Chapter 765: The Deviation

Zero returned to the abandoned building three days later.

He didn’t know why.

Earth Zero had already taken most of the records.

The room should have been empty.

Yet Zero couldn’t stop thinking about what he had seen.

Expected sequence.

The words had followed him everywhere.

At first, he had rejected them.

There was no reason for his life to follow someone else’s sequence.

No reason for Hiro to be forced into a particular position simply because an unknown record claimed he belonged there.

People made choices.

Those choices changed things.

That was normal.

It had to be.

But Earth Zero had known too much.

That was what Zero couldn’t explain.

He hadn’t guessed that the battle against Aamon would unfold differently.

He had known.

He hadn’t predicted that Mia would gradually become the symbol of victory.

He had recorded it as a deviation.

And the more Zero remembered the papers—

the more uncomfortable he became.

Because the changes did not begin with Mia.

They began with him.

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

The building was silent.

Zero entered the back room.

Most of the walls were empty now.

The papers were gone.

The strings connecting them had been removed.

Only small pieces remained.

Fragments that Earth Zero had either forgotten—

or intentionally left behind.

Zero walked toward one of the tables.

A single page rested there.

His eyes immediately narrowed.

His own name was written across the top.

ZERO ELEA

Below it were several lines.

Not events.

Not dates.

Changes.

Tower — deviation increased.

Elven Kingdom — deviation continued.

Mana Base — unknown influence.

Dual Art — deviation expanded.

Zero’s expression darkened.

He continued reading.

Then he stopped.

One line had been written differently from the others.

The ink was darker.

The handwriting pressed deeper into the page.

Parallel Memory — point of instability.

Zero froze.

His fingers tightened around the paper.

For several seconds, he simply stared at the words.

Then—

"That one wasn’t supposed to be there."

Zero turned immediately.

Earth Zero stood at the doorway.

Zero’s eyes narrowed.

"You knew I’d come back."

"I hoped you wouldn’t."

"That’s not the same thing."

"No."

Earth Zero entered the room.

His eyes moved toward the page in Zero’s hand.

For the first time since Zero had begun confronting him, the other version didn’t look amused.

He looked serious.

Almost cautious.

Zero raised the paper.

"What does this mean?"

Earth Zero didn’t answer.

"Parallel Memory."

Zero’s voice became colder.

"What is a point of instability?"

Earth Zero looked at him.

"You’ve been asking the wrong question."

"Then answer the right one."

Earth Zero was silent.

Zero stepped forward.

"You’ve spent weeks telling me that my choices changed the world."

"Yes."

"You’ve shown me records of what was supposed to happen."

"Yes."

"You’ve been restoring Hiro because you believe his position was altered."

"Yes."

Zero held the paper higher.

"Then tell me what this has to do with me."

Earth Zero’s expression slowly changed.

"It has everything to do with you."

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

The answer made the room feel smaller.

Zero stared at him.

Earth Zero walked toward the empty wall.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then—

"You think the deviation began when Mia became more important."

Zero’s eyes narrowed.

"Didn’t it?"

"No."

The answer came immediately.

"Mia is a result."

Zero remained silent.

"Not the beginning."

Earth Zero turned toward him.

"The same is true for Hiro."

"What?"

"Hiro being pushed away from the center is also a result."

Zero’s expression hardened.

"Then what caused it?"

Earth Zero looked directly at him.

"You."

The answer remained between them.

Zero didn’t move.

For a moment, he almost laughed.

Not because it was funny.

Because it made no sense.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"I didn’t take anything from Hiro."

"I know."

"I didn’t tell people to ignore him."

"I know."

"I didn’t make Mia the center of the world."

Earth Zero’s expression didn’t change.

"I know."

Zero stepped closer.

"Then how is this my fault?"

Earth Zero’s eyes moved toward the paper.

"Because you don’t need to take someone’s place to change where they stand."

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

Zero’s mana stirred.

He forced it down.

"Explain."

Earth Zero walked toward the table.

"You entered events that were never supposed to involve you."

Zero frowned.

"That’s impossible."

"Is it?"

"I was born in this world."

Earth Zero looked toward him.

"Were you?"

The question made Zero fall silent.

Earth Zero continued before he could answer.

"You changed the Tower."

Zero’s expression hardened.

"The Tower changed me."

"Exactly."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You entered it as one person."

Earth Zero’s voice remained calm.

"You left it as another."

Zero stared at him.

"People grow."

"Not like that."

The words came quietly.

But Earth Zero’s expression had become darker.

Zero remembered the page.

Tower — deviation increased.

Earth Zero continued.

"After the Tower, you entered the Elven Kingdom."

Zero said nothing.

"You learned Mana Base."

"I know what I did."

"You developed your abilities."

"I know."

"You interfered in conflicts that would have unfolded without you."

Zero’s expression changed.

Earth Zero’s words were beginning to sound familiar.

Not because he agreed with them.

Because he had already seen the evidence.

Events before his involvement.

Events after it.

Sequences changing.

Paths separating.

Earth Zero looked at him.

"Every time you grew, the world around you changed."

Zero’s eyes narrowed.

"That’s what happens when anyone grows stronger."

"No."

Earth Zero shook his head.

"Most people grow inside the world."

He pointed toward Zero.

"You began changing the world around your growth."

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

Silence filled the room.

Zero didn’t understand.

Or perhaps—

he didn’t want to.

Earth Zero walked past him.

"The battle against Aamon is the easiest example."

Zero’s expression immediately hardened.

"What about it?"

"In the expected sequence, Hiro’s position becomes more important as the battle progresses."

Zero remembered the records.

Hiro takes command.

The central battlefield shifts.

The final confrontation becomes his responsibility.

Earth Zero continued.

"Then you entered the final stage of the battle."

Zero’s voice became cold.

"So I should have stood aside?"

"No."

The answer surprised him.

Zero looked toward Earth Zero.

"I’m not saying you should have done nothing."

"Then what are you saying?"

Earth Zero’s expression became complicated.

"I’m saying that you weren’t supposed to be able to do what you did."

Zero froze.

"What?"

The other Zero looked toward the page again.

"Your strength changed the shape of the conflict."

Zero’s eyes narrowed.

"I became stronger."

"You became something the sequence didn’t account for."

Zero’s hand tightened.

"Stop calling it a sequence."

"Why?"

"Because it sounds like you’re saying everything was decided."

Earth Zero didn’t answer.

That silence irritated Zero more than anything.

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

Zero turned away.

He looked through the empty room.

"You keep saying I changed things."

"Yes."

"But you haven’t explained how."

Earth Zero watched him.

Zero’s voice became colder.

"How did my choices move Hiro away from the center?"

For several seconds, Earth Zero said nothing.

Then he finally answered.

"Because people followed you."

Zero frowned.

"What?"

"They followed your actions."

Earth Zero walked toward him.

"At first, it was only the people around you."

Zero remained silent.

"Then your actions began changing larger events."

He raised one hand.

"The Tower."

Another.

"The Elven Kingdom."

Another.

"The human domain."

Another.

"The devil domain."

Zero watched him.

"Every time you entered a conflict, the result changed."

"That’s still normal."

"Not when the result begins changing what comes after it."

Zero’s eyes narrowed.

Earth Zero continued.

"People respond to important events."

"Obviously."

"They choose who to follow."

Zero said nothing.

"They decide whose actions mattered."

Earth Zero’s voice lowered.

"And slowly, the person who repeatedly changes the outcome becomes the person everyone begins looking toward."

Zero froze.

He understood.

Not completely.

But enough.

Mia hadn’t simply become the center because of her strength.

Hiro hadn’t simply faded because he became weaker.

The balance had changed because events themselves had changed.

And Zero—

Zero had been involved in too many of them.

Earth Zero looked toward him.

"You changed the scale of what was possible."