I stared at Venus, my mind blank.
"The gods will descend in a week."
The weight of his words pressed against my chest, suffocating.
Seven days.
I wasn't sure how long I stood there, but the reality of it slamd into with full force.
This was it.
This was when the story—my story—would completely spiral out of my control.
The gods weren't supposed to descend yet. Not now. Not this early.
In The Book of Sin, divine intervention didn't occur until much later—after the world had stabilized under the system's rule.
So why was everything accelerating?
I forced myself to breathe. "You're serious?"
Venus shot a look. "Would I joke about sothing like this?"
No. He wouldn't.
That realization made my stomach twist.
"You weren't supposed to know this yet." Venus ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. "I was planning to announce it in two days, during the official clan eting."
I stiffened. "That's why you summoned here?"
"Yes."
A sharp exhale left .
So this wasn't just about my exile. It wasn't about my return, either.
Venus had already been planning to gather the Roro clan—to warn them about what was coming.
But now, because of my slip-up, he was telling first.
"Who else knows?" I asked, voice quieter than before.
"The empire's rulers. The heads of powerful factions. The strongest individuals in the world." Venus listed them off as if it were nothing. "Those who were deed 'worthy' by the gods received this information early."
I gritted my teeth. "And ?"
"You weren't supposed to be one of them."
A dry laugh escaped . "Well, too late for that."
Venus didn't argue. He simply sighed, his shoulders tense. "Noah, this isn't a ga."
I rolled my eyes. "Do I look like I'm playing?"
His gaze hardened. "Then you understand what this ans?"
I did.
It ant everything I thought I knew was useless. It ant the tiline had shattered beyond recognition. It ant—
I was completely in the dark.
A sinking feeling twisted in my gut. "Why are they coming?"
Venus exhaled slowly. "Because sothing changed in this world."
I frowned. "What do you an?"
"We don't know exactly." Venus's voice was grim. "But whatever it was, it caught the attention of the gods. And that alone should terrify you."
I stiffened.
"Think about it, Noah." Venus leaned forward, his gaze sharp. "Why would the gods take interest in this world now, after leaving it alone for so long?"
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't have one.
Damien, however, did.
A low chuckle echoed in my mind.
"Oh, this is rich."
Damien's amusent sent a chill down my spine.
"You're standing here, trying to figure out why the gods are descending—why the entire world is shifting—but you still haven't put it together, have you?"
I stiffened. "What are you talking about?"
"You, kid."
I frowned. "What about ?"
Damien let out an exaggerated sigh. "The gods, the rulers, the entire damn world is getting stirred up because of you. You're the ripple that disturbed the water."
My pulse spiked. "That's ridiculous."
"Is it?" Damien drawled. "Think about it—when did everything start going off the rails?"
I opened my mouth, then shut it.
Because I knew.
It started when I awakened.
The system shouldn't have co to . The Book of Sin made that clear. Azazel was supposed to be the protagonist, not .
But the mont I gained the system, everything began shifting.
Damien chuckled. "Now you're getting it."
I swallowed hard. "So you're saying… I'm the one who threw this world off course?"
"Bingo." He sounded way too pleased with himself. "Whatever was supposed to happen? It got completely derailed the mont you entered the picture. And guess what? The gods noticed."
A sharp breath left .
No.
That couldn't be right.
The gods were watching because the system had been introduced earlier than expected. That was why, wasn't it?
Damien humd as if hearing my thoughts. "You're still not seeing the bigger picture, are you? The system was always going to co. But it wasn't ant for you. The mont it latched onto you instead of Azazel, the entire world's fate shifted."
My stomach twisted. "But… why?"
"That's the fun part—I have no idea."
His voice carried an edge of frustration beneath the amusent. "Sothing changed the flow of fate, and I'd bet my soul that it has to do with whoever made this world. But—"
Damien paused, and for the first ti, there was doubt in his tone.
"It doesn't add up."
I frowned. "What do you an?"
"I told you before, kid. Creating a world isn't easy. It takes absurd levels of power, knowledge, and planning. And yet, this place…"
His voice dipped lower.
"It's sloppy."
A chill ran through . "Sloppy?"
"Exactly. Have you not noticed? There are inconsistencies. Fractures in logic. Even the system—it feels unpolished, like an unfinished prototype."
I clenched my fists. "So you're saying whoever made this world… didn't know what they were doing?"
"That, or they were rushed."
The idea sent unease crawling under my skin.
"A world created in haste…" Damien mused. "No proper structure. No safeguards. Just thrown together like a first attempt at sothing greater."
He let out a low laugh. "You know what that sounds like to ?"
I swallowed. "What?"
"A newbie."
The words settled in my mind like a ticking ti bomb.
A newbie created this world?
Soone who had never done this before?
The very idea was absurd.
"And that's why I don't think the World Contractor is behind this." Damien continued. "If it was them, this world would be a masterpiece. But instead, it's an incomplete ss, like a rough draft that sohow got published."
My heart pounded. "Then who—"
"That's the million-gold question, kid."
I took a shaky breath.
So not only was this world artificial, but it was also half-baked—created by soone inexperienced, soone who might not have even known what they were doing.
And sohow, I was the variable that sent it spiralling further into chaos.
A cold sweat ran down my back.
The gods weren't descending just because of so unknown change.
They were descending because of .
***
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