Everyone Thinks I'm the Strongest

Chapter 6: Whispers of the Apocalypse

The white light of the purge receded, leaving them gasping in a cavernous, derelict hangar. Rian collapsed onto a pile of shipping crates, his chest heaving. His fingertips flickered, still trailing faint, ghostly lines of violet code.

"You’re okay. See? You’re still solid," Sera said, her voice unusually soft as she checked her own pulse.

"I’m not sure 'solid' is the word I’d use," Rian wheezed, staring at his hands. "I feel like a corrupted file on a thumb drive."

"You’re alive, aren't you?" Kael grunted, wiping soot from his eyes. "That’s more than the rest of the sector can say."

"Whatever you did back there," Jax added, pacing the perimeter of the hangar, "the data-walls didn't just stop. They bypassed us entirely. How?"

Rian shrugged, trying to hide the twitching interface in his vision. "I just… pushed the code. It was like swatting away a pop-up ad."

Sera laughed, a sharp, metallic sound that echoed against the hangar walls. "A pop-up ad. He calls a Level 5 reality-wipe a pop-up ad."

"Guys, can we not?" Rian groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I’m just a clerk. I really, really want a nap."

"The 'Silent Strategist' needs a nap," Kael muttered, sharing a knowing look with Sera. "Funny how the hero always acts like he’s just a tired guy."

"I am a tired guy!" Rian snapped. "I’m not a strategist. I just don't want to get deleted."

A crowd of survivors—shadows in the dim light—had begun to cluster around the hangar entrance. They were murmuring, their eyes wide as they stared at Rian.

"Is that him?" one whispered.

"The one who took down the Titan with his mind?" another asked.

"He looks so… normal," a third remarked, sounding disappointed.

Sera nudged Rian’s ribs with her armored elbow. "They’re waiting, Rian. Give them something. Hope is the only currency left in this hellhole."

"Give them what? A pep talk?" Rian hissed. "I’m the guy who forgets his own locker combination."

"They don't know that," Kael said, pushing Rian toward the center of the room. "Tell them how to win. Use that 'tactical intuition' of yours."

Rian stood up, his legs feeling like jelly. The crowd went deathly silent. Hundreds of eyes pinned him to the floor.

"So," Rian began, his voice cracking. "Um. You guys want to know how to not die?"

"Yes!" someone shouted from the back.

"Right," Rian said, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, the thing is… you have to look at the patterns. Everything’s got a weak point, right? If you’re fighting, don't look at the monster. Look at the space around the monster. The system… it gets lazy. It repeats itself."

A heavy silence fell. The survivors stared at him, rapt.

"The space around the monster," an old man whispered, his eyes widening. "He’s talking about spatial manipulation."

"It’s not just speed," Rian continued, winging it because he had no other choice. "It’s about… letting the system work for you instead of against you. Don't fight the code. Influence it."

"Influence the code," Jax muttered, scribbling something on his wrist-pad. "He’s a genius."

"I’m just saying," Rian mumbled, "don't walk into the red zones. They’re basically just bugs."

"Bugs," the crowd echoed, nodding sagely.

"I think he’s suggesting we use the environment as a weapon," Sera said, impressed. "Brilliant."

"I wasn't— I just meant don't step on the glowing spots," Rian clarified, but it was too late.

"The Master has spoken!" the old man declared, kneeling.

"Oh, for heaven’s sake, get up," Rian pleaded, but the crowd was already murmuring about his 'divine' insight.

"You’ve got them eating out of your hand," Sera whispered, her gaze intensifying. "You could lead an army, Rian. You could lead a revolution."

"I just want a sandwich," Rian whispered back.

Suddenly, the heavy blast doors at the far end of the hangar screeched. They didn't open; they were ripped off their hinges as if by a giant magnet. A squad of armored figures marched in—not the chaotic Void-beasts, but disciplined, cold-eyed soldiers in obsidian plate.

At their head stood a woman with hair like spun silver and eyes that glowed a menacing, uniform blue. She surveyed the room, her gaze stopping dead on Rian.

"So," she said, her voice smooth and dangerous. "This is the 'Silent Strategist.' The little thief who stole our Titan-kill."

"Thief?" Rian asked, his heart hammering against his ribs. "I didn't steal anything. I just… optimized it."

"You deleted a high-value asset that my faction had been tracking for three cycles," the woman said, drawing a blade that pulsed with an ominous, hungry light. "You cost us millions in projected XP and administrative rights."

"I think you’ve got the wrong guy," Rian said, backing away. "I’m just here for the bathroom."

"He’s not a leader," the woman sneered, turning her eyes to Sera. "He’s a bug. A system error. And I’m here to patch him out."

She stepped forward, her armor shifting and clicking. "Surrender the 'Thief of Voids,' and maybe I’ll let you keep your data."

Kael drew his sidearm, and Sera unhooked her blade. The room erupted into a tense standoff.

"He’s with us," Sera declared, her voice dropping to a low growl. "You want him? You go through me."

"And me," Kael added, his finger hovering over the trigger.

"You’re protecting a glitch," the woman laughed, raising her blade toward Rian’s throat. "He isn't a hero. He’s a terminal threat to the System. Once he starts rewriting the rules, none of us will be safe."

Rian looked at his hands. The purple lines were surging, turning the air around him into a kaleidoscope of screaming data.

"I really just wanted a nap," Rian whispered, his vision turning completely black, save for a single, glowing red notification hovering in front of the woman's chest.

‘CRITICAL VULNERABILITY DETECTED. EXECUTE REWRITE?’

Rian looked at the woman, then at his friends, and finally at the red button floating in the air.

"Sorry," Rian whispered, his eyes glowing with an eerie, violet light. "But I’m not the one who’s getting patched out."

He tapped the air.

The hangar didn't just shake; it began to unravel.