Chapter One: The Erased Starter

Yesterday he had remembered. Ying had sent a cake emoji, and he had recalled Ji mistaking salt for sugar. Now an entire day existed only because a photograph claimed it had happened. On the monitor, the Herald ambush replayed. Lin had abandoned the strongest path, severed an escape, and created a future that had almost no chance of existing. Ten seconds had taken one day. The door opened. He Linchuan entered with a camera crew. "Look alive. We're filming the announcement." He set a hand on Lin's chair. "The whole league will meet our genius rookie the day after tomorrow." The flash went off. Sitting in the empty place Shen Yan had left behind, Lin finally understood the price the chair demanded.