The descent into the sixth layer was unlike anything before.No fire, no storms, no monsters waiting at the gate.
Just silence.
Arin and Lyra stepped onto ground that looked solid but rippled like water under their boots. The sky above was pitch black, with no stars, no sun, only a void that seemed to lean closer the longer they stared.
[Zone Transition: Abyss – Layer 6]
[Environmental Error: Cognitive Distortion Detected]
Arin's vision flickered. For a moment, Lyra wasn't beside him—it was someone else. A face he hadn't seen since before the accident.
"Mom…?"
The word slipped from his lips before he could stop it.
Lyra snapped her head toward him, frowning. "What did you say?"
But when Arin blinked, she was Lyra again. The hallucination was gone.
He swallowed hard. "Nothing. Just… nothing."
As they walked deeper, the silence fractured. Voices echoed faintly, too soft to place.
"You failed…""Why are you still alive?""Everything you touch breaks…"
Arin clenched his fists. The whispers weren't random—they were his thoughts, the doubts he had buried since the car accident, since waking in this broken world.
Lyra slowed, her steps uneven. Her silver hair trembled as though caught in an unseen wind.
"…I hear them too," she whispered. "My family. My village. The day the corruption took them."
Arin glanced at her. "It's the Abyss. It's trying to break us."
But knowing didn't stop the voices. They grew louder with every step.
The path split into countless reflections of themselves, mirrors rising from the ground. Each mirror showed something different—Arin failing, Lyra succumbing to corruption, monsters devouring them alive.
"Don't look," Arin warned, turning his head.
But one reflection froze him in place. It wasn't Lyra. It wasn't himself.
It was the moment of his death—the car horn, the screech of tires, the pain. Over and over, it replayed like a broken video file.
His hands shook violently. He couldn't tear his eyes away.
The Abyss whispered again:"You died once already. Why keep fighting? You don't belong here."
Arin's breathing quickened. His stability meter flickered dangerously.
[Exploit Stability: 18%]
Then came a scream.Arin whipped around to see Lyra clutching her head, falling to her knees.
Shadows of people surrounded her, their faces blank, accusing. "Monster. Corrupted. You should have been erased."
Her corrupted arm lashed wildly, barely missing Arin. She was losing control—caught in her own nightmare loop.
"Lyra!" Arin grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "It's not real—it's the Abyss! Fight it!"
But her silver eyes were clouded, drowning in guilt and rage.
Arin knew if she slipped completely, the Abyss would consume her. He had to act.
He focused on his exploits, on the only one that dealt with memory:
[Exploit Activated: Memory Lock]
Normally it stabilized his memories. But this time, he aimed it at Lyra—locking her core memory of him. Their first meeting at the fountain in the Village of Errors, the words she had spoken: "You don't belong here."
The lock pulsed. Lyra gasped, her eyes clearing as the shadows shattered around her.
"…Arin…" she whispered, trembling.
He pulled her into a rough embrace. "I'm here. We're real. Don't let this place take you."
The whispers fell silent. The mirrors shattered.
And from the pieces rose a towering creature, its body stitched from fragments of fear and broken reflections. Its face shifted constantly—his mother, Lyra's family, dead villagers, his own corpse.
[Zone Event: Fear-Eater Manifested]
[Boss Encounter Initiated]
Arin tightened his grip on his weapon, his heart pounding. "So that's what this layer was building to…"
The Fear-Eater's voice echoed, dozens of tones overlapping. "Feed me your despair. The more you fear, the stronger I become."
Arin's jaw clenched. He glanced at Lyra, who nodded grimly, her corrupted arm glowing.
"No," Arin muttered. "You're not feeding on me."
And with that, the battle began.