Prelude _What Survives
No one remembers who set the rules.
Only that the rules exist.
Worlds rise, fracture, stabilize, decay yet at fixed intervals, something older than history stirs.
Not a god. Not a system.
A continuation.
From higher worlds, champions descend.
From lower worlds, consequences spread.
There is no announcement.
No declaration of victory.
No witness to the whole.
Only outcomes.
Some worlds flourish without knowing why.
Others collapse believing it was their own fault.
And the competition continues, unseen by those who live inside it.