NOVEL NEXT Chapter 406: Anchor
Ren froze.
His mind flashed back to countless nights bathed in the glow of a screen, pushing through boss fights, memorizing maps, learning every mechanic.
"That's… " He didn't know what to think. He wanted to say it was impossible, but here he was, living in a game he played, and standing before what was essentially a magical alien.
The Blurred Man's blurred outline flickered faintly, like a heartbeat. "Eternal Souls was more than a game. It was a simulation of this world's future. Every battle, every scenario you played was an echo of what Yggdrasil knew was coming. What it needed to stop before it was ready to reveal itself."
"You completed the game. You learned what was necessary to shape the disasters to come. And so you were chosen. Pulled from your world. In other words... stolen."
Ren's voice was low, almost a growl. "Stolen."
"Yes." The Blurred Man's tone softened in a way that made Ren hate it even more.
"Yggdrasil reached across the gap between worlds and tore you from your life. It shaped you for its purpose, but it also hid the truth from you."
"That is why so much information was absent in your 'game.' That is why parts of it seem incomplete now that you're here. It did not want its Stolen to know the full story. It only needed you sharp enough to cut when the time came."
Ren didn't know what to say in response.
"So I was just… a weapon."
"An unknowing one." The Blurred Man corrected. "But here is the irony, Ren Ross. What Yggdrasil did not know was that the Three had their own plans for you."
Ren's head snapped up. "The Three… interfered?"
"Oh, interfered is too small a word." The Blurred Man's voice gained a faint thread of satisfaction. "We manipulated your arrival. We shifted the path you were meant to take and dropped you into the Ross family. That was no accident. It was… placement. Because we wanted you to meet Lilith."
Ren's breath caught at the mention of her name.
"Your Divine Gift, and hers," the Blurred Man continued, "are unique. Apart, they are dangerous. Together, they are something far more. They are the only force that could possibly kill Yggdrasil without destroying the world itself. And so… we ensured you would cross paths."
Ren's mind swirled, replaying every memory he had with Lilith. Every smile, every conversation, every battle fought at her side.
"So," Ren said, his voice tight, "you're telling me my entire life here has been manipulated. Stolen by Yggdrasil, rerouted by you, all so I could be some… some piece in your war?"
The Blurred Man inclined his head. "A piece that could decide the outcome of the entire game."
Ren's knuckles whitened around the hilt of the sword. He'd chosen of his own volition to begin this battle. But now, he was finding out that even if he didn't want to, he had been placed in the perfect place that meant he would be d aged into it whether he wanted to or not.
Somehow, it felt like it took away his agency. He wanted to shout, to swing, to carve that blurred silhouette into something solid enough to bleed.
But instead, he breathed out slowly, forcing the storm back down.
"And what," he asked, his voice low, "if I refuse to join this fight anymore?"
The Blurred Man's blurred edges shivered with what might have been amusement. "You won't. You love your family too much."
Ren said nothing. Because the worst part was, he knew the bastard was right.
The Blurred Man's outline rippled faintly, as he chuckled at the expression on Ren's face.
"Tell me, Ren," he said, his voice casual in that infuriating way of his, "did you not find it… strange… that the Chained Man turned out to be Lars? The loyal guard of the Penny Prince?"
Ren's eyes narrowed. "I didn't think it was strange. I thought it was a nightmare."
A faint hum of amusement emanated from the blurred silhouette. "Think about the power the Chained Man displayed before you killed him. Why would someone that strong serve as a loyal dog under a weak being as the Penny Prince?"
"Well, it was no accident. It was our design from the very beginning. A sacrifice my dear friend had to make. From the moment we saw that pairing you and Lilith was a success, we knew the next step. We needed to replace the Anchor of this world."
Ren's jaw tightened. "Anchor?"
"Yes. Every world has one in every era. The focal point of every major change within that era or generation. Remove the Anchor, and the changes... collapse. The outcome fluctuates."
"Being an anchor is a… delicate role, usually filled by someone unlikely to die, someone so intertwined with the world's fabric that their existence maintains balance."
"And Anders was that someone?" Ren asked slowly.
The Blurred Man inclined his head. "The Penny Prince was the perfect Anchor. The person who was supposed to be at the centre of the conflict."
"But we the Three needed something more than that. We needed the world to change. To be pushed to its limits. To birth the person who would save it, not watch and let it burn."
Ren's stomach twisted. "So you put me and him on a collision course."
"Yes. We shaped events. Nudged Anders, your Penny Prince, into circumstances where you two would inevitably clash. We knew that if you killed him, the Anchor's role would transfer to you. And that is exactly what happened."
"The moment you struck him down, you became the new Anchor. The… main character, so to speak."
"Why?" Rem demanded, the word heavy with heat. "Why would you put something like that on me?"
The Blurred Man's blurred head tilted, almost in pity. "Because the Anchor cannot run. Cannot hide. The Anchor must survive… or the world will be destroyed."
"And that means, Ren, that we have shackled you to the world you now call home. You cannot abandon it. You cannot sacrifice yourself for it. If you die, the entire thing dies with you."
Ren stared at him, disbelief warring with fury. "So all this time, every fight, every time I escape death, you've been stacking the deck. Forcing me into this corner."
"Yes." The Blurred Man said simply. "Now you understand. It was never just about saving your family. We have put the weight of everything on your shoulders."
"You are the linchpin, the keystone, the axis upon which this world spins. You can hate me for it. You can rage. But you cannot change it."
Ren's chest rose and fell with slow, deep breaths, the truth sinking into him like a poisoned knife. "So, I never really had a choice."
"No." the Blurred Man said softly. "But you do get a purpose. The Three have given you the most important one of all."
"To destroy the evil that seeks to destroy the world."
Ren said nothing. His mind screamed at the unfairness of it, but deep down, under the rage, under the exhaustion, there was a cold, unyielding truth.
He could not die.
And that meant he had no choice but to keep fighting.