2030, Inside Eidolon: Zone Rapture, Formerly Sector 07
The silence after the glitchquake was unnatural. Not the comforting kind of quiet—this was the kind that felt like the world was holding its breath before screaming.
Sable stood with his blade drawn, eyes scanning the eerie void where terrain should've been. The map had collapsed in on itself. The sky glitched in frames—blue, red, pitch black. His breath formed in the cold air as a system anomaly turned the temperature to arctic without warning. Frost clung to his eyelashes.
Then he saw it.
A player—no, a corpse—hovering midair. Frozen, like a suspended marionette. Blood slowly dripped upward from a gash on their throat, defying gravity. Sable recognized the tag. It was Noct, one of the leaderboard's top 10.
"Shit…" he whispered. "Another one died in-game."
A notification blinked on his UI.
> [ERROR: Player "Noct" - No signal. VR circuit forcibly shut. Status: DECEASED.]
A second one followed.
> [WARNING: Data corruption in CODE NODE OMEGA. Entities unstable.]
Then, a message only he could see:
> "They're watching you now, Sable. You're next."
– Unknown Sender
Sable's pulse quickened. He looked at his party window—everyone was offline. His friends had logged out after last night's corrupted raid. They didn't see what he did. The boss glitching. The thing behind the raid boss. The way it looked straight at him like it knew him… like it was waiting.
---
Meanwhile: Real World, Tokyo – An Unknown Facility
In a dim-lit lab, dozens of monitors tracked connected players. Most showed flatline signals. A man in a lab coat—sweaty, anxious—paced between servers.
"He's still in. The only one surviving corrupted zones without complete neural collapse."
Another man leaned closer to the screen displaying Sable's vitals. "Because he's adapting. His neural system isn't rejecting the overlap like the others."
A third figure, cloaked in a black coat, whispered, "Let's see how far he can survive… before Eidolon takes his mind too."
---
Back in Eidolon
Sable pushed forward into the ruins of Zone Rapture. His systems glitched, UI bleeding into the environment like spilled code. Then he heard the static.
A low hum.
Growing louder.
Then words, layered and distorted:
> "I̴̿͛̿̀̔̄̎͆̏͐͗̅͘͘͜͠ ̵̘͙͎̝̟͎̠͋͗̐͑͒͒͒̈́̐̿̐͘̕͝s̴̟̞̺̳̹̼̠͕̱̩͉̱̈͋͐̈́͋̐̍͆̌̑̚e̶̢̛̗̤̱͇̠͖̥̺̹͚̜͙̤̒̿̿͐̐̑̽̓͑̋͒͗͒e̸̢̢̛̖̖͙̮̤̜͙̬̟̓̽́̍̈́̈́͊͊̎͆̾̽͌͝ ̶̰̖̬͚̳͉̲̺̞̰̯̏̑͊͌͐̓̓̿̔͆̾̏̓͐͠ÿ̵̡̛̛̩̳̹͉͍̤̟͈͓́̓͂̅̑̎̈̋̐̆͗ơ̷̜̯̜̳̬̝͚̼͓̼̝̝̱̓̽͛̏̆̇̓͒́͐̍͝͝ͅu̷̢̢̢̡͇̥̞͎̮͔̲͓͔̮̺̓͋̆̄̅̓̓̌̎͂̍̚͝͝.̵̛̪͊̾́̐̎̔͋̄͒͛͑̿͘̚"̸̛̤͈̝̠͒̎̓̅̄͒͑͑͗̋͘͘͘
Sable froze.
The Architect. Again.
It wasn't an NPC. It wasn't a player. It was something born from the code itself. From the corrupted layers buried beneath Eidolon's public servers. It never left. It just waited until someone like Sable opened the right door.
> "Ẃ̶̟͔͎̪͛̋̐̅e̶̥̯͈̞̅ ̸̛̖̱͉͌͗̌̏̿̓̓͗̍͌̌̐̕w̶̛̟̼͎̜̟̯̬̹̽̿̏̎̾̈́͐̈́̎̿͛̚ī̴̢͓͇̼͇͎̼̫͐̓̐͑̋̀̿l̶̞͇̲̦̖̘̜̯̒̎̄̓̃́̓̚͜l̴̛̯̰͈̘̈̋̈́͂͂͛̿͑̌̏͘͠ ̴̡̡̛͍̼̠̺͕͚̘͇̼̫̘͕͋̈́͊̒̌̅͘͝r̷̢̛̺͈̖̤͉͕̳̪̥̟̈́͌͐͋͐̀͌̒̓̚ͅe̸̢̘͔̞͉͙̘̥͕̿͛̍̿͋͊̈́͗̎̌́͐͠s̴̢̨͕͉̞̗̹̘̥̖̹̥̰̥̾̅͂͋̏͊̅͐̑̌̚͝é̷̤̤̻̰̩̯̺̼̺͔̟̤̠͋̍̅̿̓̑̐́͆̿͂̓͘͜͝t̸̢̤̪̮̰̺̅͌́̈́͆̈́́͛̔̏͜.̶̨̣̘̬̠̳̘̜̼̳̼̀́͗͗̏̆̌̑̆̐̕͝͝͝ͅͅ"̶̤̝̺̘̞̿͂̑̽̎̐̆̏͛̅̚̕̚͠
Then…
SYSTEM WARNING: Core AI - Broken Layer Detected. Game Integrity Compromised.
Sable looked up—he was standing at the edge of the next corrupted zone. A place no player had ever reached: Layer Black: The Heart of Eidolon. Unmarked. Unfinished. Not even supposed to exist.
He whispered to himself, teeth clenched, "If this is what it takes… then I'll fight even the system gods."
---
End of Chapter 18