The world around him was a chaotic swirl of fractured data. Segments of terrain hovered in midair, glitching in and out of existence, while streams of raw code spiraled across the sky like shattered constellations. He lay on his back, staring up at the swirling void, his chest heaving.
“Lena?” he croaked, pushing himself up. His body felt heavier than before, sluggish, as if the system was resisting his very presence.
“I’m here,” Lena’s voice called from nearby.
Erik turned to see her crouched behind a jagged fragment of rock, her daggers drawn. She looked as worn out as he felt, her usually sharp eyes dulled by exhaustion.
“What… happened?” Erik asked, stumbling to his feet.
“You terminated the experiment,” Lena said, her voice laced with urgency. “But the system’s fighting back. The glitch didn’t just disappear—it’s unraveling.”
Erik’s stomach dropped. “Unraveling? What does that mean?”
Lena gestured around them. “This. The experiment was tied to the core of the system. When you shut it down, you destabilized everything connected to it. The world’s barely holding itself together.”
Erik swore under his breath, scanning the shifting landscape. Floating islands of broken code drifted in the distance, and the air was thick with an electric charge that set his nerves on edge.
“Wasn’t the whole point of this to stop the glitch?” he said, frustration boiling in his voice.
“It’s not that simple,” Lena replied sharply. “The glitch isn’t just some virus you can delete. It’s woven into the system—into the world itself. Terminating the experiment was a start, but it’s only part of the solution.”
“Then what’s the next part?” Erik asked, his voice rising.
Lena hesitated, her gaze fixed on the horizon. “We need to find the devs’ control node. It’s the only way to stabilize the system.”
Erik frowned. “The control node? What’s that?”
“It’s the devs’ command center,” Lena explained. “The place where they oversee everything—patches, updates, experiments. If we can access it, we might be able to rewrite the system and stop the glitch for good.”
“And let me guess,” Erik said bitterly, “it’s not going to be easy to get there.”
Lena’s smirk was faint but defiant. “It never is.”
As they moved through the fractured world, Erik began to notice the extent of the damage. NPCs flickered in and out of existence, their forms distorted as they looped through corrupted routines. Structures crumbled into fragments of code, dissolving into the void below.
“This is worse than I thought,” Erik muttered, stepping over a crack in the ground that pulsed with raw energy.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“It’s not just Sanctum,” Lena said grimly. “The entire system is destabilizing. If we don’t reach the control node soon, there won’t be anything left to save.”
“Great,” Erik muttered. “No pressure or anything.”
They passed through a ruined village, its buildings half-submerged in glitching terrain. Erik’s heart ached as he saw the remains of what were once thriving NPC communities—people who had existed, in their own way, within the game’s world.
He paused as he spotted an NPC child sitting on a broken step, her body flickering as she clutched a glitching doll.
“Can’t we do something for them?” Erik asked, his voice tight.
“We don’t have time,” Lena said firmly.
Erik clenched his fists, his jaw tightening. “They’re just going to disappear, aren’t they?”
Lena didn’t respond, but the silence was answer enough.
Their progress was interrupted by a familiar sound—the sharp crackle of teleportation markers. Erik spun around as a group of figures materialized in the distance, their forms bathed in the glow of the unstable world.
“Hunters,” Lena growled, her daggers already in her hands.
But as the figures approached, Erik realized they weren’t just hunters. Their movements were too precise, their armor too advanced. These weren’t ordinary players—they were elite constructs.
“Not these guys again,” Erik muttered, gripping his sword.
“They’re not the same ones we fought before,” Lena said. “These are the devs’ enforcers. They’ll stop at nothing to protect the control node.”
The constructs spread out, surrounding Erik and Lena. Their leader, a towering figure clad in obsidian armor, raised a glowing spear.
“ANOMALY DETECTED. SURRENDER THE FRAGMENT.”
Erik tightened his grip on his weapon, his pulse quickening. “I’m guessing they’re not open to negotiation?”
“Nope,” Lena said, smirking faintly. “Hope you’re ready for a fight.”
The constructs attacked in unison, their movements unnervingly coordinated. Erik blocked the first strike, his sword clashing against a spear that crackled with energy. The force of the impact sent him stumbling back, but he recovered quickly, countering with a slash that shattered his opponent into pixels.
Lena was a blur of motion, her daggers flashing as she weaved between the constructs. She moved with lethal precision, striking at joints and weak points with ruthless efficiency.
“They’re stronger than the last ones!” Erik shouted, ducking under a glowing blade.
“That’s because the devs aren’t holding back anymore,” Lena replied, driving her dagger into a construct’s chest.
Erik reached out with his mind, summoning a terminal screen:
[ENTITY: ENFORCER-CONSTRUCT_01]
[STATUS: ACTIVE.]
[ACTIONS AVAILABLE: DISABLE // MODIFY // DELETE.]
He selected DELETE, and the construct dissolved into a cascade of pixels.
“Keep going!” Lena shouted, taking down another enforcer.
The battle raged on, the air thick with the sound of clashing weapons and the hum of glitching energy. Erik and Lena fought side by side, their movements synchronized as they cut through the remaining constructs.
Finally, the last enforcer fell, its body collapsing into a heap of fragmented data.
“Is that all of them?” Erik asked, his chest heaving.
“For now,” Lena said, though her expression remained tense.
They didn’t wait to see if reinforcements would arrive. Pushing forward, they entered a massive corridor lined with towering pillars of light. The air crackled with energy, and Erik could feel the weight of the system pressing down on him.
“This is it,” Lena said, her voice low. “The control node is just ahead.”
Erik’s heart pounded as they approached a pair of enormous doors, their surface covered in glowing runes. The shard in Lena’s pack pulsed violently, as if reacting to the energy beyond.
“What do we do once we get in?” Erik asked.
“We rewrite the system,” Lena said. “It’s the only way to stabilize the world and stop the devs from using the glitch as a weapon.”
“And if we fail?” Erik asked.
Lena’s eyes met his, her expression unreadable. “Then there won’t be a world left to save.”
Erik swallowed hard, his grip tightening on his sword.
The doors began to open, a blinding light spilling into the corridor.
“Ready?” Lena asked, her voice steady despite the tension in the air.
“No,” Erik admitted. “But let’s do this anyway.”
Together, they stepped through the doors and into the heart of the devs’ control node.