The corpse twitched once, then disintegrated into static. No blood. No bones. Only fragmented data that faded into the air like smoke.
Caspian stood over the spot, hand still dripping. The knife was useless now, the blade split clean through. He let it fall.
[New Trait Acquired. Data Sense. Incomplete]
[Warning. Neural Sync under strain. Recommend stabilization]
"Ignore it" Caspian muttered.
"You'll burn yourself out" Neris said behind him, licking a speck of blood from her finger. "You're human. Or were."
Caspian stared at the floating fragments.
"Where do they come from"
"Somewhere worse than here. And this world is the appetizer."
He didn't ask more. She wouldn't answer unless she wanted to.
He moved to the shattered window. The city outside wasn't dying. It was mutating. Street lights pulsed in odd patterns. Buildings flickered as if stuck between two different blueprints. A stop sign melted and rebuilt itself upside down.
The System wasn't just rewriting him. It was rewriting reality.
"What's next" he asked.
Neris moved to his side, her shoulder barely brushing his.
"Interface zones will stabilize soon. Then the hunting begins. Hostiles. Survivors. Fractured data caches. The usual."
Caspian looked down at his palm. The blood had dried fast. Too fast.
"What happens if I stop using the System"
She tilted her head. "It keeps using you."
Then it hit.
The signal.
[Alert. Dungeon Node Detected]
[Zone: Manhattan Core. Code Rupture Active. Recommended Entry Time: Now]
[Rewards Scale With Blood Resonance and Combat Sync]
A red pulse fired through the city skyline. A tower of writhing red-black veins rose in the center of it all, crackling with unstable code. It wasn't just a building. It was alive.
Neris licked her lips.
"Well well. Your first node."
Caspian turned, calm.
"Let's go."