The ancient chamber slowly dimmed after the truth was revealed. Silence fell—thick, weighty, uncomfortable. Arin stood at the center, the fractured glow of the Queen's broken chain behind him, Yue Lan and Yura on either side, Jun Bai nursing his bruised ego against a relic-covered pillar.
[New System Status: Hostile Alignment Recognized]
[Your relationship with the System is now marked as: REBELLIOUS]
[Functionality downgraded. Quest tracking: Disabled. Reward drops: Unstable. Emergency support: Revoked.]
"Basically," Arin muttered, "I broke the subscription model."
Yura crossed her arms, ears twitching with tension. "You didn't just break it. You burned their entire customer service department."
"You did what most cultivators wouldn't dare," Yue Lan added, voice calm but laced with concern. "You stood against a god-tier construct."
"And lost all my perks," Arin said with a shrug. "So… who's ready to babysit me?"
Jun Bai coughed and leaned up. "You know, I used to think you were just an annoying clown. Turns out you're an annoying clown with guts."
"That sounds dangerously close to a compliment," Arin replied, smirking.
Jun Bai grimaced. "Don't get used to it."
Before anyone could respond, the chamber rumbled again. Not from the Parasite Queen—but from something deeper.
"What now?" Yura muttered, drawing her blades.
The Parasite Queen didn't speak. Instead, she raised her eyes to the ceiling.
"It wakes," she whispered. "The thing beneath me. The oldest root. The thing that feeds even me."
Jun Bai stood up straighter. "That's not part of the records."
Yue Lan paled. "There were rumors in ancient scrolls. About a buried force. A living system prototype."
Yura looked at Arin. "Did you do something?"
Arin raised his hands. "Okay, I know I mess things up a lot, but for once, this is not my fault."
The ground shattered. A massive spike of obsidian burst from beneath the seal, nearly impaling the Queen. Chains whipped around it as if trying to hold it back—but it kept rising.
[System Alert: ERROR: CORE ENCOUNTER DETECTED]
[The Root Protocol is waking.]
[Initiating system failsafe...]
[FAILSAFE OVERRIDDEN.]
[UNKNOWN ENTITY TAKING CONTROL.]
Suddenly, a new voice echoed inside Arin's mind. It wasn't like the system—metallic or scripted. This one was organic. Smooth. Deep. Malevolent.
"You touched what was forbidden, little Host."
"You poked into our economy."
"Now let us show you the cost of knowledge."
Arin clutched his head. "Oh no. Oh no no no. Not another voice in here. I already have the Trash System, intrusive thoughts, and a deep craving for grilled dumplings!"
The dark spike pulsed. From its surface, a hand emerged—humanoid, metallic, and covered in ancient runes. Then an arm. Then a face.
A man stepped out. Or rather, a being shaped like one.
His body flickered with fragmented code and molten energy. His eyes burned with corrupted system light.
Yue Lan gasped. "That's… the Original Host. The first human to receive a system."
The being smiled, baring obsidian teeth.
"Call me Admin Zero."
Yura's tails flared. "I thought that name was myth!"
"Many things are myth," the entity said, voice vibrating the chamber. "But some myths live in shadows, waiting for fools to break seals."
His gaze locked on Arin.
"You, Trash Host. You triggered the cascade."
Arin blinked. "Wait—seriously? After all this time I'm still just 'Trash Host'? Not 'Bringer of Collapse' or 'Glorious Truth-Seeker'? Come on, branding matters!"
The Queen smirked behind her chains. "You amuse even the ones who should destroy you. That is rare."
Admin Zero raised a hand. "Your system was meant to die with you. It was a patch. A joke."
"Yeah, I figured that out after it gave me a broken rice cooker as a legendary artifact," Arin replied.
"But you survived. And now the corruption is visible. To you. To others. That is unacceptable."
Arin felt pressure building in his chest. He stepped back, trying to breathe.
[System Overclock Warning]
[You are being force-disconnected from Core Network]
[Host Memory Stability: 73%... 62%... 49%...]
Yura grabbed his arm. "Arin. Snap out of it."
Yue Lan raised a divine seal. "This isn't just a threat. It's a system-level purge. He's trying to erase you from memory threads."
The Queen chuckled. "It seems someone fears a jester more than a general."
Admin Zero's hand ignited with violet code. "You do not belong. You will be erased."
But before he could strike—
A golden light crashed through the chamber ceiling.
A voice boomed, delicate and angry.
"BACK OFF MY MISTAKE!"
Everyone froze.
Even Admin Zero paused.
Descending from the light was her.
The goddess. The one Arin annoyed.
Wearing gold heels. Furious eyes. And holding a very large celestial flyswatter.
Yura whispered, "Is that…?"
Arin nodded. "Yep. That's the one who gave me this dumb system."
The goddess pointed the swatter at Admin Zero.
"Touch my trash, and I'll delete your soul from twelve timelines."