"Here we go," Jinx whispered.

  The screen flickered, cutting to absolute black.

  There was no music. No explosive sound effects. Only a low, resonant thrum vibrated the very bones of everyone watching. It sounded like a deep breath taken before a plunge.

  A single line of white text faded into existence against the darkness.

  [ THE FINAL TRUTH ]

  Then, a voice spoke.

  It was synthetic and genderless. It carried the weight of a collapsing star.

  "For five years, you climbed."

  A montage flashed rapidly. It showed players screaming in the Goblin Caves. Guilds clashed steel against steel on the Frozen Peaks. Lone wolves fell into the magma of the Lower Depths.

  "You sought the summit of a cage. You sharpened your souls against the whetstone of death."

  The montage accelerated. The images bled into one another until they formed a single streak of vertical light.

  "However, a conquered mountain becomes a tomb."

  The streak of light froze and turned grey. The vibrant world of the Tower desaturated. It looked suddenly small and dead.

  The screen cut to black again.

  "We promised you a Horizon without End."

  The darkness shattered.

  A new logo erupted from the center of the void. Prismatic colors fractured the shadows.

  [ THE CONVERGENCE ]

  The letters drifted freely. They looked alive and unbound, unlike the rigid text of the Tower.

  "However, the Horizon remains invisible from inside a wall. The Pillar must fall to grant you the Sky."

  The visual shifted again. It depicted a schematic of the Tower of Trials. The colossal pillar connected the earth to the sky and blocked out the sun.

  Then, a hairline fracture appeared at its base.

  "The History is written. The Ink is dry."

  The fracture spread. It raced up the schematic like lightning. The massive structure groaned. The sound of tearing metal and crushing stone filled the audio feed.

  "The Page must be turned..."

  The schematic dissolved. It transitioned seamlessly into high-definition live footage. The camera swooped down through the grey clouds of Floor 100. It rushed past the broken pillars and the dust of the final battle.

  It entered the desolate Throne Room.

  The lens focused on the lone, armored figure sitting on the obsidian throne. The stillness of the figure stood in violent contrast to the chaos of the narration.

  The man who had conquered the tomb.

  "...by the hand of the Sovereign."

  The video paused there.

  It returned to the live feed of Zero meditating on the throne.

  The studio fell silent.

  "The Pillar must fall to grant you the Sky," Jinx repeated the line. His brow furrowed in confusion. He looked at the chat. The text scrolled so fast it became unreadable.

  "What are they saying? Are they deleting the old servers? Is this a server wipe event?"

  He looked at the comments.

  ────────

  [Chat]: A TOMB?!

  [Chat]: The Pillar = The Tower!

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  [Chat]: Wait. They said the conquered mountain is a tomb?

  [Chat]: "The Sovereign must turn the Page." WOAH! SO EPIC!

  [Chat]: Sovereign = Zero?

  [Chat]: BRO. IS ZERO GOING TO BLOW UP THE GAME?!

  [Chat]: ...

  ────────

  "Hmmm." Jinx rubbed his chin. "The chat thinks Zero holds the detonator. However, that makes little sense. Why would Mirage Corp place the fate of their new game in the hands of a player?"

  Maya remained silent.

  She stared intently at the screen. Her mind raced. As an Expert-Rank Arcanist in reality, she understood the principles of Equivalent Exchange better than anyone.

  She recalled every important detail related to TOT and TC.

  '...The Incubator.'

  The realization hit her as a word appeared in her mind.

  The Tower served as more than just a game. It functioned as a battery. It was a closed system designed to gather data, emotion, and energy. And now the battery was full.

  "It is a key," Maya whispered, her eyes widening.

  Jinx turned to her. "A key?"

  "The video stated the Pillar must fall," Maya explained, pointing at the schematic on the paused screen. "I believe it suggests that Mirage Corp is insisting on the necessity of the Tower's data — the history, the levels, the energy. They need everything to power the new world."

  "Look at the title as well - An End For A New Beginning."

  "I-I see..." Jinx muttered, hiding his confusion.

  Maya looked at the masked figure on the throne with a mixture of awe and horror.

  "Zero..." she muttered. Her voice trembled slightly. "He has to sacrifice the Tower to create The Convergence?"

  Jinx and the chat nodded in realization. The logic settled over them like a physical weight.

  "He also has to sacrifice himself," Maya added. She turned back to the figure on the screen.

  The studio fell deathly silent.

  "W-Wait! Wait!" Jinx frantically waved his hands. "Do you mean the Tower of Trials and everything in it must be sacrificed? We are talking about five years of history giving birth to The Convergence!"

  "...I think so," Maya replied. But she sounded unsure.

  "Let's watch more then. Maybe something else comes up," Jinx suggested. He tapped the holographic interface. "Speeding it up to 2x."

  The footage accelerated. On screen, the armored figure of Zero moved with comical speed. He stood up from the throne. He paced around the corpse of the Master of the Tower. He seemed to be searching for something in the empty air. Then, he stopped. He looked at the ceiling for a long moment before returning to the obsidian seat and closing his eyes.

  Jinx paused the stream. Confusion washed over his face.

  "Why isn't he doing anything?"

  "He just... sat back down," Maya observed, her brow furrowing.

  "Does he not want to do it?" Jinx asked. He looked at the chat for answers. "Think about it. He is the Sovereign here. He is the strongest entity in existence. If he breaks the Tower, he loses everything. His levels. His items. His status. Maybe... maybe he is reluctant to part with his crown?"

  The chat seemed to agree.

  ────────

  [Chat]: I wouldn't do it either.

  [Chat]: Being a King > Being a Noob.

  [Chat]: Maybe he's protesting?

  [Chat]: WAIT! GUYS LOOK AT THE TEXT!

  [Chat]: HE DOESN'T KNOW!

  [Chat]: JINX! FAST FORWARD TO THE OVERLAY!

  [Chat]: ...

  ────────

  "They found something," Jinx muttered. He exchanged a sharp glance with Maya. He dragged the timeline slider forward to the point the fans mentioned.

  The footage of Zero faded slightly. New text overlaid the image.

  [ As you have noticed... the King sits idle. ]

  Jinx leaned in. He read the words aloud as they appeared.

  [ The Sovereign waits at the End. ]

  [ However, the path to the Beginning remains veiled to his eyes. ]

  [ The Architect cannot interfere. ]

  [ Only the Voices of the World can guide the King. ]

  "He doesn't know," Maya realized, her voice barely a whisper. She leaned closer to the screen, shaking her head slightly. "Look at him. He isn't hesitating out of pride or greed. He's just... playing by the old rules. He's sitting there waiting for a quest marker that's never going to appear."

  "This is it," Jinx exclaimed. He slapped the desk. "Mirage Corp made this a community event. Zero holds the trigger, but we hold the instructions!"

  [ Send a Signal. ]

  A massive poll interface materialized on the screen. It obscured the lonely figure on the throne.

  [ The World is watching. Choose the Whisper to send to the Sovereign. ]

  [ Note: The System limits the clarity of the transmission. ]

  [ Option A: "The ceiling is the floor." ]

  [ Option B: "Midnight marks the dawn." ]

  [ Option C: "The Seat binds the Sky." ]

  "Oh my god," Jinx breathed. He stared at the baffling options. "These are riddles. They sound like complete nonsense."

  He looked at the camera. His eyes went wild with excitement.

  "CHAT! YOU HEARD THEM! WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME! VOTE! TELL ZERO WHAT TO DO!"

  The chat stream moved so fast that it became a solid bar of color.

  ────────

  [Chat]: WHAT DOES A MEAN?!

  [Chat]: C! C SOUNDS RIGHT!

  [Chat]: "The Seat binds the Sky." Seat = Throne?

  [Chat]: Option A makes no sense!

  [Chat]: B is too poetic!

  [Chat]: IT'S C! TELL HIM THE THRONE IS THE PROBLEM!

  [Chat]: VOTE C!

  [Chat]: ...

  ────────

  Maya watched the numbers climb. Her eyes glued themselves to Option C.

  "The Seat binds the Sky," she whispered. "They are right. It is the only logical hint."

  "Guys, you heard the Queen! Let's vote for C! Everyone spam C!" Jinx shouted, pumping his fist in the air. "We are the guide! Let's go!"

  He reached for his console to cast his own vote, but the frantic scrolling of the chat caught his eye. The colorful wall of text had shifted from voting commands to urgent, terrified warnings.

  ────────

  [Chat]: JINX! LOOK AT THE STREAM!

  [Chat]: HE'S MOVING!

  [Chat]: CATCH UP! CATCH UP!

  [Chat]: HE ISN'T WAITING!

  [Chat]: OMG LOOK AT HIM!

  [Chat]: ...

  ────────

  "What?" Jinx frowned, confusion clouding his excitement.

  He slapped the 'Live' button, syncing the footage instantly.

  The image skipped forward. The poll interface remained overlaid on the screen, but behind it, the scene had changed completely. Zero wasn't sitting on the throne anymore.

  He was standing before the massive obsidian walls of the Throne Room.

  "What is he doing?" Jinx asked, his voice tight. "The hint hasn't been sent yet. The poll is still running."

  Maya stared at the screen, her eyes widening as the realization struck her. A shiver ran down her spine.

  "The hint doesn't matter," she whispered. "He doesn't need us."

  She turned to Jinx, a mix of disbelief and awe on her face.

  "He... He figured it out on his own."