You said you were going to make games, how did you become the richest man without doing anything?

The silver moon sank deep into the sky, reflecting mottled blue light that fell upon the summit of the Youjing Mountains.

The air was eerily still; even the low cries of night owls seemed trapped in the air, unable to move. But in this silent night, a glimmer of light suddenly flashed across the cliff, transforming into a rapidly tumbling figure that sparked amidst the rubble.

"Cough... Damn it... They're really hot on our heels..."

The girl fell onto a stone slab, barely managing to prop herself up on one side. Her cloak was torn, and her short, silvery-white hair was stained with blood, but her clear, glassy eyes still shone brightly.

“Fufu—return that ‘Fragment of Words’ and you’ll have a chance to live.” A cold, emotionless voice sounded from behind.

Those were the language hunters of the language hunters organization. They were the order maintainers of the new era, who believed in "judgment of expression" and considered unauthorized awakening of language quality to be a desecration of the language itself.

Fufu sat up abruptly, clutching the invisible fragment of a core tightly to her chest. It was nothing more than a feather-light void, yet it pulsed warmly in her palm, as if speaking, yet also as if saying nothing at all.

"No," she said softly.

“Those are the ‘whispers of companionship’ left behind by Noria. Not a weapon, nor power. It’s just… the reason I want to be myself.”

Several dark figures emerged from the mountains and forests. The Whisperer wielded the Whisper Blade in his hand. The blade had no physical form, yet light meandered like condensed whispers, like the echo of flowing verses.

"That's a forbidden expression. Hand it over."

Fufu closed her eyes and whispered softly, "I'm sorry... I'm a Whisper Watcher who's not very good at fighting."

Having said that, she drew a rusty short sword from her waist. A sealing stone was embedded in the hilt, bearing a broken inscription: 【Silens Verba】

—Words of silence.

"You think... a sword that can't speak can protect you?" the Whisperer sneered. "That's nothing but an old relic that's no longer effective."

Fufu simply held the sword horizontally in front of her and murmured softly, "I know you're still here, even if no one remembers how you spoke anymore."

"Please, stay with me one more time."

As soon as the words were spoken, a sudden gust of wind arose on the mountaintop. The silent sword trembled violently, emitting a low thud, not like the clash of metal, but more like the echo of a heart awakening.

Then, a gray-silver light burst forth from the sword, not dazzling, but piercing the senses of all the Whisperers.

“That’s not language,” the team leader growled in a low voice. “That’s—the echo of unspoken words!”

"Back off!" the hunters shouted in unison, but it was too late.

The sword flashed, uttering not a word, yet cleaved the very act of expression. All the incoming terms, thoughts, and unspoken words crumbled before it, like vows made of paper.

Fufu opened her eyes and stepped onto the path of bloodstone. The curse marks on her body dissipated in the dim light, as if a heavy past was being gently wiped away.

She called softly, "Silens."

"It's so good that you're still here."

The sword of silence did not respond, but the mountain wind seemed to make way for her at that moment.

The hunters had already fled, and the remaining ones dared not advance any further. They could only gaze from afar at the girl standing in the wind—holding the silent shattered core in her arms and a sword that could not speak in her hand.

[The Era of Language Quality, Part Two] The Kingdom of Secret Languages ​​and the Nameless Man
Fufu traveled north, stepping into the legendary "Land of Secret Languages"—a former exile for those whose language was not recognized, but now the only neutral territory unaffected by language.

She arrived during the "Silent Moon".

The entire kingdom was silent; everyone communicated through gestures, glances, and even the patterns on wind chimes and cloth. No one uttered a word. A mark was carved high above the city gate:
"Silence is not suppression; it is a choice."

Fufu carried the broken core and slowly walked up the stone steps. Each step felt like stepping into a graveyard with traces of old words, and every wall bore the marks of erased characters.

She finally stopped in front of an obsidian tower, the legendary abode of the "Nameless One".

That person had no name, no voice, and never appeared with words. Yet he was revered by all the silent ones as the "Teacher of Being."

The tower gate opened automatically.

Fufu walked into the dimly lit corridor, where the air seemed to carry a silent quality, thick with a certain lyrical weight. Every corner whispered unspeakable emotions.

“I knew you were here.”

A voice rang out, but it was not in any language.

Fufu was stunned—it was "holistic communication," a pure consciousness communication technique that had been almost lost in the Third Language Era.

Before her sat a figure on the steps, his body wrapped in gray cloth, his face blurred, but his aura gentle.

"You brought that fragment of the core."

“It was left behind by Noria.” Fou nodded. “I…don’t want it to fall into the hands of abusers.”

“You are a watcher, yet you are also running away.” The man stood up and approached her. “You are afraid of expressing conflict, but expression itself is never conflicting.”

"The conflict is—our possession of expression."

Fufu opened her mouth, but then fell silent.

“The shattered core isn’t Noria’s relic.” The man pointed to her chest. “It is now a part of you.”

You should learn how to speak for yourself.

In an instant, the shattered core emitted a soft light in Fufu's hand, as if responding to that statement. Her heart trembled violently, as if that void had finally fallen into her flesh and blood, transforming into reality.

"You...who are you?"

The man didn't answer, but simply stretched out a hand and placed it on Fufu's forehead.

"It doesn't matter who I am."

"But now, I'm going to give you your real name."

In that instant, Fufu felt all the possibilities of language within her being ignited.

Like a spark.

Like thunder.

Like the first undefined cry of a newborn baby.

[The Era of Linguistic Quality, Part Three] The Test of Naming and the Battle of the Unspoken
In the central square of the Kingdom of Secrets, an ancient altar hangs.

That is the place of the "Naming Trial," one of the ancient rituals, where only those who truly have the right to self-expression can receive a response from the "spirit of words."

"Are you ready?" The nameless man stood beside the altar, his gray cloth fluttering in the wind.

Fufu nodded and placed the crushed kernel in front of her chest.

"I think it's no longer just about watching over others."

"I want to start speaking—my own words."

At that moment, the entire square fell into absolute silence.

She raised her hands, clasped them in front of her chest, and closed her eyes.

"I am what I am."

"That is, expression."

"My existence."

"That is, language."

As the words fell, the sky suddenly split open, and a huge "echoing sound" poured down from the starry sky, cascading into the altar like a waterfall.

That wasn't a sound.

That's the universe itself responding.

Fufu floated up, and the shattered core within her emitted a sharp and pure light, eventually slowly coalescing into a new sword.

Four characters appeared on the blade—

【Lingua Astra】

Starry Sword.

She slowly opened her eyes, and the hesitation and longing of the past were no longer there in them.

Rather, it is a steadfastness that exists even before it is spoken.

Meanwhile, far to the south, one of the sons of Yu Zhi, known as "the Manifest One," also suddenly opened his eyes at this moment.

"A new namer has been born."

"It is time—the unspoken war is about to begin."

The night wind caressed the floating clouds of Talosis, and the cracks in the sky still burned fiercely in the heavens. They were symbols of the outbreak of the "Unspoken War," traces of the power of language tearing apart the structure of reality.

As Fufu slowly walked out of the Hall of Spiritual Words, the Resonance Stone behind her extinguished all its light the instant she left.

"The Star Sword... truly responded to me."

She looked down at the long sword in her hand—no, the invisible sword.

It was a sword made of "unspoken" and named "Noinda Reahir," which in ancient language means "the truth that has not been heard."

It had no physical form, yet within Fou's heart flowed an ultimate tranquility and power. Each time she gripped the hilt, she could hear unspoken words—ancient vows, silent love, untold fears—converging within the sword, coalescing into power. Below the tower, Noria awaited her.

She wore a grey-blue travel cloak, which shimmered like stardust in the wind.

“Fou,” she raised her head, her voice as soft as a dream, “you have become the wielder of the Whispering Sword. Now it is your turn to meet the Whisperers of the Astral Plane.”

Fufu nodded.

"The unspoken battle has already begun," she replied softly.

[Eight] The Night Walker of the Silent Mountains

Leaving the Realm of Spiritual Whispers, they embarked on the ancient path leading to the "Silent Whispers Mountains." The mountains got their name from a very special airflow in their valleys—it swallowed all sound, even magical chants could not escape.

The group consisted of three people: Fufu, Noria, and a silent one named Retu.

He was a "silent warrior" and one of the first individuals to lose his language when he became aware of its quality.

Raito's eyes were cold and stern, but every step he took seemed to be a conversation with the world. He didn't speak, but every moment of his existence was a "speech."

Deep in the mountains, shrouded in night, the three stopped before the silent ruins of a temple.

“This is the Star Language Palace,” Noria said softly. “Legend has it that the first ‘Word God’ once slept here.”

As Fufu approached the temple, she saw strange reliefs carved at the entrance—half resembling language, half resembling the trajectory of stars, like an unfinished expression waiting to be deciphered.

She gently touched the door with her words.

A faint light flowed, and the stone gate emitted a deep resonance, as if responding to her heartbeat.

"Welcome, Star Language Girl."

That wasn't a sound, but a thought that suddenly surfaced in her mind.

The next moment, the temple gates slowly opened.

[Nine] The First Battle of Language and Sword

Within fifteen minutes of entering the temple, danger was ever-present.

Emerging from the shadows are the "fallen whisperers"—once resonators, now corrupted by expression and reduced to silent hunters. They have no faces, only bodies made of fragmented language.

"Back off!" Noria drew her short staff and created a silence barrier, shielding Fou behind her.

Without hesitation, Lei Tu drew his Whisper Blade, the blade flashing as it aimed directly at the core of the Fallen Whisperer.

But these beings cannot be repelled by ordinary magic. They are “things that are forgotten after being spoken,” immune to language, and capable of eroding thought.

Fou stood up and held up "Noinda Reahir".

Her breathing was steady, and a thought flashed through her mind—

The unspoken vow burns within the sword.

An invisible sword shot out from the sky.

"I won't say who I am," she whispered.

"But you will remember me."

As the sword light slashed down, the Fallen Speakers let out an unbalanced tremor, and their entire language began to crumble—they lost their stability in the face of the power of "unspokenness" and were sent back to the void of the origin of language.

After the battle, Lei Tu looked up at her and nodded to her for the first time, as if to say, "You've passed."

[10] The Pact Between the Whisperers of the Astral Realm and Starfall

Deep within the temple lies a throne that appears to be woven from stardust.

A figure emerged from the throne. He was Ain Thranan, the Whisperer of the Stars, a being who no longer belonged to this realm.

He has no face, only an "existential sound field" woven from the echoes of countless words.

"Fufu," he said, but his voice was silent.

"You have embarked on the path of language and swordsmanship."

"But you must understand that 'silence' is a double-edged sword—it can cut through lies, but it can also sever reality."

Fufu did not back down.

"I am ready."

Ain slowly extended his hand, and a starlight-like fragment flew from his palm and landed between Fufu's eyebrows.

"This contract will allow you to enter the 'Starfall Whisper World'."

“There, you will confront your own ‘self-talk’.”

You must overcome that part of yourself that you haven't spoken of.

[XI] The Reflection of Language

The Realm of Starfall is a place of eternal night.

Fufu awoke in the grayish-white starlight, and stood before her a girl who looked exactly like her.

The girl's eyes held no warmth, only calmness and sarcasm.

"You say you want to protect the freedom of expression?"

"But deep down, you also yearn for silence."

“You think that ‘not speaking’ is a virtue, but actually you’re just afraid to speak.”

“You’re afraid that if you say it out loud, no one will listen.”

This is not an enemy.

This is her "unspoken self".

Her fear, doubt, escapism, pride... all manifested as enemies.

Fufu gripped the sword of words tightly.

“I once doubted language,” she whispered, “but it is precisely because I doubted it that I understand its value even more.”

The sword light rises.

What she cut off was—the fear of expression.

"I am not a perfect communicator."

"I'm just someone who's willing to keep talking."

Her shadow smiled and vanished into countless points of light.

[12] The Horn of the Unspoken War

When the world of language returned, the sky had changed.

A massive "unspoken array" appeared in the sky above Talos—symbolizing that unspoken truths would descend from the heavens.

The voice of the Whisperers of the Astral Realm rose once more:

"The unspoken battle has already begun in full swing."

"You will lead the Swordsmen to the 'Silent Forbidden Zone'."

"There, exists the original—the abandoned 'first language'."

"It... is awakening."

Fufu stood atop the tower, gazing at the rune array in the sky.

The sword rang in her hand, as if responding to the unsettling premonition.

Noria came up from behind and put her hand on her shoulder.

“This time, we’re all here,” she said.

Lei Tu stood beside her, silently nodding.

Fufu raised her sword and whispered towards the sky:

"Those who have not spoken will no longer remain silent."

As dusk faded and the sky hung low, runic clouds pressed down upon Talos.

Guided by the Whisperers of the Astral Realm, the "Whispering Sword Vanguard," consisting of Fouf, Noria, and Raitu, traversed the Northern Wastes and arrived in a region never marked on the ancient map.

That place is the boundary of the Silent Forbidden Zone.

They stood before a pile of ruins. The wind was silent; birds and beasts had long since fled the place. Even Fufu herself felt an ancient oppression enveloping the pounding in her chest.

“It’s not just language, even our very existence here… is being swallowed up,” Noria whispered. (End of Chapter)