Mist still clung to the shattered rails where the guardian had fallen.
Blue particles drifted upward, dissolving into the false twilight that hung over NightSun Grid.
The hum of the Compression Field was distant now, a soft thunder beneath the sky.
Aria Sillena stepped from the haze—armor of pale silver catching what light remained.
Her form carried that impossible balance the world of Jaigoria was famous for: grace shaped by code, strength hidden beneath beauty. The wind traced her silhouette as her cloak fluttered behind her, every line of her movement designed with the precision of an artist who adored symmetry.
Zack ran forward before the silence could swallow him.
"Sister!"
She barely had time to brace herself before his arms were around her.
For a heartbeat, the noise of the Grid vanished.
"Zack… you're safe."
Her voice was calm but trembled at the edges, like someone who'd been holding her breath for days.
Leice watched from a short distance, expression unreadable.
Breakam One rested against his shoulder, its blade dim but awake, pulsing to the rhythm of his thoughts.
Then,a moment of calm inside this chaos world
Aria pulled back to look at her brother.
"You've changed," she said softly. "Stronger, maybe thinner, definitely dirtier."
Zack laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's a long story. I … wouldn't have survived if not for him."
He turned, gesturing to Leice.
"Sister, this is Leice Grape. He saved me. More than once."
Aria's gaze shifted to the silver-haired stranger. The reflection of system light glimmered in her eyes.
She inclined her head slightly.
"Then I owe you my gratitude."
Leice met her eyes just long enough to acknowledge the courtesy.
"No debt. I prefer efficiency to thanks."
She smiled faintly.
"Efficiency or not, you stepped in when others wouldn't. That deserves respect."
He didn't answer. His focus flicked instead to the faint overlay of data beside her—the system tag he could see and neither sibling could.
[Character Profile: Aria Sillena]
[Role: Supporting Heroine / Healer Class]
[Affiliation: Sillena House – Common Lineage]
[Emotional Flags: Dormant]
Dormant.
He remembered that word from the original game.
Aria's affection route was designed to awaken only after the "hero" saved her twice.
A simple algorithm.
One he could break whenever he wished.
---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---
Hidden Systems
[Skill Activated: Observer's Layer]
[DP Spent: 100]
[Access: Emotional Trigger Mapping – Unlocked]
Lines of light mapped themselves over Aria and Zack like faint constellations.
He could see how their emotional states tied to invisible event chains—tension points waiting to be pulled.
So the code still runs beneath the surface. Good. That means I can rewrite it.
He dismissed the display before either of them noticed.
Zack was already explaining, words tumbling fast.
"Leice knew where every ambush would be. He even changed the quest somehow, made a guardian appear, and then—boom—it was gone before I could blink."
Aria frowned, confusion flickering across her face.
"Changed the quest?"
Leice shrugged.
"The Grid is unstable. Systems bleed together. Sometimes I nudge them before they collapse."
Her eyes lingered on him for a moment longer than necessary.
"You speak as if this world were only a design."
"Maybe it is."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. And I'm the one holding the pen.
"Let's find some place safe first", Leice word came out from his mouth after a while.
Then the three of them continue a little.
They found temporary shelter beneath the remains of an old station canopy.
Broken lights flickered above; a forgotten vending drone hummed weakly in a corner.
Aria removed her gauntlets, flexing her hands. Beneath the armor, her movements were fluid, unhurried—made for grace, not battle.
Every motion reminded Leice that she wasn't built like a soldier but like an ideal: curves and balance crafted by a designer who valued aesthetics as much as realism.
He studied the details quietly, not with lust but with the detached curiosity of a coder examining perfect form rendered in motion.
Zack busied himself cleaning his sword, still talking.
"Sister, he's amazing! The monsters don't even touch him. He just… moves, and they fall apart."
Aria smiled, brushing dust from her sleeve.
"Then perhaps we'll all live through this trial thanks to him."
Leice didn't correct her.
His gaze lingered on the shifting horizon, the line of the Compression Field closing another kilometer closer.
[Remaining Participants: 201]
[Phase Six Stability: Critical]
A soft chime echoed in his head.
[Optional Event Detected: Sillena Bond – Uninitialized]
He almost laughed. Still trying to run the old script, are you?
[Command Input: Suppress Event Lock]
[DP Spent: 50]
[Result: System Event Disabled]
The notification faded. The world breathed freely again.
Night crept across the Grid, artificial stars flickering into place.
The siblings talked in hushed tones about home—about the small workshop their mother ran, about debts and dreams.
Leice listened, silent, letting their words fill the air while he built plans in his mind.
If he wanted to rewrite Jaigoria, he needed allies who didn't belong to its upper tiers.
The Sillenas fit perfectly: pure motives, no political web, and, most importantly, flags he could control.
He rose, scanning the horizon.
"We move at dawn. The field will contract again in four hours. Stay inside the safe radius."
Aria stood as well.
"You act like you command the Grid."
"Someone has to."
Zack chuckled nervously.
"He's not wrong. Every time I ignore him, something explodes."
Aria's laughter was soft, genuine.
The sound carried warmth that didn't belong in a battlefield.
Leice turned away, hiding the faint smile that threatened to surface.
[System Notice: Phase Seven Countdown – T-05:00:00]
[Safe Zone Radius: 5 Kilometers]
[Next Compression: Core Nexus Perimeter Shift]
Leice dismissed the alert, eyes narrowing at the far glow of the Nexus.
Soon the world would close in on itself, and every surviving contender would be forced toward the heart.
He glanced at Aria and Zack—siblings reunited, unaware that the script of their destiny had already been stolen.
Reverse-harem or not, he thought, I write the next line.
Breakam One shimmered faintly at his side, like a blade eager to agree.