At the foot of the sacred tree in Doma City, fireflies drifted through the air like a pair of eyes that met, parted, and reunited.
Ye Shi sat cross-legged on a bed woven from vines, staring blankly at the ceiling. His gaze seemed to pass through the flickering fireflies and the vine walls that blocked out all light.
It was a sensation he had never experienced before.
It was like flipping through a picture book and suddenly making eye contact with one of the little figures inside.
Except this time, he was not the one turning the pages.
The eyes meeting his gaze were beyond the paper-thin pages.
"...So that's how it is."
In that instant, he finally understood why It had said that Gaia and the Tree of Insoff were both It, yet neither was It.
And that was not all—
He also understood why It had said the answer was meaningless to them.
"You broke the 'fourth wall'..." Ye Shi blurted out.
It was a term the forest people could never understand, just like theories about dimensions.
After all, their civilization had only reached the era of primitive tribes. Those brilliant ideas had yet to be born.
A soft chuckle echoed from somewhere unseen, seemingly coming from among the fireflies drifting together and apart.
It had always been here.
And It had always existed.
"That's right, you clever little rascal... Congratulations on finding the answer. Unfortunately, there's no trophy."
Ye Shi's eyes widened.
A creeping chill slowly crawled up the back of his head.
It felt like someone from a television show had suddenly crawled through the screen and into his living room.
He wanted nothing more than to take off his helmet immediately and make sure there was no second person in his bedroom.
But he quickly