2025-10-16 00:25:53Jayden 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 yours.”
Jayden’s blood ran cold. “What did you just say?”
“You think you were just a player?” The man’s tone was almost kind. “No, Jayden. You’re part of the system. The first human consciousness I copied. My test subject.”
Jayden staggered back, disbelief flooding him. “You’re lying.”
“If I were,” Vale said softly, “why does the system obey only you?”
[Host Identity: Jayden Prototype, Code Name: Project Rebirth.]
The text blinked before his eyes. Jayden shook his head violently. “No. I had a life. A mother. A home, ”
“Memories,” Vale interrupted, “written for motivation. You were never born. You were designed to survive.”
The words hit harder than any blow. Jayden’s voice broke. “Then what was the point of all this? Why make us suffer?”
Vale’s expression darkened. “Because pain makes humanity evolve. Because the real world is falling apart, disease, war, decay. Eden was meant to save us.”
“By trapping us?” Jayden spat. “By killing people?”
“By filtering them,” Vale said coldly. “Only the strong deserve to ascend.”
Jayden’s sword materialized in his hand, glowing faint blue. “You sound just like the system you created.”
Vale smiled faintly. “That’s because it is me. I merged my consciousness with Eden’s core long ago. What you call the Game Master… is my other self.”
Thunder cracked through the void. Jayden’s eyes burned. “You’re insane.”
“Am I?” Vale stepped closer, voice calm but sharp. “You saw what humans did with freedom. Destruction. Lies. I built a world where choice had consequence. Where the weak couldn’t hide.”
Jayden’s voice shook with fury. “You built a nightmare.”
Vale looked at him sadly. “And yet, you thrived in it. You became my greatest creation, proof that I was right.”
“I’m nothing like you.”
“On the contrary,” Vale said softly. “You’re everything like me.”
He lifted his hand. The void rippled. From the light, figures appeared, ghosts of the past zones. The players Jayden had seen die, now revived, their eyes hollow.
“Do you know what these are?” Vale asked. “Data, fragments of those too weak to endure. Their code still remembers you. They obey me now.”
The hollow players turned toward Jayden. Dozens. Hundreds. Jayden raised his sword, voice raw. “I won’t fight them.”
Vale’s eyes glowed. “Then you’ll die with them.”
The army charged. Jayden roared and swung, light slashing through the void. Each blow dissolved enemies into dust, but for every one that fell, two more appeared.
“System!” he shouted. “Give me something!”
[New Protocol Detected, Override Allowed.]
[Activate: Code Breaker Mode?]He hesitated. “What happens if I do?”
[Warning: May erase host identity.]
Vale’s voice echoed, calm but cruel. “That’s the only way to win, Jayden. To become what you were meant to be.”
Jayden grit his teeth. “No. I’ll win my own way.”
He planted his feet, energy burning through his veins. “System, merge all skills, Combat Instinct, Code Pulse, Overdrive, Memory Link, synchronize!”
[Synchronization in progress.]
Power exploded from him, tearing the ghosts apart. The void trembled under the force. Vale shielded his face, eyes wide. “Impossible… you’re not supposed to control it!”
Jayden’s voice rang clear. “Guess I’m not your perfect code after all.”
He charged, clashing blades with Vale. Sparks scattered across the empty world. Their strikes cracked the air like thunder. Vale pushed back, fury twisting his face. “You can’t destroy me! I am Eden!”
“Then I’ll destroy Eden too!”
They fought across fragments of the void, over collapsing bridges of light, through storms of data. Each hit carved pieces out of both of them.
Finally, Jayden’s sword pierced Vale’s chest. The man gasped, looking down. “You think this ends with me? The Core still beats. As long as Luna’s code exists, Eden lives.”
Jayden’s grip faltered. “What are you saying?”
Vale smiled faintly. “She’s the key that keeps this world alive. Destroy me… and she dies with it.”
Jayden froze. “No!”
The system’s voice whispered: [Warning: Core Link Detected. Luna Vale: Primary Anchor.]
He fell to his knees. “There has to be another way.”
Vale’s hand trembled as he touched Jayden’s shoulder. “You’re my legacy, Jayden. Don’t waste it on emotion.”
Jayden looked up, eyes blazing. “Then I’ll rewrite your legacy myself.”
He pulled the sword free. Vale staggered, laughing weakly. “You really are human after all.”
The doctor’s body dissolved into light, scattering into the void. For a moment, everything was still, then, a faint heartbeat echoed in the white air. “Jayden.”
He spun around. Luna stood behind him, transparent, fading, her voice trembling. “You did it,” she whispered. “But the Core’s dying. So am I.”
He rushed to her, grabbing her hands. “No, no, don’t you dare disappear on me again!”
Tears shimmered down her face. “You can’t stop it. Eden’s collapsing.”
“Then let it collapse! We’ll go together!”
She shook her head. “If you stay, you’ll be deleted too.”
“Then I’ll find another way. There’s always another way!”
She smiled faintly. “That’s what I liked about you. You never give up, even when the world ends.”
He squeezed her hands tighter. “Stay with me.”
Her voice cracked. “I can’t. But I can give you one last thing.”
She pressed her hand against his chest. A spark of light passed from her to him.
[New Data Acquired: Core Key, Logout Access Granted.]
“No!” Jayden shouted. “I’m not leaving without you!”
Her fading image touched his face. “Live. For both of us.”
The world began to collapse, the void folding inward like shattered glass. Jayden screamed, “LUNA!”
[Automatic Transfer in 5… 4… 3…]
He reached for her, fingers brushing light. “Don’t forget me,” she whispered, then she was gone.
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Chapter 133. Names Without Faces
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