I stared at Venus, my mind blank.
"The gods will descend in a week."
The weight of his words pressed against my chest, suffocating.
I wasn't sure how long I stood there, but the reality of it slammed into me with full force.
This was when the story—my story—would completely spiral out of my control.
The gods weren't supposed to descend yet. Not now. Not this early.
In The Book of Sin, divine intervention didn't occur until much later—after the world had stabilized under the system's rule.
So why was everything accelerating?
I forced myself to breathe. "You're serious?"
Venus shot me a look. "Would I joke about something ?"
That realization made my stomach twist.
"You weren't supposed to know this yet." Venus ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. "I was planning to announce it in two days, during the official clan meeting."
I stiffened. "That's why you summoned me here?"
A sharp exhale left me.
So this wasn't just about my exile. It wasn't about my return, either.
Venus had already been planning to gather the Romero clan—to warn them about what was coming.
But now, because of my slip-up, he was telling me first.
"Who else knows?" I asked, voice quieter than before.
"The empire's rulers. The heads of powerful factions. The strongest individuals in the world." Venus listed them off as if it were nothing. "Those who were deemed 'worthy' by the gods received this information early."
I gritted my teeth. "And me?"
"You weren't supposed to be one of them."
A dry laugh escaped me. "Well, too late for that."
Venus didn't argue. He simply sighed, his shoulders tense. "Noah, this isn't a game."
I rolled my eyes. "Do I look like I'm playing?"
His gaze hardened. "Then you understand what this means?"
It meant everything I thought I knew was useless. It meant the timeline had shattered beyond recognition. It meant—
I was completely in the dark.
A sinking feeling twisted in my gut. "Why are they coming?"
Venus exhaled slowly. "Because something changed in this world."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"We don't know exactly." Venus's voice was grim. "But whatever it was, it caught the attention of the gods. And that alone should terrify you."
"Think about it, Noah." Venus leaned forward, his gaze sharp. "Why would the gods take interest in this world now, after leaving it alone for so long?"
Because I didn't have one.
Damien, however, did.
A low chuckle echoed in my mind.
Damien's amusement sent a chill down my spine.
"You're standing here, trying to figure out why the gods are descending—why the entire world is shifting—but you still haven't put it together, have you?"
I stiffened. "What are you talking about?"
I frowned. "What about me?"
Damien let out an exaggerated sigh. "The gods, the rulers, the entire damn world is getting stirred up because of you. You're the ripple that disturbed the water."
My pulse spiked. "That's ridiculous."
"Is it?" Damien drawled. "Think about it—when did everything start going off the rails?"
I opened my mouth, then shut it.
It started when I awakened.
The system shouldn't have come to me. The Book of Sin made that clear. Azazel was supposed to be the protagonist, not me.
But the moment I gained the system, everything began shifting.
Damien chuckled. "Now you're getting it."
I swallowed hard. "So you're saying… I'm the one who threw this world off course?"
"Bingo." He sounded way too pleased with himself. "Whatever was supposed to happen? It got completely derailed the moment you entered the picture. And guess what? The gods noticed."
A sharp breath left me.
That couldn't be right.
The gods were watching because the system had been introduced earlier than expected. That was why, wasn't it?
Damien hummed as if hearing my thoughts. "You're still not seeing the bigger picture, are you? The system was always going to come. But it wasn't meant for you. The moment it latched onto you instead of Azazel, the entire world's fate shifted."
My stomach twisted. "But… why?"
"That's the fun part—I have no idea."
His voice carried an edge of frustration beneath the amusement. "Something changed the flow of fate, and I'd bet my soul that it has to do with whoever made this world. But—"
Damien paused, and for the first time, there was doubt in his tone.
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I told you before, kid. Creating a world isn't easy. It takes absurd levels of power, knowledge, and planning. And yet, this place…"
His voice dipped lower.
A chill ran through me. "Sloppy?"
"Exactly. Have you not noticed? There are inconsistencies. Fractures in logic. Even the system—it feels unpolished, like an unfinished prototype."
I clenched my fists. "So you're saying whoever made this world… didn't know what they were doing?"
"That, or they were rushed."
The idea sent unease crawling under my skin.
"A world created in haste…" Damien mused. "No proper structure. No safeguards. Just thrown together like a first attempt at something greater."
He let out a low laugh. "You know what that sounds like to me?"
The words settled in my mind like a ticking time bomb.
A newbie created this world?
Someone who had never done this before?
The very idea was absurd.
"And that's why I don't think the World Contractor is behind this." Damien continued. "If it was them, this world would be a masterpiece. But instead, it's an incomplete mess, like a rough draft that somehow got published."
My heart pounded. "Then who—"
"That's the million-gold question, kid."
I took a shaky breath.
So not only was this world artificial, but it was also half-baked—created by someone inexperienced, someone who might not have even known what they were doing.
And somehow, I was the variable that sent it spiralling further into chaos.
A cold sweat ran down my back.
The gods weren't descending just because of some unknown change.
They were descending because of me.