Lena moved with urgency, her glowing eyes darting between the shadows. Erik stumbled after her, struggling to keep up, his sword still clutched in his hand.
“Are we close?” he asked, his voice breaking the silence.
Lena nodded. “It’s just ahead. You’ll know it when you see it.”
“What happens when we get there?”
“We find answers,” she said simply, though her tone was laced with something Erik hadn’t heard from her before: doubt.
“And if we don’t?” Erik pressed.
Lena didn’t answer.
After another few minutes of navigating the broken terrain, they emerged into a massive clearing. Erik stopped in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat.
Before them stood an enormous structure, towering into the dark, glitched-out sky. It was unlike anything Erik had ever seen in Endworld Online. The Root System was an amalgamation of machinery and code, its surface shimmering with cascading streams of data. Giant columns of glowing symbols spiraled upward, disappearing into the void above. The entire structure pulsed with energy, sending shockwaves through the ground that made Erik’s skin tingle.
“What… is this?” Erik asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Lena stood beside him, her expression unreadable. “The heart of the game,” she said. “Every system, every rule, every line of code that makes up this world—it all starts here.”
Erik stared at the monolithic structure, a mix of awe and unease swirling in his gut. The closer he looked, the more details he noticed. Jagged sections of the Root System flickered, pieces of its surface glitching out of existence before reappearing moments later. It was like the entire thing was alive—and dying.
“It’s… falling apart,” he said.
Lena nodded grimly. “The glitch. It’s spreading faster than I thought.”
Erik turned to her, his stomach twisting. “What happens if it collapses?”
Lena hesitated. “If the Root System goes, so does everything else. The world, the players, the NPCs—everything. Even us.”
Erik’s chest tightened. “So, how do we stop it?”
Lena gave him a sharp look. “That’s what we’re here to find out.”
They approached the base of the structure, where a jagged, flickering doorway opened into darkness. Erik hesitated, peering into the void.
“You sure about this?” he asked.
“No,” Lena said, stepping inside. “But we don’t have a choice.”
Erik followed her, gripping his sword tightly. The air inside the Root System was thick and cold, and every step sent ripples of light spreading across the floor. Streams of code ran along the walls, glowing faintly and shifting with every movement.
As they delved deeper, Erik noticed strange shapes embedded in the walls—floating geometric patterns, pulsing with glitching energy. He reached out to touch one, but Lena grabbed his wrist.
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“Don’t,” she warned.
“Why not?”
“Those are fragments,” Lena said. “Leftover pieces of data. Some of them are harmless, but others…” She trailed off, her expression dark. “Let’s just say you don’t want to find out.”
Erik swallowed hard and pulled his hand back. “Got it. No touching the weird glowy things.”
They continued deeper into the structure, the sound of their footsteps echoing in the empty corridors. Erik couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched.
“Is it just me, or is this place… alive?” he asked.
Lena glanced at him. “It’s not alive, but it’s aware. The Root System isn’t just a machine—it’s the closest thing this world has to a mind.”
“A mind?” Erik repeated, his skin crawling.
Lena nodded. “The devs programmed it to monitor everything, to keep the world running smoothly. But with the glitch spreading, it’s losing control. That’s why the sentinels are going berserk. The Root System is panicking.”
“Fantastic,” Erik muttered.
They eventually reached a massive chamber, its walls covered in cascading streams of code. At the center of the room was a pedestal, glowing faintly.
“This is it,” Lena said, approaching the pedestal.
“What’s it for?” Erik asked.
Lena placed her hand on the surface, and a screen appeared, hovering in the air. Streams of data began scrolling across it, too fast for Erik to read.
“This is the Archive,” Lena explained. “It holds the history of the game—every patch, every update, every piece of data the devs ever added.”
Erik’s eyes widened. “So, you can see everything that’s happened?”
Lena nodded, her fingers flying across the interface. “If the glitch started somewhere, there’ll be a record of it here.”
Erik watched as the data scrolled by, his mind racing. If they could find the source of the glitch, maybe they could stop it. Maybe he could figure out how to fix himself, to get back to the real world.
“Wait,” Lena said, her voice sharp.
“What is it?” Erik asked.
She pointed to a line of code on the screen. Erik squinted, trying to make sense of it.
[?λ-G: CLASSIFIED // RESTRICTED ACCESS.]
“It’s the glitch,” Lena said, her voice low. “It’s been classified by the devs. They knew about it.”
Erik’s heart sank. “They knew this would happen?”
Lena frowned. “Not exactly. But they were experimenting with something. Something big.”
The screen flickered, and a new message appeared:
[WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED.]
Lena’s eyes widened. “We’ve been flagged. They know we’re here.”
“Who’s ‘they’?” Erik asked, though he already knew the answer.
The room began to shake, the streams of code on the walls distorting violently. A low, mechanical hum filled the air, growing louder with every passing second.
“The devs,” Lena said, her voice tight. “And they’re sending something to stop us.”
A section of the wall split open, revealing a massive figure. It was humanoid but mechanical, its body constructed from jagged metal and streams of glowing code. Its head was featureless, save for a single, pulsing red light where its eyes should have been.
“Please tell me that’s not a sentinel,” Erik said, gripping his sword.
“It’s worse,” Lena said, drawing her daggers. “That’s the Gatekeeper.”
The Gatekeeper stepped forward, its movements heavy and deliberate. The ground shook beneath its weight, and its red light locked onto Erik and Lena.
“INTRUDERS DETECTED,” the Gatekeeper intoned, its voice a deep, robotic growl. “ACCESS TO THE ROOT SYSTEM IS RESTRICTED. COMPLY OR BE TERMINATED.”
Erik raised his sword, his palms sweating. “I’m guessing ‘comply’ isn’t an option?”
“Not unless you want to get deleted,” Lena said.
The Gatekeeper lunged, its massive arm swinging toward them with terrifying speed. Erik barely dodged, the impact leaving a crater in the floor.
“Erik!” Lena shouted. “Focus! Use your abilities!”
Erik’s mind raced as he dodged another attack. He reached out instinctively, and a terminal screen appeared:
[ENTITY: GATEKEEPER-001]
[STATUS: ACTIVE // IMMUNE TO MODIFICATION.]
“Of course it’s immune,” Erik muttered.
The Gatekeeper roared, raising both arms for a crushing blow.
“Erik!” Lena shouted.
With no other option, Erik dove toward the pedestal. His hand slammed down on the interface, and the screen flickered violently.
“What are you doing?” Lena yelled.
“I don’t know!” Erik shouted back.
The screen displayed a single option:
[EMERGENCY REBOOT: ROOT SYSTEM.]
Erik didn’t hesitate. He hit the command.
The Gatekeeper froze mid-attack, its body twitching as streams of code enveloped it. The entire room trembled, and the glowing walls began to collapse inward.
“What did you do?!” Lena shouted.
“I think I just reset the system!” Erik yelled.
The room dissolved into a blinding white light, the sound of the Gatekeeper’s roar echoing in Erik’s ears.