"Why does it feel like I'm not walking back alone?"
Ethan's boots echoed down the metallic corridor, the subtle vibration of his steps bouncing off the glass-paneled windows lining the outer wall. The late-night halls of WRA Institute were pretty empty, but that nagging feeling behind his eyes just wouldn't go away.
He kept hearing that strange conversation with the man cloaked in shadows—half-truths, riddles, and an offer no student should ever hear—looping in his head like a glitch in a system.
"Your realm is no longer just a world. It's an echo... an echo of you."
"So I'll ask you one last time. Will you bind it, or let it grow?"
He didn't gave an answered.
At least not directly. But maybe silence was answer enough.
"Ethan!"
Jasper Kim's voice snapped him out of the haze. The tall, sharp-eyed strategist waved him over, sitting outside their simulation pod station with Iris Kandy.
"You're late," Iris muttered, munching on a protein bar like it was some kind of protest. "Again."
"Got pulled aside." Ethan replied, trying to smile.
"Seriously?" Jasper raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right?"
"I wish I was."
A quiet pause settled between the trio as the soft hum of the arena pods powered up behind them. Up above, an LED banner blinked:
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[Finals Begin in 00:12:03]
Match 5: Team Scrap Reclaimers vs Team Ironshroud
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Jasper leaned closer trying to sound like a leader. "Alright. No distractions now. We have planned and trained hard for this match."
"Let's finish this thing and win the game."
Ethan shouted. "For the Victory!!!"
—
Inside the prep room, Mr. Huxley stood with his hands behind his back, eyes fixed on the holoscreen lighting up with the interface.
His voice, calm as ever, filled the room:
"This is it, the deciding match."
"Today's match isn't just being watched—it'll be archived. You're the wildcard team that flipped the bracket upside-down."
"Well done, Team Scrap Reclaimers, You have made it to the finals."
He tapped once, and the terrain of the upcoming match shimmered in the air: a crumbling city choked with roots and rusted iron. A wastescape, not unlike Ethan's own polluted Divine Realm.
Iris whistled. "It looks familiar, just like Ethan's realm."
"It's a randomized overlay based off actual Divine Realm samples," Huxley confirmed. "But yes… it might resemble yours, Ethan. Use that to your advantage."
Jasper frowned. "Any terrain bias could be seen as unfair, though."
Mr. Huxley smiled faintly. Then, for a moment, his eyes locked onto Ethan—not as a teacher, but like someone who knew a lot more than he was letting on.
"Let's see if the echo responds to the strain."
The simulation pods unlocked with a hydraulic hiss.
"Get in," Huxley said. "And do what you've always done."
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[Shared Mental Interface Engaged… Initializing Connection.]
[Team Avatar Sync: 100%]
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The world unfolded slowly—first like ink bleeding through cloth, then like a fog lifting from a corpse-strewn battlefield.
They found themselves standing on a cracked overpass, twisted metal vines creeping around rusted buildings below. The air was thick with ash and oil.
The sky? It glowed with a dull orange light.
Ethan looked down. His avatar—still a bit more wooden than the others—glowed faint green at the core, veins of soft light tracing beneath his arms and up his neck.
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[Match Start: Scrap Reclaimers vs. Ironshroud]
[Terrain Zone: Ruinveil—Wastescape Variant (Iron-Creep Overlay)]
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A distant horn echoed through the hazy sky. HUD markers blinked to life in Ethan's vision: red triangles denoting the Ironshroud team's movement—splitting into a left-right pincer from the lower ruins.
"They're taking rooftops and sewer paths," Jasper muttered, scanning his shared tactical view. "High-low split! It is the typical Ironshroud formation."
"They are playing it safe from the start," Iris added. "Way too cautious today."
Ethan crouched by the broken edge of the overpass. His hand brushed a chunk of rusted concrete that had moss crawling over it. His eyes narrowed as he noticed something strange.
"Guys… something's off with the terrain," he said.
Jasper looked curious. "What do you mean?"
"I think... it's responding to me."
He reached out again, and the moss twitched—a little too alive.
Ethan felt the pulse in his avatar's fingertips, like a heartbeat beneath the asphalt.
Below, the Ironshroud frontliner came into view—a bulky avatar clad in silver-tier defensive constructs.
The enemy's support unit followed with a deployable turret trailing behind them.
"They're baiting us," Iris said sharply. "They might be forcing us into a choke point like that broken stairwell."
Jasper nodded. "Let's throw them off. Iris, uou draw their line of fire up from the middle. Ethan, you flank left through the rubble. I'll hold their support from above."
Ethan agreed, feeling the weight of the environment shift with every step. Vines curled beneath him, dirt loosened as if inviting him in, and when he touched the wall—a new shoot bloomed from the bricks.
"What the hell…" he panicked.
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[Your Divine Realm has recognized this terrain as Compatible.]
[Partial Synchronization Activating.]
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"Guys," Ethan called over the mental link, "I think my realm is syncing with this place."
Jasper asked, "You mean with this simulation terrain?"
"No—I mean it's reacting. Like a part of my realm now."
Suddenly, a burst of gunfire tore through the space beside him. Ethan ducked instinctively, diving behind a rusted girder.
"Focus, Thorne!" Iris hissed. "You can talk to your magic dirt after we don't get fragged!"
"Got it!"
He sprinted forward, slipping through a hole in the debris.
As he did, the vines from before shot out ahead of him, forming a ramp over a collapsed floor.
It was unnatural and way too easy.
"Ethan… did you just grow a bridge?" Jasper was surprised.
"I didn't mean to!"
Above them, the enemy support's turret fired toward Iris.
"Move, now!" Jasper barked.
But just as Iris slid under cover, something even stranger happened:
The turret's base began crumbling, rust accelerating rapidly along its legs until it collapsed into the dust.
"What did you do?" Iris asked.
"Nothing," Ethan breathed. "But maybe... my realm did."
He looked down at the vines now circling his boots. They weren't trying to harm him.
They were helping.
—
And on the other side of the match, inside a control room, Mira Vale's eyes widened in amazement.
"Pause that frame. Right there," she said, leaning in, instructing Felix Crane to adjust the feed. The slow-motion capture of Ethan running showed the roots curling in sync with his steps.
Mira tapped the glass. "Look at that—that's no regular part of the simulation. The match terrain is being altered."
Felix looked concerned. "The simulation isn't showing any input for this. This is an unregistered interference."
Mira shook her head. "No, it's an anomaly—symbiosis. Ethan's realm is extending itself into the virtual world."
Felix frowned. "That shouldn't be possible without conscious override control."
Mira nodded. "Maybe it's conscious... or maybe it's him."
—
Back in the simulation, the battle was turning.
Ethan ducked through a collapsing stairwell, the walls twisting with green. He focused—intended—and the roots slithered forward, catching falling debris and pushing it toward the advancing enemies.
"Jasper, now!" Ethan yelled.
"Got it!" Jasper replied, unleashing a burst of light that took out the enemy support avatar. Iris closed in, taking down the weakened foe.
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[Match Complete: Victory – Team Scrap Reclaimers]
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For a moment, everyone went quiet.
"I think we actually pulled it off," Jasper said softly.
"No," Iris replied, her voice serious. "We didn't just win. Ethan's realm... it fought alongside us."
Ethan stood there, frozen in the aftermath. Around him, the roots were retreating, the moss was wilting, and the glow was fading.
And yet, deep in his mind, a whisper remained—no words, just emotion:
"We are watching."