The Outer Veil acknowledged me.
Not with light.
Not with sound.
But with pressure.
The moment my foot crossed the invisible threshold, the world leaned closer—as if the land itself had decided to observe instead of ignore. The faint hum beneath the ground sharpened, aligning into a rhythm that matched my heartbeat exactly.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
I stopped breathing for half a second.
The mark on the back of my hand burned—not painfully, but insistently—like a reminder that this place was no longer reacting to chance.
It was reacting to me.
Behind us, the mist shifted.
Silently, the path we had taken began to dissolve. Stone sank into nothingness. Ruins faded as if erased from a memory that no longer needed them.
No return.
Xian Yu noticed it before I did. "Don't look back," she said, voice steady but low. "The Veil closes routes when it senses hesitation."
I kept my eyes forward.
The land ahead was broken—floating stone platforms suspended in open air, connected by thin strands of pale energy that trembled like stretched nerves. Some slabs were cracked. Others rotated slowly, drifting in deliberate patterns.
Below them: endless mist.
No sound rose from it. No echo answered when a pebble slipped from the edge.
It wasn't depth that frightened me.
It was absence.
The mark pulsed again.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Transitional Domain Entered
Environment Stability: Variable
Synchronization Required
Synchronization.
I understood without being told.
This place wasn't crossed with strength.
It was crossed with alignment.
I stepped onto the first slab.
The stone shifted beneath my foot—not collapsing, not resisting, but adjusting. The platform tilted just enough to balance my weight, then steadied.
The energy thread connecting it to the next slab tightened.
Xian Yu followed immediately, movements precise and unhesitating. Shuang came last, talismans orbiting her like silent sentries, eyes never leaving the mist below.
"This domain reacts to intent," Shuang said softly. "Force will get you killed."
I nodded once.
I moved again.
Step by step, the path responded. The mark on my hand pulsed rhythmically now, feeding impressions directly into my awareness—where to step, when to pause, when to move quickly.
It wasn't sight.
It was knowing.
Halfway across, the air thickened.
The mist below twisted upward, coiling unnaturally.
Something was rising.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Observation Entity Detected
Hostility: Unknown
Recommendation: Maintain Forward Momentum
A figure emerged from the fog.
Tall. Fragmented. Its form looked unfinished—stitched together from shadow, light, and gaps where reality simply refused to fill in the shape. It had no face, yet I felt its attention settle on me with terrifying clarity.
It didn't attack.
It waited.
My instincts screamed to stop. To prepare. To defend.
The mark flared sharply in response.
I realized then—
This wasn't an enemy.
It was a test.
The Veil wasn't asking whether I could fight.
It was asking whether I belonged.
I forced myself to step forward.
The pressure increased instantly. The floating slabs vibrated. Energy threads stretched, humming sharply as if warning me.
I didn't resist.
I aligned.
The pulse in my hand steadied, syncing perfectly with the land's rhythm. My breathing slowed. My thoughts sharpened into focus.
The Observer reacted.
The mist retreated slightly. The energy threads snapped tighter, stabilizing the path. Several drifting slabs rotated, locking into place to form a direct route forward.
Approval.
Xian Yu exhaled slowly behind me. "So it's true," she murmured. "You're not merely compatible. You're recognized."
The word settled heavily in my chest.
Recognized by what?
By whom?
We reached solid ground again—ancient stone etched with symbols so worn they looked more like scars than carvings. The air here was heavier, saturated with dormant power.
At the center of the platform stood a sigil.
My sigil.
The exact pattern burned into my hand.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Identity Resonance Detected
Authorization Level: Partial
Memory Layer One Unlocking
Pain slammed into my head.
Not sharp—deep.
Images crashed through my mind in fragments: colossal structures collapsing into void; Wardens kneeling in unison; figures arguing in distorted voices that bent logic and language alike.
At the center of it all—
Someone stood where I stood now.
Me.
Older. Calmer. Eyes cold with certainty.
I staggered.
Xian Yu caught my arm before I fell. "Li Wei!"
"I've been here before," I whispered.
The realization hollowed me out.
This wasn't a beginning.
It was a return.
The Outer Veil hadn't awakened because I arrived.
It awakened because I came back.
The stone beneath us trembled lightly, almost reverently.
Ahead, the mist parted.
A structure emerged—massive, half-ruined, half-mechanical. Its surface was etched with interlocking patterns that pulsed faintly with golden light. At its core burned a familiar glow.
The same hue as the Warden's eye.
The same hue as my mark.
[MAIN QUEST UPDATE]
Enter the Forgotten Node
Objective: Recover Sealed Memories
Warning: Progression Will Permanently Alter Veil Relations
I swallowed.
Alter how?
Xian Yu stared at the structure, jaw tight. "That's not just a ruin," she said. "It's a Node. One of the Veil's anchors."
Shuang's talismans spun faster. "If he enters… the Veil will no longer treat him as an outsider."
I clenched my fist.
I already wasn't one.
The structure's entrance opened soundlessly.
Darkness waited inside—not empty, but expectant.
I stepped forward.
The moment I crossed the threshold, the world behind me blurred, sealing itself away. The air inside the Node was cold, heavy with layered memories.
The mark burned brighter.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Forgotten Node Accessed
Memory Synchronization: 12%
Status: Incomplete Identity
A whisper drifted through the chamber.
Not hostile.
Not welcoming.
Familiar.
"Li Wei…"
I stopped.
The voice wasn't behind me.
It wasn't ahead.
It was everywhere.
My heartbeat quickened.
"Come deeper," it said. "You left too much unfinished."
I exhaled slowly and stepped forward.
Whatever I had been…
Whatever I abandoned…
I would face it now.
Because the Veil had already decided.
And it would not let me walk away again.