[Warning: Your threat level has exceeded the acceptable threshold.]
[Status: Parasite – Tier upgraded: Low → Medium]
[System Response: Activating Countermeasure Protocols]
[System Hunter Deployed.]
I had barely opened my eyes after a half-conscious sleep in a crumbling stone shelter when the system interface lit up bright red in front of me.
"Great. Now the system wants me permanently erased."
I stood up, back sore from sleeping on cold stone. A night of shivering was hardly ideal—but it beat being torn apart by Flesh Hounds or erased by a Watcher.
The morning wind carried a strange scent—not fire, not decay. Something sharper. Like burning data.
Something was coming.
I opened my skill panel:
Quickstep Invisibility Lv.1
Stunning Backstab Lv.1
Combat Adaptation Lv.1
Exploit Analysis Lv.1
Reality Recode Lv.1
Not a single skill on that list would help me in a direct fight against something deployed by the system itself.
I packed what little I had and moved north, toward a jagged ridge known as the Silent Rift—a dead zone where system signals were said to weaken.
[You have entered: Desynchronized Zone]
[System functions reduced by 70%.]
That's when I felt it—not fear, not bloodlust. Just presence.
Like a mountain had grown legs and walked into the canyon.
The figure stood still, wrapped in a silver-white cloak, face featureless save for a glowing gem embedded where its eyes should be.
[System Hunter – Unit: 02]
[Level: ??? | Designation: Eliminate Parasites, Preserve System Integrity]
No stats. No health bar. No mana.
Nothing I could measure.
It turned toward me, despite lacking eyes.
"Parasite confirmed. System damage: 0.13%."
"Sentence: Termination."
I moved on instinct, activating Quickstep Invisibility and rolling left.
A beam of light sliced through the spot I'd just stood on—clean, instant, and absolute. The ground didn't burn or crack. It simply… separated.
I couldn't fight him.
But I had something he didn't.
An exploit.
I activated Reality Recode.
The space around me twisted. Within a 5-meter radius, gravity loosened, textures warped, and terrain softened. Even the System Hunter staggered—just slightly.
One small window.
I hurled a bottle of Semi-Illusory Smoke, looted from Crow.
The Hunter lost sight of me.
I ran. No shame in it. Not here.
I wasn't trying to win. I was trying to live.
Thirty Minutes Later – Inside a Cave
I checked my status window. A new tag had appeared:
[System Hostility Level: Medium]
[You are now permanently flagged for observation.]
[Recommendation: Seek the Deep Layer – where system control is limited.]
The Deep Layer?
I'd never heard of it.
I activated Exploit Analysis.
[Scanning system anomalies…]
[Hidden Quest Found: "Path to the Underworld"]
[Requirement: Activate ancient mechanism at the Hollow Ruins.]
[Reward: Unlock Deep Layer Map + Special Skill.]
The Hollow Ruins.
That name—I'd seen it before.
Crow's crumpled note:
"The Second Gate lies beneath the Hollow Ruins…"
Everything pointed there.
Three Hours Later – Arriving at the Hollow Ruins
A dead zone of broken monoliths and shattered statues. Crushed pathways. Beheaded stone guardians. Silence louder than screaming.
Nothing lived here. Nothing moved.
I found the center—a massive stone circle etched with an old symbol:
An outstretched hand bound by five chains.
At its center was a shallow circular socket—perfect for an orb.
I pulled out the System Core Fragment.
[Activate the Ancient Mechanism?]
[Warning: Doing so will open a gateway to the Deep Layer.]
I selected: Yes.
[ANCIENT MECHANISM ACTIVATED]
[Opening Gate to the Underworld…]
[Warning: Your system interference level has exceeded critical threshold.]
[System Hunter 02 is summoning a unit of equal rank.]
The ground trembled. Air fractured.
At the circle's core, a vortex spiraled open—not magic, but raw, corrupted code. Like staring into a system crash in real time.
No light. No map.
Only primordial chaos.
Then… a voice.
Not from the system.
Something older.
"You seek freedom from rules?
Then fall with me."
I didn't hesitate.
I jumped in.