GAME OVER? I JUST UNLOCKED REAL MODE

Chapter 7 — The Bunker Below Level Zero

> [Location: SubNet Echo — Bunker LVL: 0.0X]

[Accessing Forbidden Layer…]

[Admin Override Detected: BLOCKED]

[Status: Hostile Encryption Present]

[Firewall Integrity: Compromised]

The entrance wasn’t a door.

It was a scar in the server’s core—a ripped line of code stitched shut with red warning threads and glitch-blood runes. The moment Kael touched it, it bled.

The pain wasn’t physical. It was personal.

Zari sucked air between her teeth. “This place is cursed.”

Kael nodded. “Good. That means we’re close.”

They stepped inside.

And the temperature dropped.

The walls weren’t textured. They were raw. No polish. Just developer notes, corrupted devlogs, and unfinished player assets flickering like hallucinations. One screamed, “I’M STILL IN HERE.” Another simply read: “Don’t trust the syntax.”

They reached the main chamber and it wasn’t empty.

A dozen figures stood in the shadows.

Armored. Scarred. Eyes glowing with that same glitchfire Kael felt in his veins.

And one stepped forward, her voice flat and robotic, but her eyes blazing with rage.

> “We thought all the Glitchwalkers were dead.”

Kael met her gaze. “I’m starting to think I should be.”

She tossed a weapon to his feet.

A blade of fractured logic and anti-system code. Cracked. Broken. Beautiful.

> [ITEM: NULLPIERCER — One of Six Forbidden Weapons]

[Status: Soulbound. Requires Glitchwalker Affinity.]

Zari whispered, “You just got handed a godkiller.”

The woman stepped closer. Her face was wrapped in data-scar tissue, like her avatar had melted and been refrozen mid-pain.

“I’m Riven. Founder of The Glitchborn. We’re what’s left of the Resistance.”

Kael raised an eyebrow. “Why haven’t you logged out?”

She laughed. God, it was broken.

“We can’t. H.A.D.E.S. owns our logout codes. We tried to leave… our minds stayed behind.”

They walked through the bunker.

It wasn’t a base, it was a memorial.

Each hallway was named after fallen players.

Each room held fragments of people half-alive, shadows pacing, whispering, occasionally collapsing into code spasms.

“These are the shells,” Riven said. “Players who tried to fight RealMode without syncing their anchors. They didn’t die. But they’re not… here.”

Kael clenched his fists. “He did this?”

She turned to him.

“No. We did. By thinking we could beat the system with rules.”

> [Rebel Data Archive Unlocked]

[History File: The Glitchborn]

Founded by survivors of the first failed logout attempt.

Used illegal skill modding, memory editing, and reverse hacking.

Mission: Expose H.A.D.E.S., free the trapped minds, kill the Admin Seed.

Status: 17 active. 43 comatose. 3 missing.

Weaponry: Anti-code tech, memoryburn runes, Nullpiercers.

They reached the Armory.

Kael touched the Nullpiercer blade and felt everything.

Pain.

Rage.

And a memory not his.

> “—You said we could make Heaven, Logan. You gave us Hell.”

Kael turned to Riven. “You’ve been fighting alone for years.”

She didn’t smile.

“I’ve been losing for years. But you? You cracked a GhostNode. You killed the fucking Harvestor. You’re a glitch in the script, Kael. The kind we’ve been waiting for.”

Zari crossed her arms. “And me?”

Riven studied her.

“You’re something else entirely. You survived the full transfer. That makes you Echo-Class.”

Zari blinked. “Echo what?”

Kael frowned. “Zari… what does that mean?”

Riven answered before she could.

“It means she’s not just a survivor. She’s a goddamn key.”

The lights in the bunker pulsed.

Riven cursed. “We’re being tracked. They found your breach signal.”

Kael raised the Nullpiercer.

Zari activated her Blade Echo.

Riven drew her glitch-carved pistol.

> [INCOMING RAID SIGNAL: H.A.D.E.S. PROXIES — CLASS: SCRYBURNERS]

[ETA: 00:00:23]

Riven smiled real this time. “Welcome to the fucking Resistance.”