The news of Commander Kaelen's defeat spread through the Kingdom of Valoria like a wildfire. It wasn't just a defeat; it was a humiliation. A Level 65 Paladin, the pride of the Royal Guard, had returned to the capital as a 'Lucky Baby' with zero strength.
Inside the Azure Peak Academy, the atmosphere was thick with tension. The students, now bearing the black status windows of the 'Glitched', stood in the courtyard. They weren't practicing sword swings or mana circulation. They were standing still, their eyes closed, as red pulses of data flowed through their bodies.
Caelum stood on the highest balcony of the central tower, his gaze fixed on the horizon. Beyond the mountains, he could feel a massive surge of mana. Not one, but twelve High-Tier signatures. The King had sent his 'Twelve Apostles'.
"Master," Kira appeared behind him, her voice a shadow. "They are approaching. Each of them is Level 70 or higher. They intend to seal the entire mountain and starve us out."
"Seal the mountain?" Caelum chuckled, a dry, robotic sound. "They still think they are playing by the old rules. They think the world is a map they can cut. They don't realize... the map itself is just an illusion."
Caelum raised his hand toward the sky. His fingers twitched as if he were typing on an invisible keyboard.
[SYSTEM ACCESS: WORLD_SERVER_BETA_01]
[NOTIFICATION: DETECTED_THIRD_PARTY_INTERFERENCE]
[INITIATING: GLOBAL_PATCH_v1.0.4]
"If they want a wall," Caelum whispered, his eyes glowing with an intense, blinding crimson light, "I'll give them a wall they can't even imagine."
Suddenly, the sky above the Academy didn't just turn dark. It fractured. Massive, glowing red 'X' marks appeared across the clouds. The air began to hum with the sound of a million static-filled radios.
[COMMAND: DELETE_TEXTURE: AZURE_PEAK_SURROUNDINGS]
[COMMAND: RENDER_VOID_BARRIER]
The Twelve Apostles, who were only miles away, stopped in horror. The mountain they were heading toward suddenly... vanished. In its place was a massive, infinite wall of scrolling black and red code. When one of the Apostles tried to fly into it, his body didn't crash. He simply touched the wall and was teleported back ten miles to his starting position.
"A loop..." the Apostle gasped, his face pale. "He has trapped the space in an infinite loop!"
Back on the balcony, Caelum watched as the Apostles scrambled in confusion. "This is my first patch, Kira. No one enters, and no one leaves, unless I provide the access key."
He turned toward the students in the courtyard. "The external world is now paused. It's time to begin your real training. We aren't just going to survive this world. We are going to rewrite its core."
[NEW QUEST: THE ARCHITECT'S ARMY]
[OBJECTIVE: UPGRADE 100 STUDENTS TO 'ERROR-CLASS']
[CURRENT PROGRESS: 0/100]