I Traded My Reputation for a Secret Identity

“At first, he was chasing chaos and unease. Later, turmoil and chaos were chasing him, and he led them, wandering between light and shadow, enjoying every moment.” So said the shrunken detective. The lights of the entire city were reflected in his eyes, stirring ripples like shimmering light. The boy seemed so distant now, like a richly colored portrait. He turned around and gave a curtain-call bow. “Will the fireworks of an entire city win your favor?” “Please, look at me a little more!” “I saw her towering figure blot out the sky. A ferocious smile spread across her face as she laughed at us, fleeing in the palm of her outstretched hand.” The tiger who had found a new home had a terrible dream. “If even death cannot make them turn their gaze toward this land, then I will bring you a feast for the ages!” The witch who served the yokai stood onstage, spreading her arms as she drew every eye toward herself. Her voice rang out like thunder. “Be grateful to me, for I will bring you hope.” “Is a person's life determined by their birth? Birth isn't everything, but it means a lot. If you want to break free of it, don't deny it. Sever it, or take control of it: that is the true way I can break my fate.” The flower in the darkness lifted its gaze. The heartless man toyed with the scales. He treated everything as a commodity, setting it on one side of the balance to provoke ruin. “Light and darkness have never been yours to choose.” “He sits in another dimension. The rules have given him supreme power, but they have also bound him. He is forever at peace, and forever alone. What was he thinking when he made that decision?” mused the literary giant who pursued death. He exiled the entire world. He is a sage imprisoned by his own hand, a lone king shut away from the world, and... a dead man who endures forever. “Only those who have received an invitation can come here, because this is a friend paying a visit.” “The mortal world is like a shadow, joy and sorrow like a song. The myriad forms of life are all passing guests. If the human world is a furnace, why have you come?” As elegant music began to play, the man in a hunting robe raised his wide sleeve, revealing only his lovely brows and eyes as he questioned the human heart. With his cursed spirit beside him, the man passed through the world like a breeze. He had no desire to save the world, yet the world was reborn because of him. “Stop following me.” He looked at those who revered him as a god. “I can smell your desire.” “Curses and praise are both malice to me.” “He was always careful to groom his crane feathers, hiding the gleaming ones beneath gray plumage. He was a special sort of person, with a way of life all his own.” When it takes flight, no one can see its true form. White clouds conceal it, and afterward it transforms into countless shapes. “Colorlessness is chaos.” Pei Zhen tried to catch every brilliant star. Only when he finally turned around did he realize that he had become a new sky. Theme: Strive to do what you want. There is no hierarchy in life.