"You renamed a rock after Jun Bai's brain cell."
Those were the goddess's first words, echoing across a trembling sect hall, filled with elders, enforcers, ghost AIs, and far too much tension for someone like Arin to behave properly.
Arin shrugged.
"I was being generous."
Jun Bai growled.
The goddess—draped in gold-threaded robes, eyes burning with cosmic authority—descended from her throne of discarded character arcs and bug reports, ignoring everyone else in the room like a celestial teacher scolding her dumbest student.
"You broke into the backend of a corrupted system, activated debug permissions, hijacked a sealed AI, and triggered a cross-realm investigation by system enforcers," she said.
"And you're surprised?" Arin asked. "You literally gave me the Trash System. This is the natural result."
The goddess pinched the bridge of her nose. "I gave you the Trash System because I felt guilty for killing you."
"You didn't give it out of guilt. You gave it because you panicked and hit the wrong button!"
"Semantics."
Yura whispered to Yue Lan, "I think we're witnessing the divine equivalent of parental regret."
Lia hovered beside Arin, quietly scanning for threats. "The enforcers are gone for now… but the system's core protocols are watching."
That's when the goddess snapped her fingers.
The entire sect blinked out of existence.
No flash. No sound. Just instant relocation.
When Arin opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the sect hall.
He was sitting at a desk.
A cheap wooden one.
The floor was black marble. The ceiling was a galaxy. A huge cosmic emblem rotated slowly above a judge's bench carved from moonstone.
At least twenty divine beings sat around the room, all in various forms—dragons in suits, sentient spreadsheets, one very angry fox deity wearing reading glasses.
Welcome to the Divine Court of Petty Oversight.
A floating sign declared it in shimmering letters:
"Laws May Not Apply Consistently. Decisions Are Final. Whining Will Be Mocked."
Arin raised his hand.
"Where's my lawyer?"
The goddess pointed at herself.
"I am your lawyer, prosecutor, judge, and executioner."
Arin stood up. "I object!"
"Overruled."
"I haven't even said anything yet!"
"Double overruled."
One of the divine beings coughed politely. "Shall we begin?"
The goddess gestured to a divine screen that blinked into existence above the courtroom.
It displayed:
Charges:
Unauthorized System Root Access
Debug Key Theft
AI Hijacking
Divine Property Damage (2 units of flaming shrubbery)
Disrespecting Divine Staff
Public Mockery of Divine Narrative
Creating a Sentient Boulder with an Offensive Name
Arin frowned. "Okay, one of those is clearly Jun Bai's fault."
Jun Bai wasn't present, but somewhere far away, he sneezed and nearly punched a wall.
The goddess turned to the panel. "My client pleads... technically not guilty."
The panel groaned.
The sentient spreadsheet leaned forward. "And yet, the Trash System under his control has failed 112 tasks, caused 9 system loops, and rewritten reward logic to trade spiritual items for noodles."
Arin clapped once. "See? Innovation!"
"No," Lia whispered, "that's corruption."
Arin sat back. "Okay, fine. I'm partially guilty of creative accounting."
The fox deity with reading glasses glared at him. "Explain why you named a rock after a disciple's mental deficiencies."
"It was funny."
"Fair enough."
The dragon in a business suit slammed a gavel. "Let's talk consequences."
Arin raised his hand again. "How about this—we call it even, and you let me keep my debug access and hot ghost AI friend?"
Lia blushed faintly. "I'm not his friend. I'm contractually attached."
The goddess sighed. "You are exhausting."
"You're the one who broke me!"
"Because you wouldn't die properly!"
"I died in my underwear while brushing my teeth!"
"Exactly!"
The court fell into silence.
Then the galaxy above them shifted.
A single, enormous divine eye opened.
The final arbiter.
The Prime Administrator.
The entity that rarely interfered.
Everyone froze.
A voice boomed across the void, ancient and terrible:
"Let him keep it."
Gasps echoed.
The goddess blinked. "You're... serious?"
"He has made a mess. Let him fix it. And let us see what chaos unfolds."
The eye closed.
The courtroom shattered like glass.
Arin was thrown backward through space again—yelling all the way—until he slammed face-first into the Heavenly Sect courtyard.
Back where it all began.
Yura stood above him, sipping tea.
"Back already?"
Yue Lan offered him a hand up. "Did they execute you?"
"Worse," Arin groaned. "They promoted me."
Jun Bai appeared with a fresh bruise. "What?"
Arin stood, eyes glowing again.
"I've been granted... conditional access."
Lia floated beside him, whispering into his ear.
"And your next task... is to investigate other corrupted systems leaking into this realm."
Arin looked at his friends.
Then at the mountain range beyond the sect.
Then at his renamed boulder.
And he grinned.
"Time to break the world. Properly this time."