1. District Seven Is Already Bleeding
Causal District Seven looked fine.
That was the problem.
Markets bustled. Bells rang. Paper lanterns drifted in tidy rows. The kind of place Oversight loved—clean, orderly, statistically insignificant.
Ne Job felt the loop before he saw it.
Probability snagged like fabric on a nail.
"…This place is eating itself," he murmured.
Yue stiffened. "You're sure?"
He nodded.
"The loop's subtle. Luck recycling. The same failures redistributed so no single event spikes high enough to trigger intervention."
Qi-Yun's jaw tightened.
"…Acceptable losses."
They stood at the edge of the district as a golden sigil flared overhead.
OVERSIGHT OBSERVATION ACTIVE
Ne Job swallowed.
"…They're watching."
---
2. The Official Solution (Which Sucks)
The projection manifested.
An Oversight avatar—faceless, luminous, and extremely disappointed by default.
> PROBABILITY LOOP CONFIRMED.
PROJECTED DAMAGE WITH NO INTERVENTION: 3.4% POPULATION IMPACT.
CLASSIFICATION: ACCEPTABLE.
Ne Job stared.
"Three point four percent of people."
> CORRECTION PATH AVAILABLE:
REROUTE CASUALTY VECTORS TO HIGH-RISK DEMOGRAPHICS.
STABILIZATION ACHIEVED.
Yue's voice shook. "You're telling him to kill specific people."
> REALLOCATE, the avatar corrected.
REDUCE OVERALL SYSTEM STRAIN.
Ne Job felt his hands tremble.
"…They're not numbers."
The avatar paused.
> SUBJECT EXHIBITING EMOTIONAL BIAS.
Qi-Yun's voice was low. "This is the test."
---
3. Ne Job Tries the Proper Way (It Fails Instantly)
Ne Job stepped forward.
"Requesting alternative correction."
> ALTERNATIVE NOT FOUND.
"I haven't proposed one yet."
> TIME COST EXCEEDS THRESHOLD.
Ne Job clenched his jaw.
"I can break the loop without targeting anyone."
> PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: 0.03%.
Yue snapped. "You didn't even let him try!"
> TRIAL-AND-ERROR IS INEFFICIENT.
Ne Job exhaled slowly.
"…Okay."
Qi-Yun tensed.
That tone.
Ne Job raised the pen.
Not to cut.
To write.
---
4. Oversight Watches Him Break Procedure
He knelt.
On the street.
Right there in public.
Lantern light reflected off the pen's tip as silver ink spilled onto the air itself.
Ne Job wrote the contradiction.
Not the outcome. Not the casualties.
The assumption.
Luck must balance by sacrifice.
He crossed it out.
Hard.
The air screamed.
The probability loop shuddered, destabilizing violently.
> WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED CORRECTION IN PROGRESS.
People stopped walking.
Bells rang off-key.
Ne Job's voice shook—but he didn't stop.
"Luck doesn't need victims. It needs release."
He rerouted the overflow into randomness.
Not deaths. Not disasters.
Just… unpredictability.
Coins flipping wrong. Lanterns tangling. Markets closing early for no reason.
Chaos.
Small. Annoying. Human.
The loop unraveled.
---
5. Oversight Loses Its Grip
The avatar flared.
> SYSTEM STABILITY DROPPING.
Ne Job gritted his teeth.
"Yeah. Temporarily."
He finished the correction.
The loop collapsed.
The district breathed.
No one died.
No one even noticed—except that their day went weird.
A chime echoed.
> PROBABILITY LOOP RESOLVED.
CASUALTY COUNT: ZERO.
Silence.
The Oversight avatar flickered.
> SUBJECT ACTION… UNACCOUNTED FOR.
Yue's heart pounded.
Qi-Yun smiled.
Just a little.
---
6. Oversight's Verdict (And the Cost)
The avatar reformed.
> SUBJECT NE JOB HAS VIOLATED CORRECTION PROTOCOL.
AUTHORITY EXCEEDED.
Ne Job stood slowly.
"Yeah."
> RECOMMENDATION: RECLASSIFICATION.
Yue's breath caught.
> SUBJECT STATUS UPDATED:
UNAUTHORIZED AUDITOR
The words burned themselves into the air.
Ne Job winced.
"…That sounds bad."
Qi-Yun nodded.
"It is."
> OVERSIGHT WILL CONTINUE OBSERVATION.
SUBJECT MAY BE TERMINATED UPON FURTHER NONCOMPLIANCE.
The avatar vanished.
The golden sigil dimmed—but did not disappear.
---
7. Aftermath: No Applause, No Thanks
The street returned to normal.
People laughed. Vendors argued. Life continued.
Ne Job felt… hollow.
"I didn't even feel heroic," he muttered.
Yue grabbed his arm.
"You saved them."
"Yeah," he said softly. "But now I'm officially wrong."
Qi-Yun rested a hand on his shoulder.
"You chose people over math."
Ne Job looked up.
"…That's not allowed, is it."
"No," Qi-Yun said. "Which is why it matters."
---
8. End Beat: The Predator Notices
Far away—beyond Oversight, beyond the Archive—a presence stirred.
Not bureaucratic. Not lawful.
Interested.
A ripple of amusement passed through it.
> UNAUTHORIZED AUDITOR CONFIRMED.
PATTERN: DEFIES SACRIFICIAL OPTIMIZATION.
STATUS: RIPE.
Something ancient adjusted its focus.
Ne Job had stepped into the open.
And the system was no longer the most dangerous thing watching him.
---
END OF CHAPTER 213