Judgment of the Otherworlder

"I'm sick of this guessing game." Xia Lin stepped forward, standing at the very front of the group as he faced the enormous Magical Beast. "I'll answer the final question."

Orpis did not reply. It slowly rose to its feet, its massive wings spreading behind it and blotting out the starlight.

But this time, no emotion showed in its golden eyes. Instead, they became like searchlights running a scanning program.

Its gaze fell upon Xia Lin. It did not feel like it was "looking" at him, but rather as though a higher-dimensional being were reviewing the "source code" of his soul and analyzing a running process.

The wind in the Heavenly Chasm stilled, and the starlight on the bridge no longer flowed.

To Orpis's perception, which transcended time and space, Xia Lin's soul structure was so abrupt and anomalous.

It saw fragments of memories that did not belong to this world. It saw a mindset built on "interfaces" and "data." It saw someone who regarded survival itself as a high-difficulty strategy guide.

He was an error code walking through the cracks of reality. A complete and utter "BUG."

"One who should not exist."

Orpis's voice echoed directly and solely within the deepest part of Xia Lin's soul, casting the interrogation crafted specifically for him. "You are an error code walking through the cracks of reality."

"Your soul carries the scent of another world, and your knowledge overturns the laws of this place. You do not belong here, yet you forcibly compiled yourself into this world's operating rules."

Xia Lin's body stiffened slightly.

Though his companions could not hear any of it, they could sense the space around Xia Lin warping and the color draining from his face.

But Orpis was not finished:

"More interesting is the way you see this