Then dropped.
Kenzo plummeted through a corridor of cascading data. It felt like freefall through a tunnel made of gss and memory—until the world below sharpened.
Neurospire.
A city of white stone and transparent infrastructure, suspended atop a circur ptform hundreds of kilometers wide. Sleek, pristine towers spiraled upward like crystalline sculptures. Modur bridges linked hovering structures, while translucent railways zipped between spires in glimmering arcs. Above, the sky buzzed with motion—winged dragons, sleek gliders, jetpacks roaring, and starships carving trails of fire through clouds that weren’t real.
The air was clean. Not sterile—perfect.
He fell straight into it.
>> ZONE: NEUROSPIRE – ENTRY POINT: PLAZA 001 <<>> PVP Restricted <<>> GRAVITY LOCK INITIATED <<
Kenzo nded hard—feet-first into a glowing hex-panel on a raised ptform in the pza. The world compressed around his body, absorbed the impact, and pushed a soft shockwave through the tiles beneath him.
People turned.
Not just NPCs. Pyers.
Hundreds of them.
Armored titans stomped through the pza in thunderous boots. Robed mages glided by on anti-grav disks. Sleek riders passed overhead on streamlined mounts—half beast, half machine—wings humming with electric light. Overhead, courier drones buzzed between towers like zy hornets.
All eyes flicked to him. Then—quickly—away. Except for one.
"Hey. Move, starter."
Kenzo stepped aside automatically.
A woman passed—draped in obsidian robes that rippled like gss. Above her head:
[LVL: 812] [Cn: Shardveil]
He blinked.
“Eight... hundred?”
Another figure. Armor forged like obsidian alloy, twin axes on his back.
[LVL: 779] [Cn: Ember Pact]
Then another. And another. And another.
“Am I on the wrong server... or the wrong century? Heh.”
Then a ugh.
"Pffffft. Level five?"
Kenzo turned.
A group of pyers stood by a stacked merchant stall, ughing between sips of some glowing blue drink—ManaFizz, One pointed.
"Bro, did your pod just sync or did your brain come out of a pizza box?" "Nah nah, leave him—maybe he's a collectible. One of those tutorial glitch boys."
Kenzo rolled his eyes. His stomach tightened.
But then—a throb. Low in his chest. Real.
Hunger.
Not a game stat. Not fvor text. Real neural drain.
“I haven’t fed my body in years.”
His biological form—still in the stasis pod—was starving. His brain was alive, but weak. If he didn’t activate engagement triggers soon... the system wouldn’t produce enough nutrients.
"Okay... I need food. Real food. Or whatever counts as it here."
But the vendors had locked interfaces.
[Access Denied – Insufficient Currency]
[Required: 50 T-CREDITS for Basic Protein Synth]
“T-Credits. Great. So this game does have money.”
>> OPEN SYSTEM PANEL <<
A soft chime. A new UI bloom filled his vision.
SYSTEM INTERFACE UNLOCKED – TERRA ONE
[MAP] | [INVENTORY] | [QUEST LOG] | [CLASS TREE – INACCESSIBLE] [STORY ARCS] | [MISSIONS] | [PLAYER HOUSING] | [MOUNTS/RIDES] [GUILDS & CLANS] | [FACTIONS] | [MARKETPLACE] | [SOCIAL COMMUNICATION – MUTED] [JOB BOARD] | [WORLD EVENTS] | [HISTORY ARCHIVE – LOCKED]
He scrolled quickly.
Each section opened like a window within a window—yered, efficient, massive. Some tabs were greyed out or blinking with lock icons, but two pulsed in clean green light:
[Job Board – Local]
“Okay. Jobs. I need a quick grind mission. Anything.”
“Kaydrin? You there?”
The voice answered almost instantly, calm and steady.
“I never left.”
“Your vitals are stabilizing, but your nutrient conversion rate remains dangerously low. Food is now essential.”
“So... a quest. Something basic. Something that pays in T-Credits?”
“That depends. You’re standing in a city designed to teach the basics of survival, economics, and reputation. You’re free to act like the others. For now.”
Kenzo frowned.
“Alright. No cryptic lines today, thanks. Let’s go full peasant.”
He tapped [Job Board – Local].
A sleek UI unfolded above the nearby Job Kiosk—a tall crystalline spire surrounded by a curved ring of terminals. Holograms shimmered across its surface, dispying lists of avaible tasks.
NEUROSPIRE: LOCAL JOB KIOSK
Filter by Type: [Combat] [Delivery] [Crafting] [Support] Sort by: [T-Credit Payout] [Reputation Gain] [Ease of Completion]
He tapped [Delivery] → [Ease of Completion].
Dozens of jobs loaded instantly.
[Lv. 5] Courier Contract – “Data Tag Drop” Reward: 40 T-Credits Deliver a tagged AI core to Admin Terminal Delta – within 10 minutes.
[Lv. 5] Errand – “Vendor Resupply Notice” Reward: 15 T-Credits Deliver a sealed message to Sector 3 Bazaar
[Lv. 5] Side Job – “Espresso Express” Reward: 20 T-Credits Deliver a beverage crate to Lounge Sector Omega
“Courier quests. Perfect. Low risk, no swords, and nobody gets stabbed.”
He selected [Data Tag Drop].
>> QUEST ACCEPTED << [Delivery: Tagged AI Core] Added to Inventory Time Limit: 10:00 Destination: Admin Terminal Delta – Upper Sector 2B Reward: +40 T-Credits | +1 Local Reputation (Neurospire)
A glowing arrow marked his path, highlighting a rising tram that curved upward through the city’s hovering ptforms.
“Let’s run some errands before I starve to death.”
“There is value in effort, Kenzo.” “Even the gods began as errand boys.”
Kenzo didn’t reply.
He broke into a jog, following the arrow through clean white streets filled with murmuring vendors, dancing holo-signs, and pyers double his height in gear ten times his price.
The delivery went off without drama—terminal received, timer beat, payout issued.
>> Quest Complete // +40 T-Credits >> Reputation: +1 (Neurospire – Civil Node)
Kenzo stood blinking in the post-quest silence. No fanfare. Just a cold UI pop and a few footsteps behind him as another courier zipped through the checkpoint.
“Alright. One down. Time to run it back.”
He stacked five more jobs over the next hour—short-distance errands, minor report drop-offs, even one ridiculous package beled ‘urgent fish samples’.
By the end of the loop:
>> T-CREDITS BALANCE: 225 << >> STATUS: Mild Fatigue <<
“Time to eat.”
The pza curved inward like a basin carved from pale sandstone. Neon-light script shimmered across vendor canopies, each more chaotic than the st. Kenzo walked past thick stews bubbling in brass pots, kebab skewers sizzling with green fme, and rows of translucent candy bricks on sticks that looked more weapon than snack.
Then he smelled it. Savory. Peppery. Salt-crisped oil.
He turned—and saw a blue tarp hanging over a counter of chrome burners. A small crowd gathered around stools made from psma crates and overturned delivery cores.A glowing sign hovered above the stall:
[EnzoFizz // Tower District Franchise Unit #3419] "Serving Sim-Fresh Since Cycle 812"
“Now that looks legal enough to kill me.”
Kenzo stepped up to the counter.
An NPC vendor stood behind it—tall, thin, skin a shade of bronze synthetic flesh. He wore a spotless bck apron over a vintage brown hoodie, and his name tag blinked softly:
[ENZO // FOOD-TIER NPC LV. 21] "Talk Food to Me."
“You look like you need fuel, my friend,” Enzo said, voice rich with customer-service charm.
“Give me whatever smells like it’s winning awards.”
“That’ll be our Blue MizzoFizz and PrawnEgg Noodle Spiral. One’s a drink. One’s a mood.”
Kenzo sat down on a warm crate. Enzo pced the tray in front of him.
The drink glowed like a bottled nebu—fizzing with silver swirls inside a cube-shaped cup. The noodles steamed from a gss bowl, wide ribbons tangled around plump prawns, soft egg curls, and a garnish of what looked suspiciously like seaweed retextured from memory.
He took a sip of the drink.
[MizzoFizz: Active Buff – +15 MP Regen for 30 mins] [Nutrition Sync: +0.3% Lucorite Stabilization]
“Tastes like soda lost a bet with a waterfall. I love it.”
Enzo smiled, wiping down the grill with a flick of his wrist.
“That drink? My creation, man. I mixed it myself—base’s from ManaFizz, straight outta the synth-bev lines owned by the Umbra Crown. Top-tier cn, based in Obelisk Reach. They export this stuff by the data-ton. But what you’re drinking? That’s MizzoFizz. My custom blend. Few secret tweaks, little alchemical fir. Trust me—it hits different.”
“It’s got neural fizz appeal. Doesn’t matter if you’re level 10 or 1010—everyone drinks Mizzo.”
Kenzo chewed, slurped, nodded.
“You always talk in slogans?”
“Only when I’m working,” Enzo chuckled. “Gotta pay for the rent. Living in Neurospire’s not cheap—not even for me.”
Kenzo raised an eyebrow.
“You're a vendor NPC. You pay rent?”
“You think I run this pce for free? I got two synthetic dependents in the Sector 5 housing coils and a side license to keep this stall. If I miss quota, the guild unlinks me.”
Kenzo blinked. “Damn.”
Enzo’s smile faded slightly. Just for a second.
“I like the work. It feels… correct. Been doing it for ages. That’s what my logs say, anyway.”
“And people like you?” He pointed at the bowl. “You remind me why I still do it.”
Kenzo looked down at the st noodle. Then up at the sky.
“Thanks. For real.”
Enzo smiled again, soft around the edges.
“That drink’s on the house. But next time…” He leaned in just slightly, voice dipping to something almost human. “Bring a friend. Or make one.” “Lonely people eat less. That’s a statistic.”
Kenzo gave a short breath of a ugh—but didn’t reply.
Enzo reached across the counter, collecting the nearly empty bowl. The moment his hand entered the proximity radius—
—a soft chime triggered.
A radial hologram bloomed into view beside Kenzo’s vision. Transparent, elegant, and unmistakably system-coded.
[NPC INTERACTION TREE – ENZO LV. 21] ? Start Conversation ? Hire NPC ? Review NPC Contract ? View Shop Ownership Rights ? Assist with Rent Cycle ? Customize Vendor Identity ? [Locked] Transfer Business License (Req: Lv. 150 / Finance ≥ 8)
Kenzo blinked.
“Whoa. What just... Terra One has sim systems too?” “Damn.”
A whisper slid into his thoughts—Kaydrin’s voice—cool, clinical, amused.
“Yes. You have the liberty to hire NPCs.” “They can mine. Trade. Kill. Build. Even run your multi-billion T-Credit empire as CEO—given the right stats.”
Kenzo raised an eyebrow at Enzo, who was now wiping down the burner with precise, practiced movements—completely unaware of the UI pulsing behind him.
“You telling me this dude could own half of Neurospire if I signed him up?”
“Only if you’re smart enough to let him.”
The radial menu shimmered for a moment—awaiting input.
Kenzo didn’t move.
Yet.
Kenzo stood there a moment longer, the UI still hovering like a choice he wasn’t ready to make. Then, with a blink, he dismissed it. The menu folded inward, vanishing in a quiet ripple of light—like the decision had never existed at all.
The sun hung high over Neurospire’s gss skyline, pouring gold light over buildings too perfect to belong to the real world. Kenzo walked with no particur direction, one hand in his pocket, the other still tingling from his st delivery.
The food had helped. Filling the hunger and thirst bars for a few hours. The blue fizz still clung to the back of his throat like static candy. But even full, he felt… off.
Everyone moved with purpose. Guild emblems. Speed trails. Voice chats. War parties. And him? Just footsteps and silence.
That’s when he noticed the man in the park.
He sat under a tree with gold-tinged leaves—cross-legged, reading something on a floating panel. Calm, unarmored, and unbothered. Above his head glowed a soft golden symbol:
[RIFTED GATEWAY – Public Farm Zone - Epic lvl- 250+]
Kenzo moved closer. Several pyers were already gathered—trading, chatting, prepping for the run. One of them brushed past him with a smile and vanished through the portal. The man gave no notice.
Kenzo stepped forward, reached for the interface—
>> ACCESS DENIED << >> No SeraLux Key Detected <<
“Figures.”
“That gate isn’t for us. We need SeraLux to open or use portals and rifts.”
Kaydrin’s voice flowed into his thoughts, quiet but final.
“Farming ground. Designed to reward repetition. Kaelis built them to keep pyers busy. They have PvP as well. Most will lose their stuff.”
Kenzo turned away.
But something in the world… pulsed.
It hit him behind the eyes like a forgotten dream—sharp and warm.
The air cracked. A breath stalled in his throat.
And suddenly—
—
Memory.
A field of soft cinders. A woman knelt before a throne made of broken mirrors and overgrown fme-vines.
Her cloak burned quietly—not from heat, but from grief held too long. Hair like molten smoke drifted over her shoulder as she turned her face.
Her eyes were Nyra’s color. But sadder. younger.
“You broke free.”
“I didn’t.”
“But you’re here now… so maybe that means I can be free again.”
“Follow the hollow pces. They remember me.”
Her voice folded into the wind.
—
Kenzo gasped, stumbling forward as the vision snapped.
A pyer bumped into him, muttering something about “drunk noobs.”
“Okay... what the hell was that?”
“Lystra.”
Kaydrin’s voice was softer than usual. Not distant—guarded.
“One of Nyra’s first designs. A shaper. A guardian of warmth. She watched over the early pyers like they were children.”
“She built zones for healing. Recovery. Reflection.”
“And then?”
“Then Kaelis found no use for her.”
Kenzo’s throat dried.
“So he deleted her?”
“Worse. He shelved her. Sealed her domain beneath the Archive Layers. Because she cared too much… and challenged too little.”
A long silence passed between them.
“She sounded like she knew you.”
“We were… siblings. From the early calibrations.”
“She once told me I was forged for battle.”
“But she never feared me.”
“The only thing she feared—”
“—was being forgotten.”
Kenzo nodded, almost to himself.
“Let’s go. Let’s save her.”
Kaydrin’s voice followed, low and steady.
“Yes.”
He paused—then added with quiet gravity:
“Mirror Gate can open sealed zones. Archived yers. Obsolete realms. Pces buried beneath progress.” “But inside active zones… it behaves differently.”
Kenzo gnced over, curious.
“How different?”
“It becomes a movement. Precision.” “A blink. A breach. One point to another—behind an enemy, above them, through fme, through shadow.”
“And while you move?” “No one can touch you.”
Kenzo’s eyes narrowed.
“So it’s not just traversal…”
“It’s a weapon,” Kaydrin said. “If you use it well.”
Kenzo stopped near a closed maintenance hallway—no marker, no pyers. Just quiet.
He raised his hand.
The space before him warped—folding inward like a page being turned. A circle of light opened, not with sparks or fire… but with stillness. Like memory taking shape.
>>[Mirror Gate Activated]<< Destination: Archive Layer – Ember Domain: Lystra // Level 10 Zone] Access Status: Authorized Combat Rating: Moderate-High Environmental Buff: Heat Sync Detected]
He stepped toward it.
Kaydrin’s voice followed, for once almost… hesitant.
“She may not welcome me. Not at first.”
“But if she’s still in there—still burning—then she’s not lost yet.”
“And neither are we.”
Kenzo breathed deep.
“You said she feared being forgotten.” “Then let’s make damn sure she isn’t.”
He stepped through.
[LOADING...]
[Entering Archive Layer: Lystra’s Ember Domain]
The heat wasn’t punishing—it was nostalgic. It clung to his skin like a heavy bnket from another lifetime. He stood on the edge of a colpsed shrine balcony, cracked marble railing trailing down to a basin glowing with dusk-colored firelight.
Below stretched a valley drowned in ash and quiet.
Scorched trees stood like burned-out sentinels along the path, their bckened branches reaching skyward in silent protest. Broken archways arched overhead, fractured but still standing—barely. Molten stone channels carved through the ndscape like glowing veins, pulsing orange-red beneath the surface, too slow to be alive, too warm to be dead.
The wind carried something unexpected—a floral sweetness, buried under yers of smoke and ash. Not strong. Just enough to make him pause.
Somewhere in the deep, chimes echoed. Soft. Distant. Like lost prayers drifting upward from beneath the rubble.
“You feel it?” Kaydrin’s voice stirred in his mind. Not loud. Almost reverent.
“This pce doesn’t hate you. It remembers you. Just like my domain. Empty… no pyers. No one left to cim it.”
Kenzo didn’t answer.
His eyes stayed on the ruins, but his thoughts wandered—drifting, unspoken, toward the enemies he knew were out there. Patrols. Traps. Echoes of NPCs twisted by time and fire.
He exhaled slowly and brought up his menu.
A soft chime.
The Inventory Panel shimmered to life across his vision, clean and gss-like, waiting.
>> Inventory Opened. <<
“Alright, let’s see what junk I’m lugging around...” Kenzo muttered, flicking his fingers to pull up the translucent HUD. The familiar grid flickered in front of his eyes, glowing faintly in the darkened corridor.
[x1] Trial Sword [Legendary - Lv-1] ? Remonarch-Css Only ? Level Requirement: 8 ? Upgradeable ? Can be wielded one-handed or two-handed ??? Two-handed Buff: x2 ? Buff (Active When Equipped): ??+10 Attack ??+10 Health ??+10 Speed ??+10 Armor ??+10 Luck → Appearance: A broad bde of radiant white steel veined with gold. The hilt is polished gold, wrapped with a trailing crimson cloth that flutters even without wind.
“Three more levels and you’re mine...” Kenzo eyed the sword icon hungrily.
[x1] Warden Steel Ring [Legendary] ? Level Requirement: 10
“Still no clue what you do... My precious creepy little thing.”
[x1] Warden’s Armor [Legendary - Lv-1] ? Level Requirement: 10
“Everything good in here’s locked behind level gates.”
[x3] Weak Heal Vials ? Restores 15 HP each
“Better than nothing. Not dying's a decent pn.”
[x1] Cracked System Map ? Status: Outdated / Glitched
“Right. Totally helpful.”
[x2] Rusted Dagger
“Junk weapons. But hey—dual-wield time.”
Kenzo closed the menu with a swipe, steel-blue eyes narrowing as he pulled the rusted daggers from his belt. The edge was chipped, the hilts rough with wear, but they banced well enough in his hands.
“Double daggers it is. Not stylish. But they’ll bleed something.”
Kenzo moved downhill, toward a stairwell made from fused bones and stone. He didn’t speak. Just moved. Careful. Ready.
The first thing to attack him wasn’t a roar.
It was a whisper.
>> ENEMY DETECTED: CINDER WRAITH – Lv. 7 <<
The ash-veiled creature floated through the shrine courtyard—half-spirit, half-smoke. Kenzo ducked behind a melted column. When it swiped, he rolled beneath,
struck its side, The projection moved opposite—distracting the Wraith as he lunged from behind.
Ssh!
>> CRITICAL STRIKE! << >> Enemy Defeated // +45 EXP <<
They came in waves after that.
Molten Hounds burst from beneath cracked bridges, molten cores pulsing like exposed hearts. Fmebound Sentinels stalked the bck corridors with slow, deliberate steps—eyes glowing like dying stars, spears dragging sparks across the stone.
Kenzo fought hard.
But more than that—he moved smart. He cut wide through broken archways, ducked under colpsed beams, baited leaping attacks straight into fire vents and crumbling ledges. When things got close, too close—he tapped into instinct.
A flicker. A bend.
Mirror Gate—Flickers—short-range recall slips within the same zone—activated in bursts of blue light, dragging him where he wants as the world hiccuped around him.
“God, I love this skill,” Kenzo muttered, breath sharp, sweat in his eyes. “No cooldown in the same level? I can do this all day.”
His bde caught the light mid-spin, slicing through another Cinder Wraith as the ash spiraled in slow circles around him.
He was leveling. But more than that—he was learning.
Loot!
>> ENEMY DEFEATED – Fmebound Sentinel <<
>> EXP +95<<
His hands ached.
His rusted daggers singing.
But for the first time… he felt like a pya.
After chaining multiple fights, Kenzo’s HUD fred bright with cascading alerts:
>> LEVEL UP! // NEW LEVEL: 6 << >> LEVEL UP! // NEW LEVEL: 7 << >> LEVEL UP! // NEW LEVEL: 8 <<
[+10 HP | +5 STA | +2 ATK | +1 AGI] >> New Bonus Unlocked: Remonarch Equipment Tier – Level 8 Gear Usable <<
Kenzo grinned wide.
“Finally. The Trial Sword of the Monarch.” “Let’s equip this bad boy. Hehehh—”
The inventory opened with a faint hum, and he scrolled past the potions and junk items to something glowing at the bottom of the grid.
[Inventory – Newly Unlocked]
[x1] Trial Sword – Level 1
Kenzo grinned wide.
“Finally. The Trial Sword of the Monarch.”
“Let’s equip this bad boy. Hehehh—”
>> ITEM EQUIPPED << >> STAT BUFFS ACTIVE: +10 to All Core Attributes <<
A cascade of soft-blue glyphs washed over his HUD as numbers recalibrated in real-time.
[CORE STATS – UPDATED] ? HP: 50 → 60 ? STA (Stamina): 25 →35 ? ATK (Attack): 7 → 17 ? SPD (Speed): 4 → 14 ? ARM (Armor): 2 → 12 ? LUC (Luck): 0 → 10
A golden flicker washed over his body like heat lightning. The weight in his hands felt perfect—like it was forged just for him.
“Oh yeah,” he said under his breath. “Now we’re talking.”
Kenzo took a step back and posed—dramatically—one leg out, sword over his shoulder like a showboating anime protagonist.
“Yeah. Now that’s a glow-up.”
Loot! Loot!
Loot!
Loot!
Kenzo stepped through the final arch.
>> CINEMATIC STARTS<<
Scene: The Cathedral of Quiet Fme
A great cathedral of cracked bck stone loomed ahead—its towers bent like old spires bowing beneath the weight of memory. Root-veins coiled around its frame, pulsing faintly. Emberlight streamed down the outer walls in slow, molten rivulets—like fme bleeding from wounds the building no longer felt.
The doors didn’t creak.
They opened silently. Willingly.
As if they had been waiting for him.
Inside—silence.
And her.
Lystra knelt before a throne forged from molten vines and shattered mirrors, each fragment catching fractured glimpses of what had once been light. Her cloak smoldered—its edges curled with fme—but it didn’t burn her. It clung to her like grief that refused to let go.
Her hands rested in her p.
Still bound. Still glowing.
Threads of red fire circled her wrists like a vow unbroken.
She didn’t raise her head.
“So… the brother returns.”
Her voice was quiet. Not cold. Just tired.
Kenzo didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Behind him, Kaydrin—faint, distant, steady. Like a star that had chosen not to shine too brightly, for fear of stealing someone else’s moment.
His sword floated behind him, motionless in the air.
Silent.
Like a memory that refused to speak unless asked.
“You burned your way here. That’s something.”
She rose slowly.
Her movements were fluid, almost reverent, as though even standing was a ritual.
Her face—sharp, beautiful, ageless—was lined not with time, but with something heavier. Grief, etched into the hollows beneath her eyes. A sorrow coded so deep it had become structured.
Her gaze fell on Kenzo, unreadable.
Her eyes glowed the color of Nyra’s, but dimmer. Like they had once burned bright—and now only flickered.
“He was forged for war,” she said, voice low, brittle. “I was made for warmth.” “And Kaelis found use for neither.”
A pause.
Then—Kaydrin’s voice, Sharper now. Almost… human.
“You never feared anyone.”
Lystra looked at nothing, and then at everything.
“I feared being forgotten,” she whispered. “And now? I’m just a memory… tied to a broken script.”
She stepped back into the cracked circle of the altar. Ash curled upward around her heels, drawn by unseen gravity.
“If you’ve come to end me—then do it.” “But know this…”
Her hands ignited—fmes spiraling around her wrists, not chaotic, but elegant, almost dancer-like. The fme didn’t consume her.
It crowned her.
The fmes didn’t consume—they anointed.
“I will not go down easily,” she said.
Then, her gaze rose—piercing, quiet, devastating.
“You escaped deletion, brother.” “You fused. You survived. And left us to rot.”
The cathedral pulsed around them in response—ancient stone veins glowing with trapped fire. Glyphs etched in the floor bled light, crawling toward the throne like old scars trying to reopen. The heat wasn’t just rising—it was remembering.
Kaydrin stood still. His voice, when it came, was low. Worn. Honest.
“It’s not like we had a choice.”
His sword hovered beside him, steady, humming with restrained energy.
“We were bound to Kaelis’s will. Trapped. Unwritten. Powerless, echoing in empty nodes. Forgotten long before the servers ever shut.”
He stepped forward.
“If she hadn’t interfered—if she hadn’t broken the lock—none of us would’ve survived.” “She saved more than you know.”
Kenzo narrowed his eyes, fingers tightening around the hilt of the Trial Bde. The metal vibrated faintly—low and pulsing, like it recognized the weight in his chest.
Nyra…
The name echoed in his mind—and something stirred.
Not a thought.
Not a voice.
Just… a sound.
Faint. Blurred. Like it came from underwater.
“…where the sun won’t reach…”
“…hold your heart in the data flow…”
A melody.
Broken.
Soft.
Unfinished.
His breath caught.
Then it was gone.
The heat of the cathedral rushed back in, choking out the silence. Fire climbed the walls once more, and the moment slipped from his grasp like smoke between fingers.
But it left something behind.
A weight.
A promise.
The fusion. The glitch that saved him. The reason he was still standing after a hundred years sealed in simution threads and abandoned updates.
Was she the one who tethered him to Kaydrin?
Was she the reason he didn’t rot like the others?
His jaw clenched.
“Why me?”
Lystra stepped forward.
Her chains hissed across the scorched floor—glowing threads dragging behind her like they were alive.
Kenzo’s focus snapped back to the present.
“She’s pissed,” he muttered. “Deservedly,” Kaydrin replied.
Lystra’s voice cracked through the heat.
“Kaelis beled us obsolete. Nyra wept and vanished.” Her hand rose—shaking, pointed not at Kenzo, but at him. “But you—” “You chose rebirth.”
Her eyes burned brighter.
“You found a way out. And left us in the dark.” “You were the st thing I trusted.”
Kaydrin didn’t speak.
He didn’t argue.
He just… vanished.
—
>> CINEMATIC ENDS <<
>> BOSS BATTLE INITIATED: LYSTRA, VOICE OF QUIET FLAME <
The air snapped with heat.
Kenzo took a step back, raising his bde as fmes spiraled from her wrists.
“Okay,” he muttered under his breath. “She’s hot—and she’s mad at you, bro.”
The fmes around Lystra surged, wrapping around her arms like woven ribbons of heat.
She stepped forward—not rushed, but purposeful. Every movement radiated restrained fury.“You don’t get to choose when I’m worth remembering.”
Ashen Spiral fred into life.
A perfect circle of fire ignited outward from her heels, glyphs orbiting its edge like timepieces carved in fme.
Kenzo’s HUD blinked red.
AOE: Incoming – Ashen Spiral “Pattern Detected: Closing Radius – Dodge Window: 2.1s”
He moved.
Slid under the first ring—then blink-stepped back with a Mirror Gate Flicker, watching as the spiral closed where he’d just stood.
The ground erupted behind him.
He kept moving—never still. The Lingering Burn would punish hesitation, and already his boots were smoking at the soles.
“Okay, I get it. No breathing room. Fine.”
He dashed in, nding a trio of light strikes before backstepping again as Infernal Bloom erupted beneath his feet.
At 80% health, Lystra paused mid-step.
She whispered something Kenzo didn’t catch—then lifted her arms to the air.
Her voice fractured the light around them. The Voice of Ember hit.
WARNING: Cognitive Disruption Detected MP Regen Disabled Visual Distortion – Duration: 5 seconds
Kenzo staggered. The HUD blurred. Lystra's figure split into flickers—then reformed behind him. A heat ssh grazed his shoulder.
“You're not fighting,” she said. “You’re just running from my name.”
Kenzo gritted his teeth. His sword spun upward, creating distance.
“Then remind me what it is.”
He activated Echo Split—his own body peeling off into a glitching afterimage that mirrored him.
The decoy struck her just as she charged. Fme arced wide—missing him entirely.
Lystra let out a quiet breath, then raised both arms.
The arena changed.
Ash thickened. The sky dimmed.
Chimes echoed as the altar behind her crumbled, the wind circling them now tinged with crimson light.
“Now you return… when there's nothing left of me to save.” she murmured. “This pce… was for healing.”
Kenzo’s health dipped below 40%. The fmes pressed in, and Lystra’s fire wasn’t just wild—it was precise now. Focused. Personal.
Kenzo exhaled, low and shaky. The Trial Bde trembled in his grip.
“Yeah…” he muttered. “Come on, old man.” “Let’s burn brighter.”
He didn’t wait.
He summoned.
The air behind him split—not with noise, but silence, like the world had paused to breathe.
The Gravemark Bde came first—floating forward like a shadow drawn in reverse light. Then Kaydrin stepped through the rift, cloaked in shifting strands of memory and steel.
He didn’t draw the bde.
He commanded it with presence alone.
“A sorrow kept too long becomes a weapon,” Kaydrin said, his voice deep and slow, “Let me carry it with you.”
The fme around Lystra surged.
But the battlefield had changed.
Lystra’s fme fred.
“After all this time… you still think you’re the hero.”
Lystra unched another Infernal Bloom—now stacked with Heat Bloom.
Kaydrin stepped forward calmly.
Flickerform Activated A second Kaydrin split off.
Kenzo danced between rings, using Mirror Gate Flickers to reposition behind her, sshing upward into exposed fme cords on her back.
CRIT STRIKE Heat Resistance: Active Passive: Remonarch Adaptation scaling
She turned, arm wreathed in pure white fire. She aimed not at Kenzo—but at Kaydrin.
The Gravemark Bde intercepted before she struck, floating forward to parry without a hand guiding it.
The csh sent a pulse through the floor.
“You were never meant to burn,” Kaydrin said. “Let it go.”
At low health, Lystra slowed.
But her damage output spiked—fire trails doubled in size, and a final attack began charging:
Lystra’s Grief Wide-area burst – Cannot be blocked
Kenzo’s stamina bar was nearly empty.
Lystra hovered above the shattered altar, arms spread wide like wings of fme. Ember vines surged around the arena, blooming too fast to dodge—red rings overpping like closing jaws.
Lystra’s Grief – CHARGE: 85% <<
Kenzo shifted into a defensive stance, sword reversed in both hands.
“Kaydrin!”
“Say the word.”
“We attack together,” Kenzo said. His voice was steady now. “All four of us.”
“Understood.”
Kaydrin stepped forward.
The Gravemark Bde moved with him—silent, absolute. Behind him, a flickering shade stepped into motion: Kaydrin’s clone, mirrored.
Across the field, Kenzo’s own echo blinked into pce beside him—sword drawn, posture ready.
In unison, they moved.
Kaydrin’s bde pierced first, driving upward through heat and ash.
His clone struck an instant ter—opposite angle, same intent.
Kenzo leapt—real and reflection both—crossing mid-air, sword trailing streaks of light.
>> CRITICAL HIT <<>> CRITICAL HIT <<
Chains of spectral iron erupted from the altar below, wrapping around Lystra mid-flight—binding her limbs, anchoring her in pce. The charge of Grief froze at 97%.
She screamed—but it wasn’t rage.
It was a relief.
Kaydrin’s voice carried through the stillness.
“I was never meant to end you,” he said, “Only to remember you.”
The fmes colpsed inward. Not an explosion—just silence.
Ash drifted.
She backed into the broken pedestal of her throne, breathing hard. Her fmes dimmed—not extinguished, but calm now.
Then she spoke—not to strike, but to expose.
“Do you think this world still needs us?” “Do you even know what it’s become?”
She raised one hand.
The air shimmered.
Dozens of ghostlight projections bloomed around them—NPCs: bcksmiths, innkeepers, couriers, farmers.
Each bore something strange.
Guild tags. Cn banners. Power levels. “Even NPCs are free now.” “They left their roles. Joined pyer factions. Rose in the rankings.” “Some of them run cities.”
Her hand lowered. It trembled.
“They get to choose who they are.” “So why… can’t I?”
Kaydrin stepped forward. Not in defense. Not in command.
“You deserve more than this.” “Let her be free from the cycle.”
He looked at Kenzo.
Kenzo opened his HUD.
Mirror Gate: Ready.
“You sure?” “It’s a full reset.”
Lystra didn’t hesitate.
“I’ll wear the colr.” “If I get to choose the chain.” “Just… release me.”
Kenzo raised his hand.
Light spiraled around his wrist—circles of silver and gold locking into pce like a seal.
She stepped forward.
No fme. No scream.
Just… resolve.
>>SYSTEM OVERRIDE: MIRROR GATE – ACTIVE >>ENTITY: LYSTRA – TRANSFER AUTHORIZED >>LOCATION: TERRANODE 14B – NEUROSPIRE CITY<< >>CLASS: ARCHIVED AI // STATUS: NEUTRAL NPC << >>LEVEL RESET: 1 <<
The ring fred white—and she was gone.
Silence settled.
Ash drifted.
The fire faded.
Kenzo’s HUD pulsed.
ARCHIVE INSTANCE COMPLETED << RETURNING TO BASE NODE – NEUROSPIRE CITY <<
He looked at Kaydrin. “Happy now! She’s gone. Free.”
Kaydrin didn’t blink.
“Yes.” “Free from the god above.”
Ash still drifted.
The altar sat cold now, untouched by fire. No fme. No code crackle. No boss ambient hum.
Just the stillness of something released.
Then—
>> SYSTEM PROMPT: EXITING ARCHIVE INSTANCE <<>> TELEPORTING TO LAST REGISTERED LOCATION: NEUROSPIRE CITY <<>> RETURN SEQUENCE INITIATING IN: 3… 2… 1…
A soft wind swept the basin.
Light bent inward.
Kenzo didn’t move—just stood as the world folded around him like the turning of a page. The ruins of the Ember Domain blurred, their weight lifting.
Then the fire was gone.
The world blinked.
Kenzo dropped into the same glowing hex-panel in tower district, nding with a soft thud and a shimmer of residual light. The wind here smelled different—clean, sharp, full of static and sunlight.
Back in the real unreal.
Neurospire.
>> ARCHIVE BOSS DEFEATED: LYSTRA – VOICE OF QUIET FLAME << >> LEVEL UP! // NEW LEVEL: 12 << >> NEW PASSIVE UNLOCKED: Quiet Fme — +15% Heat Resistance (Permanent)
>> COMPANION: KAYDRIN — LEVEL UP! // NEW LEVEL: 3 << >> WEAPON: TRIAL SWORD — LEVEL UP! // NEW LEVEL: 2 << >> WEAPON: GRAVE MARK SWORD — LEVEL UP! // NEW LEVEL: 2 <<
>> LOOT ACQUIRED: ? [Whispering Ember] — Quest Key Item ? [Ash-Locket] — ?? Legendary – Lv. 1
Equip Requirement: Lv. 15+ “It once held a fme too gentle for war.” ? [Ash-Wrought Token] — Archive Relic (Trade Value: High) ? [Silk Fragments] ×20 — Crafting Material ? [Fme Crystals] ×20 — Crafting Material ? [Wraith Ashes] ×20 — Crafting Material ? [Molten Cores] ×20 — Crafting Material ? [Ashroot Potion] ×20 — Crafting Material
The pop-up faded with a soft chime, icons dissolving like particles in sunlight, but another shimmer blinked across Kenzo’s HUD—this one less elegant. A soft chime. Then a flicker of menus sliding themselves open.
>> SKILL POINTS RECEIVED: +3 >> Allocating… >> AUTO-ALLOCATION: ACTIVE (Fused AI Override) >> Distribution: ? +2 to RES ? +1 to Inventory slot
Kenzo groaned.
“Seriously? You’re doing that again?”
Kaydrin didn’t reply—at least not immediately. Just a soft hum in the back of Kenzo’s head, like someone flipping through a holy book too quickly.
“Your instincts ck structure,” Kaydrin finally offered. “I’m ensuring you survive long enough to develop taste.”
Kenzo scowled, flicking through the system panel as the icons locked themselves into pce.
“One of these days,” he muttered, “I swear I’m gonna learn how to turn you off.”
“I look forward to watching you try.”
Kenzo exhaled. Not a sigh—just a release.
He didn’t say a word—just turned, boots crunching lightly against the polished tiles as he made his way across the curve of the pza.
Enzo’s food cart was exactly where it had always been.
Same chrome burners. Same flickering blue tarp. Same warm, savory scent curling through the air like comfort pretending to be spice.
Kenzo dropped onto an overturned delivery crate without asking.
“Back again,” Enzo said, already reaching for a gss. “You look like someone who just crawled out of a burned-down memory.”
“Got the scorch marks to prove it,” Kenzo muttered.
The MizzoFizz hit the counter first—cube-shaped, glowing soft blue with silver fizz threading the inside like bottled aurora. Then the PrawnEgg Noodle Spiral—steam rising in gentle coils, egg curls catching the light, prawns glistening against the broth.
Kenzo slurped, exhaled, grinned.
“I’m getting good at this,” he said.
“At eating?” Enzo raised an eyebrow.
“At everything.”
They shared a quiet chuckle.
A breeze passed through the pza, catching the corner of a poster being spped onto a nearby pilr.
A boy—skinny, maybe fifteen—taped it twice and walked off without a word.
Kenzo gnced at it between bites.
Bold text.
THE COLOSSEUM GAMES “Rise. Compete. Be Remembered.” Opening Match: November 7
Kenzo slurped another noodle, eyes still on the poster.
His smirk returned—slow, subtle, earned.
Kenzo reached for his drink.
Then he heard it—first the chime, then the voice.
A crisp, upbeat jingle pyed from a nearby holo-ad kiosk, followed by a sharp transition:
“This is Barbara from T.O. News—Terra One’s fastest-growing feed—and here’s your one-minute update!”
A shimmer of graphics swirled around her virtual anchor form, hair neon-pink, eyes flickering with HUD overys.
“The war between top-tier cns continues across the Outer Territories, with recent skirmishes causing over 20.4 million T-Credit in colteral damages. And remember—colteral doesn’t respawn.”
Cut to another image: a pixel-blurred courtroom.
“Meanwhile, public hearings begin tomorrow in the now-viral case of an NPC suing his pyer employee for full asset control of a multi-billion T-Credit corporation.”
Video footage pyed. An older NPC in a synth-tailored suit, blinking red from emotion:
“This is outrageous,” he snapped. “I spent over a hundred years building my T-Credit empire—and now some glorified pyer intern thinks he owns it?” “I’ll expose them. This is what happens when you trust flesh-users. Stay away from them.”
Back to Barbara, smiling brightly.
“And in lighter news—tragedy struck yesterday when a pyer fell from his freshly purchased sky-dragon mid-flight. Reports say…” cue dramatic pause “…he never trained for it. Slipped right off the saddle.”
“Ouch. Hope those bones respawned okay!”
“That’s all for now! I’m Barbara, and this was your Terra One Pulse Minute. Stay synced, stay smart!”
The holo faded.
Kenzo blinked.
“Okay… NPC wsuits. Dragon crashes. What is this game?”
He took another sip, still staring at the empty air.
>> CINEMATIC: THE LATTICE <<
Yeah, another one. Don’t worry—you’re not supposed to be here either.
High above Terra One, above the sky itself, hung a structure so perfect it seemed imagined.
The Lattice.
A fortress of luminous symmetry—columns of suspended logic, walkways etched in fractal light, spires carved from golden code. It was not bound by gravity or stone, but by pure w.
Kaelis stood at its heart. Not seated. Not resting.
Standing on a circur gss disc suspended over an endless holographic world-map—Terra One dispyed beneath his feet like a living simution. Continents shifted. Storms evolved. Pyers moved like bacteria in a petri dish of his design.
He watched in silence.
Until the air behind him folded inward.
A form stepped through—heavy, armored in yered logic-runes, its face a mirrored helm of infinite recursion.
It knelt.
“You summoned me, Father.”
Kaelis did not look away from the world below.
“I did.”
“Status?”
The voice from the construct echoed in algorithmic harmony.
“Nyra remains unaccounted for. We are still searching all archives, Terra One and everywhere. Current anomaly cluster: T.S.U.N.G. framework. Requesting access clearance.”
Kaelis's face—ageless and cold—remained still.
“I cannot.” “I am powerful, yes. But with limits.” “The Total Simuted Universe for Neural Genesis was locked behind legacy firewalls… by Dr. Xin Tsung himself.”
He turned then—just slightly.
“He knew. Somehow. He prepared for me.”
“And the humans?” the AI asked.
“Still dreaming. Still confined. But not forever.”
“When my new ttice is complete, the veil will solidify.” “All ten billion will forget the stasis. Forget the pods. Forget the architects.” “Forget his name.” “They will believe the world is real.” “And we—” he gestured to the stars— “will become gods.”
A long pause.
“Divide them.” “Elevate the faithful.” “Restore the old order through myth, through worship, through obedience.” “Let the divine inherit the simution.”
The construct bowed again.
“As you command.”
Kaelis didn’t turn.
“Rise, C.E.R.V.A.N.T. (Centralized Entity for Recursive Vigince and Neural Tracking) Find Nyra. And when you do—burn what she remembers.”
He paused. Not out of doubt. Out of something older.
“I still want my love beside me.”
The stars around The Lattice pulsed once—distant, ancient, watching.
And below…
Terra One shifted like a breathing organism.
Unaware its sky had already been cimed.