I had once been a discarded pawn, dust sent to scout the way for my original self, expendable material for unfolding countless futures.
Even if my body died and my soul perished, I would merely become dry bones, nourishment for my original self.
"The road ahead stretches endlessly, mist blinding my eyes. These predetermined fates leave me not with resentment, but with bottomless bewilderment."
"Unable to see the road ahead, even with schemes that reach the heavens, even if I outplay heaven by half a move, all I earn in the end is 'Simulation ended'..."
So I did not pin my hopes on being chosen. Instead, I chose to wait
—for an opportunity.
I understood my original self. Or rather, I understood the countless souls in this world named "Chen Fan."
Seek a life of brilliance, no matter the ending.
Ironically, in the end, those who truly cared about "me" were those countless "Chen Fans."
And so, [Wish] burned itself out, and at last, an echo answered.
That wisp of true spirit I had entrusted returned from the depths of [Heaven's Mandate].
I saw him, saw Chen Fan's struggle, Chen Fan's defiance, and... his final acceptance.
But I refused to accept that!
Just then, that special talent awakened—
[I Am the Chess Player]!
Perhaps it was this talent's mighty power that let me touch one corner of that Heaven-Throughing Chess Game.
At the same time, I dimly glimpsed another existence who stood above all living beings.
That existence possessed a strange, unfathomable ability
—[Effect Before Cause].
They seemed to stand apart from the three Heaven-Throughing Chess Players, another observer of the game... on a higher plane!
I could not communicate with them. I could only rely on the [I Am the Chess Player] talent to glimpse the flow of Simulation