Chapter 196 — The Anchor Without a Name
The silence inside the tower was heavier than before.
Tony had stopped making jokes.
The Observer stood motionless, while Yiping continued staring at the last notification displayed by his system.
[The original protagonist.]
Those three words had opened an entirely new question.
However, before anyone could ask the Observer for an explanation, the woman spoke.
"Can I ask something?"
Yiping turned toward her.
"Of course."
She hesitated.
"Who am I?"
Nobody answered immediately.
It was a reasonable question.
Ever since her appearance, everyone had referred to her as the anchor of the new timeline. They had protected her, followed her decisions, and treated her existence as something important.
But none of them had actually explained what that meant.
Tony rubbed his forehead.
"Well, that's awkward."
The Observer finally looked at her.
"You are not an ordinary person."
She lowered her eyes.
"I already figured that out."
"However, you are not a weapon, a goddess, or an artificial being created to control this world."
Yiping crossed his arms.
"Then what exactly is she?"
The Observer looked toward the tower's central platform.
"An anchor."
Tony sighed.
"Yes, we've established that part. Could you explain it without repeating the same word?"
The Observer ignored him.
"When the new timeline was born, it had no established history. No predetermined future, no central figure, and no fixed sequence of events."
He raised one hand.
A faint image appeared above the platform.
It showed the city as it had looked when it first emerged: incomplete buildings, empty streets, and people who had only just begun to exist.
"At first, the world was unstable. Every possibility existed simultaneously, but none of them had enough weight to become reality."
The image changed.
The woman appeared in the middle of the empty city.
"Then she made her first decision."
Yiping remembered that moment.
She had stood before three doors.
One represented the original timeline.
Another represented the unknown entity beyond the world.
The last represented an uncertain future.
She had rejected all three.
She had chosen to continue living without accepting a role someone else had prepared for her.
"That decision gave the world its first fixed point," the Observer explained.
Tony tilted his head.
"So she became the foundation?"
"Not exactly. She became the first person whose existence was defined by her own choice rather than by an existing history."
The woman looked at her hands.
"Does that mean I was created when I made that decision?"
"No."
The Observer shook his head.
"You existed before that moment. But until you chose for yourself, the world had no way to distinguish your existence from all the other possibilities."
Yiping slowly understood.
"So the world didn't create her to serve as an anchor. Her decision made her one."
"Correct."
Tony snapped his fingers.
"That's an important distinction."
He looked at the woman.
"Congratulations. You accidentally became the most important person in a world that doesn't even have a proper instruction manual."
She gave him a slightly confused look.
"Is that supposed to be encouraging?"
"Trust me, I'm still working on it."
Yiping couldn't help but smile faintly.
Then he turned toward the Observer.
"Can she be replaced?"
The Observer's expression became serious.
"Not in the way you're thinking."
"Explain."
"An anchor isn't a special individual selected by the world. It's a role created through the accumulation of independent decisions. She was simply the first."
The image above the platform changed again.
This time, it showed several people throughout the city.
A child choosing to help another person.
A shopkeeper deciding to reopen his store.
A man choosing to apologize to someone he had hurt.
Small decisions.
Ordinary decisions.
Yet each one produced a faint light that spread through the city.
"Every time someone makes a choice that isn't dictated by an imposed history, the timeline becomes more stable."
Tony watched the images.
"So she's the first anchor, but she doesn't have to be the only one."
"Exactly."
Yiping looked at the woman.
"Then your responsibility isn't to save the world."
She raised her head.
"What?"
"You don't have to carry everything just because you were the first to make a choice. Other people can do the same."
For a moment, she remained silent.
Then she smiled slightly.
"That's good. I wasn't planning on becoming some kind of savior."
Tony laughed.
"Excellent. We already have enough people trying to save the universe."
However, the Observer wasn't smiling.
"There is another problem."
Yiping looked at him.
"What now?"
"The entity beyond the timeline can erase history, but it has difficulty removing something that exists independently of history."
He pointed toward the woman.
"That's why it targeted her. She represents the first proof that this world can exist without inheriting the structure of the previous one."
Yiping frowned.
"Then why didn't it attack the other people?"
"Because she was the first. The others are still connected to the stability she helped establish."
Tony crossed his arms.
"So if she disappears, the entire structure becomes vulnerable."
"Yes."
The woman lowered her head again.
"So I'm still a weakness."
"No," Yiping answered immediately.
She looked at him.
"You're a person. Don't let anyone convince you that your existence is only valuable because of what it represents."
The Observer remained silent.
Tony glanced at Yiping, then nodded.
"He's right. Besides, if this world depends entirely on one person, then it's a pretty poorly designed world."
The Observer gave him a tired look.
"Do you ever take anything seriously?"
"When necessary."
"That is not reassuring."
"Good. I wasn't trying to reassure you."
Before their conversation could continue, Yiping's system activated.
[Analysis Complete.]
[Subject: First Anchor.]
[Nature: Independent Existence.]
[Special Ability: None.]
[Timeline Function: Initial Stabilization Point.]
[Important Notice: The subject possesses no authority over the timeline.]
Yiping read the final line twice.
No special ability.
No authority.
She wasn't secretly a goddess or a being capable of rewriting reality.
She was simply the first person who had made a decision that belonged entirely to herself.
And that was enough.
The system displayed another notification.
[Timeline Stability: 38.1% → 40.6%]
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Did we just gain stability because we explained her job description?"
"Not exactly," Yiping replied.
He looked toward the city beyond the tower.
The lights were spreading.
People were continuing their lives, unaware of the conversation taking place above them.
"She finally understands that she doesn't have to carry the entire world alone."
The woman followed his gaze.
For the first time, she seemed less worried about her own existence.
Then the Observer spoke.
"There's something else you should know."
Yiping turned toward him.
"Go on."
"The original protagonist was also an anchor."
Tony's expression changed.
"Wait. What?"
The Observer nodded.
"In the first world, everything revolved around one individual. His decisions shaped the events around him. His existence connected countless possibilities."
Yiping frowned.
"Then what made him different from her?"
"The difference was that he eventually believed the world itself had to obey his choices."
Silence returned.
The Observer continued.
"At first, he wanted to save everyone. He wanted to prevent tragedies, correct mistakes, and create a perfect future."
He looked toward the ceiling.
"But the more he tried to control everything, the more the world depended on him. Eventually, every possibility that contradicted his desired future was treated as a threat."
Tony's expression turned serious.
"And that's how the first world ended?"
"That's how the collapse began."
Yiping looked at the woman.
She was watching the city below.
Unlike the original protagonist, she hadn't tried to control anything.
She had simply chosen to live.
Perhaps that was the difference the new world needed.
Suddenly, the system flashed again.
[External Observation Detected.]
[The First World Remnant has withdrawn.]
[A new signal has been detected.]
Yiping's expression hardened.
"What is it this time?"
A message appeared.
[To the first anchor.]
[You were not supposed to exist.]
The woman stared at the notification.
Then another line appeared.
[But you have already made your choice.]
The message vanished.
Tony looked at Yiping.
"Well, that's certainly ominous."
Yiping nodded.
"Yeah."
He looked toward the empty space above the tower.
The entity had not attacked.
It had sent a message.
And that meant it was beginning to recognize something it hadn't expected.
The new world wasn't merely surviving.
It was becoming something even the original protagonist had failed to create.
A world where nobody needed to stand at its center.
Author's Note
Now we finally have an explanation for the woman's role.
She isn't a goddess, a hidden administrator, or a chosen savior. She became the first anchor because she made the first truly independent decision in the new timeline. Others can become anchors too, as the world grows and its inhabitants make their own choices.
The original protagonist was also an anchor, but his desire to control the future eventually became the source of the first world's collapse.
Only four chapters remain until Chapter 200!
Thank you for continuing to support the story. Don't forget your Power Stones, votes, and comments!