Novels by Ugo Lee

The world faded away like a television turning off. Everett did not feel any pain. He did not feel the cold rain. He did not feel the hard, wet concrete of the street. He was floating in a silent, endless sea of gray mist. He looked down. Beneath his feet, he could see the real world. It looked like he was standing on a giant floor made of thick, clear glass. Through the glass, he saw Lyra. She was kneeling in the street, crying with her hands covering her face. He saw Silas standing next to her, looking completely lost. He saw Commander Alice, staring up at the empty sky in shock. "I am here," Everett whispered. He hit his fists against the invisible glass floor. "Lyra! Silas! Look up!"But his voice made no sound. His fists did not make a thud. He was a ghost. The System had deleted his physical body. The world had forgotten him. He was completely trapped in the empty space between the digital code and the real universe. Everett dropped to his knees on the invisible glass. He pr

A towering inferno of bright orange and blue fire filled the entire tunnel. The heat was incredible. The shockwave blew Silas and Alice back up the stairs, throwing them onto the street above. Down in the tunnel, Everett stood right in the middle of the explosion. But the fire did not burn him. The flames passed completely through his ghostly body. He felt a slight, warm tingling sensation, but nothing more. The Chrono Wraiths were not so lucky. The monsters were designed to fight magic. They were designed to delete code. They were not designed to be covered in old-world jet fuel and shot with a heavy plasma cannon. The raw, physical fire burned their static robes. It melted their smooth black glass faces. The three ten-foot-tall monsters shrieked in absolute, terrible agony. Their grinding, metallic voices screeched until they broke. The three Wraiths exploded into millions of useless, burned black pixels. The pixels turned to ash and washed away in the burning oil. The anti-

Everett thought about Alice. He thought about the terrible scar across her face. He thought about how he had built the goblin that hurt her. A fresh, thick cloud of red mist poured out of his ghostly chest. Above him, the ground violently shook. A scythe of frozen time stabbed straight down through the solid concrete ceiling of the sewer. The glowing blade missed Everett’s shoulder by two inches. The freezing magic turned the dirty sewer water below him into solid blue ice. Everett scrambled forward, gliding faster down the tunnel. "Stop thinking," Everett whispered to himself. But his voice made no sound. "Just stop thinking."He floated through another wall, leaving the sewer and entering an abandoned subway station. He hid inside an old, rusted train car. He pressed his transparent back against the metal wall of the train. He closed his eyes. He took slow, deep, fake breaths. He tried to empty his mind. He focused on the color black. He focused on nothingness. Slowly, the dar

A new, terrible red System box appeared above the Wraiths. [PHYSICAL TRACKING FAILED.][INITIATING EMOTIONAL TRACKING PROTOCOL.][SCENTING FOR UNRESOLVED DATA: REGRET.]The Wraiths began to sniff the air. They did not smell blood. They did not smell sweat. They were smelling for emotions. Everett floated a few inches above the broken marble floor. He watched the Wraiths. Suddenly, Everett felt a heavy, dark ache in his chest. It was his guilt. He felt guilty for failing to save Alice when she was a little girl. He felt guilty for letting Sarah die. He felt guilty for bringing danger to Lyra and Silas. He felt the heavy, crushing regret of being the Original Creator who built this terrible world. As Everett felt the guilt, a thick, dark red mist began to pour out of his ghostly chest. The red mist floated through the air, drifting directly toward the Chrono Wraiths. The lead Wraith turned its black glass face straight toward Everett. "REGRET DETECTED," the grinding, mechanical v

The sky above Apex City was torn wide open. A massive, jagged hole of glowing white light hung in the dark clouds. Through the hole, the System Core pulsed with deep, raw energy. Standing on the very edge of that hole, high in the sky, was the Pilgrim. Down in the ruined plaza, Everett took a step forward. "I am coming up," Everett whispered. His green eyes burned with determination. He gripped the heavy leather handle of the Null-Edge, his giant black greatsword. He prepared to use all his remaining strength to jump toward the sky. He was ready to finish the fight. But as Everett took his second step, something felt wrong. His heavy black boot did not hit the solid marble floor. It passed straight through the stone. Everett stumbled. He looked down. His foot was buried inside the solid marble, but there was no hole. The stone was perfectly unbroken. "What?" Everett gasped. He tried to lift his heavy black sword. But his fingers lost their grip. The sword slipped out of his pale

Everett had given them the truth. He had nothing left to give. He closed his eyes. He let go of the blade. "No!" Silas screamed from the floor. "Everett!" Lyra sobbed. The Wraith raised the scythe for the final, killing blow. But suddenly, the massive, invisible Suppression Field holding the millions of people on the ground flickered. The field cracked. It cracked because the System runs on belief. A few minutes ago, the people had been terrified of Everett. Their fear had made the System strong. But now, a million people were weeping for him. A million people loved him with a fierce, burning, unbreakable passion. They did not see a virus. They saw their brother. They saw their friend. They saw the best part of humanity hanging in the air. Their combined, absolute, pure love created a massive surge of positive System energy. The suppression field shattered like cheap glass. Everyone in the plaza was instantly freed. They could move again. Silas jumped to his feet. He grabbe

Rain slicked streets reflected neon as the city woke to chaos. Smoke rose from the east sector. Alarms blared across rooftops. The logistics hub had exploded.Victor arrived first on the street below. Concrete cracked. Flames licked metal structures. A heavy cloud of smoke rose into the sky.“Zane,” Victor called over comms. “It’s bad. Peak hours.”Celeste’s voice followed, tight and fast. “Minimal casualties. Everyone accounted for so far, but symbolic damage is massive. Media coverage turning hostile already.”Rex scanned the perimeter from a nearby rooftop. “Ash timed this perfectly. They hit the hub when it was busiest.”Zane moved through wet streets, boots splashing in puddles. Rain hammered down. Neon reflected across broken glass. He arrived to see fire crews and civilians scattered.Victor pointed toward the center of the hub. Flames licked a supply stack. Sparks flew across puddles. “All evacuated?” he asked.Celeste checked her tablet. “Mostly. Some minor injuries, but aliv

The city breathed with tension. Steam rose from vents. Rain slicked streets reflected neon. Alarms blared in distant sectors. Urban Core operatives moved swiftly.Victor led a rooftop sweep. Boots hit wet metal. Neon signs flickered. Every corner checked. Shadows shifted across walls and rooftops.Celeste scanned her tablet. “Transit nodes offline. Power disruptions spreading. Data feeds compromised. Ash coordinated this well.”Zane crouched behind a concrete ledge. He observed movement in the streets below. Vehicles stalled at intersections. People ran for cover.Rex adjusted his scope. “Multiple points of sabotage. They hit the city at once. Not for territory, chaos. Terror.”Victor glanced at him. “They’re stretched thin. No central focus, just disruption.”Zane’s eyes narrowed. “Exactly. And they’re not random. Pattern indicates something older. Someone… guiding them.”A train station exploded lightly. Sparks flew. Smoke drifted into the night sky. Victor dove behind a railing. Ci

Rain slicked streets glimmered under neon lights. Steam rose from vents. Traffic crawled in slow, controlled chaos. The city district waited, unaware of the approaching storm.Ash operatives moved in coordinated patterns. Drones hovered above rooftops. Vehicles blocked key streets. Explosions were timed. Infrastructure targeted.Victor checked the perimeter from a rooftop. Rain plastered his hair to his forehead. He scanned alleys, fire escapes, and overhead cables. “They’re in position,” he said.Zane crouched behind a concrete ledge. Neon reflected off puddles at his feet. He traced the lines of streets below. Movement precise. Predictable.Celeste’s fingers flew across her tablet. “Ash is splitting forces into three main corridors. Each hitting a critical node, power, water, transit.”Rex adjusted the scope on his rooftop post. “Cameras show civilian movement. Mostly trapped in upper streets and walkways.”Zane didn’t speak. Only observation. He measured distances, sightlines, and

Rain slicked streets reflected neon. The city hummed with movement, distant sirens, and the low buzz of generators. Urban Core operatives gathered on rooftops. All were armed, ready.Zane crouched on a ledge, scanning. A feed from Celeste flickered on a portable screen. Red dots moved across the map, Ash operatives. Coordinates aligned with Nerissa’s intel.Victor adjusted his gloves. “All clear,” he said. “We move in ten seconds.”Zane didn’t respond. His eyes traced patterns across rooftops. Movement seemed… off. Slightly too precise. Too easy.Rex tapped his tablet. “Data looks solid. Nothing unusual in the feed.”Celeste’s fingers hovered over the screen. “Nerissa said this would be a small Ash cell. No civilians nearby. Quick strike.”Zane shifted weight, keeping low. “Something’s wrong,” he said quietly.Victor glanced at him. “You think it’s a trap?”Zane didn’t answer. He scanned shadows, fire escapes, alleyways below. The city was alive, every movement a signal.Celeste point

Victor moved through the alley silently. Rain slicked the concrete. Steam rose from vents. Gunfire echoed faintly from the streets above.He led two Urban Core operatives. The target: an Ash muscle cell hiding in an abandoned warehouse. No civilians nearby. Clear strike.Victor checked the corners. Lights flickered overhead. Broken glass crunched under his boots. He signaled a halt.Celeste’s voice came through comms. “Alpha entry confirmed. Security systems offline.”Victor gestured forward. They advanced. Metal doors groaned. Pipes rattled. Shadows shifted.Inside, Ash muscle waited. They heard movement, low and calculated. One guard spun toward them. Victor reacted.He fired first. The shot hit the guard’s shoulder. The man went down with a grunt. Victor moved past without hesitation.Two more Ash operatives appeared from a side corridor. Victor dropped low, rolled, and struck. His fists connected. They hit the floor.Celeste’s comms buzzed. “Rooftop teams report movement outside.

The courier ran across the rooftop. Neon lights reflected off wet surfaces. Steam hissed from vents. Urban Core agents followed, silent and fast.Zane stayed back for the moment. He crouched on a higher ledge. His eyes scanned the path ahead. He waited. Observation first. Timing second.Victor leaped to a nearby building. His boots hit steel with a dull clang. He rolled and sprinted toward the edge. The courier glanced back. Panic in his eyes, but he kept running.Celeste moved behind the courier. She tracked him through thermal optics. Every step calculated. Every leap measured. She tapped a communicator. “Approach vectors clear. He’s heading northeast.”Rex followed on an adjacent rooftop. Hands on the rail, he launched himself across the gap. The wind whipped against his face. Neon signs blurred past. He landed silently, rolling to absorb impact.The courier darted toward a skyway connecting two towers. Glass panels above glowed blue. Lights flickered inside. The path was narrow. O