Into the Abyss: The Rise of the Malevolent Player

Aiden’s POV

The smell of burnt circuits filled the air, mingling with the stale aroma of old takeout. My cramped apartment wasn’t much to look at—just another dingy box in the endless labyrinth of Erebus Spire, humanity’s last refuge. It suited me fine. Isolation had been my companion for years, and I wasn’t about to change that.

But tonight, isolation wasn’t cooperating.

“System breach detected,” the cold, automated voice of my terminal announced. “Level 9 firewall compromised. Remaining time: two minutes.”

I muttered a curse under my breath, hands flying across the keyboard. “Amateurs. Always poking at things they don’t understand.”

The glow from my screen painted the room in eerie shades of blue, shadows flickering on the peeling walls. My avatar blinked into existence in The Abyss, a faceless figure cloaked in neutral gray. No identifiers, no personality. Just the way I liked it.

The labyrinthine pathways of the server sprawled out before me, twisting lines of code pulsating like veins. Someone had wormed their way deep inside, and I wasn’t about to let them waltz out with sensitive data.

“Show yourself,” I whispered, scanning the digital environment.

A faint red blip on the map caught my attention. There it was—the breach. My fingers hovered over the command to isolate it, but something strange happened. The red blip morphed into a pulsating icon.

[System Alert: Encrypted File Detected]

My brows furrowed. An encrypted file? That wasn’t typical for breaches like this. Curiosity tugged at me, though every logical part of my brain screamed to leave it alone. I hesitated for a moment before opening the file.

And then I heard her voice.

“Aiden… I’m not dead. Find Rhea Valen before it’s too late.”

Mila.

My blood turned to ice. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. I’d buried her—watched the coffin lower into the ground with my own eyes. But her voice… It was unmistakable.

“Mila?” I whispered, my heart pounding in my chest.

“They’re lying to you. Helios… Malrik… They knew. Please, Aiden. You have to—”

The message cut off abruptly, replaced by a guttural, mechanical growl.

“Unauthorized access detected. Trace initiated.”

“Shit.” My hands flew back to the keyboard. Someone was onto me. I tried to sever the connection, but every command I entered was met with a flashing red denial.

[System Alert: Disconnection Failed]

Panic prickled at the edges of my thoughts. Whoever had set this trap knew exactly what they were doing. My environment in The Abyss began to shift, the code around me warping and bending like liquid glass.

A private channel opened, and a voice crackled through the static—a low, mocking tone.

“You shouldn’t have opened that file, Aiden.”

I scanned the area, my avatar twisting around to locate the source. But there was no one. Just the suffocating black void of The Abyss.

“Who are you?” I demanded, my voice sharp despite the unease clawing at my stomach.

The voice chuckled. “You don’t remember me, but I remember you. You’re just as reckless as she was.”

My fists clenched. “Don’t you dare talk about Mila.”

“Oh, Mila,” the voice sneered. “Always sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Just like her brother.”

Rage flared hot in my chest. “I don’t know who you are, but I’m going to find you, and—”

“A threat? Cute. But let me save you some time: Walk away, Cross. Stay out of The Abyss. Or you’ll end up just like her.”

A dark figure materialized in the distance, stepping out of the shadows like it had always been there. Its form was jagged, fragmented, with glowing red eyes that pierced through the void.

“Malrik?” I asked, though I already knew it wasn’t him.

The figure didn’t answer. Instead, it lunged.

I barely dodged as it swung a clawed hand, the jagged code of its form slicing through the air where I’d been standing. My avatar tumbled backward, scrambling to its feet as I activated my combat interface.

“You want a fight?” I growled. “Fine.”

I launched a volley of energy bolts, but they fizzled out on impact, absorbed into the figure’s obsidian frame.

“Weak,” it hissed, voice dripping with disdain. “Just like before.”

Before? The word struck like a hammer. But I didn’t have time to think. The figure attacked again, its claws raking across the environment and tearing through the walls of code. Sparks erupted as the server destabilized.

My avatar skidded across the ground, crashing into a barrier of corrupted data. Pain lanced through my head—a ghostly echo of the virtual impact.

“Who… are you?” I managed, struggling to stand.

The figure loomed over me, its red eyes glowing brighter. “A reminder.”

“A reminder of what?”

“That this isn’t your fight. Walk away, Cross. Before you lose more than just her.”

And then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the figure dissolved into a cascade of corrupted code.

The environment began to collapse. Fragments of the virtual world crumbled, disintegrating into a black void.

“Come on, come on,” I muttered, fingers racing across the keyboard. “Override protocol.”

The connection severed just as the entire system imploded, throwing me back into reality. I ripped the neural interface from my temple, gasping for air as I collapsed against the desk.

The faint hum of the terminal was the only sound in the room, but it did nothing to ease the pounding in my chest. Mila’s voice echoed in my mind, looping over and over.

“I’m not dead. Find Rhea Valen before it’s too late.”

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “She’s gone. She’s…”

A sharp knock at the door cut me off.

My heart stopped.

No one knew where I lived.

“Aiden Cross?” a deep voice called from the other side.

I reached for the pistol I kept under my desk, my hands trembling.

“Aiden, open the door,” the voice said again, this time firmer. “We know you’re in there.”

My grip tightened on the gun. “Who are you?”

The voice chuckled. “Someone who doesn’t like loose ends.”

Before I could respond, the door exploded inward, a blinding flash of light swallowing the room.

I raised my weapon, but I was too slow. Figures in black stormed in, their faces obscured by sleek visors. One of them stepped forward, holding a device that buzzed ominously.

“Stay out of The Abyss,” they said, voice distorted by a modulator. “Or die like she did.”

The last thing I felt was a sharp sting at my neck. Darkness swallowed me whole.

And then, faint and distant, her voice:

“Aiden… please.”