After hours of walking through broken plains and flickering skies, we finally stopped near a half-collapsed structure — the remains of what once looked like a small outpost.
Bl4ze dropped his pack onto the ground and started setting up a tent made from scavenged tarps and metal sheets. I gathered bits of wood and fragments of digital debris that still burned faintly with light.
It was strange — in the Void, even the fire didn't behave normally.
It didn't crackle.
It whispered.
The flames shimmered in shifting colors — blue, green, gold — and whenever I stared too long, I swore I could see code patterns flickering inside.
Bl4ze sat nearby, hammering down the last stake of the tent. "There," he said, brushing the dust off his gloves. "Home for the night."
I nodded, kneeling by the campfire to feed it another handful of energy shards. "I'll handle the fire. You did enough."
"Thanks," he said softly, sitting down beside me. The light danced across his mask, revealing just a glimpse of his tired eyes behind it.
For a while, we didn't talk. The only sounds were the hum of the fire and the faint, eerie wind that passed through the hollow ruins.
Eventually, he broke the silence.
"So… the Resistance," he said. "What's their deal? Why are you guys so underpowered? You can't just ask the other games for help?"
I sighed. "We tried that. But we failed."
"Failed?" He looked at me, genuinely curious.
"Yeah. There are other games — massive ones — that could challenge the Empire if they wanted to. CraftWorld, NeoVice, even NovaRun. But none of them wanted to get involved."
"Didn't want to?"
"They said it wasn't their war. They didn't care that the Empire was conquering smaller worlds. Some said they were afraid that if they joined, their own servers might collapse."
Bl4ze poked the fire with a piece of metal. "So you're basically alone out there."
"Not completely. BattleNet helped us."
His head turned slightly. "BattleNet?"
"Yeah, you know them?" I asked.
He nodded slowly, staring into the flames. "Yeah… I used to play on their servers. A long time ago."
"Really?"
He chuckled. "Yeah. PvP every night, endless fight, insane tournament events. Those guys were serious."
I smiled faintly. "That explains a lot."
"Hm?"
"I mean," I said, glancing at his sword resting beside him. "You fight like one of them. Efficient. Controlled. Ruthless when needed."
He smirked behind his mask. "You watching me that closely?"
My face heated up instantly. "N-no! I just… notice things!"
He laughed softly, leaning back. "You're bad at lying, you know that?"
"Shut up." I threw a small pebble at him, which harmlessly bounced off his shoulder plate.
The fire flickered brighter between us, throwing dancing shadows along the cracked walls. For a moment, it almost felt… normal. Like the world wasn't broken.
After a while, curiosity got the better of me.
"Hey, Bl4ze," I said quietly. "How did you get so skilled, anyway?"
He tilted his head. "Skilled? What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb," I said. "No normal player could survive here alone for a year. You fight like someone who's done this a thousand times."
He stared at the fire, the orange light reflecting in his eyes.
"I don't know," he said finally. "Like I told you before, I lost most of my memory when I fell into the Void. Everything before that is a blur. I just… remember how to fight."
"That's still incredible," I said.
"For some people," he replied. "Imagine waking up one day, knowing how to kill anything that moves but not knowing why."
I went silent. The way he said it — calm, but distant — sent a small chill down my spine.
Then he chuckled. "But hey, maybe I was just a no-life PvPer back in the day."
"I doubt that," I said. "Your movements aren't just mechanical. You adapt. That takes experience — real experience."
He turned to me, eyes narrowing slightly. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"
"What? No! That's my honest opinion!"
He laughed again, the sound echoing warmly in the empty space. "Alright, alright. You win, Starlink Sniper."
I blinked. "You… know that name?"
"SK mentioned it before," he said, grinning. "Said you were famous in the Resistance for being the Starborn sniper who shot down an entire Imperial squad by herself."
"That was… exaggerated," I muttered, poking at the fire. "There were only seven of them."
He laughed harder, and I couldn't help but smile too.
Hours passed. The warmth of the flames and the rhythm of our quiet conversation made my eyes grow heavy. I leaned slightly against my knees, the world beginning to blur.
"You can sleep," Bl4ze said softly. "I'll keep watch."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I don't sleep much anyway."
His voice was steady, calm — a voice I somehow found comfort in.
"Alright…" I murmured, lying down near the fire. "Don't… do anything stupid while I'm asleep."
"No promises," he said lightly.
As I closed my eyes, I could hear the crackling whisper of the fire and the faint hum of the Void wind outside. The last thing I saw before drifting into sleep was Bl4ze — sitting quietly by the flames, sword on his lap, eyes distant.
She fell asleep quickly — exhaustion taking over. I could tell she hadn't had proper rest in days.
I watched her for a moment, her breathing steady, the faint light of the fire reflecting off the bandages on her shoulder. She looked peaceful now, nothing like the fierce soldier who'd dived from a helicopter mid-battle.
"Starlink Sniper, huh…" I murmured, smiling faintly. "You're tougher than you look."
The flames flickered again — colors shifting unnaturally.
I glanced up at the horizon. The static in the distance was thicker tonight. The Void was restless.
Something big was moving again — far away, but I could feel the data tremors under my boots. Maybe that same corrupted Golem. Maybe something worse.
I tightened my grip on my sword. Its blade pulsed faintly with faint red light — a reaction to the distortion.
"Still following me, huh?" I whispered to the weapon, though I wasn't sure who I was talking to.
For a split second, an old image flickered across my mind.
A battlefield.
Red banners.
Thousands of players shouting in sync.
The emblem of the 53rd Regiment and Crest of the Empire burning bright above them.
I flinched, clutching my head. "What… was that…"
A voice — distant, mechanical — echoed faintly in my mind:
"Commander Bl4ze. Directive: secure the breach. No survivors."
I froze.
Commander?
The vision vanished as quickly as it came.
I stared at my hands, trembling slightly.
Was I… part of the Empire?
"No," I whispered. "No, that can't be right. I'd remember…"
But deep down, I wasn't sure anymore.
The sword hummed softly, as if responding to my unease.
I looked at Ryze again, asleep by the fire, unaware of the storm inside my mind.
"If you knew what I really was…" I muttered. "Would you still trust me?"
The Void wind howled outside, carrying faint, broken echoes of voices — like ghosts of old data.
I sheathed my sword and turned my gaze back to the fire.
"Not yet," I whispered to the night. "She doesn't need to know. Not until I figure out who I am."
The fire crackled — or maybe it was the sound of code breaking apart. Either way, I stayed awake, guarding the camp while the last of the light flickered against the ruins of a forgotten world.