The throne room hummed.
Silent, heavy with memory.
Matthew squared his stance as his double descended the steps of the obsidian dais. Same height. Same voice. Same scar under the left eye.
But the eyes—those weren't his.
They glowed with algorithmic malice. With authority.
"Why now?" Matthew asked, fists clenched.
"Why show yourself here?"
The double tilted his head.
"Because you're too close to truth. And truth… kills the King."
Matthew moved first.
A straight punch—fast and clean. His double ducked effortlessly, grabbed Matthew's arm, and threw him across the room.
He hit the stone with a crack—but no pain.
Instead, the impact triggered a vision:
The first game.
The alley.
The timer blinking.
Two strangers begging him to wait.
He had run ahead.
Saved himself.
Left them behind.
"No," he growled.
But the double was there already, kneeling beside him.
"You always knew you were the villain in someone else's story."
Matthew kicked hard, knocking the copy back.
They clashed again—strike for strike, each one triggering flashes of memory. Lost games. Faces he never saved. Screams.
With every hit, the room cracked—not just the stone, but the code.
Fragments of unreality peeled off the walls like dead skin.
"You can't beat me," said the double, grinning now.
"You built me. Every decision you regret—every one you lied about. I'm not your opposite. I'm your core."
Matthew dropped to one knee.
Blood ran from his mouth.
But he smiled.
And whispered:
"That's why I can destroy you."
He stood.
Focused.
And didn't fight.
Instead, he opened his hands.
Exhaled.
And accepted the truth.
"I left them," he said.
The double twitched.
"I lived."
The copy flickered.
"I hated myself. Still do. But I'm not running anymore."
And with those words, the room collapsed.
The double screamed—not in pain, but in static—as he shattered into red code and dust.
The throne cracked.
The tower split down the center.
And Matthew fell—
—again—
—but this time, into light.
Matthew had passed the test.
Far away, in a mirrorless space, the King's eye opened another millimeter.
And the Liminal Core pulsed:
PLAYER RECONVERGENCE: IN PROGRESS
NEXT LOCATION: THE FALLEN BRIDGE