The ruins held their breath.
It wasn't peace. Peace didn't exist anymore. It was a silence that crept under your skin, the kind that whispered something's about to happen.
Kael Arathis stood in the plaza like he'd been carved there. His sword gleamed in the morning light, his polished ranks of guild soldiers arrayed around him in perfect lines. Envoys bustled, barking orders, gathering survivors beneath banners embroidered with sigils of foreign guilds. A new order was being born, and it was born around him.
Me?I had the leftovers.
The girl with the bent crowbar leaned on it like it was a lifeline. Her shoulders trembled, but her eyes didn't flinch. The boy with the patched crutch wobbled on one leg, jaw tight with stubborn fire. The old man's single arm rested against his chest, posture ramrod straight as if daring the world to push him. A mother rocked her child in silence, eyes sunken, lips pressed into a thin line of defiance.
Not soldiers. Not heroes. Just the forgotten.
Dev squatted next to me, chewing nervously on his lip. "Sooo… do we like… call ourselves something? Like, 'The Underdogs?' Or 'The Bugged Ones?' Or—wait for it—'Team Bug.'"
I groaned. "We're not calling ourselves anything. Especially not that."
The shadows at my feet pulsed faintly, smug.
[ The Trickster God cackles: "TEAM BUG ETERNAL!" ][ A God of War snarls: "They are carrion, not comrades." ][ A Goddess of Mercy whispers: "Even carrion deserves protection." ][ Unknown Origin murmurs: "…Every shadow must learn its shape." ]
I rubbed my temple. "This is my hell."
✦
Across the square, Kael raised his blade high. His voice carried clean, unwavering."Form lines! Scouts, sweep the east perimeter. Envoys, report to command. Survivors—stay within the cordon!"
The guild forces moved instantly, like pieces on a board. Perfect. Polished. Certain.
Kael didn't even look at them. His gaze flicked, briefly, toward me. Not mocking. Not hostile. Just… pity.
I hated that look more than I hated anything else.
✦
The stone trembled underfoot.
Small, at first. Just a ripple. The girl with the crowbar stiffened."…Did you feel that?"
The ground cracked open behind her with a sound like tearing bone.
Her scream ripped through the plaza.
✦
Black veins exploded from the fissure, crawling like rot through the stone. Not ink—not mine. These were jagged, sickly, alive with wrongness. And from them came monsters.
Not towering raid bosses. Not cinematic nightmares. These were small. Fast. Twisted. Limbs bent wrong. Jaws split too wide. Eyes glowing with ravenous hunger.
The guild scouts had dismissed them yesterday."Low-threat vermin.""Not worth the Hero's time."
Except they weren't charging Kael's shining army.
They were coming for us.
[ Scenario Variation Triggered. ][ The Keeper of the Forgotten is being tested. ]
My stomach plummeted. "…Wait, what?"
Dev shrieked, "WHY ARE THEY ONLY COMING FOR US?!"
Because of course. Of course the apocalypse itself wanted me singled out.
✦
The limping boy swung his crutch wildly, terror in his eyes. The old man stumbled forward with nothing but a broken pipe, shouting hoarsely as he tried to shield the mother and child. The girl raised her crowbar and swung, desperate, nearly falling over.
They weren't fighters. They weren't meant for this.
And yet the monsters came for them anyway.
[ The gods lean forward in anticipation. ][ A Trickster God jeers: "Dance, little bug, dance!" ][ A Goddess of Mercy pleads: "Protect them." ][ Unknown Origin whispers: "…Show me." ]
I ground my teeth. "Fine. Let's negotiate."
The shadows stirred, eager, curling from the cracks like snakes.
✦
Mirae's voice boomed in my ears."OHHHH, VIEWERS! Do you SEE this?? The guilds said those mobs were harmless, but SURPRISE—they're swarming Team Bug! Imagine dying to tutorial cockroaches, couldn't be me!"
The dimensional chat howled.
"Bug difficulty unlocked lmao.""Hero gets raids, Bug gets cockroaches.""These are his people tho… side quests for side characters.""He's speedrunning suffering."
I shouted, "Do you EVER shut up?!"
[ The gods laugh at your suffering. ]
✦
One monster lunged at the mother. Claws outstretched.
The Rewrite prompt flared.
[ Sentence: The monster's claws ripped through her throat. ]
[Rewrite? (Y/N)]
My chest seized. I slammed Y.
[ Sentence: The monster's claws missed, tangled in shadows. ]
The ink lashed up, snaring the creature midair. It shrieked as tendrils dragged it screaming into the dark.
The survivors gasped.
But the shadow didn't stop.
It tore the monster apart. Slowly. Pieces hitting stone with wet slaps.
The girl whispered, horrified, "…It's protecting us?"
Dev muttered, "Pretty sure it's enjoying itself."
✦
The ground pulsed. Not with monsters this time. With words burned into stone.
Not system text. Not Rewrite. Something older.
THIS ISN'T THE SCRIPT.
My breath caught. "What… the hell are you?"
The ink quivered, pulsing like a heartbeat under my skin.
✦
More monsters poured from the cracks. The limping boy screamed, falling back.
I snarled. "Alright, shadows. We do this together."
The Rewrite prompt shimmered.
[ Sentence: The forgotten survivors died, crushed beneath monsters. ]
[Rewrite? (Y/N)]
I hit Y.
[ Sentence: The forgotten survivors fought back, shadows strengthening their strikes. ]
The ink spilled outward, tendrils latching onto crowbars, crutches, pipes. Weapons turned black, humming with inky hunger.
The girl's crowbar cut through a monster's skull like steel. The old man's pipe cracked ribs with inhuman force. Even the boy's crutch shattered bone like a hammer.
They weren't just victims anymore.
For a moment, they were fighters.
✦
The last monster leapt at me.
The Rewrite prompt flared.
[ Sentence: Ishaan Reed was torn apart. ]
I hissed. "Not today."
[ Sentence: Ishaan Reed's ink split the monster in two. ]
The shadow surged, cleaving the beast into halves. Its corpse fell twitching at my feet.
Silence.
The survivors stood trembling. Breathing hard. Still alive.
Dev gasped. "…Holy shit. You turned them into fighters."
The girl whispered, awe softening her voice. "Keeper of the Forgotten…"
The ink pulsed, proud.
✦
Then the system's voice cut through the quiet.
[ Variation complete. ][ Result: Success. ][ Note: This test was not assigned to Kael Arathis. ][ The gods have written a separate script for you. ]
Blood dripped from my blade.
Not Kael's test.Mine.
The gods weren't just observing anymore.
They were writing me in.