Chapter 19: The Nameless One’s Third Transformation

(Trading Life for Continuance)

When he woke, he did not know how much time he had left.

He only knew—
This body no longer truly belonged to him.

At the end of the shadow passage lay a fracture forgotten by the world.

There was no Flame here.
Nor a complete projection of rules.

Like a torn remnant of existence, stripped of its label.

The Nameless One lay amid shattered stone, his chest rising and falling faintly.

Every breath felt like mortgaging the future.

The second transformation had stripped him of recovery.

The threshold of the third transformation was even more brutal:

Using continuance as fuel.

Not Flame.
Not lifespan.

But—
How long he was still permitted to exist.

He understood this clearly.

Once the third transformation began, he would lose—
The privilege of being “automatically repaired” by the world.

Even a simple fall, even a minor injury,
Could become his final state.

He did not hesitate for long.

Because the Flame Hunter was already closing in.

Existence slippage only delayed pursuit.
It was not escape.

He forced himself upright.

Closed his eyes.

No cultivation posture.
No guidance.

He simply remembered.

Remembered the first moment he had existed without Flame.

That was not power.

It was—
Refusal.

Refusing Flame.
Refusing explanation.
Refusing definition.

The third transformation began in absolute silence.

No tearing.
No eruption.

His heartbeat slowed.

Not toward failure.

But—
Reducing synchronization frequency with the world.

Deep within his consciousness,
An interface that had never existed before slowly unfolded.

Not the Flame Order.

But—
Existence Assessment.

Current status:
Existence Stability: 31%
World Tolerance: Decreasing
Continue?

He did not answer.

Because whether to continue or not
Had long since ceased to matter.

He felt his body growing “thin.”

Not vanishing.

But—
Shifting from actuality toward possibility.

Pain faded.
Emotion dulled.

Yet some things became clearer than ever before.

For the first time, he saw the outline of himself.

Not a name.
Not an identity.

But a line of description, almost cruel in its honesty:

An anomalous individual, persistently existing outside the Flame Domain system.

He smiled.

“Good.”
“At least it’s true.”

The core of the third transformation was not increased strength.

It was a right of choice:

When the world rejects you—
Do you still choose to exist?

He chose—
Yes.

The price manifested immediately.

Sensation vanished from his left hand.

Not numbness.

But—
It had been removed from the feedback loop of reality.

Then his shoulder.
Then half of his chest.

He understood with terrifying clarity:

This was not injury.

This was—
Being gradually deregistered by reality.

At the moment his existence stability dropped below 20%—

Outside.

Flame Hunter H-01 halted.

Recognition directives refreshed in rapid succession.

Target existence fluctuation abnormal
Judgment failed
Unable to confirm elimination

For the first time—
It entered a blank state.

At that instant,
The Nameless One completed the transformation.

Existence stability stabilized at 17%.

A number so dangerous it bordered on madness.

Yet—
He still existed.

He stood.

The edges of his body slightly out of focus.

As though reality had not fully finished loading him.

He extended his still-responsive right hand.

Gently clenched it.

The air collapsed.

Not an explosion.

But—
“This place once permitted my existence.”

He knew.

From this moment on—

He could not remain in one place for long.
He could not endure large-scale observation.
He could not perform any action that demanded explanation.

Otherwise—

The price of the third transformation
Would be settled all at once.

But in exchange,
He gained something.

Not power.

But—
Priority.

When the world had to choose between
explaining Flame
or
allowing him to exist—

The world would hesitate.

And hesitation—

Was the space in which he survived.

In the distance,
The Flame Hunter reestablished pursuit.

But this time,
What it tracked was only a blur.

The Nameless One whispered softly:

“Come.”

“Every moment I remain alive—”

“Is a cost you have to pay.”