"Arbiter?" Yu Yi’s thumb caressed his dagger’s hilt. "System—explain."  

    A glitching voice responded: **[Arbiter: Players exiled for breaking rules. Marked by stellar codes—Creator’s punishment……]** The explanation died in static.  

    "Sorry, never heard of any ‘Ar-bee-ter’." Moonlight bisected the chamber, illuminating Yu Yi while Su Luan lingered in shadows.  

    "System, did I trigger some hidden quest?" Only silence answered. *‘Malfunctioning? SYSTEM?!’*  

    Su Luan’s patent loafers clicked like typewriter keys. Metal buckles flashed—a cold glare mirroring the candle wax he’d once spilled over a Madonna’s face.  

    "You’re talking to the system," she stated. "No signals escape my domain."  

    Yu Yi’s pupils contracted. *How does she know?* His blade rose defensively. "SYSTEM!" Ten futile calls echoed.  

    Back pressed against the icy altar, he growled: "Damn…… full jamming. What *are* you?"  

    "I know you, Yu Yi." Her voice thickened with centuries. "That black cedar scent…… unforgettable."  

    "Lady, I’m nobody special. Stop this charade."  

    Her smile held eons. "You vanished for decades after our last meeting. Seeing you…… it’s bliss."  

    Her extended arm revealed luminous fissures—cracks breathing blue fire. ‘*Decades? I was queuing for reincarnation then,*’ Yu Yi mentally scoffed, yet clasped her hand.  

    "Fifty-five cycles," she whispered. "Same ending every time." She waved her arm, fractures refracting light into church-window patterns. "The Arbiter’s fate—defying the Creator’s script."  

    Yu Yi lit a cigarette. Smoke spiraled upward, warping at the light boundary. Embers coalesced into a Möbius loop near her neck. "Destiny claims failure’s inevitable? Bullshit."  

    Memories flickered—fragmented, alien yet intimate. The harder he grasped, the sharper the neural knives. "I remember nothing."  

    "They altered your memories," she pressed. "Time’s short. Trust me?"  

    Gears groaned as the system blared: **[ILLEGAL PROGRAM DETECTED. INITIATING PURGE.]**  

    "Nothing here’s as it seems," Su Luan urged. "Partner with me again."  

    Yu Yi crushed his cigarette, studying the burn scar staining his arm. "I respect fate," he said, dagger ticking like a clock’s second hand, "but don’t obey it."  

    Flames roared as he smiled. "My story’s mine to write."  

    "Pleasure doing business, Su Luan."  

    The system crackled: **[REBOOTING TIMELINE.]**