival to hear:
"Be careful, Xiao Xi.
The world doesn't like pieces that don't belong to the puzzle.
It finds ways to throw them out."
Xiao Xi's heart dropped.
The game was over.
They knew.