1. The Worst Possible News: Nothing Changed
Ne Job woke up screaming.
Not because of nightmares.
Because the alarm bell was ringing.
The work alarm bell.
He jolted upright on the bench in the courtyard, knocking over three empty tea cups, Yue's folded coat, and one extremely confused pigeon.
"NO—NO—NO—NO—"
He slapped his chest, checking frantically.
He was still alive.
Still existing.
Still… scheduled.
Yue knelt beside him instantly.
"Ne Job. Breathe."
"I CAN'T. THE BELL IS REAL."
The bell echoed again—bright, cheerful, and deeply unearned.
A floating notice materialized in front of him:
> DAILY ASSIGNMENTS UPDATED
INTERN NE JOB — STATUS: PROVISIONAL (CONTINUITY RISK)
REPORT TO WORKSTATION IMMEDIATELY
Ne Job stared at it.
"…They're making me work."
Yue exhaled slowly.
"Yes."
Arden, leaning against a pillar with her arms crossed, snorted.
"Of course they are."
Qi-Yun appeared behind them, sipping tea.
"The Bureau does not suspend interns during existential crises," he said calmly. "That would disrupt productivity."
Ne Job screamed into his hands.
"I ALMOST GOT ERASED YESTERDAY."
Qi-Yun nodded. "And today, you have filing."
---
2. Provisional Status Is Worse Than Being Normal
They escorted Ne Job through the Mortal Bureau halls.
Everything looked the same.
Which somehow made it worse.
Clerks shuffled papers. Spirits argued with printers. A god of minor weather yelled at a copier.
Normal.
But now—
Everywhere Ne Job went, things reacted.
Lights flickered. Ink shimmered. Forms straightened themselves when he passed.
A clerk whispered, "Is that him?"
Another hissed, "The singing one?"
Ne Job hunched his shoulders.
"I hate office fame."
They reached his workstation.
Someone had upgraded it.
His chair was now bolted to the floor.
A glowing seal hovered over the desk:
> WARNING: INTERN IS NOT TO LEAVE DESIGNATED AREA
WITHOUT SUPERVISOR APPROVAL
Ne Job stared.
"…Am I office furniture now?"
Qi-Yun set a stack of files down.
"Think of it as containment."
Ne Job whimpered.
Yue sat beside him.
"You're not alone," she said softly.
The desk hummed.
Ne Job snapped.
"STOP HUMMING."
The desk immediately stopped.
Yue froze.
Qi-Yun's eyebrows rose.
"…Interesting."
---
3. The Assignment From Hell (Again)
A new form slid itself onto Ne Job's desk.
> TASK: CROSS-REFERENCE UNRESOLVED FATE THREAD COMPLAINTS
PRIORITY: LOW
RISK: UNDEFINED
Ne Job squinted.
"This says low priority."
"Yes," Qi-Yun said.
"And undefined risk."
"Yes."
"…Those are opposites."
Qi-Yun shrugged.
"Welcome to governance."
Ne Job picked up the first file.
The moment he touched it—
The singing twitched.
Just a little.
He flinched.
"Nope."
He shoved it away.
The file slid back.
Ne Job tried again.
This time, he focused.
"I am just reading. Nothing cosmic. Just… paper."
The file opened.
Inside were complaints.
Thousands of them.
> My fate thread is looping.
My destiny was reassigned without notice.
I died twice and no one refunded me.
My reincarnation arrived early and stole my lunch.
Ne Job blinked.
"These are… real problems."
Yue leaned in.
"Yes. These are the ones no department wants."
Qi-Yun nodded.
"They're edge cases."
Ne Job swallowed.
"Like me."
Qi-Yun smiled faintly.
"Exactly."
---
4. Ne Job Accidentally Does His Job
Ne Job stared at one complaint in particular.
> Thread ID 77-Ω-12
Issue: Return Failed
Status: Archived (Unresolvable)
His chest warmed.
The singing hummed—soft, curious.
Ne Job frowned.
"This one… feels wrong."
Yue stiffened.
"How so?"
"It's marked unresolvable," Ne Job said slowly. "But the logic doesn't loop. It just… stops."
Qi-Yun leaned over his shoulder.
"That thread predates current systems."
Ne Job pointed at the margin.
"But someone wrote a correction here."
Everyone leaned closer.
In ancient ink, barely visible:
> Return deferred. Substitute accepted.
The room went quiet.
Qi-Yun inhaled sharply.
"…That handwriting."
Yue whispered.
"Is that—"
Qi-Yun nodded.
"Mine."
Ne Job looked up slowly.
"…Sir?"
Qi-Yun straightened.
"That file was closed a very long time ago."
Ne Job's voice was small.
"Did you… substitute me?"
Qi-Yun did not answer.
The singing pulsed once.
Hard.
The lights flickered.
Yue grabbed Ne Job's wrist.
"Hey—HEY—stay with me."
Ne Job's head swam.
"I don't feel so good."
---
5. The Office Notices (And Panics)
Alarms did not ring.
Which was worse.
Instead, systems slowed.
Printers lagged. Forms hesitated. A god of accounting dropped a ledger and screamed.
A supervisor burst down the aisle.
"WHO IS TOUCHING THE ORIGIN-LEVEL COMPLAINTS?!"
Everyone pointed.
Ne Job raised his hand weakly.
"…Hi."
The supervisor took one look at the glowing thread coiling faintly around Ne Job's wrist and fainted.
Qi-Yun cursed under his breath.
"That was fast."
Yue's eyes widened.
"The Bureau is reacting."
"Of course it is," Qi-Yun said grimly. "He's engaging the unresolved layer."
Ne Job groaned.
"I JUST WANTED TO DO MY JOB."
"That," Qi-Yun said, "is the problem."
---
6. Qi-Yun Makes a Choice (Finally)
Qi-Yun placed a hand on Ne Job's shoulder.
The singing quieted.
"Listen to me," Qi-Yun said softly. "From now on, you do not process unresolved returns alone."
Ne Job nodded miserably.
"Good."
Qi-Yun straightened.
"I am assigning you."
"To… what?" Ne Job asked.
Qi-Yun's eyes hardened.
"To a new role."
A sigil flared above the desk.
> TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT ISSUED
INTERN NE JOB
ROLE: RETURN REVIEW ASSISTANT
SUPERVISOR: QI-YUN (PERSONAL LIABILITY ACCEPTED)
Yue's breath caught.
"Qi-Yun—"
"Yes," he said. "I know."
Ne Job stared.
"…Is that a promotion?"
"No."
"Is it worse?"
"Yes."
Ne Job nodded.
"Okay."
---
7. Yue's POV: The Thread Tightens
Later, after the Bureau stabilized—barely—Yue stood by the window overlooking the endless shelves.
Ne Job sat at his desk, exhausted, carefully not touching anything that glowed.
He looked… small.
Human.
And yet—
Yue felt it again.
The thread.
Tighter now.
More defined.
Not pulling him away—
Anchoring him.
Qi-Yun stood beside her.
"You feel it," he said quietly.
Yue nodded.
"The Singing Thread isn't calling him home anymore."
Qi-Yun closed his eyes.
"It's adapting."
Yue swallowed.
"To what?"
Qi-Yun opened his eyes.
"To resistance."
Yue watched Ne Job laugh weakly at a joke Arden made, entirely unaware of the cosmic recalibration happening around him.
Her heart clenched.
"This internship," she whispered, "is going to break him."
Qi-Yun shook his head.
"No."
He watched Ne Job carefully.
"It's going to teach him how not to."
The thread hummed.
Not in warning.
In preparation.
---
END OF CHAPTER 201