CHAPTER 91 – Awakening in the Chaos Core
The transition was absolute: Darkness, silence, and an overwhelming, infinite weightlessness.
Xiao Xi floated, suspended in a void that defied all physical sensation—it felt neither hot nor cold, just endlessly vast and terrifyingly profound.
She opened her eyes, finding no sky, no ground, and no horizon; only an ever-moving, swirling expanse of violet and black energy.
This was the raw, untamed power that surged through her veins—her own chaos.
Her System appeared beside her, no longer a tiny orb of light, but a majestic, glowing humanoid silhouette made of pure, flowing data.
Its presence was serene but carried the weight of fundamental knowledge.
[Host… welcome to the Chaos Core. The true center of your power.]
Her breath hitched, the sheer impossibility of the place pressing down on her.
"The… Chaos Core?" she whispered, the sound absorbed immediately by the vastness.
The System nodded, its light bending the surrounding chaos threads.
[The birthplace of all stories. The foundry from which all fictional worlds, timelines, and narratives are born—and from which they ultimately collapse.]
Xiao Xi's pulse quickened, her terror mixed with an undeniable awe.
"Then why am I here, and not just in the rewrite's void?"
The entire void pulsed—a slow, deep wave of violet energy—answering the question for the System, the truth echoing directly into her soul:
"Because you are its true Root."
Xiao Xi froze, the denial immediate and fierce.
"No.
That's impossible.
I'm not—I'm just an ordinary woman from another world who died in a traffic accident."
She mentally reviewed the memories of her past life: her ordinary job, her apartment, her boring, predictable existence.
Nothing extraordinary.
Nothing Root-like.
The System's voice softened, filled with the patient wisdom of eons.
[Host, your life was ordinary, but your soul was not.
You have always been connected to stories. You loved them, consumed them, and most profoundly, you understood them beyond simple entertainment.
And when your physical life ended unexpectedly—your unique soul resonated with this dying Core.]
[…You were chosen.]
Her legs trembled, even though the concept of 'standing' was meaningless here.
"Chosen… for what ultimate task?"
The void whispered, the collective consciousness of creation speaking to its new master:
"To rewrite worlds.
To heal corrupted timelines.
To preserve existence when the written word fails."
Xiao Xi shook her head violently, the implications overwhelming.
"I didn't ask for this! I didn't want to be a savior! I only wanted a quiet life with Gu Yanzhou!"
The void's violet energy wrapped around her like a calm, accepting tide.
"You didn't choose the role when it was given.
But you accepted it every single time you chose to save someone—be it a deleted villain, an erased memory, or a collapsing man."
Her breath hitched, the truth of her actions hitting harder than any digital blow.
"And Gu Yanzhou…?" she asked, the question laced with desperate hope.
The void dimmed, reflecting the grim reality.
"…He is breaking, Xiao Xi.
Rapidly and fundamentally."
Xiao Xi's heart shattered into a million digital pieces.