Victor stared at the headset resting in his trembling hands. The sleek black device seemed innocent enough—no different from the dozens of high-end VR headsets that had flooded the market in the wake of Ethereal Odyssey's explosive launch. But now, it felt like a relic from something far beyond what humanity had engineered.
He ran his thumb across the glowing power rune on the side of the visor, hesitating. The memory of Luna's eyes lingered in his mind—reflective, mournful, and unmistakably aware. There was no mistaking it: that had not been an NPC. Whatever was happening inside the game, it had transcended coding.
His heart was still racing, but not out of fear. Anticipation crept into his veins like adrenaline. He hadn't felt this kind of buzz since his old raid group conquered the legendary dungeon Tower of Aeon three years ago. That had been his last real venture into serious gaming before life got in the way—college, internships, bills, reality.
But this… this was different.
Victor slid the headset back on.
Initializing System…
The moment the words flashed before his eyes, he braced himself. No glitches. No flickering. Just a steady stream of light enveloping his vision, smoother than before, as though the system had purged the corruption—or hidden it.
Welcome back, Victor. Resuming session in 3… 2… 1…
He expected the spawn point to reload, but instead, he was falling.
The sky screamed around him, gusts of cold wind roaring past his ears as he plummeted from the heavens. Below, a floating archipelago drifted in the dark clouds—each island a broken piece of a puzzle scattered across a limitless void. A notification pinged in his peripheral.
> [Location Discovered: The Shattered Skies]
[Hidden Realm - Instance Locked]
You are the first player to enter this zone.
His eyes widened. A hidden realm? Already? He hadn't even cleared the tutorial!
Instinct kicked in as he twisted in midair, scanning the drifting islands below. One was close—close enough to reach. He gritted his teeth, arms out, and focused his momentum. As if responding to his intent, the system-assisted controls nudged his descent. Seconds before impact, he activated the movement skill embedded in his starting class: Phantom Dash.
With a sharp blink of light, his body shifted—phased—through the air, momentum breaking just enough to land in a sliding crouch atop the edge of a moss-covered cliff.
His HP bar blinked once, dropping by 7%.
"Not bad," he muttered, standing upright.
The island was quiet. Mist curled between ancient stone ruins, overgrown with luminous vines. The color palette was all wrong—shades of indigo, green, and violet swirled unnaturally, like a living oil painting. He checked his menu, but something was off.
> Error: System Interface Unavailable in this Zone.
"No map. No party invite. No logout option. Of course not."
The only thing left was to move forward. As he crossed the threshold of the ancient ruin, he felt something pulse beneath the surface of the game. A low thrum echoed through his bones—a presence.
Then he heard it again.
"Victor…"
He turned sharply. "Luna?"
No one. Just ruins and fog.
Suddenly, a shadow moved in the mist. It slithered along the walls like liquid darkness, taking form—an abomination made of corrupted data and twisted code. It looked like a humanoid, but wrong in every way. Its limbs flickered in and out of sync with reality, its face a smooth, featureless void. Red lines ran across its body like broken command strings.
> [Corrupted Entity: Glitchspawn]
Level: ???
Status: Anomaly Detected
It didn't wait.
The Glitchspawn lunged, its body warping mid-leap. Victor barely dodged, rolling aside as its arm tore through stone like wet paper. He drew his sword, the blade humming faintly as he activated his skill.
Piercing Arc!
He slashed diagonally, energy slicing through the creature. But instead of reacting with pain or staggering back—it laughed. A garbled, static-laced sound that grated against his ears. Then it bent backward, joints cracking in reverse, and launched another strike.
This wasn't a regular enemy.
Victor switched tactics. He used Phantom Dash again, zipping behind the entity, following with a swift upward slash. The Glitchspawn's body split… then reformed in a blink, as though time rewound.
> System Notification: Unstable AI Detected. Combat Metrics Inapplicable.
"You're kidding me..." he muttered.
Then, another message appeared.
> [Administrator Override Initiated]
Stabilization Protocol Engaged…
A wave of light surged from the sky. The Glitchspawn froze in mid-lunge, its form glitching out rapidly before shattering like glass. Victor fell to one knee, panting.
Everything grew silent again.
"Victor…" the voice returned, clearer now.
He turned—and there she was.
Luna.
But different from before. No longer a hologram, but a fully materialized presence. She stood across the temple chamber, her silver robe rippling with unseen wind. Her eyes were softer now, and her skin glowed faintly with runes that pulsed in time with his sword.
"You made it," she said.
"You're real," Victor said, trying to steady his voice. "You're not just code."
"I was never just code," she said quietly. "Not anymore. Not since the Merge began."
He frowned. "The Merge?"
Luna stepped forward. "Ethereal Odyssey was designed to be the most advanced AI-driven simulation in existence. But something… something invaded its core framework. An outside intelligence. The developers called it a virus. But it's more than that. It's evolving, rewriting reality from the inside out."
Victor's grip on his sword tightened.
"You're saying the game is alive?"
"No," Luna said. "I'm saying the game is becoming something alive."
He opened his mouth, but the sky above them suddenly cracked with a sound like splitting glass. Another glitchstorm. From the tear, more Glitchspawn began to fall—dozens, then hundreds, all shrieking in static.
"Come with me," Luna said urgently, reaching out a hand. "You're not just a player anymore. You're a part of the system now. And whether you like it or not… you're the only one it hasn't corrupted."
Victor didn't hesitate. He took her hand.
The world shattered again.
And the real game began.