The wooden deck groaned under the pressure of two identical warriors staring each other down.
On one side stood Raka, sword trembling slightly in his hands, breath shallow, eyes locked on the enemy.
On the other side — his reflection in corrupted form. Phantom Raka, clad in shimmering armor from a time long gone, sword dripping black code like poison.
"I remember that gear," Raka whispered. "I farmed months for it…"
The Phantom said nothing. It only raised its weapon.
Then it charged.
CLANG!
Steel met steel. Sparks exploded, and Raka was nearly thrown back from the sheer force. The Phantom fought with a precision and aggression that felt... familiar. Every combo, every move — it was his. The way he used to fight during tournaments.
"Stop copying me!" Raka growled, parrying another strike.
"You told me to be the best," the Phantom hissed, its voice now glitching between human and synthetic. "So I became you."
Raka stumbled back as the Phantom unleashed a deadly triple-slash combo — one that he used to dominate PvP brackets with. His body reacted out of instinct, barely blocking the final hit, but his arms were numb.
"I can't win this," he muttered. "It knows everything I know…"
From above, Iqiww watched silently from the mast. He didn't jump in. He didn't move.
Raka risked a glance upward. "Help me!"
Iqiww shouted back, "You're not fighting it. You're fighting you. And until you stop pretending you're still that player from back then — you're gonna lose."
Raka's eyes widened.
Suddenly, the memory clicked.
All those years ago, when the ranked system collapsed, when hackers flooded the servers, when real players stopped logging in — he had stayed. Alone. Clinging to a version of himself that no longer existed.
That's what this is, he realized. Not a monster. It's my refusal to let go.
He took a deep breath.
And dropped his guard.
The Phantom lunged — sword raised — a perfect execution slash lined up.
But at the last second, Raka side-stepped. Not with a flashy move. Not with a combo.
Just instinct.
He moved like a new version of himself — not trying to copy the past.
He rolled forward, drew his blade, and with one clean strike — SHRRING!
The Phantom shattered into fragments of code, screaming as it dissolved into nothing.
Silence fell over the ship.
> [Phantom Defeated: Shadow Memory Purged]
[Memory Restored: Player Identity Recalibrated]
[HP +50 | New Skill Unlocked: Adapt Combo LV.1]
Raka collapsed to one knee, panting.
Iqiww finally dropped down beside him, offering a hand. "Now you're actually playing."
Raka looked up, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Before? You were just surviving," Iqiww grinned. "Now? You're evolving."
He pulled Raka up.
"Come on," he said. "That was just the first boss. We've got six more Codes to find. And believe me... the next map? It won't wait for you to catch your breath."
---
To Be Continued...