The clock struck midnight in Rin's underground base. Every monitor buzzed with static before a single line of text blinked into existence:
[Incoming Transmission: ECHO]
Everyone froze.
Kael stepped forward. "Let it through."
The static cleared, replaced by a glowing silhouette—tall, androgynous, and cloaked in digital distortion. No face, no voice. Just text.
[You've passed the trials. You've seen glimpses of the truth.]
[But knowledge isn't power—action is.]
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Then give us the next move."
[The Order has activated Protocol X.]
[They intend to wipe all unstable Candidates.]
Rin's face paled. "Mass system purges… across the city?"
Echo continued.
[Your only chance: breach the Citadel Core. Disable the Reality Recompiler. Survive.]
[Transmission ends in 60 seconds.]
Aria stepped up. "Why help us at all? Who are you to the Order?"
The screen flickered. A distorted photo flashed: a young man in a lab coat, standing with high-level officials—one of whom Kael recognized from a past assassination report.
[I was one of them. Until I wasn't.]
[The System was never meant to be a game. It was meant to reshape humanity. But they twisted it.]
Kael's fists clenched. "Then we'll break it."
[Good.]
[Final Gift Unlocked: Echo Key – Access to Citadel Core Entry Node]
[Be warned: No retries. No respawns. Enter, and it's all or nothing.]
The screen blinked out.
Silence fell across the base.
Rin turned to the others. "The Citadel Core is under the city. Deep. Heavily guarded, encrypted, and invisible to standard scanners."
Kael looked at his team—Rin, the genius hacker; Aria, the relentless fighter. Soon, Spark would join them too.
He felt it in his chest. This wasn't just about survival anymore. This was about defiance.
"I'm done playing defense," Kael said, pulling up the new map. "We breach the Core. We expose the truth. And we bring the Order down."
Aria cracked her knuckles. "Been waiting for that."
Rin smirked. "I've already started rewriting some of their failsafes. We might not go in blind after all."
Kael smiled faintly. "Good. Because after this... there's no turning back."
He pulled his hoodie over his head and activated the new quest from his system.
[Main Questline Unlocked: ENDGAME – Break the System]
[Recommended Level: A-Class Operator and above]
[Participants: Current Squad (3/5)]
[Estimated Success Rate: 24%]
Kael looked at the odds. Then dismissed them.
"We don't need luck. We make our own chances."
The System responded.
[Countdown to Operation Citadel: 12 Hours]
The war had officially begun.