Chapter 49 - The Man Behind the System
The system opened a door inside Heaven.
Not the red gate.
A private channel.
I stepped through alone.
The First Defier sat at a table.
No chains.
No throne.
Just tea.
He looked younger than before.
"Kai Renn."
"You built the system."
"The first version."
"Then Heaven changed it."
"And I changed it back. We have been editing the same weapon for ten thousand years."
I sat across from him.
"Why Candidate Seven?"
He smiled.
"Because six others learned to cultivate outside Heaven before you."
"Where are they?"
"Building worlds. Destroying worlds. Hiding. Arguing. One became a baker."
That last one sounded healthiest.
He offered me the original promise.
Ten thousand years simulated cultivation.
No trick this time.
"You could become stronger than the Judge before you return."
I almost accepted.
Then I asked, "What happens outside while I'm training?"
"A few seconds."
"And what happens to me?"
"You become someone with ten thousand years of memories."
There it was.
Power at the cost of becoming a stranger to everyone I loved.
I pushed the offer away.
The First Defier laughed.
"Mara did the same thing."
I froze.
"You knew my mother?"
May you like
"She was Candidate Six."
