Everyone was busy, with one exception.
Su Wuwei walked into a sea of golden flames, striding through as though on level ground. The searing flames retreated, clearing a path.
Like subjects respectfully welcoming their king.
Su Wuwei raised his head. "Do I need to participate?"
No one answered, but the flames around him began to disperse.
In the empty black space, only Su Wuwei's footsteps echoed.
Like dull tolls of a bell, they produced a vibrating hum like the striking of bronze, spreading ripples beneath his feet.
As the ripples swept past, pinpoints of light appeared. Neon colors broke through the darkness, revealing the square edges of high-rises, the winding contours of mountains, and rivers like roaming dragons.
Billowing clouds, fathomless oceans, shattered land-the inverted Present World appeared beneath Su Wuwei's feet like flowers in a mirror or the moon reflected in water, its broken, mottled expanse laid bare.
There was no surprise in his amber eyes, only the calm of familiarity.
Su Wuwei had seen this vista, a marvel that would leave outsiders awestruck, more times than he knew.
A sigh of unclear meaning fell like a jade bead striking the ground.
"I thought I'd get to see something interesting, but all you did was isolate me. Isn't that going too far?"
A mechanical, emotionless voice sounded in the empty space.
"Your identity is unusual. You can neither participate in the simulation as a reformer nor possess the qualities of an observer."
"That still doesn't mean you can isolate me. Let me out. Things are more interesting with my teammates."
No one answered in the deathly silent space.
Not talking, huh?
Su Wuwei closed his eyes irritably, the smile fading from his lips. When he looked up again, his easygoing, irreverent warmth had vanished. The color around his pupils