[Reflection: Daughter of Conduit has been defeated.]

[Rewards and Experience Points will be distributed after all Reflections have been eliminated.]

[Preparing the Next Reflection...]

[Time Remaining: 20 Minutes.]

Adam didn’t quite know how to react.

His gaze remained fixed on the spot where the Reflection had disappeared.

....Father.

The word lingered in his mind far longer than it should have.

He had countless questions.

Who exactly was that Reflection?

Why had she known about his regression?

Why was saving Celestia important?

And...

Why had she told him to abandon humanity?

None of it made any sense.

Yet, for some reason, Adam felt that she hadn’t lied a single time.

His fingers unconsciously brushed against his pocket.

The strange sticker was still there.

"..."

Then— A voice spoke inside his mind.

Abandon humanity.

Another followed.

Abandon humanity.

Then another.

Abandon humanity.

abandonhumanityabandonhumanityabandonhumanityabandonhumanityabandonhumanity

The words rapidly overlapped one another until countless voices were speaking at once.

You must abandon humanity.

NO!

Adam suddenly clutched his head.

His breathing became uneven as an overwhelming pressure crashed into his mind.

It felt as though countless people were whispering directly into his soul, each one desperately trying to convince him that abandoning humanity was the correct choice.

That everything would become easier.

That everything would finally "end".

That there was no point in struggling anymore.

"...Shut up."

[Authority of Invincibility]

The Authority instinctively activated.

Adam forcefully steadied his thoughts, refusing to let the voices take root.

No matter how convincing they sounded, no matter how desperately they repeated themselves, his will refused to bend.

Gradually, the voices faded.

At almost the same moment, the lobby around them began to tremble violently.

Cracks spread across the walls as countless pieces of glass drifted into the air.

The ceiling dissolved into light fragments while the floor beneath everyone’s feet slowly lost its shape.

At the same time, the invisible force that had separated everyone vanished.

Mallory, Salvia, Kurou, and Seo-jun immediately rushed toward Adam and Guin.

The moment they saw the system notification announcing the Reflection’s defeat, they had hurried back as fast as they could.

"What happened?"

Salvia was the first to ask, worry clearly visible on her face.

Adam looked at her before quietly taking the strange sticker from his pocket.

He planned to investigate it later...

He wrapped it in layers of mana, sealing it away to suppress the strange whispers that were still trying to creep into his mind.

Only after doing so did he answer.

"...Something strange invaded the Reflection’s body."

He paused for a brief moment.

"I assume the Tower of Yxthar detected it and intervened."

Seo-jun frowned.

"For the Tower itself to take action... What kind of existence was that?"

He slowly looked toward the place where the Reflection had shattered.

Adam simply shook his head.

"I don’t know."

That wasn’t entirely true as he had several theories.

Whether it was a future version of Guin, an outsider beyond the Tower, or another existence entirely, none of them could be confirmed yet.

Seeing that Adam had no intention of elaborating, the others exchanged brief glances.

No one asked another question.

Without saying a word, they all seemed to arrive at the same conclusion.

It was probably better not to pry.

After all...

Anything involving Adam somehow always became strange.

Adam quietly opened his stream chat.

If anyone could possibly understand what had just happened, it would be the strange viewers, right?

Almost immediately, messages began flooding in.

[Labrarian has donated a Soul Core.]

[Labrarian] : I think humanity eventually ████ because █████, and when ███████ happens, ███████ can no longer—

The message abruptly cut off.

[UpTJay_OG] : I’m curious... does that mean the ███████ of █████ is actually—

His sentence was censored before it could finish.

One message after another appeared.

Within seconds, the chat was flooded with theories.

However, nearly every message was covered by black blocks.

██████.

████.

Entire sentences disappeared before Adam could even read them.

It wasn’t just one or two words.

Sometimes almost the entire message had been censored.

Yet every important part was covered by thick black blocks, as though some unknown force refused to allow the information to exist.

Adam frowned.

"Something" or "Someone" was filtering the messages.

Even the viewers were being censored.

[Disciple of Ice is expressing confusion.]

[Bird Hunter tilts his head.]

[Aberrant of the Flesh expresses annoyance at the unstable stream.]

[Numerous viewers express frustration over the censorship.]

Unlike the viewers with strange usernames, the ordinary viewers didn’t seem to understand what had happened at all.

To them, it appeared as though the stream had simply glitched for a brief moment.

It seemed the Tower of Yxthar had deliberately erased that portion from the public stream.

Only those with enough authority or status seemed capable of noticing that something was missing.

[Holder of Severance is squinting his eyes in suspicion.]

[Prankster of Kingdoms mischievously covers his mouth]

Adam slowly glanced around him.

The consciousness...- No, O-3, why was it censoring such a scene?

Was it trying to protect him?

Whatever the Reflection had revealed involved his very existence.

If such information spread throughout the countless universes watching his stream, it could affect him in ways he couldn’t even imagine?

He quietly made a mental note.

If he ever had another chance to meet O-3, he would ask.

After discussing the situation with everyone and making sure no one had suffered any hidden injuries, Adam’s gaze eventually landed on Guin.

There were too many people nearby.

With the hearing of a Stream Hunter, even a quiet conversation could easily be overheard.

Instead, Adam opened the System’s friend interface.

He sent her a request.

[Daughter of Conduit has accepted your friend request.]

"..."

Adam’s lips twitched ever so slightly.

Even now, that Stream Name still felt absurd.

He quickly opened a private chat.

[The Chosen Conduit] : What did that Reflection say to you?

Guin stared at the message for several long seconds.

She seemed hesitant to form a proper answer...

Finally, a reply appeared.

[Daughter of Conduit] : ...If I tell you...

[Daughter of Conduit] : You’ll be in danger.

[The Chosen Conduit] : ?

Adam instinctively wanted to press further.

However, after reading those words, he hesitated.

Just then, another notification appeared before him.

[Nawh opens his mouth, using his remaining Intervention.]

Nawh? Why is he....

Before Adam could question the strange action, another message revealed itself.

[Authority of Shadows is revealing a secret.]

Seeing that notification, Adam immediately recalled that one aspect of Nawh’s Authority over Shadows governed "secrets" and the "unknowable".

The shadows beneath his feet suddenly stirred.

They slowly twisted together before forming several words across the ground, as though the darkness itself was revealing a "secret".

And that secret was...