1. The Rule Nobody Writes Down
The first thing Ne Job learned about not being an example was that it required more effort than heroics.
He stood in a side corridor that technically didn't exist, watching a junior clerk struggle with a jammed request stream three hallways away.
The clerk muttered. The queue grew. Reality bent slightly at the edges.
Ne Job clenched his fists.
Ling whispered from beside him, "You're vibrating."
"I'm not," Ne Job whispered back.
"You absolutely are."
Qi-Yun watched silently.
"Do nothing," Qi-Yun said.
Ne Job nodded.
Then quietly nudged a loose filing trolley with his foot.
The trolley rolled. Bumped a switch. Unblocked the stream.
The clerk gasped in relief.
"Oh thank the—wait. What?"
Ne Job immediately looked innocent.
Qi-Yun's eyes narrowed.
"…You didn't touch authority."
"No, sir."
"You didn't intervene directly."
"No, sir."
"You altered context."
Ne Job winced. "…Yes, sir."
Qi-Yun sighed. "Invisible leadership," he said. "The most irritating kind."
2. Heaven Notices the Absence of Evidence
The problem wasn't that Oversight couldn't see Ne Job acting.
It was that things kept improving without explanation.
Queues shortened. Bottlenecks loosened. Disasters downgraded themselves.
Heaven did not like unexplained improvements.
A report materialized midair:
SYSTEM ANALYSIS
ISSUE: WIDESPREAD MICRO-STABILIZATION
CAUSE: UNKNOWN
LIKELIHOOD OF INTENT: UNCOMFORTABLY HIGH
Ne Job stared at it.
"…I didn't do anything."
Qi-Yun folded his arms. "That is the concern."
3. The Second Copycat (Smarter, Worse)
This one didn't approach Ne Job.
She simply worked differently.
A mid-level assistant in Records. Sharp eyes. Quiet hands.
She rerouted nothing. Invoked nothing. She just rearranged tasks so problems collided with solutions accidentally.
Ne Job watched from afar, horrified.
"She's doing what I'm doing."
Ling squinted. "No, she's doing it better."
Qi-Yun's jaw tightened.
"She learned without being taught."
Ne Job's stomach dropped.
"…That's bad, isn't it."
"Yes," Qi-Yun said softly. "That's how patterns evolve."
4. Oversight Adjusts Its Tactics
No alarms this time.
No barriers.
Instead—
Meetings.
Committees. Reviews. Mandatory alignment seminars.
The system didn't attack the anomaly.
It smothered the environment.
Initiative was buried under procedure. Creativity drowned in clarification.
The assistant's efficiency dropped. The junior clerk slowed. The corridors grew tense again.
Ne Job felt it like pressure behind his eyes.
"They're suffocating everything," he whispered.
Qi-Yun nodded. "Systems don't kill ideas directly," he said. "They make them exhausting."
5. Ne Job Makes It Worse (Again)
Ne Job sat on the floor, hugging his knees.
"I didn't want this," he said quietly.
Yue sat beside him.
"I know."
"I just wanted things to work."
Yue smiled faintly. "That's always how it starts."
Ne Job looked up. "…Can I fix it?"
Yue hesitated.
"…Yes."
Qi-Yun looked sharply at her. "No."
Yue met his gaze. "He already has."
Ne Job blinked. "I have?"
Yue nodded.
"You taught people they can think," she said. "You can't take that back."
The corridor trembled.
Somewhere far away, a meeting agenda exploded.
6. The Rule-Breaking That Isn't
Oversight issued a new directive:
ALL PROCESS ADJUSTMENTS MUST BE TRACEABLE
UNATTRIBUTED EFFICIENCY IS NONCOMPLIANT
Ling read it aloud. "That's… aggressively petty."
Qi-Yun exhaled. "They're forcing attribution. Forcing leadership to surface."
Ne Job froze.
"Oh."
Yue looked at him. "They want you to stand out."
Qi-Yun nodded. "Because visible leaders can be removed."
Ne Job swallowed.
"So if I don't—"
"They'll make someone else take the blame," Yue said quietly.
The image of the assistant in Records flashed through Ne Job's mind.
"…No."
7. Ne Job Chooses the Worst Option (As Is Tradition)
Ne Job stood.
"I'll take responsibility."
Qi-Yun snapped. "No."
Ne Job shook his head. "I won't lead," he said. "But I won't let others get crushed."
Ling groaned. "You're going to do something sideways again, aren't you."
"Yes."
Qi-Yun stared at him. "…What?"
Ne Job smiled nervously.
"I'll make attribution useless."
8. Weaponized Transparency
The next day, Heaven woke up to paperwork chaos.
Every tiny fix. Every micro-adjustment. Every accidental improvement—
Filed.
By everyone.
No names. No hierarchy. Just endless, overlapping reports citing each other in loops.
Oversight choked.
SOURCE IDENTIFICATION: FAILED
ATTRIBUTION: SATURATED
LEADERSHIP VECTOR: INDETERMINATE
Committees argued with committees. Blame dissolved into crowds.
Qi-Yun watched the reports scroll endlessly.
"…You turned transparency into noise."
Ne Job shrugged. "I learned it from watching Heaven."
Ling whistled. "That's evil."
"Thank you."
9. The Cost Reveals Itself
That night, Ne Job couldn't sleep.
The corridors felt heavier. The Archive quieter.
Yue found him sitting alone.
"You okay?"
Ne Job stared at his hands.
"I can feel it," he said. "They're adapting."
Yue nodded. "They always do."
"…What happens when they figure me out?"
Yue didn't answer immediately.
Then softly:
"They won't punish you first."
Ne Job looked up. "Then who?"
Yue met his eyes. "Your influence."
10. The Label Evolves (Again)
The tag above Ne Job's head shimmered.
Updated.
ACTIVE ANOMALY
SUB-TAG: SYSTEMIC IRRITANT
NOTE: DIFFICULT TO ISOLATE
Ne Job sighed.
"That sounds worse."
Qi-Yun appeared beside him.
"It is," he said. "But it also means you've crossed a line."
Ne Job swallowed. "…What line?"
Qi-Yun looked at the endless shelves of Heaven.
"The one where you stop being a problem," he said quietly, "and start being a condition."
Yue stepped closer.
"You can still walk away," she said.
Ne Job thought of the junior clerk. The assistant. The people who had learned to try.
He shook his head.
"…If I walk away, the system wins."
The lights flickered.
Somewhere deep in Heaven, Oversight recalculated.
END OF CHAPTER 230