The sun hadn't risen yet when Gerrik stepped onto the ridge.
He didn't need light.
His boots crunched through the frost-slick grass, black cape trailing behind him like smoke. Five players followed, tight formation — no scouts this time. No caution.
This wasn't an approach.
It was a message.
He opened his system window with a blink.
[ZONE: STONEHOLLOW]• Status: Hostile• Terrain: Obstructed• NPC Response Level: Adaptive• Threat Source: "Kiriti" | Class B | Narrative Anchor
He closed it.
"You know what to do," he said to his squad.
The axe-user beside him grinned. "Tag and clear?"
"No."
Gerrik looked down at the valley, at the roofs of a town that should've been reset years ago.
"Erase."
Back in Stonehollow, Kiriti felt it before he saw it.
Not through code. Not from a system ping.
Through the way the wind shifted.
He looked up from the training yard where two guards — one an old man, the other a teen girl — were drilling with brooms and salvaged shields.
"Emeric," Kiriti called.
The captain was already moving.
By the time the first fire arrow arced over the treeline, the chapel bell rang three times.
No speech.
No alarm system.
Just sound.
Clean. Carried.
A warning.
A call.
Gerrik's first move wasn't an assault.
It was a map deletion script — one of Iron Pact's blacklisted system hacks. Meant for broken instanced towns and unstable cutscene regions.
He launched it at the center of Stonehollow.
[SCRIPT EXECUTED: REGION MEMORY WIPE – LOCAL BLOCK]
Target: East Market Square
Status: …
❗ ERROR ❗Region Anchor DetectedNarrative Thread ActiveSuppression Failed
Gerrik stared at the message.
Then muttered: "Impossible."
Kiriti didn't see the script.
But he saw the sky flash — a ripple across the clouds like glass trying to break.
It didn't.
Because Stonehollow wasn't just data anymore.
It was a story.
And stories don't delete so easily.
At the gates, Revi led the repositioning. No longer shadowing.Now commanding.
She moved quickly — pulling villagers into alley routes, reinforcing bottlenecks, slipping archers into the library rafters. The walls weren't tall, but the paths were familiar.
That was the difference.
Iron Pact had numbers.
Stonehollow had place.
Gerrik's team hit the south gate like a hammer.
Two shockwave spells. One breach drill.
And instead of a full defense, they found…
emptiness.
The gate was open.
A candle burned in the center of the road.
Gerrik paused.
Then stepped forward.
Just as his lead mage hit a hidden tripline.
Boom.
Not a mine.
A chalk pouch, packed with ash and dye.
Vision blurred. Interface scrambled.
And above them — not waiting in towers, but on the roofs — Stonehollow's defenders struck.
They didn't kill.
They rerouted.
Blocked. Delayed. Confused.
Until Gerrik's formation broke.
Kiriti met him in the second square.
Not with a blade raised.
But with his badge glowing in his hand.
"You're not supposed to be here," Gerrik growled.
Kiriti stepped forward.
"You're not supposed to fight ghosts."
Gerrik laughed. "They're NPCs."
"They're remembered."
And then Kiriti dropped the badge — a signal.
From every alley, every rooftop, every cellar door:
Stonehollow rose.
📄 [ALERT: SYSTEM BREACH POINT – 19 Active Nodes]Echo Threads Interwoven:• "The Watchman's Shadow"• "The Girl with the Second Knife"• "The Cellar Choir"• "Promise Lantern Line"
❗ Guild RAID: STONEHOLLOW – PHASE TWOOutcome: FAILED ENTRY – DESTRUCTIVE PUSH REPELLED
By the time Gerrik's remaining players retreated — blinking back to the edge of the zone with status [Disoriented] — the town was still standing.
No broken doors.
No burning roofs.
Just people.
Together.
Breathing.
Revi sat on the chapel steps again, blade across her knees.
"You okay?" Kiriti asked.
She nodded. "Still hate speeches."
"Good. I didn't write one."
They shared a quiet smile.
Across town, the baker opened her shutters.
Laid a roll on the sill.
Then added a second.
"For the ones who came back."
And in the square, Patch sat with a paintbrush and a board.
He didn't ask permission.
He just started writing.
"Day One: We Stayed."
📄 [SYSTEM STATUS: ZONE SHIFT – STONEHOLLOW]Region State: Unstable (Root Override Detected)
📄 Player Kiriti – Threat Level: ATitle Gained: "The Anchor That Wouldn't Bend"
📄 Player Revi – Loyalty: Locked | Sub-Anchor Status: Pending
❗ System Notification:"Iron Pact Withdrawal Order Logged – Priority Review Initiated"
❗ Root Server Flag Detected: "World Memory Event In Progress"