The forest air still carried the scent of burning after the battle. Fragments of glowing paper slowly faded, carried away by the night wind into the starry sky. Raka lay on the ground, chest heaving, sweat soaking his face. Beside him, the portable photocopier still hummed weakly, its indicator lights blinking like it had just finished three consecutive overtime shifts.
TING!🟩 [Loot Acquired!]
Jam Core Fragment ×1
Toner Crystal ×2
Legendary Blueprint: Photocopier Mk.∞
Arzathor flapped his wings, then landed heavily on the ground. His fiery red eyes dimmed, relief visible though his stance remained cautious. Sir Kuroak, the top-hatted frog, hopped around in delight, happily munching on duplicated biscuits.
"Splendid! Rarely has a human managed to defeat one of the Demon King's Generals," the frog exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Your reputation will surely spread across Zypherion."
Arzathor snorted smoke from his nostrils. "Do not celebrate so quickly, human. Canon-Ku was only one of seven Generals. And every time you press that button—" he pointed at the photocopier—"I can feel this world tremble. As though the very paper of fate is beginning to tear."
Raka rubbed his temples. "So… the more I copy, the thinner this world gets? Hhh… this is worse than my boss yelling at me for double-printing reports."
TING!🟦 [Quest Updated!]Title: Journey to the Grand ArchiveObjective: Report your victory over Canon-Ku to the Council of the Archive.Reward: Access to the Secret Library.Status: Pending
🌆 Toward the Grand Archive
The next morning, the three of them left the forest. The path wound through misty valleys, then opened onto wide grasslands. Two small suns hung in the sky, their light casting a strange glimmer on plains that seemed made of colossal sheets of paper.
Throughout the journey, Raka kept fiddling with the Blueprint he'd obtained. The glowing parchment contained designs of a photocopier drawn in odd symbols. Occasionally, the letters shifted, like a corrupted file.
"Legendary Blueprint… Photocopier Mk.∞," Raka read aloud. "If this is real, I could upgrade the machine into an unlimited version. But… it needs weird materials: Star Toner, a Cosmic Drum, and… a holy wrench?"
Sir Kuroak leapt onto Raka's shoulder, peering seriously at the blueprint. "That's no ordinary design. It's said that only in the Grand Archive—the greatest city of knowledge in Zypherion—can one understand these symbols."
Arzathor gazed into the distance. "And conveniently, the Grand Archive is also the center of resistance against the Demon King. If this world holds an answer, it lies there."
🏙 The Grand Archive
After three days of travel, the majestic city appeared on the horizon. The Grand Archive was no mere city; its buildings resembled colossal bookshelves. Towering structures shaped like vertical pages stood side by side, with bridges like bindings connecting them. At the center rose the towering Library Spire, its peak piercing the clouds.
TING!🟦 [Location Discovered!]Grand Archive — City of Knowledge and World Records
The city gates were guarded by armored sentries wielding spears of light. At the sight of Arzathor, they grew tense, preparing for battle. But Sir Kuroak hopped forward, waving his staff.
"Fear not! This is Raka, the vanquisher of Canon-Ku! Copies of his deed have already spread through the eastern woods!"
The guards glanced at one another. One of them pulled out a leaflet—it was a photocopied portrait of Raka, created by eyewitnesses who had multiplied the tale using the city's magical duplicators.
"So the copy arrived before us…" Raka muttered. "Feels like I'm trending already."
🏛 The Archive Council
Inside the main hall of the library, the Archive Council had gathered. They were elders draped in ink-stained robes, their faces marked like blotched parchment. At the front stood a silver-haired woman, her aura radiating authority.
"I am Archivist Liora," she said softly. "We have already heard of your victory over Canon-Ku. But make no mistake. That triumph was not an end—it was the beginning of far greater trials."
TING!🟦 [Quest Received!]Title: The Glitch's ShadowObjective: Investigate the strange phenomena in the Grand Archive—vanishing pages, words turning into alien symbols.Reward: A clue to the Star Toner.
Raka swallowed hard. "Glitch…? You mean like a computer error?"
Liora nodded. "Since your power awakened, the world itself has begun to fracture. Pages of the archives vanish as though erased. Words twist into foreign codes."
Arzathor's eyes bore into Raka. "I warned you of this."
Sir Kuroak raised his hand. "But perhaps Raka's power is also the only thing that can fix the glitch."
⚡ The Vanishing Pages
That night, Raka, Arzathor, and Kuroak were joined by a city soldier named Kael—a young knight wielding a silver sword. Kael seemed skeptical, repeatedly scoffing whenever he saw Raka dragging along the photocopier.
"The world's fate, entrusted to… an office machine? Ridiculous," he muttered.
"Hey, don't underestimate office machines," Raka shot back. "If your report vanishes right at deadline, that's deadlier than a dragon."
They walked through the library corridors. Suddenly, a thick tome toppled to the ground. Its cover was blank, its pages… empty.
TING!🟨 [Anomaly Detected!]Status: [Data Missing]
Letters began crawling out of other books, floating in the air, rearranging into strange codes:01001000 01000101 01001100 01010000
"Binary code?!" Raka gasped. "This… this is computer language! Why is it here in a fantasy world?"
From the whirlpool of letters, a shadowy figure emerged—its body flickering like a corrupted file. Its eyes glowed red like error indicators.
Kael unsheathed his sword. "What is that!?"
TING!🔴 [Enemy Encounter!]Glitch Wraith HP: █████████ (100%)Status: [Data Corrupt] [Reality Leak]
⚔ Battle: Glitch Wraith
The shadow roared, unleashing a wave of energy that erased parts of the floor—tiles vanishing as though deleted.
Arzathor spewed fire, but the attack passed through the Wraith's body harmlessly. Kael struck with his sword, but his blade sliced through with no effect.
Sir Kuroak shouted, "Raka! Try copying something! Only you can rewrite reality!"
Panicked, Raka shoved a small dictionary into the copier. WHUUMMM—!!
TING!🟩 [Item Created!]Lexicon Patch v1.0 — Repairs corrupted text
He hurled the glowing sheet at the Wraith. It clung to its body, and the binary began to distort. Parts of the Wraith stabilized, reverting into normal letters.
HP Glitch Wraith: ████░░░░ (40%)
"It worked!" Raka exclaimed.
But the Wraith shrieked louder, launching a new attack: [Error Flood]—a wave of corrupted letters erasing shelves around them.
HP Raka: ███░░░ (30%)
Raka crashed to the floor, gasping for breath. His hands trembled, but he grabbed the copier again. "If the first patch worked… then maybe I just need an update!"
He inserted a blank notebook. WHUUMMM—!!
TING!🟦 [Skill Unlocked!] Copy: Hotfix ScrollEffect: Patches leaking reality
A glowing scroll materialized. Raka slammed it onto the ground, and immediately the cracks in reality began to mend. The Wraith screamed as its body dissolved into nothing.
HP Glitch Wraith: ░░░░░░░ (0%)
TING!✨ [Enemy Purified!] Glitch Wraith vanished.
🌑 A Greater Shadow
When the battle ended, the library grew silent once more. But Liora arrived late, her face pale.
"I feared this would happen," she whispered. "The Glitch Wraith was only a fragment. The true source… lies with the Demon King. He is the one turning broken machines into weapons—and now he is rewriting the very structure of our world."
Raka fell silent. He glanced at his photocopier, its light flickering faintly. Deep inside, he knew: every press of the button was pulling him closer to the heart of this chaos.
TING!🟦 [Quest Updated!]Title: The Glitch's ShadowStatus: CompletedReward: Clue to the Star Toner
Liora handed him an ancient map, its golden ink shimmering. "This… is the location of the Star Toner mine. But beware. Another General waits there: Epsonias, Guardian of the Endless Print."
Raka gulped. "So the next enemy… is a giant ink-tank printer?"
Arzathor let out a heavy sigh. "So it seems. And I dread to imagine what horrors it will print."
Sir Kuroak patted his full belly. "Well then… time for our next chapter, hm?"
Kael, the young knight, stared at Raka with a conflicted look. "Your machine is strange… but perhaps only you can fight them."
Raka sat on the library steps, gazing up at the twin moons. In his heart, he felt more trapped in this game-like world, with no 'exit' button to press.
"Copy Savior, huh?" he muttered softly. "Let's hope this overtime comes with a bonus."
🌟 [End of Chapter 2: The Grand Archive City and the Shadow of the Glitch] 🌟