The morning sun bled faint streaks of gold across the gray horizon as we broke camp and pressed onward. The waypoint on my HUD pulsed steadily, guiding us closer to The Obsidian Rift—a region marked with danger symbols, corruption warnings, and an ominous blinking message:

  [DANGER: HIGH-LEVEL ZONE]

  The path twisted upward into jagged hills, the once-dense Mistwood Expanse thinning into barren, rocky terrain. The earth beneath our boots cracked with spiderweb fractures, faint blue light flickering from somewhere deep below the surface.

  Selene walked slightly ahead, her posture sharp and ready. Devon stayed close behind me, his greatsword banced casually on his shoulder but his eyes scanning every ridge and shadow.

  My HUD pinged softly:

  [ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS: SYSTEM INSTABILITY DETECTED]

  The Rift loomed ahead—a gaping chasm splitting the earth, jagged cliffs and stone arches rising from its edges like broken ribs. Wisps of glowing red and blue energy swirled within the Rift’s depths, flickering and pulsing in irregur rhythms.

  “This pce looks… broken,” I said softly, my shadows curling faintly at my feet.

  Selene stopped at the edge of the Rift, her amber eyes sharp as they scanned the corrupted expanse. “It’s more than broken. It’s colpsing. The code holding this zone together is unraveling.”

  Devon let out a low whistle. “This is the kind of pce guilds mark as ‘avoid at all costs.’ Why would the fragment marker lead us here?”

  I hesitated, staring down at the pulsing chasm below. “Because whatever’s down there… it wasn’t supposed to be found.”

  There was no clear path down into the Rift, so we had to make one.

  Selene led the way, scaling a series of jagged rock faces with practiced ease. I followed, my shadows occasionally fring to steady me on loose ledges. Devon brought up the rear, his heavy armor making every step a gamble on the crumbling terrain.

  At one point, I slipped, my boot skidding on loose gravel.

  “Kiera!” Devon’s hand shot out, grabbing my wrist and holding me steady, pulling me close to his chest. His arm securely around my waist.

  I let out a shaky breath. “T-Thanks.” my cheeks burned for my clumsy mistake. My hands pressed firmly against his chest.

  He smirked faintly. “Careful, sis. Falling into a glowing abyss isn’t a good look for you.”

  Selene gnced back, her voice calm but firm. “Focus. We’re exposed out here. If something ambushes us, there’s no cover.”

  We reached a ft pteau halfway down the Rift, and the air felt different—thicker, charged with faint static. Glowing symbols flickered along the walls of the chasm, glitching in and out of visibility.

  My HUD fshed again:

  [FRAGMENT DETECTED: DISTORTION IMMINENT]

  “Stay sharp,” Selene said, drawing her daggers.

  The ground trembled faintly. I froze, shadows curling instinctively around my feet.

  Then they came.

  Figures began emerging from cracks in the stone—shadowy humanoid shapes, glitching and twitching with erratic movements. Their hollow eyes glowed faintly red, and their jagged fingers twitched like malfunctioning marionettes.

  [ENEMY ENCOUNTER: CORRUPTED HOLLOW]

  Level: 20

  Weakness: Precision Attacks

  “Here we go!” Devon roared, unslinging his greatsword with a metallic cng.

  Selene was already moving, her daggers fshing in sharp arcs as she danced between two Hollow creatures, slicing their heads clean off.

  One lunged at me, its distorted face inches from mine.

  “Abyssal Chains!” I shouted, smming my palm against the cracked earth.

  Dark chains erupted upward, binding the creature in pce. Shadows flickered along its glitching body as I lunged forward with Venom Kiss, driving my dagger into its chest.

  [XP Gained: 300]

  More creatures poured out of the cracks. Selene flipped backward, nding gracefully beside me.

  I gasped, barely dodging a swipe from a Hollow’s jagged cws.

  I activated Umbral Step, dashing forward in a flicker of shadows and reappearing behind another Hollow. I sshed with Shadow Bolt, sending it crumbling into particles of light.

  My HUD pinged:

  [LEVEL UP!][Level 13 Achieved]

  Skill Points +5

  Stat Points +15

  New Skill Unlocked: Shadow Maw (Summon a shadow beast to briefly attack enemies)]

  The thrill of new power surged through me, but there was no time to savor it. The creatures kept coming, their glitching forms spilling from every crack in the Rift.

  “We can’t stay here!” Selene shouted.

  Devon pointed toward a narrow path carved into the side of the chasm. “There! Move!”

  We fought to the narrow path, Devon taking the lead in carving a path through the relentless horde. Selene stayed at my side, her movements graceful but tense, her amber eyes constantly scanning for threats.

  At st, we reached a small alcove—a hidden cave carved into the Rift wall. It was barely rge enough for the three of us, but it was defensible.

  Devon smmed his greatsword into the ground, breathing hard. Selene leaned against the cave wall, her chest rising and falling with each breath.

  I colpsed onto a stone outcrop, clutching the Midnight Fang. My shadows flickered faintly, weaker now but still alive.

  The air inside the cave was damp and heavy with the faint scent of static.

  Devon broke the silence first. “We can’t keep fighting like that. These creatures aren’t normal—they’re reacting to something. Maybe to the fragment you have, Kiera.”

  Selene nodded, her amber eyes sharp. “The corruption is drawn to it. The deeper we go, the worse it’s going to get.”

  I stared down at my HUD, the faint glow of the fragment pulsing softly. “Then we need to move fast. Find the next shard, and get out.”

  Devon smirked faintly. “That’s the spirit.”

  Selene’s gaze lingered on me momentarily, her lips pressed into a thin line. She looked like she wanted to say something, but instead, she turned away and inspected her daggers.

  I leaned back against the stone wall, closing my eyes briefly. The shadows around my feet curled faintly, almost comfortingly.

  Lucien’s absence felt raw, but his final words stayed with me.

  “Do shed a tear, my muse… but only one. Stories must end, but the song… the song lives on.”

  ??°???°?

  The deeper we descended into The Obsidian Rift, the more the world seemed to unravel. The corrupted stone walls flickered with faint streaks of binary code, and the air hummed with a constant static-like drone. Jagged chasms split the path into treacherous crossings, and faint, ghostly figures flickered in and out of existence along the edges of my vision—remnants of something long broken.

  Selene took point as she navigated the treacherous path. Devon stayed close behind me. I trailed between them, shadows curling softly at my heels. Occasionally, my HUD would flicker as error messages danced along the edges.

  [ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD DETECTED: STABILITY 40%]

  “Careful here,” Selene said softly, holding up a hand. “The ground looks unstable.”

  Ahead, a narrow bridge of fragmented stone stretched across a deep chasm. Below, the darkness seemed endless, faint threads of light spiraling somewhere far below.

  Devon frowned. “One wrong step, and we’ll fall into some glitch-void nightmare. Stick close.”

  We crossed carefully, each step deliberate. The bridge cracked faintly beneath our boots, but we made it without incident.

  On the other side, the path opened into a narrow clearing surrounded by jagged stone spires. At its center stood a strange structure—a monolithic stone arch covered in glowing red runes and flickering blue binary script.

  [OBJECTIVE UPDATED: Investigate the Corrupted Arch]

  As we approached the arch, a low hum began to emanate from it. The sound buzzed faintly in my ears, like dozens of overpping whispers.

  “It’s reacting to you, Kiera,” Selene said, her amber eyes narrowing as she studied the symbols.

  Devon stepped closer, his greatsword glowing faintly. “It’s corrupted. Whatever this thing is, it’s tied to your fragment.”

  I swallowed hard and stepped forward. Shadows instinctively curled around my feet, reacting to the arch’s presence. My HUD flickered, and faint symbols appeared on the arch’s surface, glowing softly.

  Time to test something new.

  I raised my hand and focused, summoning shadows into my palm.

  “Shadow Maw!”

  The shadows rippled violently, pooling at my feet before exploding upward. A dark, spectral beast emerged—a massive shadowy wolf with glowing violet eyes and a snarl reverberating like distant thunder. Its head tilted toward me, awaiting my command.

  Devon let out a low whistle. “Okay… that’s new.”

  Selene raised an eyebrow, her dagger still in hand. “It looks… unstable. But powerful.”

  “Let’s see what it can do,” I said, pointing toward the corrupted arch. “Attack!”

  The shadow wolf lunged forward, jaws snapping onto the arch’s glowing surface. The structure shuddered violently, and the glow intensified before the arch released a sharp crack! and colpsed inward, dissolving into fragmented pixels.

  The wolf also dissolved, its form fading into shadow at my feet.

  My HUD pinged softly:

  [Skill Progression: Shadow Maw +5% Mastery]

  I exhaled shakily. “That felt… different. Like the shadows wanted to follow my command.”

  Selene smirked faintly. “You’re adapting, Kiera. Good.”

  Devon cpped me on the shoulder. “Nicely done, Kiera. But let’s keep moving before the Rift swallows us whole.”

  After navigating through more corrupted tunnels and climbing precarious rock formations, we stumbled across something unexpected—a settlement built into the walls of the Rift.

  Wooden scaffolding clung to the jagged stone walls, and faint nterns flickered with glitching light. Pyers and NPCs bustled around makeshift shops and vendor stalls, their faces tight with exhaustion and wariness.

  A rusty sign hung above the settlement’s entrance:

  [SANCTUARY OUTPOST — SAFE ZONE]

  My HUD flickered briefly:

  [Entering Safe Zone: Sanctuary Outpost]

  The tension in my shoulders eased slightly as we walked into the outpost. Devon lowered his greatsword, resting it across his back. Selene scanned the crowd with sharp eyes, her hand never far from her daggers.

  An NPC merchant waved us over, his name tag hovering faintly above his head:

  [NPC: Arlow, Rift Quartermaster]

  “Travelers? In the Rift? Bold,” Arlow said, adjusting his cracked monocle. “Welcome to Sanctuary Outpost. Supplies are limited, but I've got wares if you’ve got coin.”

  I gnced at my inventory. After the previous fights, we had enough drops and money to resupply.

  As Devon and I browsed the merchant’s wares—he primarily focused on gear repairs while I restocked potions—Selene stood off to the side, speaking in hushed tones with another NPC.

  “Are they… fighting?” I asked Devon, nodding toward Selene.

  Devon’s expression tightened. “We’ve got different priorities, Kiera. Selene thinks we should move faster and scout more. We can’t afford to run head first into a danger... or a trap.”

  I frowned. “You’re both right, though.”

  Devon sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, well… Selene doesn’t trust anyone easily. She’s good at what she does, but she’s… rigid. I’m just trying to keep us from wiping.”

  I pced a hand on his armored forearm. “You’re both doing your best. But we'll fall apart if we start pulling in different directions.”

  Devon gave me a faint smile. “Look at you, sounding all leader-like.”

  I half chuckled. “Don’t make me regret it.”

  Devon chuckled but didn’t respond, his eyes flicking back to Selene with an expression I couldn’t quite pce.

  We spent a few hours resting at the outpost, resupplying our gear, and gathering information from locals about the Rift.

  An older NPC bcksmith muttered about “unstable pockets” and “echoing whispers” deeper within the chasm. Another spoke of pyers who had descended into the lower Rift and never returned, glitched out of the system, as they put it.

  The waypoint on my HUD pulsed faintly, pointing further into the chaotic, corrupted depths.

  As night began to fall in the Outpost, Selene approached me, her amber eyes sharp in the flickering light of the nterns.

  “We move at dawn,” she said softly. “The Rift doesn’t stay stable for long, and whatever you’re looking for… it’s down there.”

  Devon joined us, his crimson greatsword gleaming faintly under the ntern light. “Rest up, Kiera. Tomorrow’s going to be brutal.”

  ?????°???°?????

  The world around me was nothing but fragments—shattered pieces of light and shadow stitched together with jagged threads of corrupted code.

  Lucien stood in the center, his silhouette flickering like a dying candle. His lute was gone, repced by a fractured glow from deep cracks running across his chest. His smile—usually so warm—was warped and broken.

  “Do shed a tear, my muse…” His voice echoed in yers, distorted and haunting. His golden eyes were hollow now, empty voids staring back at me. “But only one.”

  Behind him, Guardian Oberon rose from the void, its massive, glitching form blotting out what little light remained. Its hollow mask turned toward me, its hand stretching with sharp, cw-like fingers.

  “SYSTEM ANOMALY. TERMINATION PROTOCOL ACTIVE.”

  I couldn’t move. My shadows flickered weakly around me, curling at my feet like frightened animals.

  “Run, Kiera!” Lucien’s voice broke through the static. “RUN!”

  But the Guardian’s hand came down before I could, and Lucien dissolved into light pixels. His smile lingered—faint and flickering—before disappearing entirely.

  I screamed.

  My eyes snapped open, and I bolted upright in the cramped inn bed, my chest heaving as I gasped for air. The faint glow of the Rift’s corrupted light filtered through the cracked shutters, casting strange shapes on the walls.

  My HUD flickered faintly in the corner of my vision.

  [HEALTH: 87%][STATUS: STABLE]

  A soft groan came from beside me as Devon shifted, his arm still draped loosely around my waist. His brow furrowed slightly, and his tired brown eyes cracked open just enough to squint at me.

  “Kiera?” His voice was gravelly with sleep. “You okay?”

  I froze for a moment, swallowing the tight knot in my throat. “Yeah… I’m okay. Go back to sleep.”

  Devon didn’t let go. Instead, he pulled me closer, his arm tightening protectively around my waist as his forehead rested lightly against my shoulder.

  “If you need… a distraction… I’ll do it,” he mumbled softly, his words slurring slightly as sleep threatened to pull him back under.

  My face flushed instantly, my breath catching in my throat. “D-Devon! I’m fine, seriously!”

  But his breathing had already slowed again, his grip loosening just slightly as he drifted back into unconsciousness.

  I stayed still for a moment longer, my cheeks burning as I gnced down at him. Despite his earlier words, his expression was rexed and peaceful now.

  Carefully, I began to wiggle free from his arm, inching toward the edge of the bed. After carefully maneuvering, I slipped out of his hold, grabbed a nearby cloak, and quietly stepped out of the room.

  The night air outside was sharp and cold against my flushed skin. Sanctuary Outpost below was quiet now, the flickering nterns casting pools of weak golden light against the wooden ptforms.

  I leaned against the rickety railing, pulling my cloak tighter around my shoulders. The distant hum of the Rift’s energy buzzed faintly in the air, and my shadows curled at my feet, faint and restless.

  This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

  I’d agreed to py this game because Devon had practically begged me to try it. It was supposed to be fun—an escape, a hobby. But instead, it felt like I’d been pulled into something vast and dangerous, a web I couldn’t untangle myself from.

  The creak of the balcony door behind me broke my thoughts.

  Selene stepped out, her silhouette outlined by the faint light inside the inn. She was dressed in her usual dark cloak, her daggers strapped against her thighs, but her sharp amber eyes softened when they met mine.

  “You couldn’t sleep either?” she asked quietly, leaning against the railing beside me.

  “No,” I said softly. “Nightmares.”

  She nodded once, her gaze shifting toward the glowing chasm below us. “This pce gets into your head. The static and corruption don’t leave you alone, even when you close your eyes.”

  We stood in silence for a moment, broken only by the faint creak of wood beneath our weight and the distant hum of the Rift.

  “I didn’t want this,” I said suddenly, my voice barely above a whisper.

  Selene turned her head slightly, her amber eyes focused on me.

  “I just wanted to try something new,” I continued. “Devon convinced me to log in. I thought it’d be fun—something stupid, like collecting cute armor sets or doing silly side quests. But now… it feels like everything is falling apart, and I can’t stop it.”

  Selene’s lips pressed into a thin line. “You’re not wrong. This world—it’s not just a game anymore. Maybe it never was.”

  Her gaze flickered briefly, her voice softening. “I’ve been in this world long enough to know that you can’t always control where the story takes you. Sometimes, you have to keep moving forward.”

  I turned slightly to look at her, my brows furrowing faintly. “What about you? Why are you here, Selene?”

  Her amber eyes flickered briefly, a faint shadow passing over them.

  “Some things are better left buried,” she said softly. But after a pause, she added, “But let’s just say… I had my reasons. And now, I have different ones.”

  There was a heaviness to her voice, something raw but carefully hidden behind her usual sharp demeanor.

  “Do you ever feel like this world is… too big?” I said softly, my fingers tracing the cracks in the wood beneath my hand. “Like no matter how hard you fight, no matter how far you go… you’ll never make it out?”

  Selene tilted her head slightly, her amber eyes sharp but thoughtful. “Yeah. All the time.”

  Her gaze softened. “But the trick isn’t trying to leave it, Kiera. It’s finding something—or someone—to hold onto while you’re here. Something worth fighting for.”

  I swallowed hard, my eyes burning faintly with unshed tears. “Lucien deserved better.”

  “He did,” Selene said quietly. “But he made his choice, Kiera. And you honor him every time you keep moving forward.”

  The vulnerability in her voice caught me off guard. Selene wasn’t someone who let cracks show in her armor—not easily. But right now, standing here in the cold Rift air, her amber eyes reflecting the faint glow of distant anomalies, she felt… real.

  I turned fully toward her, my shadows flickering faintly at my feet. “You don’t let people get close, do you?”

  Selene’s lips quirked into a faint smirk, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Close enough to watch their backs. But not close enough to feel it when they’re gone.”

  “That sounds lonely.”

  “It is,” she said softly.

  The silence stretched between us again, heavy but not uncomfortable.

  Selene turned to face me fully now, her sharp amber eyes locked onto mine. The flickering ntern light from inside the inn danced across her face, casting faint shadows along her sharp cheekbones.

  “You’re different, Kiera,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “You crash through walls and stumble through the dark, but somehow, you keep standing. You keep fighting. I… admire that.”

  My breath hitched slightly, my fingers curling tighter against the railing. Her gaze flickered down to my lips for a moment before returning to my eyes.

  For a heartbeat, the world seemed to still. The shadows at my feet stilled, the faint hum of the Rift quieted, and all I could hear was the faint rush of blood in my ears.

  Selene leaned closer, her face inches from mine, her amber eyes softer now, searching.

  But then, a faint sound—a distant shout or ctter from the outpost below—cut through the stillness.

  “We should head back,” she said softly, her voice steady again.

  I nodded, my chest tight as I stepped back from the railing.

  Selene turned, slipping back into the inn without another word.

  I lingered on the balcony for a few moments longer, my fingertips grazing the spot on my lips.

  Stronger than I know, I thought to myself.

  The Rift below pulsed faintly, and I turned back toward the inn, the weight of the moment still lingering in the cold night air.