"Look what I got here, Bl4ze!" I said proudly, holding up a few cans of preserved food and a loaf that somehow hadn't turned to dust. "All still in good condition!"
He smiled faintly, looking up from the pile of scavenged metal. "That's good work, Starborn. You've got an eye for supplies."
I grinned. "Of course I do. I've been surviving on scraps since I joined the Resistance."
"Figures." He chuckled, then grew quiet. "Hey… I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Ask what?"
He leaned back against a cracked wall, arms folded. "Why are you so desperate to go back above? It's not like it's any better up there."
I hesitated. "Because… I have a mission to finish."
"Mission?"
"To report back to my squad leader. To help the others who are still fighting. There's still so much to do." My tone dropped slightly. "Too many people depending on me."
Bl4ze nodded slowly. "So… the situation above is really that bad, huh?"
"Yeah," I said softly. "The Empire's spreading faster than ever. Every week, another world falls."
He smiled, though his eyes looked tired. "Don't worry. I'll help you out. We'll find a way back."
I blinked at him, surprised. "You'd really do that?"
"Sure," he said simply. "It's been a long time since I've had a reason to move forward."
I tilted my head. "Then what about you? What are you gonna do once we're out of here?"
He was quiet for a long moment. Then he sighed. "Honestly… I don't even know if I still have a place up there. It's been too long."
"Come on," I said, lightly nudging him with my elbow. "You can't just stay here forever. You've gotta have something to go back to."
He chuckled. "You're right. Maybe I'll join the Empire."
I froze. "The what?! Empi—"
He cut me off, laughing. "I'm joking!, you should've seen your face. You're so funny when you get flustered."
"Hmmph." I crossed my arms and looked away, my cheeks warm. "Not funny."
We spent hours exploring every corner of RimScape — collapsing towers, abandoned crafting halls, even old dungeons with flickering signs still saying "Dungeon Cleared."
Most buildings were half-eaten by glitch patterns. Walls shimmered like water. Floors occasionally vanished, revealing endless white nothingness below.
After a while, our bags were full.
"That should be enough," Bl4ze said, adjusting his gear. "We've got enough food and materials to last a few weeks."
I stretched my arms. "Finally. I'm starving."
"We should head back before it gets late," he added.
"Why though?" I asked, looking at the dim horizon. "It's not like there's a day and night cycle here."
He looked serious now. "Because the Void's not just empty space. It shifts. Like a living code, constantly rewriting itself. The longer we stay out when the system cycles, the more likely we get lost."
"Wait," I said, raising a brow. "If the land keeps changing, how did you even find this place in the first place?"
He smiled faintly and reached into his pocket, pulling out two small glowing crystals.
"These are Destination Gems," he explained. "Each one marks a location I've visited. This one points back to the house. And this—" he raised the second gem, glowing faintly blue "—points to RimScape."
"That's actually… really cool," I admitted. "So we can just follow them to get back?"
He grimaced. "That's the problem. They've been glitching lately. Sometimes the signal shifts. You could end up halfway across corrupted data territory."
"So basically, we could get lost forever."
"Exactly."
I sighed. "Great. That's totally not terrifying."
Bl4ze chuckled. "Relax. We'll be fine."
I nodded, trying to calm myself. "Still… it's weird. I thought we were the only ones out here."
He looked at me curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Like, there's no mobs, no players. Just us."
The ground suddenly trembled beneath our feet.
STOMP.
A low, heavy sound echoed across the ruins.
STOMP. STOMP.
I froze. "What the hell was that?"
Bl4ze's eyes narrowed. "Get down."
Before I could react, he grabbed me, pulling me into a dark corner behind a collapsed wall. My back hit cold stone, his armored chest pressed close to mine as his hand covered my mouth.
"Shh," he whispered, breath warm against my ear. "Don't make a sound."
My heart hammered wildly. His grip was firm but careful.
He realized it too and quickly pulled his hand away. "Sorry. Instinct."
"It's… it's fine," I stammered, cheeks burning. It was the first time anyone had touched me like that since… ever, really.
We stayed still, barely breathing.
Then I saw it.
A massive shadow moved between the broken buildings.
The thing stood at least four stories tall — a hulking Golem, but unlike any normal mob. Its body was cracked and flickering, as if it had been ripped apart and reassembled by broken data. Segments of its body floated inches apart, connected only by glowing, corrupted light.
Its face was half gone, replaced by static. Only one eye remained — an empty, black void scanning the area.
"What is that?" I whispered.
Bl4ze's voice was low. "A Boss."
"A Boss? Here? In the Void?"
"Yeah. Somehow, mobs and bosses get pulled into the data cracks. Some wander here forever, glitched beyond repair. Others…" he glanced toward the creature as it smashed through another building "…still hunt players."
We watched as the Golem sniffed the air — or maybe it was scanning. Its movements were jerky, robotic, but terrifyingly precise.
It leaned down, grabbing an entire building with one hand and crushing it effortlessly.
Dust. Code fragments. Screaming error messages flickered in the air.
"Why is it searching?" I whispered.
"Looking for active code," Bl4ze replied. "That means us."
The Golem turned slowly, its cracked eye sweeping the ruins. Every step shook the ground, vibrating through my boots.
"Stay down," Bl4ze muttered, gripping his weapon tightly.
But then, a soft metallic ping echoed behind us — a loose can from my scavenged bag rolled across the floor.
The Golem's head snapped toward our direction.
"Oh, no…" I whispered.
"Run," Bl4ze said flatly.
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me as the Golem let out a distorted roar — a sound of metal grinding against code, echoing like a broken file.
The world glitched around us as debris rained down. Buildings distorted into digital ribbons.
"Left!" Bl4ze shouted.
I dove just in time as a massive fist crushed the ground where we'd been seconds before.
Chunks of terrain flew upward, disintegrating into white fragments.
"Can't you just fight it?!" I yelled.
"Not in this place! It's too unstable!"
We darted between shattered walls, trying to lose it. The Golem roared again, launching corrupted data blasts that melted everything they touched.
Finally, we slid behind a large monument half-buried in the ground. The Golem stopped, scanning the area again, before finally losing interest and lumbering away, its form fading into the fog.
We stayed silent for several minutes, catching our breath.
"That… was close," I panted.
"Yeah," Bl4ze said, standing up slowly. "Looks like the Void's gotten more dangerous than I thought."
He turned to me, serious again. "From now on, we move carefully. No noise, no bright lights. If something that big can roam here, there might be worse."
I nodded, heart still pounding. "Got it."
As we made our way back, the sky above shimmered faintly — the static thicker than before, like the world itself was watching.
Somewhere out there, the Golem's roar echoed again, distant but haunting.
I shivered.
Maybe the Void wasn't just alive.
Maybe it was hungry.