Chapter 762: What Should Have Happened

Zero couldn’t forget Earth Zero’s final words.

Watch more carefully.

Not what happens.

Who remains after it.

For several days, that was exactly what he did.

He watched the aftermath of events.

Who people talked about.

Whose name appeared first in reports.

Who soldiers mentioned when they described a battle.

Who the public attached to an important moment.

The more Zero watched, the clearer the pattern became.

But understanding the pattern did not explain the reason.

If anything, it only created more questions.

Why Hiro?

Why did Earth Zero believe Hiro needed to remain at the center?

And why did the other Zero speak as though the world itself naturally moved around whoever occupied that position?

Zero had no answers.

Then he found something he wasn’t supposed to see.

********************************

It began with a mistake.

Earth Zero had been more careful recently.

Zero rarely sensed him anymore.

There were no obvious attacks.

No messages.

No deliberate meetings.

It was as though Earth Zero had decided Zero had learned enough for the moment.

But Zero continued searching.

Not for mana.

Earth Zero was too skilled at hiding that.

Instead, Zero followed information.

Movements.

Rumors.

Unusual requests.

Places connected to recent events.

It took several days.

Then Zero noticed a pattern.

A small information broker near the western district had received a visitor.

The visitor had asked about Hiro.

Nothing unusual about that anymore.

But the questions were strange.

Not about Hiro’s current strength.

Not about his location.

Not about his abilities.

The visitor had asked what Hiro had been doing.

Where he had been.

Who had accompanied him.

And—

what had happened instead.

Zero found that detail strange.

What had happened instead.

The broker didn’t know who the visitor was.

But Zero did.

He had left behind something.

A faint distortion in space.

Almost impossible to notice.

Almost.

Zero followed it.

***************************************

The trail led outside the capital.

Through an abandoned trade route.

Across several empty fields.

Then toward an old building that had once been used as a storage house.

Zero stopped outside.

The building looked empty.

No guards.

No mana barrier.

No visible protection.

Which meant Earth Zero either wasn’t inside—

or he wanted Zero to enter.

Zero didn’t hesitate.

He opened the door.

***************************************

The inside was silent.

Dust covered the floor.

Broken wooden crates were scattered against the walls.

At first, Zero thought he had been wrong.

Then he noticed the room at the back.

A faint light escaped through the gap beneath the door.

Zero moved closer.

His hand reached toward Raijin’s Edge.

Then he stopped.

No danger.

No presence.

He opened the door.

And froze.

The room was covered in papers.

Not dozens.

Hundreds.

Perhaps thousands.

They covered the walls.

The floor.

The tables.

Some were connected with strings.

Others were arranged in careful rows.

Zero slowly entered.

His eyes moved across the room.

Names.

Dates.

Places.

Events.

At first, they appeared to be ordinary records.

Then Zero stepped closer.

And his expression changed.

********************************************

One sheet contained information about the battle against Aamon.

Zero immediately recognized several names.

Mia.

Hiro.

Lilith.

Amelia.

The Emperor of Destruction.

But the information wasn’t written like a report.

It was written like a sequence.

Zero read the first line.

The battle begins.

Below it—

The defenders are pushed back.

Another line.

Hiro takes command.

Zero’s eyes narrowed.

That wasn’t what had happened.

He continued reading.

The central battlefield shifts.

Hiro leads the remaining forces.

The final confrontation becomes his responsibility.

Zero stopped.

The paper continued.

The victory becomes associated with Hiro.

His expression hardened.

That definitely wasn’t what had happened.

Mia had become the symbol of the victory.

The final battle had unfolded differently.

Zero himself had been there.

He knew exactly what happened.

Yet the document described the event as though—

Zero’s eyes moved to the top of the page.

There was no title.

No date.

No author.

Only a short line written above everything else.

Expected sequence.

Zero stared at it.

Expected?

He picked up another paper.

The peace negotiations.

Again, the events were listed.

But not as a report.

They were arranged as though they were steps.

Lilith proposes peace.

The human domain refuses.

The conflict deepens.

Hiro becomes involved.

The position of the central figure changes.

The path toward reconciliation begins.

Zero’s eyes narrowed.

The peace treaty had already been signed.

The conflict had not deepened in the way described.

Hiro had not become central to the negotiations.

The entire sequence was wrong.

Or—

Zero’s grip tightened around the paper.

It was describing what had been supposed to happen.

****************************************

He moved faster.

Paper after paper.

Event after event.

The Tower of Obelisk.

The Elven Kingdom.

The human domain.

The devil domain.

Some details matched reality.

Others did not.

But they were always written the same way.

Not as possibilities.

Not as predictions.

There were no words like perhaps or if.

There was no uncertainty.

Everything was written as though the events already existed.

As though someone knew their proper order.

Zero found another page.

His own name appeared.

Zero Elea enters the Tower of Obelisk.

Below it—

Zero Elea exits.

Several events followed.

Then the writing stopped.

A blank space remained.

Zero frowned.

He picked up the next sheet.

It continued somewhere else.

Zero Elea enters the Elven Kingdom.

Hiro’s path continues independently.

Zero froze.

Hiro’s path.

The wording appeared again.

On another sheet.

Hiro’s path intersects with the conflict.

Another.

Hiro’s position becomes central.

Another.

The consequences follow.

Zero slowly placed the paper down.

This wasn’t normal information.

Earth Zero wasn’t collecting history.

He was comparing history.

Reality—

against something else.

*******************************************

"What is this?"

The voice came from behind him.

Zero immediately turned.

Earth Zero stood in the doorway.

His expression was calm.

But Zero noticed something unusual.

He wasn’t surprised.

He had expected this.

"You left this place open."

Earth Zero looked around the room.

"Did I?"

Zero held up one of the papers.

"What’s an expected sequence?"

Earth Zero remained silent.

"Answer me."

"You found it faster than I expected."

Zero stepped closer.

"This says Hiro was supposed to lead the final battle against Aamon."

Earth Zero’s expression didn’t change.

"This says the victory was supposed to be associated with him."

Still silence.

"This says the peace negotiations were supposed to develop differently."

Earth Zero looked toward one of the papers.

"Yes."

Zero stared at him.

"Are these predictions?"

"No."

"Prophecies?"

"No."

"Then what are they?"

Earth Zero walked into the room.

He passed Zero and approached one of the walls.

For several seconds, he simply looked at the papers.

Then he spoke.

"Have you ever watched something happen and known that it was wrong?"

Zero frowned.

"Wrong how?"

"Not morally."

Earth Zero touched one of the papers.

"Not logically."

He turned toward Zero.

"Wrong because it wasn’t supposed to happen that way."

Zero stared at him.

"How would anyone know that?"

Earth Zero smiled faintly.

"Exactly."

Zero’s patience disappeared.

"Stop answering questions with questions."

Earth Zero’s expression became serious.

"Then ask a better one."

Zero stepped forward.

"What are these?"

The silence returned.

Finally—

"A record."

"Of what?"

Earth Zero looked around the room.

"Of what should have happened."

Zero froze.

The answer was simple.

Too simple.

"Should have?"

"Yes."

"According to who?"

Earth Zero didn’t answer.

Zero looked at the papers again.

"You’re saying these events were supposed to happen in a specific order."

"Yes."

"And you’re comparing them to what actually happened."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Earth Zero remained silent.

Zero’s voice became colder.

"Why does it matter?"

For the first time, Earth Zero looked genuinely tired.

"Because the difference is growing."