The Last Player: When the Game Became Reality

The Old Tower Gate

The message remained on Ethan's screen.

[ONE OF THE FIVE WILL BETRAY YOU.]

He read it once.

Then again.

A third time.

The words didn't change.

Ethan leaned back in his chair.

For fifteen years, he had played Eternal Ascension of Tower.

He had seen thousands of system messages.

Quest failures.

Boss warnings.

Hidden conditions.

Death penalties.

Even messages that had appeared only once and never returned.

But this was different.

The system wasn't warning him about a monster.

It wasn't warning him about a trap.

It was warning him about people.

Five names appeared beneath the message.

Leonard Cross.

Mara Voss.

Daniel Rook.

Kieran Ash.

Noah Reed.

Former players.

Former legends.

People Ethan had once known.

People he had once trusted.

And people he had believed were gone.

Ethan slowly wrote their names on a sheet of paper.

Beside each one, he wrote their old rankings.

Leonard — #12.

Mara — #27.

Daniel — #43.

Kieran — #68.

Noah — #91.

Mina leaned over his shoulder.

"Those are some pretty high numbers."

"They were higher than most people alive could reach."

She looked at the invitation.

"And they're inviting you?"

"Apparently."

"Then why does the system say one of them will betray you?"

Ethan didn't answer immediately.

He stared at the five names.

There was something wrong.

Not with the message.

With himself.

Looking at those names created a strange pressure behind his eyes.

As though he knew them more deeply than he remembered.

Mina noticed his expression.

"You okay?"

Ethan rubbed his temple.

"I don't know."

"That's not like you."

"I know."

He looked at the invitation again.

[MEETING LOCATION: OLD TOWER GATE]

[ACCEPT INVITATION?]

Mina folded her arms.

"You don't have to go."

Ethan smiled faintly.

"Yes, I do."

"Why?"

"Because if I don't..."

He tapped the warning.

"...I'll never know which one."

Mina stared at him.

"You're actually going because you want to find the traitor?"

"No."

Ethan closed the invitation.

"I'm going because I want to know why the system thinks they know me."

Mina's expression changed.

That was the real question.

Not who would betray him.

Why did five former players suddenly return to his life at the exact moment his memories had begun behaving strangely?

Ethan stood.

"We're going."

Mina sighed.

"I knew you were going to say that."

"You could stay here."

She grabbed her jacket.

"Not happening."

Ethan smiled.

"Didn't think so."

________________________________________

The Old Tower Gate

The coordinates led them outside the city.

Far beyond the Hunter Association.

Far beyond the newly established guild districts.

The road eventually became an abandoned railway line.

Weeds grew between the tracks.

Old warning signs hung from rusted poles.

The station itself looked as though it hadn't been used in decades.

Mina looked around.

"This is the meeting place?"

Ethan checked the coordinates.

"Yes."

"That's comforting."

Ethan almost smiled.

Then he stopped.

He recognized the station.

Not from reality.

From the game.

His eyes moved across the broken walls.

The abandoned platform.

The collapsed staircase.

The cracked concrete pillar.

He knew exactly where he was.

"Old Tower Gate."

Mina looked at him.

"What?"

"This location."

"You've been here?"

"In the game."

Ethan walked toward a wall covered in moss.

"There was a hidden entrance here."

Mina followed.

"Was?"

"It was removed twelve years ago."

"You remember it?"

Ethan placed his hand against the wall.

"I remember playing it."

Nothing happened.

He frowned.

Then he noticed something.

A tiny symbol beneath the moss.

A tower.

His breathing slowed.

He brushed the moss away.

The symbol was real.

Not a game texture.

Not an old decoration.

A real carving.

Mina stepped closer.

"That wasn't in the game."

Ethan didn't answer.

He pressed the symbol.

Click.

The wall moved.

Mina immediately drew her weapon.

"Ethan."

"I know."

The wall opened inward.

Beyond it was darkness.

A narrow staircase descended beneath the station.

Ethan stared into it.

The game had called this place Old Tower Gate.

But the game had never explained what the gate was for.

He had always assumed it was unfinished content.

Now he wasn't so sure.

Mina looked at him.

"You're still going in."

Ethan nodded.

"Of course."

She sighed.

"You're impossible."

"Probably."

They descended.

________________________________________

The Five

The staircase ended in a large underground chamber.

Five people were waiting.

Ethan recognized them immediately.

Leonard.

Mara.

Daniel.

Kieran.

Noah.

None of them had changed as much as Ethan expected.

Leonard stood near a stone table, arms folded.

Mara was checking the room.

Daniel was examining the walls.

Kieran was carrying a large pack.

Noah—

was simply watching.

Ethan stopped.

Something inside him tightened.

He knew these people.

He was certain of it.

But he couldn't remember from where.

Leonard stepped forward.

"Ethan."

Ethan looked at him.

"Leonard."

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Leonard smiled.

"Still cautious."

"Still alive."

Mara laughed softly.

"That's probably the first thing we agree on."

Daniel looked at Ethan.

"You've changed."

Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"That's what happens after fifteen years."

"No."

Daniel shook his head.

"That's not what I meant."

Ethan studied him.

"What did you mean?"

Daniel didn't answer.

Kieran interrupted.

"We didn't bring you here to argue."

Ethan looked around.

"Then why am I here?"

Leonard pointed toward the table.

A map was spread across it.

Not a map of Earth.

Not a map of the current Tower.

It showed something older.

Something Ethan recognized.

The Tower.

But the floor markings were wrong.

Instead of beginning at Floor 1, the map showed several sections beneath it.

Ethan stepped closer.

"What is this?"

Leonard answered quietly.

"The part of the Tower the game never showed."

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

"How do you have this?"

"We found it before the game ended."

"When?"

Leonard looked at him.

"You don't remember?"

A sharp pain struck Ethan's head.

For half a second—

he saw six people standing around the same table.

Six.

Not five.

Someone was laughing.

Someone was holding a sword.

Someone was shouting his name.

Then the memory vanished.

Ethan gripped the edge of the table.

Mina caught his shoulder.

"Ethan?"

"I'm fine."

Leonard's face had changed.

He looked frightened.

Ethan noticed.

"You saw it."

Leonard didn't answer.

"What did I remember?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie."

Leonard looked away.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Ethan stared at him.

For the first time, the system warning felt less like a threat.

It felt like confirmation.

Someone here knew something.

Maybe all of them did.

________________________________________

The Memory

The system appeared.

[MEMORY FRAGMENT DETECTED.]

Everyone froze.

Mara stepped backward.

"No."

Kieran looked at her.

"What?"

She shook her head.

"Not again."

Ethan stared at the message.

[OLD PARTY RECORD LOCATED.]

[RESTORATION AVAILABLE.]

He touched the screen.

The chamber disappeared.

For one instant, Ethan saw another place.

Another time.

The Tower.

Floor 1,000.

Five people stood behind him.

Leonard.

Mara.

Daniel.

Kieran.

Noah.

And Ethan stood before a massive gate.

Something was behind it.

Something enormous.

Leonard shouted:

"Ethan, don't!"

Ethan turned.

"I have to."

"No!"

The memory broke.

Ethan returned to the chamber.

He staggered.

Mina caught him before he fell.

"What did you see?"

Ethan looked at Leonard.

"You were there."

Leonard's face went pale.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"You were standing beside me."

"I know."

"Then why don't I remember you?"

Leonard swallowed.

"Because you weren't supposed to."

The room went silent.

Ethan's eyes narrowed.

"What does that mean?"

Leonard didn't answer.

The system interrupted.

[PARTY MEMORY INCOMPLETE.]

[MEMORY RESTORATION: LOCKED.]

[BETRAYAL EVENT DETECTED.]

Mina looked at the others.

"Which one?"

The system displayed:

[BETRAYER IDENTIFICATION: LOCKED.]

Ethan stared at the five people.

Something was wrong.

He could feel it.

But he couldn't tell who.

Then Noah spoke.

"You shouldn't trust the message."

Ethan looked at him.

"Why?"

Noah smiled.

"Because the system doesn't always tell the truth."

Ethan studied his face.

"Do you?"

Noah's smile disappeared.

Nobody moved.

Then Leonard finally spoke.

"We should leave."

Ethan shook his head.

"No."

"Ethan."

"I want answers."

"You aren't ready."

Ethan's expression hardened.

"Then I'll become ready."

He folded the map.

"We'll work together."

Mara frowned.

"Even knowing one of us will betray you?"

Ethan nodded.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Ethan looked at the five former players.

"Because I want to see what happens."

Nobody answered.

But somewhere inside the chamber—

something clicked.

Ethan turned.

Nothing.

The lights flickered.

Once.

Twice.

Then stabilized.

________________________________________

The Walk Back

Hours later, the group finally left the underground chamber.

The sun was beginning to rise.

Ethan walked beside Mina.

For several minutes, neither spoke.

Then she whispered:

"Do you trust them?"

"No."

"Any of them?"

"No."

She looked at him.

"Then why stay?"

Ethan glanced back.

Leonard was walking ahead.

Mara and Kieran were talking quietly.

Daniel was checking their surroundings.

Noah was walking alone.

Ethan looked at the five of them.

"Because the system said one of them will betray me."

Mina understood.

"But it didn't say the betrayal would succeed."

Ethan smiled.

"Exactly."

They continued walking.

Neither noticed the figure still standing inside the underground chamber.

The lights went out.

The figure approached the map.

Its hand stopped over the 500th floor.

A hidden system screen appeared.

[PARTY CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.]

[MEMORY RESPONSE: POSITIVE.]

[PHASE ONE: SUCCESS.]

The figure smiled.

Then whispered:

"Welcome back, Ethan."

The screen went dark.