Playing inventor in a cultivation world

Chapter 156: The First Crack

Nathan couldn’t stop thinking about the silver-haired girl.

Nova.

The name echoed in his mind long after she disappeared.

He walked beside Yelena through the university campus in silence. Students laughed around them. Some hurried to lectures while others gathered beneath the trees.

Everything looked ordinary.

Yet it didn’t feel ordinary anymore.

Yelena finally broke the silence.

"So..."

Nathan looked at her.

"So?"

"You really feel familiar."

He smiled awkwardly.

"I was thinking the same thing."

She laughed.

"Good. I was worried I’d sound crazy."

For reasons neither could explain, the conversation flowed naturally.

They talked about classes.

Their favorite books.

Music.

Childhood memories.

It felt less like two strangers meeting.

More like two old friends finding each other again.

By lunchtime they were sitting beneath a large tree near the engineering building.

Nathan frowned.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You already are."

"Have you ever had dreams that felt... real?"

Yelena’s smile slowly faded.

"I have."

"What kind?"

She hesitated.

"I keep dreaming about standing in the sky."

Nathan’s heartbeat quickened.

"There are stars everywhere."

She looked at her hands.

"And someone keeps calling me..."

She stopped speaking.

Nathan leaned forward.

"What name?"

Her lips parted.

"...Yelena."

He froze.

"But that’s your name."

"I know."

She looked confused.

"In the dream..."

"...it sounds different."

Nathan didn’t realize he had crushed the soda can in his hand until it burst.

Students nearby looked over.

He quickly apologized.

His hands were shaking.

That night...

Nathan couldn’t sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes, fragments of impossible memories flashed before him.

Blue lightning.

A lonely white field.

A child smiling.

A crystal called Halo.

He sat up and looked at the clock.

2:17 A.M.

"I need some air."

The streets were quiet.

Streetlights cast long shadows across the empty sidewalks.

Nathan wandered without thinking.

Eventually, he reached the small neighborhood park.

The swings moved gently.

There was no wind.

His skin prickled.

Someone was there.

A man sat alone on a bench.

He looked about seventy.

Gray hair.

Simple blue clothes.

Kind eyes.

He smiled without looking up.

"I wondered how long it would take."

Nathan stopped.

"Do I know you?"

"In a way."

The old man looked at the stars.

"You’ve forgotten me."

"But that’s part of the gift."

Nathan slowly approached.

"Who are you?"

The old man chuckled.

"Someone who finally gets to retire."

Those words stirred something deep inside Nathan.

He had heard them before.

Somewhere.

Somewhen.

The old man stood.

"You made the right choice."

Nathan frowned.

"What choice?"

"The one that ended the cycle."

His breathing became uneven.

"The cycle..."

The old man nodded.

"You chose compassion."

"You freed creation."

"You gave a lonely child a name."

Nathan stumbled backward.

"Who are you?"

The old man’s form shimmered.

For one brief moment...

Nathan saw an enormous eye surrounded by galaxies.

Then it vanished.

His human appearance returned.

"The..."

Nathan whispered.

"...First Creator?"

The old man smiled warmly.

"I prefer Harold now."

Nathan blinked.

"...Harold?"

"I’ve always wanted an ordinary name."

Nathan couldn’t help laughing.

Out of all the revelations he expected...

That wasn’t one of them.

Harold laughed too.

"It suits retirement."

The laughter faded.

Harold’s expression became serious.

"I didn’t come here for nostalgia."

Nathan’s smile disappeared.

"Something’s wrong."

Harold nodded.

"Not wrong."

"Unexpected."

He reached into his pocket and removed an old brass pocket watch.

The watch had stopped moving.

Its hands were frozen.

"Time shouldn’t stop."

Nathan stared at it.

"It happened three hours ago."

Harold looked toward the city skyline.

"I’ve checked every timeline."

"There should be peace."

"There is peace."

"But..."

He snapped the watch shut.

"...someone remembered."

Nathan felt a chill.

"Remembered what?"

"The previous world."

At that exact moment, a deafening scream echoed across the city.

Both men turned.

A column of blue light shot into the night sky from somewhere downtown.

Car alarms began blaring.

People rushed into the streets in confusion.

Nathan’s heart pounded.

"I know that light..."

Harold’s face darkened.

"So do I."

Before either of them could move, Nathan’s phone vibrated.

One notification appeared on the screen.

No app.

No sender.

Just a single sentence.

WELCOME BACK, GUARDIAN.

Nathan stared at the dark screen of his phone.

The message remained burned into his mind.

WELCOME BACK, GUARDIAN.

Then the phone powered itself off.

No matter how many times he pressed the power button, nothing happened.

Harold frowned.

"It shouldn’t exist."

"What shouldn’t?"

"A system."

Nathan looked toward the pillar of blue light rising over the city.

"I thought everything ended."

"It did."

Harold’s voice was firm.

"I watched the old system disappear."

"Then what is that?"

"I don’t know."

For the first time since Nathan had met him, the former First Creator looked genuinely uncertain.

Another scream echoed through the night.

The blue pillar expanded.

Clouds spiraled around it as if the sky itself were being pulled inward.

Harold moved first.

"Come on."

Nathan ran after him.

They reached the main street just as people flooded out of nearby buildings.

Cars had stopped moving.

Drivers abandoned their vehicles and stared toward the city center.

Everyone was pointing upward.

A young woman cried as blue symbols floated around her body.

"What is happening?"

"I can’t make them stop!"

An elderly man suddenly floated several feet into the air.

A child accidentally shattered a concrete sidewalk simply by tripping.

Nathan’s heart sank.

Abilities.

The impossible had returned.

Harold whispered,

"No..."

"The reset is breaking."

As they pushed through the crowd, Nathan noticed something strange.

Not everyone could see the blue symbols.

Some people walked past them without reacting.

Others stared in horror.

"It’s selective."

Harold nodded.

"Only certain people can perceive it."

Nathan frowned.

"Why?"

Before Harold could answer, a familiar voice called out.

"Nathan!"

He turned.

Yelena was running toward him.

She looked frightened.

The moment she reached him, she grabbed his arm.

"My phone..."

She held up the screen.

Nathan’s breathing stopped.

It displayed the exact same message.

WELCOME BACK, GUARDIAN.

"You got it too?"

She nodded.

"And..."

She hesitated.

"I remembered something."

"What?"

"Twelve words."

Nathan waited.

She closed her eyes.

Then repeated them exactly.

"Even if the world forgets... I’ll find you again, Seraph."

Nathan’s vision blurred.

That sentence...

Someone had once spoken those words while crying.

He couldn’t remember where.

But the emotion behind them was overwhelming.

He suddenly staggered.

A flood of memories burst into his mind.

Blue lightning.

A battlefield.

Halo.

Yelena reaching for his hand.

Then...

A crystal breaking apart.

Nathan cried out and fell to one knee.

"Nathan!"

Yelena knelt beside him.

"I’m okay..."

He wasn’t.

His memories felt like broken glass inside his head.

Harold looked toward the sky.

"It’s happening too quickly."

A deep rumble shook the city.

The blue pillar exploded.

Instead of fading...

It split into dozens of smaller pillars across the horizon.

North.

South.

East.

West.

Every direction.

Nathan stared in disbelief.

"There are more."

Harold’s face became grim.

"Twelve."

"Twelve?"

"There were only eight World Cores."

"I know."

A cold silence followed.

"Which means..."

Harold looked directly at Nathan.

"...these aren’t World Cores."

A deafening roar suddenly echoed from downtown.

The crowd screamed.

Something enormous rose above the skyscrapers.

It wasn’t a monster.

It looked like a human.

A giant human made entirely of glowing blue crystal.

Its body towered over every building.

Blank white eyes slowly opened.

Then its gaze locked onto Nathan.

The giant raised one hand.

Its voice echoed across the entire city.

"Guardian identified."

"Recovery Protocol initiated."

A massive blue spear formed in its hand.

People fled in every direction.

Cars overturned as panic spread.

The giant hurled the spear.

It cut through the night sky like a comet.

Straight toward Nathan.

Harold stepped in front of him.

"No!"

Before the spear could strike...

A brilliant silver barrier appeared.

The attack exploded against it.

The shockwave shattered every window within a kilometer.

Nathan looked up in disbelief.

Standing between him and the giant...

Was Nova.

She no longer looked like an ordinary little girl.

Silver armor covered her body.

A radiant crown rested above her head.

Her blue eyes glowed with ancient authority.

She slowly raised one hand.

The dust cleared.

Her voice remained calm.

"You promised."

She looked directly at Nathan.

"So let me keep my promise too."

Behind her...

A familiar blue butterfly landed gently on her shoulder.

It transformed into a tiny crystal.

Nathan’s heart nearly stopped.

"Halo..."

The little crystal pulsed once.

As if answering him.

Then, for the first time since the new world began, Nathan heard the voice he thought he would never hear again.

[Hello, Partner.]

[I missed you.]

Nathan’s heartbeat refused to slow. The tiny blue crystal hovered between him and Nova, glowing with the same gentle rhythm he remembered from another life. Around them, the terrified crowd continued running, unaware that history was repeating itself. Yelena stared at Halo with tears filling her eyes. She didn’t know why seeing the crystal made her want to cry, but her heart recognized it before her mind did. Harold released a long breath and smiled faintly.

"So you kept your promise after all."

Halo’s light pulsed warmly.

[I told you, Creator.]

[As long as hope exists, I will always find my Guardian.]

Then the screen went black.