[Trigger warning: self-harm and mentions of suicide.]
Returning to the house, Wenzhi watched Xinyuan pull his hand away and disappear down the hallway without a word.
The bedroom door slammed shut.
Wenzhi stood there for a long moment, staring at it. Then he let out a slow breath and dragged a hand through his hair.
He didn't follow.
He didn't even know what he would say if he did.
The whole situation had gone completely insane.
The plot had gone off the rails a long time ago. Wenzhi had already accepted that much. He had stopped expecting things to follow the novel.
But this?
This reveal had blindsided even him.
During the Great Fall when the first rift appeared, the disaster wiped out half the world's population.
According to the novel, that had been the beginning.
The start of everything.
Then Espers and Guides had appeared, and although people still died, humanity had finally gained a way to fight back.
