CHAPTER 87 – Gu Yanzhou Starts to Fade
Xiao Xi instinctively stepped back, the truth of his words a physical blow.
Gu Yanzhou immediately moved in front of her, his flickering body attempting to project solidity.
"Stay away from her," Gu rasped, his voice tearing at the stable silence.
The Root Protagonist tilted his head, studying Gu with clinical, mild amusement, as one might examine a troublesome bug.
"You, too, are an error of equal magnitude. You shouldn't exist at all."
Gu stiffened, his internal code reacting violently to the direct negation.
"What did you say?" Gu demanded, ignoring the terrifying internal drop in his stability.
"You're an anomaly," the Root Protagonist continued, his voice utterly dispassionate. "A human who forced himself into the system through raw will.
A data man partially merged with Xiao Xi's core.
An unstable variable that requires too much computational power to maintain."
His voice became silk-soft, the cruelty hidden beneath the calm tone.
"And variables must be corrected for the optimal timeline to proceed."
Gu's body flickered violently—suddenly collapsing from the waist down into shimmering, dissolving pixels.
He was losing the fight to anchor himself.
Xiao Xi screamed, grabbing his shoulders desperately, trying to physically hold his digital existence together.
"Yanzhou! Hold on!"
He gritted his teeth, his jaw clenched against the pain of his own erasure.
"Don't—touch—her—" he struggled to command, his voice breaking into digital distortion.
The Root Protagonist simply watched him unravel, crossing his arms patiently.
"Your presence directly conflicts with the new world's structural integrity.
Your emotional bond with Xiao Xi overloads the rewrite's stability baseline.
You are incompatible, Anomaly Gu."
Gu's voice cracked with raw, profound despair.
"Xiao Xi… don't let him—"
She held onto him with all her might, tears spilling freely onto his dissolving chest.
"No! Stay with me! You promised—you promised we would be real!"
His hand rose weakly to wipe her tears, a final, futile gesture of his love…
but his fingers phased straight through her cheek, offering no comfort, only the chilling emptiness of non-existence.
He stared at his own glitching, translucent fingers, horrified by the immediate,
rejection of the new reality.
"Xiao Xi… I'm… slipping away…"
She sobbed harder, her strength the only thing tethering him to the world.
The Root Protagonist spoke gently, kindly, like a doctor delivering a terminal diagnosis:
"You must release him, Xiao Xi.
He is already fading.
Continuing to hold him only hurts the timeline."
Xiao Xi grabbed Gu tighter, her grip immovable.
"No. He stays.
HE STAYS!"
Her System blared inside her mind, reacting to the extreme stress:
[Gu Yanzhou synchronization unstable. Core Data Loss: 40%.]
[Overwrite pressure increasing. Host bond at critical risk.]
She looked at the Root Protagonist, defiance steeling her resolve despite the terror.
"If I'm the instability—fine.
But don't hurt him.
Take me instead!"
The Root Protagonist's expression softened, a brief flash of something akin to pity.
"That is precisely why he must be removed, Xiao Xi.
His existence only ensures your continued chaotic resistance."