1. The Question Arrives Without a File
Ne Job was halfway through not thinking when it happened.
No document. No alert. No glowing seal.
Just a voice behind him.
"Intern Ne Job."
He turned.
It was not Oversight.
That alone was alarming.
A senior adjudicator stood there — robe unmarked, badge old enough to be polite.
"I need your judgment," she said.
Ne Job blinked. "…About what?"
She hesitated.
That was the moment everything changed.
"I don't know," she admitted.
2. This Is Not How the System Works
Normally, questions arrived packaged.
Context included. Authority assigned. Blame pre-allocated.
This one had none of that.
The adjudicator gestured vaguely.
"It's a dispute. No violations. No imbalance. Just… disagreement."
Ne Job frowned. "Then why escalate it?"
She looked uncomfortable.
"Because both sides are right."
The words landed heavier than any audit alarm.
Ne Job leaned back slowly.
"…Oh."
3. The Dispute (It Refuses to Be Simplified)
Two souls.
Bound by contract. Bound by consent. Bound by consequence.
They had agreed, centuries ago, to share a karmic outcome.
Now one wanted to withdraw.
Legally? Yes.
Ethically? Maybe.
Emotionally? Absolutely.
The system showed no fault.
Just fracture.
Ne Job stared at the projection.
"There's no error."
"No," the adjudicator agreed. "But there is harm."
Ne Job closed his eyes briefly.
"…And you want me to decide who keeps hurting."
She nodded.
"I was told you don't escalate anymore."
Qi-Yun, watching from a distance, did not intervene.
That was also an answer.
4. Ne Job Tries the Old Reflex
Ne Job opened his mouth.
"Okay, we can route this to—"
Nothing appeared.
No escalation option.
No authority ladder.
Just a blank space where the button used to be.
Ne Job stared.
"…They removed the button."
The adjudicator swallowed. "Yes."
5. Qi-Yun Explains (Quietly, Cruelly)
Qi-Yun approached.
"You are now encountering non-systemic suffering," he said.
Ne Job looked at him sharply. "That sounds fake."
"It is not," Qi-Yun replied. "It is suffering that emerges without error."
Ne Job shook his head. "Then the system should fix it."
Qi-Yun met his eyes.
"What if the system is the reason it exists?"
6. Oversight Does Not Interrupt
That was the most frightening part.
Oversight watched.
Did not annotate. Did not warn. Did not intervene.
This was not a test.
This was observation.
7. Ne Job Looks at the Souls (And Stops Looking at the System)
He turned away from the projection.
Looked at the adjudicator instead.
"What do they want?"
She blinked. "They… want different things."
"Then stop asking what's correct," Ne Job said slowly. "Tell me what they're afraid of."
The adjudicator hesitated.
Then spoke.
One feared being trapped forever. The other feared being abandoned now.
Ne Job exhaled.
"…Yeah. That tracks."
8. The Decision That Isn't a Ruling
Ne Job didn't touch the pen.
He didn't issue a correction.
He didn't rewrite anything.
He did something worse.
He spoke.
"You can leave," he said to the one who wanted freedom. "But not cleanly."
Both souls froze.
"You will carry the weight you shared," Ne Job continued. "Not as punishment. As memory."
He turned to the other.
"And you will be hurt," he said softly. "But not erased."
Silence.
The adjudicator stared.
"That's not—"
"Final?" Ne Job finished. "No. It's not."
The projection shifted.
Not resolved.
But breathing.
9. The System Does Not Approve or Deny
A notice flickered.
Then vanished.
No approval. No rejection.
Just a log entry.
UNESCALATED RESOLUTION DETECTED
CATEGORY: INTERPERSONAL
STATUS: UNSTABLE
NOTE: OUTCOME ACCEPTED BY SUBJECTS
Qi-Yun inhaled slowly.
"…You didn't rule."
Ne Job nodded.
"I couldn't."
Qi-Yun studied him.
"And yet something changed."
Ne Job rubbed his face. "I hate this job."
Qi-Yun almost smiled.
10. Yue Watches the Ripple Spread Sideways
Yue felt it before she saw it.
Not a tremor.
A hesitation.
Departments pausing. Clerks talking. Judges asking questions instead of filing answers.
Ling whispered, "…Did Ne Job do something again?"
Yue nodded. "Yes."
Ling frowned. "Is it bad?"
Yue watched a clerk gently explain a ruling to a soul instead of dismissing them.
"…It's irreversible."
11. Oversight Makes a New Category
Deep in the Archive, Oversight updated its taxonomy.
NEW EVENT TYPE REGISTERED
NAME: NON-ESCALATABLE DECISION
ATTRIBUTES:
— NO OPTIMAL PATH
— NO SYSTEM RESOLUTION
— HUMAN ACCEPTANCE REQUIRED
Oversight paused.
Then added:
HANDLER RECOMMENDATION:
INTERN NE JOB (CONDITIONAL)
Oversight did not understand this outcome.
But it recorded it anyway.
12. Quiet Ending (The Question Lingers)
Ne Job sat alone afterward.
No applause. No backlash.
Just the feeling that something important had slipped out of the system's hands.
Qi-Yun spoke softly behind him.
"You answered without authority."
Ne Job nodded. "…Yeah."
Qi-Yun tilted his head.
"And you will do it again."
Ne Job stared at the desk.
"…Yeah."
The pen remained still.
It did not glow.
It did not need to.
END OF CHAPTER 239