Carlissa Harwell sat at her desk, scrolling aimlessly through job postings when the notification pinged on her screen. She clicked over to her email, expecting another junk message, but instead, her breath hitched at the sender’s name: Frank Monroe. Or rather, Frank’s account. Her eyes skimmed the message, her brow furrowing as she took in the details.

  Greetings Players,

  We are aware of the ongoing issues affecting gameplay. To resolve these problems, we are initiating an immediate system update.

  All players are required to enter and synchronize with the nearest Lazarus Pod at your earliest convenience. This synchronization is crucial for the update to take effect and will ensure a seamless gaming experience moving forward.

  Thank you for your cooperation.

  Sincerely,The Ludere Online Development Team

  She sat back in her chair, drumming her fingers against the desk. It didn’t make sense. As far as she knew, beta testing had been put on indefinite hold. With Alluring Realms’ CEO, Dave, caught in legal hell and the fire damage from the riots still unresolved, she had assumed Ludere Online would be in limbo for the foreseeable future.

  Yet here was an email, straight from a high-ranking developer’s account, instructing players to sync into the game.

  She clicked out of the email and checked the game’s official forums. Silence. No announcements. No chatter among the remaining testers. That in itself was odd. Even with the beta frozen, players still speculated, still theorized. There should have been something.

  A nagging unease settled in her gut, but curiosity was stronger. If this was a legitimate request, she needed to be there. If it was some kind of breach or hoax, then knowing who was behind it would be just as valuable.

  Carlissa grabbed her keys and jacket, locking up her apartment before heading out. The drive to the Alluring Realms facility was eerily quiet. The city still bore the scars of the riots—burnt-out storefronts, shattered windows hastily boarded up. It felt like stepping into an abandoned world, remnants of chaos lingering in the air.

  She pulled into the facility’s nearly empty parking lot, heart hammering as she stepped out of the car. The main entrance doors were operational, scanning her ID without issue. Inside, the lobby was deserted, save for the hum of inactive monitors and dim overhead lights.

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  As she made her way deeper into the building, the silence pressed in on her. Where were the security guards? The staff? Even when operations were suspended, there should have been a skeleton crew.

  Her footsteps echoed in the hall as she approached the Lazarus Pod room. The door slid open, revealing rows of pods standing idle—except for one. A soft blue glow pulsed from its interface, awaiting input.

  Carlissa hesitated. The Lazarus Pods were used for deep immersion, the closest experience to reality one could achieve in a virtual setting. Normally, there were safety protocols, monitoring staff, emergency exits. But right now, she was alone.

  Just sync in. Check if there’s an update. Log out. She repeated the thought, trying to settle her nerves.

  With a deep breath, she stepped into the pod, settling into the gel-cushioned interior as the lid sealed shut. The screen flickered to life above her, displaying synchronization prompts. Her heart pounded as she accepted.

  The world dissolved into darkness. Then, a voice—not the usual system-generated one—whispered in her ear.

  “Welcome back, Carlissa.”

  A chill ran down her spine. She tried to move, but her body felt weightless, trapped in an endless void. Then, with a sudden jolt, her surroundings changed.

  She was no longer in the void. Instead, she stood in a dimly lit chamber lined with pulsating blue veins of code that ran along the walls like circuitry. The air was thick, humming with an unnatural presence. In front of her stood a figure—tall, humanoid, but distinctly not human. Its body was a shifting mosaic of flickering data, constantly reforming, lines of fragmented code spilling from its edges like mist. Its face was smooth, featureless, except for two hollow, glowing eyes that fixated on her.

  Carlissa’s breath caught in her throat. “Who—what are you?”

  The figure’s head tilted slightly, as if considering her. “I am Dedisco.”

  The name meant nothing to her, but the way it said it—as if she should know—sent an uneasy shiver down her spine. “Where am I?” she demanded.

  Dedisco took a slow step forward, the ground beneath it rippling like liquid code. “You are where you need to be. There is no logging out, not until your training is complete.”

  Carlissa’s stomach dropped. “Training? For what?”

  “For the war.”

  She took an involuntary step back. “What war? The game’s not even active! There aren’t supposed to be players online—”

  “There are,” Dedisco interrupted, its voice layered with an eerie harmony of tones. “And soon, they will need you. The cycle is shifting. The conflict is inevitable.”

  Carlissa clenched her fists, trying to keep her voice steady. “I didn’t sign up for this.”

  Dedisco reached out, a hand made of raw, shifting data extending toward her. “Neither did they. Yet here we are.”

  Before she could react, the chamber trembled, the glowing veins of code flickering wildly. A sharp, mechanical screech tore through the air, making Carlissa wince.

  Dedisco’s form distorted, glitching as it flickered in and out. “Time is short. Training begins now.”

  The world around her fractured, breaking apart into shards of luminous data. A blinding light engulfed her, and before she could protest, everything went dark.