> "I died once. Or maybe I was erased. Either way, I'm back... and reality looks like it ran a debug script and gave up halfway."
—Max
---
There was no sky.
No stars, no sun, no moon—just a swirling ceiling of static-black and glassy white, cracked like a shattered mirror struggling to hold its pieces together.
Max opened his eyes slowly, every breath a reluctant acceptance that he was still… something. The scent of metal, ozone, and decay invaded his nose, while the gritty texture of broken stone pressed against his back.
Pain.
Still there.
Alive.
> No... Not alive. Rewritten.
His fingers twitched. One arm—the right—moved like it had always belonged to him. The other? Metal. Strange. Smooth and flexible, yet unnaturally silent. A cybernetic graft. Sleek black chrome etched with glyphs that flickered faintly.
Max sat up, rubbing his head. His hair had grown longer, white at the edges now. His skin was pale, a few veins glowing faintly violet beneath the surface.
The world around him was a twisted cityscape. Floating chunks of what looked like futuristic buildings hovered in suspended gravity, constantly phasing in and out of focus. Glowing lines of code ran across some of the walls like digital vines.
> "Where the hell... am I?"
> [SYSTEM BOOTING… PLEASE STAND BY.]
[STATUS FRAME SYNCHRONIZING: USER—MAXIMUS ILIAD]
[WARNING: SYSTEM CLASSIFIED — ARCHON ROOT INTERFACE DETECTED]
Welcome back, Max. You are currently located in: VOID NEXUS ZONE 0 – UNREAL SANCTUARY]
> Great. A place with 'void' and 'nexus' in the name. That's never good.
Max stood up, stumbling slightly. His cybernetic leg jointed with a faint hiss, compensating for balance. The world shimmered unnaturally, as if time were broken.
He took a breath—and almost gagged.
In the distance, something was watching.
A Wraith. No eyes. No face. Just a silhouette of black static shaped like a mantis fused with a shadow. It pulsed with hunger.
--
> "Of course there's a monster. Why not throw me into nightmare mode right from the start?"
The Wraith leaped.
Max sidestepped purely on instinct—his muscles reacting before his thoughts could. It scraped past, raking claws through a flickering structure. Sparks flew, followed by a short-lived gravity pulse.
The world warped.
The creature didn't make noise. Not a screech. Not a roar. Just a whisper of corrupted code trailing behind it like fog.
> [INITIATING COMBAT PROTOCOLS]
[LEVEL 1 ENGAGED – ARCHON FIELD: NULL SPACE SYNC AT 7%]
He didn't have a weapon.
But he did have instinct.
Max ducked a slash, rolled beneath the tail-whip, and slammed his cybernetic fist into the creature's underbelly. Surprisingly, the blow connected—forcing the Wraith back with a glitchy screech.
> Yes. I can hit it. I can hurt it.
So it can die.
The creature twisted again, faster now. Max's system pinged alerts — microsecond predictions. He moved with them, dodging too close for comfort. Sweat poured down his brow.
Then his leg gave out.
A glitch.
> [SYSTEM ERROR: CALIBRATION DESYNC]
The Wraith surged forward—and just as it struck—
> [AUTO-EXECUTE: VOID COUNTER LV.0]
A dark pulse erupted from Max's chest. Not an explosion—an implosion. The air bent inward, sucking the Wraith into itself for half a second before ejecting it violently into a fractured wall.
Silence.
> [Enemy Neutralized]
[You have gained +130 XP]
[Level Up: 1 ➜ 2]
Max collapsed on one knee, panting.
> "What… was that? That wasn't… normal."
---
The system shimmered into view. Holographic, floating just before his eyes.
---
✦ STATUS WINDOW ✦
Name: Maximus Iliad
Race: Human? (Modified)
Level: 2
Class: Undefined
Affinity: VOID (Corrupted), ???
Titles: Broken Variable, Survivor of Null, [Hidden]
Attributes:
Strength: 9
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 12
Endurance: 7
Charisma: 6
Luck: ???
Paradox: 1%
Combat Skills:
Void Counter (Lv.0)
Adaptive Reflex (Lv.1)
[Skill Slot Locked]
[Slot Empty]
Unique System Traits:
ARCHON Root Interface (Exclusive)
Soul Arm Resonance: [Locked]
Divine Mark Fragments: 0/7
Eidolon Slot: Inactive
Domain Core: Dormant
Paradox Gauge: 1%
Bond Link (Tier 0): Kaiya? [Unstable]
System Codex: Offline
Taming Core: Inaccessible
Harem Sync Protocol: [LOCKED]
Summon Protocol: [LOCKED]
Fusion Archive: [LOCKED]
---
> "Harem Sync? Summoning? Taming? What the hell kind of anime MMO is this world?"
His words echoed in the empty silence.
> "...and what the hell is a Paradox Gauge?"
---
A flicker of pain jolted his chest.
Then came the memories.
Seren—her blade at his throat.
Kaiya—her eyes wide as she turned away.
Juno—the last to leave as he bled out on the floor.
And behind them, the flickering red icon of the System Reset Command. They had activated it—together.
> "You were never meant to awaken."
> [Emotion Trigger: Betrayal Recognition]
[Title Unlocked: The One They Buried]
The screen pulsed and dimmed. For a moment, the entire Nexus groaned as if it could feel his memory.
Max clenched his fists.
> "Fine."
"You erased me. I'll rewrite myself."
> [LEVEL 2 REWARD: Choose 1 Hidden Path]
The options were vague, glitchy.
[Skill Branch: Chaos Pulse]
[Unlock Function: Taming Core Lv.0]
[Access Hidden Archive: Null Codex Entry 1]
He chose Taming Core Lv.0.
> [Taming Protocol Initialized]
[Current Bondable Entities: 0]
[Slot Limit: 1]
> "Let's see what kind of pets this twisted world has…"
Suddenly, a whisper echoed across the Nexus.
> "...Another Root Interface? Impossible…"
"Begin tracking the anomaly."
Far away, unseen figures opened their status windows and stared in his direction.
Max stood up, his breath slowing.
The world was still glitching.
But he was stable.
And now… he was awake.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]