Kazuki blinked—and reality skipped.
One moment, he was sitting at a tavern table, halfway through a stale biscuit. The next, he was standing in the middle of a road on fire.
"Oh no," he said, calmly. "It's happening again."
He snapped back.
Tavern. Stale biscuit. Mistral glaring at him like nothing had happened.
Kazuki dropped the biscuit.
"I just phased through time again."
"You've been staring at that biscuit for three minutes," Mistral said. "Did it phase through you?"
"No, I—wait, where's Vera?"
"Right behind you."
Kazuki turned.
No Vera.
System pinged.
[Status: Temporal Instability Detected][You are slipping into active echo states. Recommend immediate anchoring.]
"Anchoring?! With what?! I don't own a spiritual paperweight!"
The world blurred again. Voices overlapped. A second version of Kazuki appeared in the corner of the tavern, then vanished like a deleted thought.
Cut to: the town square.
Vera, Kaelith, and Darin stood frozen.
Not paralyzed—just caught in an eerie stillness, like the world hit pause on everything except the background music.
Kazuki stumbled forward.
Time lurched.
He suddenly stood in front of a statue of himself—newly built, crudely sculpted, holding the Echo Sigil like a weapon.
"Oh," Kazuki said, staring up at it. "That's deeply concerning."
A crowd gathered.
They wore red sashes. They were singing.
About him.
Kaelith appeared beside him, blinking. "We teleported. You time-glitched us."
"Oh," Kazuki said. "That's deeply consistent."
A robed priest stepped forward. "You have returned to us, O Vessel. We felt your second awakening."
Kazuki backed up slowly. "Nope. I do not return. I barely show up."
The priest smiled. "Your shrine erupted two days ago. We saw your form in the fire. We know your message."
"I didn't send a message!"
Mistral: "You might've, unconsciously. Or it was your evil twin. We've got like three of those now."
Then came the part where they tried to offer him a crown.
Kazuki screamed and ran.
Vera caught up with him three blocks later, breathless. "You time-skipped into a cult that worships you?!"
"I'm starting to think everything in this world either wants to stab me or elect me."
Darin appeared, munching a lemon tart. "Do we get cult perks? Like robes or healthcare?"
Kaelith: "We're leaving. Now."
The system pinged again.
[Path Alignment Instability Increasing. Echo Feedback Approaching Critical.]
[Suggestion: Choose a path or break all three. Consequences unknown. Good luck!]
Kazuki collapsed into a barrel full of rainwater.
Mistral sat on his head.
"So. Volume Two begins with spontaneous time travel and accidental godhood. Strong opener."