The universe did not scream.
It submitted a complaint.
Ne Job was eating.
This was important.
Because in his experience, reality-breaking events had an extremely annoying habit of happening during meals.
He had just taken a bite—something fried, something divine, something definitely not approved by whatever passed for nutritional regulation in the celestial office—
When the scroll appeared.
Not dramatically.
Not with thunder.
Just—
plop.
Right into his food.
Ne Job stared at it.
Then at Yue.
Then back at the scroll.
"…I'm not reading that."
Yue didn't even look up from her own documents.
"You are absolutely reading that."
"It landed in my meal."
"That means it's urgent."
"That means it's contaminated."
"That means you're stalling."
Ne Job sighed the sigh of someone who knew resistance was futile and also probably illegal.
He unrolled the scroll.
OFFICIAL INCIDENT REPORT
Classification: Multi-Civilizational Interference
Location: Silent Node (Architect Legacy System)
Status:
Active destabilization
Unauthorized structural enforcement
Improper adaptive response
Assigned Case Handler:
Ne Job (Intern)
Ne Job blinked.
"…They're joking."
Yue finally looked up.
"They are not joking."
He pointed at the scroll.
"This says 'multi-civilizational interference.'"
"Yes."
"That sounds like a senior staff problem."
"Yes."
"And they assigned it to me."
"Yes."
Ne Job stared at her.
"I'm an intern."
Yue folded her hands calmly.
"You are their intern."
"That's worse."
2. The Explanation He Didn't Want
Yue stood and walked toward the balcony between realities.
The view shifted—
From their quiet, bureaucratically neglected dimension…
To the Silent Node.
Chaotic.
Strained.
Reality flickering between states like a system arguing with itself.
Ne Job leaned over the railing.
"…Oh."
"Two civilizations," Yue said.
"One forcing control. One trying to adapt."
Ne Job squinted.
"They both look like they're doing something stupid."
"Yes."
"And the universe sent me to fix it."
"Yes."
"…Why?"
Yue gave him a look.
"Because you specialize in fixing systems that are broken because someone followed the rules too hard."
Ne Job paused.
"…That is uncomfortably accurate."
3. The Real Problem
Yue gestured toward the node.
"They're both wrong."
Ne Job raised an eyebrow.
"Both?"
"One is trying to control the system completely."
"Sounds bad."
"The other is letting it drift without direction."
"Also sounds bad."
Yue nodded.
"The system was never meant for either extreme."
Ne Job frowned.
"So what was it meant for?"
Yue looked at him.
"Management."
4. The Assignment Clarified
The scroll updated in his hands.
Because of course it did.
Objective:
Restore harmonic balance
Prevent system collapse
Avoid triggering inter-civilization conflict
Constraints:
No full override authority
No direct deletion of participants
Minimal existential disruption
Ne Job stared at it.
"Minimal existential disruption?"
Yue shrugged.
"They're being generous."
5. Ne Job's Reaction
He looked back at the Silent Node.
At the lattice.
At the human fleet.
At the system slowly tearing itself apart.
Then back at the scroll.
"…I hate this job."
Yue smiled faintly.
"You love this job."
"I love not doing this job."
6. The Plan (Unfortunately)
Ne Job cracked his neck.
"Okay."
"If I were a catastrophically mismanaged cosmic system…"
Yue waited.
He pointed at the node.
"You don't need control."
He pointed at the lattice.
"You don't need rigidity."
He pointed at the human fleet.
"You don't need pure freedom either."
He sighed.
"You need someone to tell everyone to stop being idiots."
Yue nodded.
"That is, technically, your job."
7. Intervention Begins
Ne Job stepped forward.
Reality didn't open.
It sighed.
Like it already knew this was going to be paperwork-heavy.
He glanced back once.
"If I die—"
"You won't."
"—make sure they file the report properly."
"They won't."
"…Of course they won't."
8. End of Chapter
Two civilizations clash over control and adaptation.
An ancient system begins to collapse under their conflicting philosophies.
And the universe, in its infinite wisdom—
Assigns the problem to an underpaid, underqualified intern.
Ne Job is no longer watching.
He's stepping into the system itself.
To do what he does best:
Fix a problem that should never have been his responsibility—
By rewriting the rules just enough to make everything work.
Or at least—
Stop breaking.
END OF CHAPTER 386