The digital wind howled across a broken horizon, carrying whispers of corrupted data. Liam stood on the edge of a glowing cliff, staring down at a sea of fractured code that pulsed like a living organism. The world around him was beautiful—and terrifying.
The ground beneath his boots shimmered between solid rock and translucent data grids. Strange creatures formed in the distance—half human, half algorithm—appearing for seconds before dissolving into static. Above him, the sky churned like an ocean of blue fire, threaded with streaks of binary light.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
Welcome, user: L1-4M. Status: Connected.
Error Level: Global Instability Detected.
Synchronizing neural pattern…
A sudden spike of pain stabbed through his skull. He dropped to one knee, clutching his head as lines of code flashed before his eyes. They weren't just symbols—they were thoughts, memories, emotions, all rewritten and reorganized by the System.
When the pain subsided, a glowing interface hovered before him: transparent, crystalline, perfectly symmetrical. It displayed his stats, but everything was blank except for one line—
Unique Trait Unlocked: ERROR SYNCHRONIZATION
"What the hell…" Liam muttered, his voice echoing slightly in the hollow digital air.
He focused on the text, and instantly, information flooded his mind. Error Synchronization – allows the user to absorb and control system anomalies. It was unlike any ability he'd ever seen in a game or simulation. Dangerous, unstable—exactly the kind of power that could rewrite rules themselves.
A low growl broke the silence.
Liam turned sharply. Out of the mist emerged a creature—a humanoid shape crawling on all fours, its skin flickering between flesh and corrupted pixels. Its eyes glowed crimson, its mouth opening in an electronic snarl. Lines of error code ran across its body like veins.
[SYSTEM ALERT: Entity Detected – "Corrupted Fragment"]
Threat Level: Unknown.
Recommendation: Flee.
Liam took a step back. "You've got to be kidding me."
The creature lunged.
Instinct took over. He sidestepped, barely avoiding the claws that tore through the ground, leaving trails of burning blue data. His pulse raced. This wasn't a VR simulation—it felt real. Every breath, every heartbeat, every drop of sweat was real.
He reached out for a weapon—but there was none. The interface flickered again.
[No Equipment Detected.]
Would you like to generate a base construct? (Y/N)
"Yes!" he shouted instinctively.
A surge of energy shot through his arm. Light coalesced into a blade made of pure data, humming with unstable energy. The hilt pulsed like a heartbeat.
The creature roared and leapt again. Liam swung. The blade connected, slicing through the corrupted form—but instead of dying, the monster exploded into a shower of fragmented code that swirled around him, seeping into his skin.
Pain again. But this time, it was different—powerful.
[ERROR ABSORBED. SYSTEM DATA UPDATED.]
Skill Unlocked: Glitch Pulse (Lv. 1)
A soft blue glow pulsed under his veins. He could feel it—raw, chaotic energy. He raised his hand, and a ripple of distortion burst outward, disintegrating a nearby corrupted tree into shimmering dust.
Liam stared at his hand, heart pounding. "So this is… evolution."
He didn't have long to think. The landscape ahead began to tremble. From the horizon, a massive shadow rose—a colossal figure made of thousands of error fragments fused together, forming a monstrous shape. Its body was an amalgamation of code and ruin, its face ever-shifting between human and machine.
The System's voice echoed, calm yet cold:
[Warning: System Corruption at 78%. Initiating adaptive purge.]
"Adaptive what?"
The ground split open beneath him. Glowing fissures spread like spiderwebs as waves of static tore through the world. Liam stumbled, gripping his blade as fragments of data rained down like burning ash.
Then, through the chaos, a voice spoke—not the System's mechanical tone, but something older, deeper.
"You are not supposed to exist here."
He spun around. A woman stood at the edge of the rift, her eyes glowing red, her armor sleek and adorned with luminous gold runes. The same woman from the throne room—only now, her smile was gone.
"You shouldn't have accepted the invitation," she said. "Every glitch must be purged."
Liam raised his sword. "You think I'm one of them?"
"You're worse," she replied, summoning a golden spear made of light. "You're the root error."
She moved faster than thought, thrusting the spear toward his chest. He blocked, sparks and code fragments flying in all directions. The impact sent him sliding backward, boots scraping against the unstable ground.
He could feel the System reacting to her presence—data spiking, alerts flashing.
[Warning: Admin-class entity detected. Access Level: Unknown.]
Admin-class. That meant she wasn't a player or NPC—she was part of the System itself.
"You're a System guardian," Liam realized aloud.
Her expression hardened. "Once. Until the update failed. Now I erase mistakes like you."
"Then you'll have to try harder," he growled, gripping his blade.
Their weapons clashed again, light and darkness colliding. Each strike sent shockwaves through the corrupted sky. The ground crumbled beneath them, code bleeding into chaos.
At one point, her spear grazed his arm, leaving a burn of pure white light. He retaliated by releasing his new skill.
"Glitch Pulse!"
A surge of distortion erupted from his palm, shattering her attack mid-swing and hurling her backward. Her armor flickered, small cracks spreading across her glowing chestplate.
For a moment, the world went silent. Then she laughed softly.
"You learn fast," she said, smiling again—but this time, with curiosity. "Perhaps you really are the anomaly we've been waiting for."
Before he could respond, she vanished into pixels, her form dissolving into the data storm.
The System's voice returned.
[Phase One Complete.]
Adaptive entity recognized: Liam Kuroda. Error class confirmed – Type Alpha.]
Preparing Evolution Pathway…]
Liam's vision blurred again as the world began to reconfigure. Towers of light rose around him, and for a brief second, he saw glimpses of multiple realities—Earth cities collapsing, people screaming, sky fracturing into code.
And then, darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in what looked like a massive, futuristic hub—a central domain built of dark metal and floating holographic structures. Hundreds of glowing interfaces hovered in the air, showing fragments of other players, other timelines, other dimensions.
A quiet mechanical voice whispered from behind him.
"Welcome to the Core Nexus, Player L1-4M. You have been chosen to rewrite the next stage of evolution."
He turned—and froze.
Seated upon a massive, glitching throne was himself—or rather, a distorted version of him, eyes glowing bright blue, a smug smile on his face.
"Finally," the duplicate said, voice cold and amused. "The real game begins."
End of Chapter 2