Ethan's body ached as he slowly regained consciousness, the air around him heavy with the metallic scent of blood. His vision blurred, and the jagged edges of reality seemed to warp around him. He had barely registered the explosion before his body collided with the wall, but now his head throbbed as though a hammer had struck it.
Shaking his head, he pushed himself up, using the cold stone of the alley to steady himself. The world was distorted in strange ways—his senses were overloaded, his thoughts scrambled. The ambient noise of the game world was quieter now, almost... muffled.
The last thing he remembered was the cloaked man, the one who had shown him his strange powers, and then the attack. What the hell happened?
He stood on shaky legs and staggered toward the alley's edge. His body was still pulsing with that strange energy, the same raw force he had felt earlier when the man had tried to show him how to control it. His hands trembled as the energy continued to build inside him, a volatile power he couldn't control. It felt like fire under his skin—something dangerous, and yet, strangely... exhilarating.
A groan sounded from behind him.
Turning quickly, Ethan saw the cloaked figure slumped against the stone wall, clutching his side. Blood seeped from beneath the man's cloak, staining the stone below him. The figure's face was pale, his breaths shallow.
"You...?" Ethan's voice caught in his throat. "Why—why did you—"
The man raised a hand weakly. "Get up. You need to leave... the game is collapsing faster than we thought." His voice was raspy, strained.
"What happened to you?" Ethan asked, taking a hesitant step forward.
The man coughed, wincing in pain. "I've... been part of this game longer than you've realized. But even I wasn't prepared for the extent of the system failure. You, boy... you've been chosen to stop it."
"Stop it?" Ethan's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about? And why—why did you attack me?"
"Not attack," the man rasped, attempting to push himself up. "Test."
Ethan stared at him, his mind still reeling. "Test?"
The man managed a weak smile, though it was more of a grimace. "You're not just some random player. The system chose you... or you were part of its plan from the start. I'm not sure which, but you're too important to ignore now." His hand dropped to the side, and he sighed. "It's too late to save this place. But you... you can at least control the chaos it's causing."
The man's words were like a puzzle Ethan couldn't quite piece together. His heart was racing—this was far beyond the usual glitches or errors. This was something deeper, more insidious. Something more personal.
"How do you know all of this?" Ethan demanded.
"Because I'm... one of the reasons it's happening," the man confessed. "A part of the system's creation, its backdoors. I helped design this world. And I made a mistake. Now, I've got to fix it before it devours everything, including us."
Ethan felt a chill run down his spine. "A mistake?"
The man's hand trembled as he reached into his cloak, pulling out a small black cube. It flickered with a faint red light. "This is a key. A key to finding the source of the corruption. But you'll need more than just this. You need the others."
Ethan frowned, leaning in slightly. "What others?"
The man's eyes darkened. "There are others like you. Players who are aware of the game's collapse—either by design, or by chance. Some will help you. Others will betray you. You need to be ready for both."
Before Ethan could respond, the man closed his eyes and slumped back against the wall, clearly exhausted.
Ethan felt a surge of urgency. He needed to understand more, but he also needed answers to the most pressing question: Why me?
With no time to waste, Ethan grabbed the black cube from the man's limp hand. He shoved it into his inventory, not knowing what it did, but instinctively trusting the man's words. The urgency in his voice had been genuine.
Just as he turned to leave the alley, something strange happened. The air in front of him shimmered, and a loud, high-pitched tone rang in his ears. He staggered back as the world around him seemed to split apart for a brief moment. Colors flickered, objects twisted, and for the briefest second, he felt as if he was seeing another version of the world—one where nothing was right. NPCs were frozen mid-motion. Buildings melted like wax in a fire. The ground beneath his feet cracked open, revealing a glowing abyss below.
And then, it stopped.
The world snapped back into place with a jarring thud, and Ethan found himself standing in the middle of the city once again. But everything was wrong. It was as if he had just stepped out of a dream, or into someone else's nightmare.
His heart raced as his surroundings returned to their original state, but the damage was done. He could feel it. The corruption had spread further than just the game mechanics—it was inside him, too.
Suddenly, a voice pierced through his thoughts, dragging him from his confusion.
"It's happening again... isn't it?"
Ethan spun around to find a young woman standing behind him. She had long, silver hair and a piercing gaze that held an unsettling familiarity. Her avatar was beautiful—too perfect, almost as if it had been designed for her, but there was something off about her presence. The glitches in the world seemed to dance around her, just like the ones Ethan had felt inside himself.
"You felt that too," she said with a knowing smile. "It's spreading."
Ethan's breath caught in his throat. "Who are you?"
The woman's smile widened. "You can call me Lyra. And it seems we're both stuck in this glitch... together."
Lyra walked closer, her eyes scanning him carefully. "You're one of the special ones... aren't you?"
Ethan's hand instinctively reached for the cube in his inventory, though he wasn't sure why. "What do you know about this?"
She paused, and for a long moment, she said nothing. Then, with a strange look in her eyes, she spoke.
"I know more than you realize, Ethan. The system isn't just malfunctioning. It's being hijacked—by someone with an agenda. This whole world... it was never supposed to be like this. And neither were you."
Ethan's heart skipped a beat. She knew his name.
Before he could respond, Lyra held out her hand. A small, glowing orb materialized in her palm. "We can help each other," she said softly. "But first, we need to find the source of the corruption."