There was a lot happening at once, yet Jax was ready to face it all. The air stirred wildly at the incoming presence. Jax's heart leaped. He forced himself still. Mira stood a step behind him and they watched the scene before them. The fire sword remained firm in Jax's hands while the other two players' attention was also fixed on the dark portal. Then the presence revealed itself. Its dark silver eyes burned like ice, flaring at the sides. Jax knew immediately this Overseer was different from the previous two he had defeated. Something dark and heavy clung to it. The ground rumbled where its feet landed. When it spoke, its voice was calm and cold. "You have broken the core rules but you do not make a normal deviation. You are something new. The system wants you to be studied, not deleted." Jax couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had planted his feet, ready to fight. Now he wasn't sure what to do. "Jax," Mira said. Her eyes met his. He looked confused. Inside, he was terrif

The burden of feeling alone and being enslaved to the code had been so deeply ingrained in Jax that he woke up alarmed, jolting upright from a slab. A machine hummed beside him, beeping once as his health bar status loaded.Full.Jax couldn't remember the last time his health bar was full. Most of the time, the moment he spawned back to life, he was killed again straight away. Mira sat by his side. She held his hand and smiled when she saw his eyes open."Where are we?" Jax asked. He had passed out at the entrance to the ruins. His memories were clouded.The door opened and an old man walked in. Jax recognised him immediately."You're finally awake, Glitch Overlord," the man said.The title again. Same as when they first arrived. Jax turned it over in his mind as he stood. He was wrapped in bandages but the pain had eased completely. His wounds had closed. The system was working with whatever healing this place offered.He looked around. The architecture was old and quiet, nothing lik

News had spread through all of Lumora. To most players it was confusing. To the power-hungry ones it was an invitation. An NPC had disrupted the game and stirred up a threat. They wanted to see it for themselves. They wanted to be the ones to put it down.Five high-level players entered the colony. Their confidence filled the space ahead of them. They already knew the NPCs stood no chance. To them, this was easy.Jax watched from the high tower as they moved into the central square below. The ground still carried faint black marks where the Overseers had fallen. One of the players hurled a fireball without warning. The explosion shook the walls. Smoke rolled upward.Jax didn't flinch.Every fight was teaching him something. Where it used to be a struggle just to stay alive against the game's script, now it was a measure of how far he had come.Eldric appeared in the doorway behind him. "We must evacuate the ruins. Now.""Get everyone into the underground layer," Jax said. "I'll hold t

The data crystals had already shown Jax pieces of it. The First Men. A lost project, buried and forgotten. Investors had torn it apart and built Eternal Throne on top of its grave.He knew the story.What he hadn't expected was to be standing in front of someone who had lived it.The man was tall and broad. Black hair ran down his back, tied in a ponytail. A large sword was strapped across his back, humming with energy that Jax could see clearly through System Sight. The power lines running through it were old. Older than anything else in the ruins.The man's sapphire eyes landed on Jax."So you're the Glitch Overlord," he said. "You've torn a hole through the system. What exactly do you plan to do with that?"Jax stepped forward despite the pain grinding through his ribs. "Who are you?""I introduced myself."Mira moved to Jax's side and took his weight. His knees were close to giving out and she knew it.Eldric appeared from behind a fallen boulder. A handful of colony members follo

The sand split before the creature even landed. Its roar came next and the ground shook under it. Wind blasted across the colony's faces and everyone scattered, running in every direction without thinking. Jax pulled Mira back as the dragon touched down. It was enormous. It blocked out everything ahead of them. Each step it took forward made the ground tremble beneath their feet. Red scales wrapped in layered armour plating. A jaw full of jagged teeth with venomous eyes that flicked fire. "Everyone!" Jax's voice cut above the chaos. "Get back inside the cave. We'll distract it." Mira grabbed his arm before he moved. "I'm helping." He looked at her once and nodded. He drew the Flame Sword. Energy moved from his arm into the blade and the fire along it surged, flaring at the edges like the air itself had become fuel. The dragon breathed in. Its chest contracted and when it released, the heat reached them before the flame did. Jax and Mira threw themselves sideways, rolling clear as