The air inside the Core Nexus buzzed with electric silence.
Holographic data storms spiraled across the vast, metallic chamber, casting blue and crimson light over floating platforms and endless voids below. Liam stood still, breathing heavily, his blade humming faintly in his hand.
Before him, sitting upon a throne made of fractured code and floating crystal shards, was himself.
Same face.
Same eyes.
But colder.
The duplicate's expression was a calm smile, but it carried the kind of confidence only something inhuman could have. His armor shimmered with black energy, lined with jagged red runes that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Liam tightened his grip on his sword. "Who the hell are you?"
The copy tilted his head. "You already know, don't you? I'm you. Or rather—what you were supposed to become."
"What I was supposed to—?"
The double rose from the throne, every movement smooth and predatory. "This world wasn't created by accident, Liam. The System didn't malfunction. It evolved. You're the result of that evolution… and I'm its completion."
He stepped forward, boots echoing against the metallic floor. As he moved, the world around them glitched slightly—the floor tiles flickering between solid matter and data.
[System Log: Reality Stability — 64%]
[Warning: Parallel Entity Detected. Synchronization Conflict Imminent.]
Liam frowned. "So, what—you're another error?"
"No." The duplicate's voice deepened, layered with distortion. "I'm the administrator's reflection. You think you glitched into this world by accident? You were brought here to replace something… me."
He spread his arms, and from behind him, holographic screens appeared—showing flashes of a timeline: Liam's old life on Earth, his accident, the System invitation, and then—blackout.
Liam took a step back, eyes narrowing. "You're lying."
"Am I?" the reflection said softly. "Tell me, what's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"
Liam's throat tightened. He remembered the collapsing lab, the experiment gone wrong, the blinding light—then the System voice.
"You died," the reflection whispered, smiling faintly. "And I was born."
The silence that followed felt heavier than gravity.
[Cognitive Disturbance Detected. Emotional Override Engaged.]
Liam clenched his fists. "If that's true… why am I here?"
"Because the System failed to delete you," the reflection replied, eyes glowing brighter. "You're the ghost in its code. The anomaly it couldn't erase. The longer you exist, the more unstable this world becomes."
"So what now? You kill me, and the System stabilizes?"
His counterpart smirked. "Exactly."
Without warning, he raised his hand—and the entire chamber shifted. The platforms around them folded inward, forming a massive arena surrounded by floating data shards. A crimson barrier sealed them in.
[System Event: Synchronization Trial – Begin]
"Come on then," the reflection said, summoning a blade identical to Liam's but forged in black and red light. "Let's see which of us deserves to exist."
Liam barely had time to breathe before his duplicate attacked.
The clash was blinding. Their blades met with a shockwave of pure energy, sending digital sparks into the void. Liam felt his arm jolt with the impact—the force was inhuman.
His copy moved like a predator, every strike precise, confident, merciless. Each blow felt like fighting a mirror that already knew his next move.
"You hesitate," the duplicate said as their swords locked. "That's why you'll lose."
"Shut up!" Liam roared, kicking off and unleashing Glitch Pulse. The wave of distortion surged forward, bending light, ripping through the arena's edge.
For a moment, the reflection staggered—but then grinned. "Good. You're learning to use the System's corruption. But you still don't understand it."
Before Liam could react, the reflection's body shattered into hundreds of fragments—then reformed behind him, blade slicing across his back. Pain exploded through his body, a mix of blood and static.
[Warning: Neural Damage 23%.]
[Reconstructing Cognitive Map…]
Liam fell to one knee, gasping. "You… can split?"
"Not split," the reflection said, raising his sword again. "Adapt."
He struck again—but this time, something inside Liam snapped. The same chaotic energy he'd absorbed from the corrupted creature earlier began to surge within him, uncontrollable and wild.
His veins glowed blue-white, his eyes flickering with static.
[Error Synchronization – Overload Detected]
[Processing… Unknown Pathway Initiated.]
The world blurred. When the reflection's blade came down, Liam caught it mid-swing with his bare hand—stopping it. The code around his arm fractured, but didn't break.
For the first time, the reflection looked surprised.
"How—?"
Liam grinned, a feral edge in his voice. "I don't follow the System's rules anymore."
Energy erupted from his body, flooding the arena in blue light. The barrier cracked, the air vibrating with distortion. Liam swung his blade—and the reflection was thrown backward, crashing through multiple floating platforms before dissolving into static.
For a moment, it seemed over.
Then—
A low chuckle echoed across the chamber.
The reflection's voice returned, distant yet everywhere. "You think that was victory? I'm not gone, Liam. You can't destroy me… because I am you."
The fragments of his body reassembled across the arena, forming multiple distorted versions—each one smirking, each one holding a weapon.
[New Event Detected: Infinite Loop Sequence – ACTIVE]
The duplicates began to surround him, dozens of Liams forming a circle, their eyes glowing red.
Liam's pulse thundered. His system interface flickered violently.
He could barely breathe—but he didn't step back.
"If you're me," he growled, "then you already know how this ends."
He raised his blade again, eyes burning with defiance. The blue glow intensified, his aura cracking reality itself.
One heartbeat later, the arena exploded into chaos.
When the light finally faded, only silence remained.
The arena was gone. The throne—gone. Even the Core Nexus itself had fractured into a field of floating debris suspended in infinite dark.
Liam floated weightless among the fragments, barely conscious. The System's voice sounded distant now, softer—almost… human.
[Adaptive Sync Complete.]
[Error Status: Undefined.]
[Evolution Phase Two: Humanity Override – Initiating…]
Before he could comprehend what that meant, his body dissolved into light again—and the world reset.
He opened his eyes to find himself standing in a completely different place: a vast forest made of glass and circuitry, trees humming softly with data currents.
Above him, a fractured sun flickered between dawn and dusk.
And in the distance, he saw silhouettes—other humans. Real ones.
[Welcome to Sector One: The World Rewritten.]
Liam exhaled slowly, the weight of what had happened sinking in. The reflection's final words echoed in his mind—
"You can't destroy me."
He wasn't sure if he'd truly won.
But he knew one thing for certain.
This world wasn't done with him yet.
End of Chapter 3