---
The Fractured Echo
Luo Fan steadied himself. The air here was strange—not heavy, not light, but… wrong.
Like he was standing inside a forgotten dream.
His eyes locked onto Xiao Ling.
> "You've been here before?"
Her form flickered again. Just for a moment.
A split-second where she wasn't Xiao Ling.
But someone else.
Someone Luo Fan should have recognized.
And yet—
> The name wouldn't come.
Like something had erased it.
> "Okaaaay, is anyone else FREAKED OUT? Because I am SUPER FREAKED OUT."
EchoStar's interface glitched.
> [WARNING: Unstable Zone Detected]
[Multiple Temporal Signatures Overlapping]
Luo Fan exhaled. "Xiao Ling. Tell me the truth."
She hesitated.
> "…I don't remember everything."
She clenched her fists. "But I know one thing."
She turned to face him—
Her gaze unwavering.
> "This place exists because of you."
---
A Forgotten Past
Luo Fan's pulse slowed.
"What do you mean?"
Xiao Ling stepped forward.
> "The Fractured Echo isn't just a place."
"It's a consequence."
Her eyes gleamed with something ancient. Familiar.
> "It exists… because of a choice you made."
Luo Fan's mind rebelled.
> He had never been here before.
> Had he?
Something pressed against his thoughts.
A memory just out of reach.
A choice that had already been made.
> "OHHHH, I DO NOT LIKE THIS."
EchoStar's interface shimmered with static.
> [DATA INTEGRITY COMPROMISED]
[REBUILDING LOST LOGS...]
Luo Fan exhaled. "…Then what happens now?"
Xiao Ling smiled.
A sad smile.
> "We find out what you lost."
And behind her—
The Fractured Echo shifted.
And a door appeared.
A door with his name on it.
---
[To Be Continued...]