“What the hell…” he muttered, his voice trembling. Except it wasn’t his voice. It was deeper, more monotone. He looked down at himself and froze. His obsidian armor was gone. His body wasn’t even his own. Instead of flesh, he saw a translucent, glowing form—a humanoid figure made of light and data.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: WELCOME TO ADMIN MODE.]
A translucent screen blinked into view before him, glowing faintly in the void. Erik blinked. He could see the screen, but it felt as if it was part of his mind rather than just floating in front of him. It read:
[ERROR: INVALID ENTITY ID DETECTED. ATTEMPTING TO RECLASSIFY… SUCCESSFUL.] NEW DESIGNATION: NPC-130142 // ROLE: CODEWALKER // ADMIN PRIVILEGES GRANTED]
“NPC?” Erik muttered. His voice echoed strangely in the empty void. “No. No, no, no. That’s not right. I’m a player, dammit!”
A sudden jolt of pain ripped through his head, making him stagger. Memories flooded his mind—his real-life apartment, the smell of burned coffee, the sting of regret from all the time he had wasted on this game instead of rebuilding his life. And then the final moments: the void, the glitch, the death.
“What is this place?” he growled, clutching his head.
[ADMIN COMMAND INPUT DETECTED.] [INITIALIZING AVATAR RECONSTRUCTION…]
The air shimmered, and Erik felt his body take shape. His limbs solidified, and with it came sensation—far sharper than anything he had felt in the game before. He reached up, touching his face, and realized that it wasn’t his avatar or his real body. It was… something else. A mesh of synthetic flesh and metallic plating.
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[RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE. WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED.]
And then the void shattered.
Erik stumbled as the world around him erupted into chaos. He was suddenly standing in the middle of a bustling market square. NPCs scurried about, their scripted lives playing out as usual, but something was wrong. A nearby fruit stand flickered in and out of existence. A group of guards patrolling the street froze mid-step, their faces blank as their character models bugged out.
“What the hell is happening?” Erik said aloud, looking around. The sky above him warped and twisted like a corrupted file, lines of code rippling across the clouds.
“You don’t belong here,” a voice said from behind him.
Erik spun around to see a hooded figure standing in the shadows of an alley. Their face was hidden, but their presence sent a chill down his spine.
“Who are you?” Erik demanded, gripping his sword—a weapon that wasn’t his Eclipse Blade but some standard issue NPC garbage.
“You’re one of the lost ones,” the figure said cryptically, their voice distorted. “A remnant of the glitch.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Erik shot back. “I’m just trying to figure out what the hell is going on here.”
The figure stepped closer, and Erik instinctively raised his weapon. But the figure didn’t attack. Instead, they extended a hand, and a screen materialized in front of Erik:
[ACCESS TERMINAL.] [INPUT COMMAND: ]
“Type,” the figure said. “If you want to live.”
Erik hesitated, but the urgency in their tone pushed him forward. He reached out, his glowing fingers hovering over the terminal. The code felt alive beneath his touch, like a current running through him. Without thinking, he typed:
/TRACE [?λ-G]
The response came instantly:
[TRACE COMPLETE. LOCATION: ROOT SYSTEM.]
The hooded figure nodded. “You’re learning fast, Codewalker. But if you’re going to survive, you’ll need to move faster.”
“Survive what?” Erik demanded.
The figure tilted their head toward the sky, and Erik followed their gaze. The warped clouds above began to part, revealing something massive descending from above—a monolithic construct of jagged metal and pure code, its surface bristling with weapons and tendrils of light.
“Survive that.”
The construct roared as it descended, its weapons locking onto Erik. For the first time, the term “game over” felt far too real.