Epilogue The Glitch in Reality
Bzzzt... krrshhhh...
I frowned, tapping my ear. "System? Are you glitching?"
The blue holographic screen flickered violently in front of my face, glitching between neon green and red.
[WARNING. WARNING. UNAUTHORIZED OVERRIDE DETECTED.]
"Override?" I demanded, my heart suddenly racing. "What are you talking about? Override by who?"
The mechanical, familiar voice of the System suddenly warped. It deepened, losing its robotic cadence, transforming into a chilling, incredibly human male voice.
"Well done, Ye Yan. Or should I say... Su Yan."
I stumbled backward, my stiletto catching on the plush carpet. "Who are you?! Show yourself!"
The giant LED screen on my office wall, which normally displayed stock tickers, suddenly went entirely black. A single line of white text appeared, typing itself out in real-time.
YOU REALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE REBORN?
My blood turned to absolute ice. The air in my lungs froze.
The human voice echoed through the speakers of my office, a dark, amused chuckle that sent sheer terror down my spine.
"You played the game beautifully, darling. You ruined the Lin family. You crushed Lu Chen. You took the throne. You did exactly what I needed you to do to clear the board."
"Who are you?!" I screamed, grabbing a heavy brass paperweight from my desk.
"The man who cut the brakes on your parents' van in your past life," the voice purred.
"Lin Wan didn't order that hit. She was too stupid to organize something that clean.
I did. I needed you isolated. I needed you to die, so you would be reborn and trigger the Gossip System. I designed it for you."
My mind reeled, a sickening wave of vertigo hitting me. I wasn't the orchestrator of my fate? I was just a pawn in an even larger, more terrifying game?
"Enjoy your throne, President Ye," the voice whispered, fading into static. "Keep it warm for me. Because Phase Two of the System... starts now."
The office doors suddenly locked themselves with a heavy, electronic clack.
The lights shut off, plunging the penthouse into total darkness.
And in the pitch black, right behind me, I heard the distinct sound of a gun being cocked.
"Turn around, wife."
It wasn't Lu Chen's voice.
It was a voice I had never heard before in this life.
[SYSTEM SHUTTING DOWN... GOOD LUCK, HOST.]