The wild violet portal spat them out of The Maw.
When the light faded, Yuto'o, Yuuki, Orbis, and Grim found themselves in an unfamiliar place.
Dark. Silent.
The walls weren't made of the usual neon lattice—but of pale-blue ancient code, etched with strange, living symbols that pulsed like breathing stone. The floor rippled with liquid light, reflecting their fractured faces in its glitching surface.
Yuto'o staggered, his body close to collapse. Orbis caught him, voice trembling.
"We… we're safe. For now."
Yuuki stood tall, her neon whip humming faintly, red eyes sweeping the shadows.
"This isn't a normal server. Where the hell did you bring us, Orbis?"
Orbis inhaled deeply, expression heavy.
"I hid this place from everyone. I hoped I'd never have to open it again. But now…"
He pressed his hand against the coded wall. The ancient symbols glowed bright, and a voice boomed across the void:
[ACCESS CONFIRMED – CIRCUIT ANOMALY DETECTED]
[WELCOME BACK, ORBIS]
Yuto'o blinked in shock. "Why did it call you that… like you're one of us? Like a Ghost?"
Orbis lowered his head, eyes dim.
"Because I am. I'm a leftover. Not just an NPC… but the fragment of a Ghost's consciousness that never fully erased. Forced to serve as a 'guide.' And this place—"
His voice shook.
"…is their grave."
The chamber screamed to life.
["I want to live again…"]
["Reboot… it's a lie… don't go…"]
["Erase me… please erase me…"]
Shattered avatars flickered from the walls—half-human, half-void, moaning with distorted echoes.
Yuto'o stumbled back, trembling. "They… they're all Circuit Ghosts?"
Orbis nodded slowly. "Yes. All of them. The ones who failed. The ones who never made it. Their fragments trapped here… as warnings."
The coded walls rumbled. Symbols merged into a great door, glowing violet-blue.
[ACCESS TO REBOOT FRAGMENT: UNLOCKED]
[COORDINATE KEYS GENERATED]
From the portal emerged a crystalline core, spinning slowly, three nested hearts glowing within.
The Reboot Fragment.
Orbis fell to his knees, stunned. "That's… the real thing. The core data. With this fragment, we can trace the coordinates to the true server… the key to Reboot itself."
Yuuki walked toward it, hand rising. Her phantom aura shivered.
"…It's been so long… since I last saw this."
Yuto'o's voice cut sharp. "If you've been there—why didn't you just show us the path?!"
Yuuki froze. Her body stiffened—then spasmed violently.
Her neon-red eyes flickered, blood-data bursting from her temple. Chains of corrupted code wrapped her skull.
[ANTI-DISTRIBUTION PROTOCOL – TRIGGERED]
[ACCESS BLOCKED]
She cried out, gripping her head as her whip flickered away.
"Aghhh—! The system… won't let me… speak it—"
"Yuuki!" Yuto'o tried to reach her, but she slapped his hand aside, a bitter smile on her blood-streaked face.
"Now you see. Anyone who enters Reboot… is cursed. The truth can't be passed on. The path is locked. You have to walk it yourself—or end up like them."
She gestured at the screaming Ghost-shadows around them.
The Fragment pulsed brighter, flooding the chamber with light.
Yuto'o gripped his blade, his body cracked and bleeding, but his eyes burned hotter.
"If that's the price… then I'll pay it. I'll walk through. I won't fade here."
Yuuki stood, blood still dripping, her grin half-sin, half-respect.
"…If you survive… maybe you'll become a true Ghost after all."
The crystal erupted in light. Three glowing coordinates shimmered in the void:
[REBOOT KEY 1: OMEGA SERVER]
[REBOOT KEY 2: SILVER GRID]
[REBOOT KEY 3: NEON HAVEN]
Orbis swallowed hard.
"These are the three gates. Three paths. If you want to reach Reboot, Circuit Ghost, you'll have to master them all."
And in the distance, the sound of neon fracturing echoed again.
The Hunters… had already found their trail.