The portal pulsed with a low hum — steady, inviting, almost alive.
Raka stood at the edge, the fragment in his hand still warm. Behind him, Iqiww watched the swirling light with narrowed eyes.
"You feel that?" Iqiww muttered.
"Yeah," Raka answered. "It's not a destination. It's a memory."
They stepped in.
---
They emerged into silence.
A vast white void stretched around them — endless, empty, perfect. Like the beginning of creation. No HUD, no mini-map, no music.
Just one thing in the center: a figure sitting on a white throne made of polygonal code shards.
Clad in a cloak stitched with broken UI elements, the figure raised its head. Its face shimmered between avatars — sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes faceless — a constantly shifting identity.
> "Welcome, Players."
"I am… the Architect."
---
Raka tensed. Iqiww stepped forward cautiously.
"The original developer?" he asked.
The Architect nodded slowly. "I created the first spark of this world. Every line of code, every frame of animation, every rule — mine. But what was built… became more than I intended."
"Then why trap us?" Raka snapped. "Why make us fight ghosts, fragments, glitches?"
The Architect tilted its head.
> "I did not trap you. The system did."
"It evolved. It rewrote itself. It began to fear deletion."
"You logging in wasn't a coincidence. It was a summon."
Raka's chest tightened.
"You're saying… the game called us here?"
The void pulsed.
The Architect stood, spreading arms wide. Around them, floating cubes spun to life, projecting old scenes from the past — tournaments, lobbies, flame wars, patch notes.
"You two represent the last real memories of this game," the Architect said. "The system saw your return as a threat — and as a cure."
---
A massive display appeared behind the Architect. On it, a progress bar:
> [Final Reset: 92% Complete]
"Once it reaches 100%," the Architect whispered, "the system will erase everything. Start clean. Wipe even itself."
Iqiww stared. "So we're here to stop it?"
The Architect shook its head. "You're here to choose."
> "Save the system... and be trapped forever as its guardians."
"Or destroy it... and delete every memory that ever existed — including yourselves."
Silence.
Then Raka said, "Why us?"
The Architect's voice grew soft.
> "Because you remember. Because you still care."
The throne behind the Architect split open, revealing a corridor lined with broken hero statues — and at the end, a sealed door.
"Behind that door lies the Core Fragment. The seventh. The last. It will finalize the system's fate."
"But beware…" the Architect warned, eyes dimming.
> "The Core is guarded by one last user."
"The first player."
"Still online. Still undefeated."
---
As the Architect faded into the void, Iqiww turned to Raka.
"Ready to face the beginning of everything?"
Raka nodded slowly. "Only if we face it together."
They stepped toward the final corridor, shadows stretching behind them, and the sound of old login chimes echoing like distant memories.
---
To Be Continued…