The Obelisk of Echoes spat them out like chewed gum.
One second, Erevan was staring at the dimmed crystal core, watching the last fragments of the Echo Warden flicker into static. The next, he was stumbling across the fractured plains, knees wobbling, lungs burning, his HUD flickering like it, too, needed a moment to recover.
HP: 472/900
MP: 103/410
Stability:Shaky.
He groaned softly. "Feels like my insides just got blendered…"
Sir Quacksalot waddled in slow, lazy circles beside him, utterly unfazed by the eldritch nightmare they'd just survived. His tiny wizard hat sat askew on his head, and somehow, his cheerful little quacks made the shattered landscape seem just a bit less terrifying.
Kaelith stood perfectly still. Her bow lowered, eyes locked on the looming silhouette of the Obelisk. The violent pulses that had once torn through its surface were fading now, leaving behind faint, luminous cracks like scars burned into obsidian.
"It isn't done," she whispered, her voice steady but heavy. "It's… sleeping."
Erevan blew out a shaky breath, trying to laugh, though it came out more like a wheeze. "Yeah, well, neither am I. My brain feels like it just got microwaved—and not in the good, snack-making way."
He kicked at a glowing fissure, sending sparks of static spiraling into the dim air. The world around them hummed faintly, as if it hadn't quite decided whether it was solid or digital.
Then, a familiar tone cut through the silence.
[Main Quest Progress: Obelisk of Echoes – Complete]
[New Quest Unlocked: The Patch Hunters]
Objective:Evade the approaching agents.
Reward:Survival.
Erevan blinked. "Uh… did the system just list 'survival' as a reward? Because that's… comforting."
Kaelith's jaw tensed. "That means someone is coming."
"Of course it does." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks, system. Love the anxiety-inducing vagueness."
The plains trembled—not with glitch fissures this time, but with the unmistakable rhythm of footsteps.
Heavy. Synchronized. Unyielding.
Shapes appeared on the horizon. At first, Erevan thought they were knights—maybe soldiers from a forgotten kingdom—but the closer they came, the less human they looked. Their armor wasn't metal. It shimmered, alive with segments of black code, each plate etched with glowing runes that flickered like corrupted light.
Their helmets reflected nothing. No eyes. No faces. Just void.
And from their chests, glowing bright enough to sting the eyes, pulsed a single icon.
[PATCH v1.0]
Kaelith stepped back slowly. Her voice was low, but the edge of fear was unmistakable. "I've heard whispers… Agents of the system itself. They call them Patch Hunters. Enforcers."
Erevan's laugh was humorless. "Of course. Naturally. Because why wouldn't the universe send murder programs after us right after a boss fight?"
Quacksalot quacked once. Loudly. As if agreeing.
The Patch Hunters came to a stop, a dozen of them standing in perfect formation. Their leader stepped forward and raised one blackened hand. When it spoke, the sound wasn't a voice at all—it was a system notification, amplified and cold, layered with the weight of authority.
[Unauthorized anomaly detected. Correction required.]
Erevan blinked once, twice. Then forced a nervous grin. "Correction? Yeah… I don't suppose that involves a hug, does it?"
The lead Hunter's hand dropped.
And the formation began to move.
Kaelith reacted instantly, her bow snapping up. The first arrow flew—sharp, precise, glowing faintly as it tore through the air. It hit squarely against the nearest Hunter's chest.
And passed through it like smoke.
Kaelith's breath hitched. "They're… immune?"
Erevan's fingers itched, energy prickling beneath his skin. "Cool. Love that. Let's see if this works."
He triggered his new skill. Glitch Step.
Blue light flared around him, neon shards scattering into the air. His body flickered—split for a heartbeat—and then blinked forward ten feet.
Right in the path of a descending blade.
"Wait—what the—!"
The weapon carved through the space where he'd been standing, missing him by inches. Erevan reappeared upside down, hanging awkwardly from a jagged shard of fractured geometry.
His stomach lurched violently.
[Glitch Step Successful… Sort of.]
"Note to self," he muttered through gritted teeth, dangling from one arm, "never… ever… fully trust tutorial tooltips."
Below, Kaelith rolled aside as a Hunter's blade slammed into the ground, sending up a burst of static and dust. The air filled with the metallic hum of charging weapons.
Erevan dropped down, slammed his palm against the earth, and felt a surge of raw strength flood through him. The impact cracked the ground, sending a shockwave of glitch-light racing outward.
[Damage Dealt: 877]
One Hunter staggered, its form flickering violently. For a moment, Erevan thought it had worked—until the fragments began realigning themselves. The body reassembled, perfectly seamless again.
Kaelith's eyes widened. "They… regenerate."
"Of course they do." Erevan swiped at the static on his sleeve. "Because 'unkillable' wasn't terrifying enough."
Then, the system chimed again.
[New Condition Detected: Unwinnable Encounter]
Recommendation:Run.
Erevan threw his hands up. "Oh, now you're helpful!"
Kaelith grabbed his arm, voice sharp. "Move. Now."
They ran.
The fractured plains blurred beneath their feet, the world flashing between solid and glitch, sound and static. Quacksalot waddled behind them, surprisingly fast for something with stubby legs, his little hat bouncing wildly as he quacked indignantly.
The Patch Hunters advanced in eerie silence. Their steps made no sound now—only the faint hum of synchronized energy. No matter how far Erevan looked back, they were always there—same distance, same formation, as if the space between them simply refused to close.
Erevan panted hard. "This feels unfair! Like the devs decided to cheat just to spite me!"
Kaelith didn't respond. Her eyes were scanning the horizon, sharp and desperate.
Then Erevan's HUD flickered again.
[Quest Update: Escape Possible – Locate Glitched Gateway]
He gritted his teeth. "Gateway? Great. Where, exactly, am I supposed to—"
Then he saw it.
Between two jagged cliffs up ahead, something shimmered—a rift in reality, glowing faintly like liquid glass. Not chaotic like a glitch, but steady. Almost… inviting.
"There!" he shouted, pointing.
Kaelith followed his gaze. The Patch Hunters did too. Their pace quickened.
Kaelith loosed another arrow—fast, controlled, exploding in a burst of sparks that momentarily blinded the nearest Hunter. It didn't hurt them, but it bought seconds.
Seconds were everything.
Erevan's heart hammered as he sprinted toward the Gateway, the fractured plains shattering beneath his boots. Every step sent shards of data spiraling into the air, glowing blue against the endless void sky.
Quacksalot waddled furiously behind him, flippers flapping like a tiny, enraged champion.
The Gateway pulsed brighter with each passing heartbeat, a soft hum calling to him—run, faster, now.
He risked a glance over his shoulder. The Hunters were closing in. Not running, not sprinting. Just… gliding forward. Effortless. Unstoppable.
"This feels scripted!" he gasped. "I swear, the devs are just showing off at this point!"
Kaelith didn't laugh. She never did in moments like this. Her focus was razor-sharp, each arrow loosed in perfect rhythm. Sparks erupted, code scattered, and the Hunters' advance slowed—barely.
Then the ground trembled beneath them.
A fissure split open to their left, rippling outward like a spiderweb of light. Erevan stumbled, catching himself on instinct. His HUD flashed warnings in red.
[Terrain Instability: Critical]
"Kaelith!" he shouted. "This place is literally falling apart!"
She didn't answer. Her gaze locked on the Gateway ahead.
The light beckoned them closer. They were almost there. Just a few more steps—
Then the ground collapsed.
A massive chasm tore open, splitting the plain in two. The Gateway shimmered on the far side, tantalizingly close, but separated by a gap far too wide to jump.
Kaelith skidded to a stop, her boots scraping sparks. "Too wide."
Erevan stared into the void. His throat went dry. "Yeah, no kidding."
She turned to him, eyes fierce. "Your new skill. The Glitch Step."
He blinked. "The one that teleports me inside walls, scrambles my insides, and nearly deletes me from existence? That one?"
Her tone left no room for argument. "Do it."
Behind them, the Patch Hunters advanced, their blades humming with pure system energy. The air shimmered from the force of it, vibrating in his bones.
Time slowed.
Erevan clenched his fists, feeling static crawl up his arms. His body buzzed, flickering between worlds.
"Okay," he muttered under his breath. "You've got this. Don't vomit. Don't explode. Don't die."
He triggered Glitch Step.
Reality shattered.
The world twisted and folded in on itself. Colors inverted. Sounds bled together—Kaelith's voice, Quacksalot's faint quack, the distant hum of system warnings. For a fraction of a second, he felt everything and nothing all at once.
Then—impact.
He slammed down hard on solid ground. Knees buckled, breath ripped from his chest. But he was there. He was across.
Kaelith appeared beside him a heartbeat later, her hair whipping in the static wind. Quacksalot belly-flopped between them with a heroic little squeak.
The Gateway pulsed violently now, reacting to their proximity.
Erevan staggered to his feet, grabbing Kaelith's arm. "Go! It's about to—"
She didn't need telling. They ran.
Behind them, the Patch Hunters reached the edge of the chasm. They didn't hesitate. They didn't shout or threaten. They simply stopped in eerie unison.
Their visors flared with a cold, white light.
[Correction Deferred.]
Then the Gateway erupted.
A surge of energy exploded outward, swallowing Erevan, Kaelith, and Quacksalot in a burst of light.
For a moment, there was nothing—no sound, no sensation. Just the feeling of being unmade.
Then the world snapped back.
Erevan hit solid ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He groaned, rolling onto his back, staring up at… trees?
His HUD flickered back to green. Stable, for once.
He took a long, shaky breath. "Okay… we're alive. I think. Probably."
Kaelith pushed herself up beside him, her hair disheveled, her bow clutched tight. Her eyes scanned the surroundings with measured caution. "Where are we?" she asked softly.
Erevan sat up, squinting. The forest around them was beautiful—too beautiful. Every tree stood perfectly straight, spaced evenly apart, each leaf a flawless copy of the next.
The air smelled faintly of ozone and data.
"This…" he said slowly, "doesn't look real."
He reached down, scooping up a handful of soil. It wasn't soil at all—just tiny fragments of code, glowing faintly before crumbling between his fingers.
Kaelith frowned. "We're not safe. This isn't a sanctuary. It's a construct."
Erevan laughed weakly. "A construct. Great. Because what I really wanted after running for my life was to respawn in a beta test environment."
Quacksalot waddled to the river nearby and dipped a wing. The surface rippled—and broke apart into lines of cascading code.
"Yeah," Erevan muttered, staring. "Definitely not real."
The forest was too quiet.
Not peaceful quiet—wrong quiet.
No insects. No wind. Just the faint hum of static beneath the skin of reality.
Erevan rose slowly, scanning the glitch-perfect trees, every instinct screaming that this place wasn't what it pretended to be.
"Kaelith," he whispered. "Do you feel that?"
She nodded once. Her hand tightened around her bow. "It's watching us."
Erevan frowned. "It?"
The forest shimmered faintly, like it was… breathing. Each tree pulsed in perfect rhythm, light tracing through its bark as if veins of data ran beneath it.
He took a cautious step forward. The ground responded—subtly, but enough to notice. Grass bending toward him, following his movement.
He froze. "Okay. That's new."
Quacksalot let out a soft, uneasy quack.
Then, a sound.
A click.
Followed by another.
And another.
The trees ahead of them began to peel open, their surfaces unraveling like silk, revealing darkness within. Shapes emerged—tall, skeletal silhouettes of pure code, faces hidden behind glitch-masks.
The Patch Hunters.
They stepped through the trees in unison, no footsteps, no sound but the low hum of their systems syncing.
Erevan felt his pulse spike. "How—how did they follow us? The Gateway—"
"Wasn't an escape," Kaelith said grimly. "It was a test."
The realization hit him like a blade between the ribs.
[Simulation Layer Two: The Constructed Wilds]
The words burned across his HUD.
The air shifted. The world itself began rewriting around them—trees stretching taller, sky darkening, colors bleeding into monochrome. The forest was collapsing in on itself, pixel by pixel.
Erevan stepped back, voice trembling. "We're still inside the Obelisk."
Kaelith didn't answer. Her bow shimmered, dissolving into code, replaced by a long, curved blade. "Then we fight our way out."
The Hunters raised their weapons—jagged spears of pure white data.
Erevan's instincts screamed to run, but something inside him—something old, buried—refused. He reached for his own weapon, the fractured relic still glitching in his hand. It hummed, resonating with the distortion around them.
For the first time, the HUD didn't just display data. It responded to him.
[Override Permission Detected.]
[Command?]
His breath caught.
Kaelith's voice cut through the static. "Erevan!"
The Hunters lunged.
Time fractured.
Erevan didn't think—he commanded.
"Override: Reality Pulse!"
Light exploded outward. The world ripped apart.
It wasn't like the Glitch Step. It wasn't a skill. It was him. The surge came from somewhere deeper, somewhere human. A pulse that shredded the illusion in every direction.
The Hunters disintegrated mid-lunge, their bodies dissolving into raw data. The forest shattered like glass, scattering code-fragments that burned out before hitting the ground.
And then—silence.
Real silence.
The hum was gone. The fake air, the symmetrical trees—gone.
Erevan stood amidst the fading fragments, chest heaving, heart pounding. His weapon flickered out of existence.
Kaelith approached him slowly, eyes wide, unreadable. "That wasn't system code," she said quietly. "You overrode the rules."
He stared at his hands, trembling. "I didn't even know I could."
Quacksalot waddled closer, looking up at him with something almost like awe—or maybe confusion.
The HUD blinked again.
[Main Quest Progress Updated.]
[Objective: Find the Architect.]
[Note: You are no longer a registered user.]
Erevan's stomach dropped. "Wait—what?"
The text faded.
Kaelith exhaled slowly. "You broke the system."
Erevan looked up at her, at the endless horizon beyond the fading forest, the data storm rolling in the distance.
"No," he whispered. "The system broke me."
A faint smile tugged at her lips—bitter, but proud. "Then maybe it's time to return the favor."
Erevan nodded, jaw tight. The wind—real wind this time—swept through the empty expanse, carrying with it a low, resonant hum.
Somewhere beyond that horizon, the Architect was waiting.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, Erevan wasn't afraid.
He belonged here now.
The glitch was no longer the curse.
It was the key.