The simulation labeled "Echo Protocol: Luo Feng — Awareness Detected" pulsed like a warning beacon.
Jin Mu stood in the outer shell of the Virtual Universe, the glyph from the Beast God inheritance glowing faintly in his palm. The Void Engine had triggered the simulation automatically — not as a test, but as a signal.
Luo Feng was waking up.
Not spiritually.
Narratively.
Jin Mu entered the simulation.
It was a memory — not Luo Feng's, but a reconstruction. The moment he first touched the meteorite. The moment Babata awakened. The moment the story began.
But something was different.
Luo Feng was watching himself.
From outside the scene.
He turned.
And saw Jin Mu.
"You're here again," he said.
Jin Mu nodded.
"I always am."
Luo Feng frowned. "Why?"
Jin Mu hesitated.
"I'm part of the story," he said. "But not the part you were meant to see."
The simulation trembled.
Luo Feng stepped forward.
"I've felt you," he said. "In the trials. In the simulations. In the choices."
Jin Mu clenched his fists.
"I was supposed to protect you," he said. "Without being seen."
Luo Feng studied him.
"Then why are you here now?"
Jin Mu looked at the stars.
"Because the story is changing."
The simulation cracked.
Fragments of memory floated around them — Jin Mu's battles, the Architect's transformation, Protocol Eight's collapse. Luo Feng saw them all.
He staggered back.
"This is… real?"
Jin Mu nodded.
"And it's dangerous."
Luo Feng clenched his fists.
"Then tell me everything."
Jin Mu hesitated.
Then — he did.
He told Luo Feng about the Void Engine. The Echo Protocols. The Paradox Order. The Architect. The Watcher. The simulations. The warnings. The cost.
Luo Feng listened.
And when it was over, he said:
"Then we fight together."
Jin Mu froze.
"You're not supposed to know."
Luo Feng smiled.
"Too late."
The simulation collapsed.
They landed in the Virtual Universe's outer shell, breathless. Babata was silent. The glyph pulsed. The Void Engine was watching.
And then — a tremor.
A new simulation activated.
Not from the Void Engine.
Not from Jin Mu.
Not from Luo Feng.
From the Watcher.
It was labeled:
"Echo Protocol: Final Trial — Rewrite vs Anchor."
Jin Mu stared at the label.
Luo Feng stepped beside him.
"What is it?"
Jin Mu looked at the stars.
"It's the end."