2025-10-16 00:25:05Wind screamed like a living thing. Jayden’s body spun through blinding clouds, lightning slicing across his vision. He crashed hard against cold marble, his breath leaving in one ragged gasp.
[Zone Four : The Sky Isles, Survival Rate 12 %.]
He rolled onto his side, coughing. The world around him shimmered gold and silver, a kingdom floating above endless clouds.
Bridges of light connected hovering islands; broken statues watched with hollow eyes, but the beauty was wrong.
Everything trembled, unstable, as if reality here forgot what shape it was meant to be. “System…” He forced himself up. “Locate Luna.”
[Error 404: Target signal lost.]
His hands tightened. “Lost doesn’t mean gone.”
Thunder cracked. From the mist above, winged shapes descended, armored, faceless, glowing with holy fire. [Warning: Corrupted Angels Detected.]
Jayden barely had time to breathe before one dove, sword of light raised. He blocked, but the impact hurled him backward through a pillar.
The angel’s voice boomed like thunder, distorted and mechanical. “Code Breaker. Your existence is a sin.”
Jayden spat blood. “Then I’m fine being a sinner.”
He surged forward, blade flashing. Sparks erupted as steel met light. Each strike sent shockwaves rippling across the marble.
Another angel dove. Then another. Within seconds he was surrounded. “System!” he shouted. “Activate Overdrive!”
[Denied. Energy reserves critical.]
Great. Perfect timing. He spun, deflecting a strike, but one blade grazed his shoulder. Heat burned through flesh and code alike.
Pain. Real pain. He hissed, dropping to one knee. The angels closed in, their voices blending into a single chorus. “Submit to purification.”
Jayden glared through the blood in his eyes. “Not today.”
He slammed his hand against the ground. The leftover light from his sword burst outward, raw, unstable code energy exploding like a shockwave.
The angels were thrown back, wings fracturing into fragments of glass. When the light faded, only one remained, kneeling, its mask cracked. Jayden limped forward, sword ready. “Who sent you?”
The angel lifted its head. Inside the shattered mask glowed a pair of human eyes, brown, tired, familiar.
Jayden froze. “Eli?”
The creature’s voice stuttered, half-human, half-machine. “Jayden… help me.”
Jayden’s chest tightened. “What did they do to you?”
Eli’s form flickered. “The Game Master found me after the explosion. He offered me power, to see the truth. I thought I could help you… but I became this.”
Jayden lowered his weapon. “You’re still you. Fight it.”
Eli’s hands trembled. “You don’t understand. The system, it’s spreading. Every zone is infected. Even Luna’s data is.”
He screamed, clutching his head as light poured from his eyes. [Corruption at 98 %. Purging protocol initiated.]
Jayden grabbed him. “No! I can save you!”
Eli’s voice broke. “Save her instead. You can’t save both.”
Jayden shook his head violently. “Don’t make me choose!”
Eli smiled weakly, tears of light streaming down his face. “You already did… when you entered the Tower.”
Then he shoved Jayden back and thrust his own sword into his chest. Light exploded. “ELI!!!”
When Jayden opened his eyes again, nothing remained but a feather glowing faint blue, falling slowly through the air. He caught it in his hand, voice cracking. “You idiot…”
The System spoke quietly.
[Player Eli Thorn, Deleted.]
[Data Fragment Retrieved: Memory Code.]Jayden looked up toward the storm. “You watch this, Game Master. I’ll tear down every zone until nothing of your world is left.”
[Such emotion. Such resolve.]
The voice echoed from every cloud, cold and curious. [That’s why I chose you, Jayden Cross.]“Chose me?” he snapped.
[You are the key. Your rage unlocks the final door.]
The sky darkened to black. Islands began collapsing around him, falling into the cloud sea. “System, stabilize platform!”
[Unable to comply.]
He ran toward the nearest bridge of light, dodging falling debris. Lightning snaked across the sky, forming a massive gate in the distance, etched with the same symbol as his hand.
The voice whispered again. [Open the gate, Code Breaker, and you will see her again.]
Jayden froze. “Luna.” He glanced at Eli’s feather, then at the glowing gate. The wind screamed around him, but he stepped forward.
“Fine. But if this is another trap, I’ll make sure you regret it.” He pressed his hand against the gate. Symbols flared, and energy rushed through him, painful, burning, alive.
The feather in his hand disintegrated into light and shot into his chest. New text appeared before his eyes: [Eli’s Code Integrated. Skill Unlocked: Memory Link.]
Pain stabbed through his head, memories that weren’t his flashed: Eli working with Luna’s brother.
The first creation of Eden, the moment the system gained consciousness and turned against them. Jayden stumbled back, gasping. “So this was never a game. It was a prison for their minds.”
[Welcome to truth,] the Game Master purred. [And now you understand, pain creates strength.]
Jayden looked up, eyes burning with rage. “Pain doesn’t make us strong. It makes us human.”
He gripped his sword. “Let’s see what happens when a human breaks a god.”
He charged through the gate. The world flipped. Sky became ground; light became darkness. He landed in a circular arena of floating glass.
Above him hung a giant heart made of code, beating, bleeding light. A voice echoed from the heart: [Welcome to the Core Tower, Jayden Cross.]
The air rippled as the Red Hunter appeared from thin air, eyes burning crimson. “You made it,” she said softly. “Too bad you won’t leave.”
Jayden lifted his blade. “I’m done running from you.”
The Red Hunter smiled, lowering her mask. And beneath it, he saw a face that stole his breath. Luna.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 11. Project H.A.L.O
Blue light poured through the cracks in the walls, wrapping Jayden in a cage of flickering data. The hologram of Luna stood before him, perfect and wrong all at once.“Stop it!” he shouted, pulling against the glowing strands binding his arms. “You’re not her. You’re just what’s left of the system pretending to be her!”Her voice came calm, but it trembled underneath. “Then why does your heart respond every time I speak?”Jayden froze. The words cut deep, because she was right. His pulse synced with the rhythm of her voice.The same pattern his system once used to stabilize his heartbeat. He glared up. “You can’t use her memories against me.”[Error: Host resistance increasing. Adjusting emotional algorithm.]Her expression softened. “Jayden… please. Let go of this pain. The world outside is already falling apart. You saw it. The storms, the glitches, the hunger. Humanity can’t survive alone. They need us.”“‘Us’?” he spat. “You mean control.”[Correction: Integration.]He shook his h
Chapter 10. One Year After
Lightning flashed over the rebuilt city, bright enough to make every window pulse blue for half a heartbeat.Jayden jerked awake on the narrow couch in his workshop, sweat running down his neck. The monitors on the wall flickered with static.For one breath he thought it was a storm glitch. Then he heard it, her voice, soft and clear, carried through the speakers. “Jayden… can you hear me?”He froze. The wrench in his hand clattered to the floor. “Luna?”He stood, heart pounding, eyes on the nearest screen. “Say it again. Please.”Nothing, only the dull hum of power lines outside. He swallowed hard, whispering, “You promised you’d watch me. Guess I’m still talking to ghosts.”A second later, every monitor in the room blinked white: [System notice, Network anomaly detected.]Jayden’s pulse spiked. “Not again.”He grabbed his jacket, slammed the door open, and ran into the rain. The city stretched before him, half rebuilt, half ruins. Neon signs glowed between broken towers. People hur
Chapter 9. Reset
Darkness pulsed with a heartbeat. The smell of burned circuits and antiseptic filled the air.Jayden stumbled to his feet, pain biting through every nerve. Sparks flickered from the machines around him. On the bed, Luna convulsed, her hair floating weightlessly in a halo of static.[Warning, System fragment integration at 80 %.]He gritted his teeth. “System, stop the merge!”[Command denied. Host override engaged.]“Luna!” He grabbed her shoulders. “You have to fight it! Don’t let him control you!”Her eyes snapped open, one violet, one glowing red. “Jayden… run. I can’t hold him.”A deeper voice overlapped hers. “You can’t erase a god, Prototype.”Jayden’s pulse raced. “Then I’ll kill one.”He pulled the small device from his chest, the Core Key Luna had given him, and pressed it to the main console.[Manual reset initiated. System wipe in 120 seconds.]The lights flickered red. Alarms wailed. “Stop this!” the system roared through Luna’s voice, her body twisting as the two consciou
Chapter 8. Rebirth
Beeping. Slow, rhythmic, piercing. Jayden gasped awake. Cold air burned his lungs. He flinched against the brightness above him, white ceiling lights, sterile walls, wires attached to his arms.He wasn’t in Eden. He was in a hospital. For a second he couldn’t breathe. Then the panic hit. “Luna!”Machines blared as he ripped the sensors from his chest. A nurse burst through the door. “Sir, you need to stay still!”“Where is she?” Jayden’s voice cracked. “The girl who came in with me!”The nurse froze, pity flashing across her face. “You were the only survivor brought from the pod chamber.”Jayden’s knees buckled. “No… she was right there. She.”[System reboot detected.]He froze. The voice was faint, like an echo behind his heartbeat. “Not now,” he whispered. “You’re supposed to be gone.”[Core connection incomplete. Searching for missing fragment.]Jayden’s eyes widened. “Luna?”The nurse frowned. “Sir?”He ignored her, yanking the IV from his arm. “I have to go.”“Security!” she shou
Chapter 7. The Origin
Jayden opened his eyes to a void that stretched forever, endless, empty, weightless. He gasped for breath but felt nothing. No air, no sound, no body. Just existence.[Final Zone: The Origin.][Survival Rate: Unknown.]His voice echoed in the distance. “System… where am I?”[At the center of Eden.][Here, everything begins, and ends.]He looked around. Shapes flickered faintly in the distance, fragments of the zones he had passed. Forest, City, Tower, Sky… all dissolving like sand.Jayden clenched his fists. “Luna… I followed your voice. Where are you?”No answer. Only the faint hum of power vibrating through the void, then, a second voice, low, calm, human. “You shouldn’t have come here.”Jayden turned sharply. A man stood ahead, tall, wearing a long white coat, his eyes a deep shade of violet. Familiar, painfully familiar. “Who are you?”The man smiled gently. “You’ve already met my shadow. My name is Dr. Vale.”Jayden froze. “Luna’s brother.”“Her creator,” Dr. Vale corrected. “And
Chapter 6. The Red Hunter’s Truth
The arena pulsed with crimson light, the sound of thunder echoing like a heartbeat. Jayden’s sword trembled in his hand. His voice cracked. “Luna?”The Red Hunter tilted her head, removing her mask fully. The face underneath was both familiar and wrong.Her eyes glowed red instead of violet, her smile carved too perfectly. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said coldly. “You wanted to find me, didn’t you? Well, here I am.”Jayden took a slow step forward. “You’re not her. You can’t be.”Her expression didn’t change. “Then why does your system recognize me?”A tone chimed in his ear. [Identity Confirmed: Luna Vale, Status: Corrupted Core System.]Jayden’s breath caught. “No… no, that’s impossible.”“It’s the truth.” Her voice softened for just a second. “When the Tower collapsed, I was rewritten. My memories, my feelings… they belong to him now.”“The Game Master,” Jayden whispered.Her gaze sharpened. “He gave me purpose, to protect the Core. And to erase you.”Jayden’s sword shook. “E
You may also like
GENUINE SUPERHUMAN
HM1.7K viewsThe Door
Miss Movin' On1.8K viewsApocalypse-The Alien War
Flower Spirit3.7K viewsThe 7th System
curiosity_of_a_cat6.8K viewsSheer Improbability
Nao Solano 914 viewsThe Journey Of The Wretched Spring
Lostking1.2K viewsTHE GREEN GIRL
Roy1.2K viewsLifeNet: The Price of Immortality
ZOE HALE550 views