The Sky Tower ballroom blazed with neon fog, painting the night in shades of decadent madness.
Arthur stood center stage in pristine white tailcoat—the protagonist's signature color. Despite the expensive biosynthetic skin grafted over his right ear, that insufferable "Chosen One" arrogance still radiated from every pore.
Below, Sylvia sat like a soul-drained porcelain doll, her diamond-encrusted wedding dress catching the light while her eyes remained dead as winter lakes.
"Tsk, is that really the Frost heiress who nearly went bankrupt yesterday?"
"Shh, after tonight she'll be Arthur's trophy wife."
"Did you hear? That fugitive Lucian is still on the run..."
"Ha! A sewer rat. Arthur could crush him with a finger snap."
Mocking laughter mixed with champagne glasses clinking—a symphony that made Lucian's stomach churn.
In the shadows, a tall, lean waiter polished wine glasses with mechanical precision. Black hair obscured his eyes, revealing only the sharp line of his jaw.
Lucian absorbed every sneer, green data streams cascading across his retina like digital rain.
**[Current Entropy: 15%]**
**[Entropy accumulation complete.]**
**[Ready for Override.]**
Yesterday's ten-million-dollar heist was just the appetizer. To completely shatter that golden "protagonist aura," he had to strike when it shone brightest.
On stage, Arthur spread his arms toward the microphone, basking in the spotlight's worship.
"Tonight, I declare war on certain *insects* lurking in the shadows." Arthur's gaze swept the crowd, eyes predatory. "Scripts are written for protagonists. No matter how ants struggle, they can only kneel and worship gods."
Thunderous applause. Sylvia remained wooden, as if attending someone else's funeral.
"Now, behold the big screen." Arthur snapped his fingers. "Witness our love story."
The massive holographic display flickered to life.
In that exact moment—
Lucian raised his head in the shadows, left hand delivering a soft snap.
"*Click.*"
The sound was quiet, yet it sliced through the air like a surgeon's scalpel.
His vision exploded as code torrented down like a digital monsoon:
**[Target: Event_Protocol_Engagement]**
**[Groom_ID: Arthur_Sky] -> [DELETE]**
**[Input: Lucian_Ash]**
*You want a script? I'll rewrite it.*
The sweet romantic montage on screen stuttered, dissolving into static snow. Electrical screeching forced guests to cover their ears.
The next second, the image reformed.
Not Arthur—but Lucian's half-portrait against last night's bloody warehouse backdrop. Blood streaked his face, yet his eyes held the contempt of someone viewing garbage.
Below the photo, golden calligraphy blazed with eye-searing intensity:
**[GROOM: LUCIAN ASH]**
Dead silence consumed the ballroom.
Arthur's champagne glass froze mid-air, his smile cracking like a broken mask. "Who... who did this! Tech team! Cut the power!"
No response. Every control panel screen displayed that name in viral repetition, corrupting everything it touched.
"Since this is an engagement party, how could you forget the groom?"
The calm voice pierced the silence like a blade.
Lucian dropped his serving tray, emerging from shadow step by deliberate step.
With each footfall, his cheap uniform began disintegrating. Green data streams coiled around him like living vines, instantly reconstructing—rags vanished, replaced by a pitch-black formal suit woven from pure code, flowing with eerie luminescence.
A mechanical eyeball hovered at his shoulder, pulsing dangerous crimson.
"You!" Arthur's pupils dilated in shock, his pointing finger trembling violently. "Security! Kill him!"
Dozens of armed guards roared forward in formation, weapons raised.
Lucian didn't spare them a glance. His right index finger traced a casual horizontal line through the air.
**[Friction_Coefficient: 0]**
**[Physics Override: Friction eliminated]**
"*Crash—!*"
The charging security team suddenly lost all traction, as if stepping onto perfectly frictionless ice. Without any grip points, they flailed helplessly before collapsing into a human pile, screaming as they slid across the ballroom floor and slammed into the far wall like discarded bowling pins.
Guests gaped in stunned silence, eyes bulging from their sockets.
Lucian's footsteps echoed like Death's countdown as he strode up the red carpet. He climbed the stage, completely ignoring the apoplectic Arthur, and stopped before Sylvia.
"I told you to wear the dress."
He extended his hand—scarred from last night's violence, rough but real.
Sylvia's lifeless pupils contracted sharply. Seeing this demon-god descending before her, the ice shell of despair that had encased her soul... *shattered*.
She suddenly smiled—beautiful, tragic, and utterly mad.
"You're three minutes late."
Without hesitation, she grasped his hand.
**[Narrative Event Broken!]**
**[Plot node completely corrupted!]**
**[Plot Deviation: 15%]**
That touch triggered reality's alarm system. Glass-shattering sounds echoed through the air.
"Those fucking dogs!"
Completely ignored, Arthur's eyes blazed crimson. His protagonist dignity had been ground into the dirt. He roared, golden battle aura exploding from his body as his S-rank ability unleashed at full power!
"DIE!"
The punch carried hurricane force, capable of punching through steel plates, aimed directly at Lucian's skull.
Lucian didn't even turn around.
A mental command. Parameter modification.
**[Accuracy: -100%]**
**[Hit Rate: Negative Infinity]**
Arthur's fist, microseconds from contact with Lucian's hair, suddenly deflected right—like an iron nail repelled by a magnet.
"*Whoosh!*"
The punch hit empty air. Arthur's excessive force sent him spinning awkwardly, nearly tumbling off the stage.
Only then did Lucian turn, looking down at him with the pitying gaze reserved for glitched code.
"Haven't learned yet?" Lucian's voice was soft as silk. "Kneel."
Not a command. A modification.
**[Posture: Standing] -> [Posture: Kneeling]**
Code executed.
"*Crack.*"
Arthur's kneecap produced a crisp snap, as if an invisible giant hand pressed down on his shoulders.
"No... I'm the protagonist... I can't..." Arthur fought desperately to stand, facial muscles contorting grotesquely against the system's rules.
But physics doesn't negotiate.
"*SLAM!*"
Arthur Sky—this world's absolute protagonist—crashed to his knees before hundreds of cameras and the city's elite, performing a flawless kowtow to the former cannon fodder.
He knelt straight, knelt perfectly, offering impeccable submission.
Camera flashes erupted like daylight, shutters clicking frantically.
That single kneel destroyed his lifetime of dignity.
"*Pfft—*"
Arthur vomited blood from rage and humiliation, crimson droplets staining Lucian's black shoes. The golden **[SSS-Rank]** tag floating above his head now bore horrifying cracks.
"Let's go."
Lucian took Sylvia's hand, turning toward the exit. No one dared block their path—he commanded this space like a king.
But as they reached the threshold—
"*BOOM—!*"
Not thunder.
The sound of reality's infrastructure collapsing.
The ballroom's dome vaporized instantly. Guests screamed and dove for cover as they witnessed something that shattered sanity—
The night sky tore open like fabric.
Beyond the rift lay not stars, but towering black server racks stretching like mountain ranges. A "hand" of pure light descended through the atmosphere, reaching toward their insignificant world.
Reality began pixelating. Tables, walls, even fleeing guests dissolved into green data streams.
Lucian's system panel flashed blood-red:
**[CRITICAL ALERT!]**
**[Level 99 Glitch Detected.]**
**[The Narrative Server will be reset in 24 hours.]**
That dimensional hand was here to debug the system. And Lucian was the bug.
Hurricane winds whipped Sylvia's wedding dress as she stared at the collapsing sky above, yet her grip on Lucian's hand only tightened.
"Scared?" Lucian asked, his voice fragmented by the wind.
Sylvia wiped tears from her eyes, madness blazing in her gaze. "As long as I'm not a puppet in this disgusting script, even destruction sounds appealing."
Lucian grinned, flashing white teeth.
"Then let's raise hell together."
If he could obtain *that thing*—the "Legacy Source Code" buried deep in Arthur's data core...
Apocalypse?
That was his new hunting ground.
The game had only just begun.