The universe did not end with a bang.
It ended with a glitch.
In the void of Layer 3, an entire star system was flickering like a dying lightbulb.
Space-time was peeling away in jagged strips. It revealed a terrifying emptiness beneath the fabric of reality.
Billions of lives.
Thousands of civilizations.
All were being erased by a cosmic error no one was supposed to see.
But someone was watching.
***
Standing at the epicenter of the collapse was a lone figure.
He wasn't a god in golden armor.
He wasn't a cultivator on a divine sword.
He was a young man in a charcoal-black tailored suit. His hands were tucked casually into his pockets.
His face was a masterpiece of cold aesthetics—pale skin and eyes that held the weight of a thousand dying suns.
He looked no older than twenty-three.
But his presence was "heavy."
Even the collapsing vacuum of space seemed to bow around him.
***
A translucent interface floated before his eyes.
[Contract Status: 99.9% Complete]
[Sector: 9-G (External Universe)]
[Objective: Reality Stabilization]
[Time Elapsed in Contract: 72 Years]
The young man, Lee Joon-Ha, let out a soft, tired breath.
Seventy-two years.
He had spent a lifetime in this freezing void. He had fought a war against entropy to fix a reality that wasn't even his own.
He raised a single hand.
"Authority: Tier 4," he whispered.
His voice was calm, yet it resonated through the fabric of the multiverse.
"Overwrite."
[Permission Granted. Architect Level Authority Invoked.]
With a snap of his fingers, the glitching stars froze.
The tears in space-time began to knit themselves back together, guided by an invisible, divine needle.
In an instant, the chaos vanished.
[Contract Completed.]
[Reward: 500 Million Credits]
[Target: Earth Node (Halo Risk Analytics)]
[Biological Status: Stabilized. Age remains 23.]
***
Joon-Ha closed his eyes. He felt the familiar pull of the return sequence.
"System," he muttered. "How much time has passed on the Primary Node?"
[Earth Time Elapsed: 45 Seconds.]
A faint, ironic smile touched his lips.
Seventy-two years of solitude... and on Earth, his coffee wouldn't even have cooled down.
"Take me back," he said. "I'm tired of the stars."
The void shattered.
[Initiating Return to Layer 0: Earth...]
[Location: Busan, South Korea.]
[Target Point: 2:15 AM.]
***
The darkness swallowed him whole.
It dragged the Architect of Reality back to the world where he was nothing more than a part-timer.
The true story was about to begin.