---
Among players, Broken Fate was known as a cursed game —
not one you could win, but one that took something from you every time you tried.
Thousands of routes, countless choices…
yet not a single path led to happiness.
And among every creature, god, or king that roamed its shattered world,
there was one no one could ever defeat:
Elizabeth.
One of the seven demonic incarnations —
and the woman who ended every story in blood.
Leo sat in front of his computer.
Outside, rain tapped endlessly against the window,
blending with the dull hum of the fan beside him.
The only light in the room came from the pale glow of the screen,
reflecting on his tired eyes and the quiet gray world around him.
The BROKEN FATE title bled across the monitor in crimson letters.
Two options glowed beneath it:
> Continue
Restart
He sighed softly, his voice barely audible.
> "As always…"
He clicked Continue.
The screen went dark for a moment —
then a faint light pulsed from within,
as if the game itself was waking up.
From a third-person view, his in-game character appeared:
a young man with brown hair and lifeless eyes,
standing motionless under a crimson sky.
Before Leo could move,
a small white glow flickered at the center of the screen.
A tiny faceless fairy materialized,
her body radiating gentle white light.
Her voice was sweet, mechanical, and familiar.
> "Welcome back, warrior.
Your digital assistant is ready to serve as usual."
Leo clicked on her image, and she vanished.
He kept playing.
---
An hour passed.
Steel clashed. Magic roared.
And once again — he lost.
Leo slammed his fist on the desk.
> "Damn it! Lost again because of that damn Elizabeth!"
He sat still for a while, breathing heavily,
the rain outside growing louder.
Then — she appeared again.
The same little fairy, glowing brighter than before.
> "Warrior," she said softly,
"you seem to be having a hard time, aren't you?"
Leo blinked.
> "Huh? That's new... she's never talked like that before."
Her tone changed.
It wasn't robotic anymore — it was warm.
Almost… human.
> "You've been trying so hard...
So very hard..."
"I admire that, warrior."
Her words echoed strangely in his ears,
as though they came from inside his head, not the speakers.
> "What the hell...?"
The white glow on the screen began to expand —
bleeding past the frame,
spreading across the room, the walls, the air itself.
Leo's hand trembled as he tried to cover his eyes,
but the light passed right through his skin.
Then her voice came again — softer, sadder:
> "Ah~ Warrior...
I hope you'll do well… as part of my world too."
The last thing he felt was his heartbeat —
and then, the pull.
It wasn't gravity.
It was something deeper.
A force clawing at his soul, tearing it free from his body.
The world blurred.
His breath stopped.
Sound vanished.
And then—
Impact.
---
Pain exploded through his ribs.
He gasped, eyes snapping open —
but the world around him was no longer his room.
A blood-red sky.
The smell of iron and ash.
Cold soil against his back.
He tumbled across the ground,
stones scraping his skin until he came to a stop.
He tried to scream.
No voice.
He tried to breathe.
No air.
Then — a voice.
Female. Cold. Sharp as a blade.
> "What are you doing, Aether?
Why can't you simply obey my orders without question?"
...Aether?
His mind reeled.
That wasn't his name.
He tried to turn his head,
but his body wouldn't move.
It was as if someone else was controlling it.
Then his body moved on its own.
He stood.
His mouth opened.
> "I'm sorry, Mother."
Leo froze inside his own mind.
Mother?
And then — he saw her.
A woman stood before him.
Her hair flowed in waves of dark violet,
shimmering faintly under the crimson sky.
Her eyes — violet too, sharp and merciless —
looked down on him with the calm of someone who had forgotten how to feel.
Her presence alone bent the air.
She was beautiful in a way that hurt to look at —
like a painting drawn by a god who hated his creation.
He knew that face.
He had seen it a hundred times on the screen.
Elizabeth.
> "What... what the hell is she doing here!?"
He screamed inside, but his lips didn't move.
Elizabeth's gaze didn't waver.
She lifted her leg and kicked him —
so fast he didn't even see it coming.
For a moment, there was only white.
Then black.
His body hit the marble wall with a hollow crack.
Silence.
Darkness.
---
Elizabeth stood still, her voice calm and cold.
> "Ildia."
A dark shimmer appeared behind her.
From it stepped a woman with long black hair and red eyes.
> "Yes, my lady?"
> "Take him to the medic.
Tell him to use an elixir — ribs and skull both."
The woman bowed.
> "As you wish."
She walked toward the unconscious body,
lifted him effortlessly,
and carried him into the castle.
Inside, the corridors breathed —
the walls whispering like they were alive,
candles burning with violet flames that danced without warmth.