Darkness.
It wasn't peaceful. It was heavy, suffocating, like being buried under wet stone and six months of swallowed pride.
Kael floated in it, pain a distant echo now, his body somewhere far below. Blood loss had taken him deep. He could still taste copper on his tongue, still feel the phantom burn where Darius's void scythe had punched through his back and out his chest.
'... So this is dying. Not as dramatic as the stories. Just… cold. And quiet. Six months in this world and I end up as dungeon bait. Back on Earth at least the truck was quick. Here even death comes with a loading screen...'
A faint gray light pulsed in the void, moving slower than ever.
[Soul Reboot: 23%… 41%… 67%…]
(The progress bar crawled forward like it was running on a 1998 dial-up modem.)
[Primordial Core stabilizing. Legacy protocols overriding standard death sequence.]
[Warning: This is going to feel like being rewritten from scratch. Don't fight it. (Loading… 12%… 29%…)]
The pain returned — not the sharp stab of betrayal, but something deeper. Like every nerve in his soul was being pulled apart and stitched back with rusty wire while the system took its sweet time.
Kael gasped, or tried to. No air. Only the sensation of code forcing its way into places the new system had sealed off long ago.
Memories that weren't his flickered past in stuttering bursts: endless lines of glowing syntax writing entire worlds into existence, then gods panicking and slapping patches over anything too powerful, too free. A single command that could undo a hero's level in seconds. Another that let a level 1 punch through god-tier defenses if timed right. Each image loaded with painful delay.
Then the system's voice — old, tired, like a retired engineer who'd watched his best work get watered down for mass appeal — finally spoke after another long pause.
[You're not supposed to be here, kid. v0.9 was scrapped for a reason. Too many loopholes. Too much truth. But the filing error stuck you with me.]
Kael tried to speak. Nothing came out except a weak mental push.
'... Then why save me? Just let me die and be done with it. At least make the loading faster...'
The gray light flared brighter, still buffering.
[Because I remember what they patched out. And I'm bored. Also, watching perfect little systems crash is the only entertainment I've had in centuries. (Loading response… 64%… 87%…)]
A new window forced itself open, cleaner than before but still carrying that raw, unpolished edge. The text appeared line by line with noticeable pauses.
Name: Kael Voss
Level: 1 (Soul damage sustained – temporary)
Class: None (Legacy users unlock through breaking rules, not handouts)
Title: [Deprecated Entity] → Updating… [Fallen Heir]
Stats: (Heavily penalized from near-death)
STR: 3 AGI: 3 VIT: 2 INT: 7 LUK: 3
Skills:
Strike (Basic) – Rank F
Analyze (Deprecated) – Now partially stabilized. Risk of backlash reduced.
Override Protocol Alpha (Cooldown: 23 hours) – 5-second rollback on nearby v4.7 skills. Cost: 30% current health.
[New Passive Unlocked: Glitch Resilience]
Effect: When brought below 10% health, legacy code may trigger emergency survival mechanics. Side effect: unpredictable. You might live. You might explode. Fun, right? (Loading full description… 51%…)**
Kael felt his consciousness slam back into his body after what felt like an eternity.
Cold stone pressed against his cheek. The metallic stench of his own blood filled his nose. Distant roars and panicked shouts echoed through the chamber — the Shadow Drake was still raging, and his betrayers were no longer laughing.
He cracked one eye open.
His vision swam. Darius was bleeding from a deep gash across his arm, void energy flickering erratically like a bad signal. Lira's shadows kept dissolving before they could form, each attempt taking longer than the last. Elara hurled ice lance after ice lance, but they melted harmlessly or shattered mid-air with visible lag.
The Drake's tail slammed into the ground inches from Darius, forcing him to roll desperately.
"What the hell is wrong with our skills?!" Darius snarled, voice cracking with rage and fear for the first time Kael could remember. "They're glitching — like that worthless system of his is contagious!"
Lira's voice was shrill. "We need to finish the Drake and get out! Leave the body — the monsters will clean up the evidence!"
Elara glanced once toward Kael's crumpled form, her face pale but composed. "He's already dead. Let's not waste time. The baron will praise our sacrifice story."
Kael lay perfectly still, breathing shallow, letting the blood pool hide any movement while his own system continued its slow recovery.
[Glitch Resilience activating…]
[Loading emergency protocols… 37%… 68%… 92%…]
[Health stabilizing at critical. Do not move yet.]
'... They're scared. Good. Let them taste a fraction of what they did to me. But not yet. I'm too weak to fight them now, and my system is still buffering the comeback...'
The system pinged again, quieter this time, text still appearing with slight delays.
[Hidden Quest Progress: Rise from the Ashes – Stage 1 Complete.]
You survived the initial betrayal.
Stage 2: Escape the Spire without them knowing you're alive.
Reward: First legacy skill fragment + temporary stat recovery.
Kael waited until the sounds of battle moved deeper into the chamber. The trio was fully engaged with the Drake now, too distracted and laggy to check on his "corpse."
Gritting his teeth against the agony, he dragged himself inch by inch toward a narrow side passage he'd noticed earlier — one the main party had ignored because it looked like a dead end filled with low-level trash mobs.
Every movement sent fresh blood spilling. His vision kept graying out while the system helpfully displayed:
[Vital signs critical…]
[Loading pain suppression… 22%… 45%…]
[Move faster or die slower.]
He reached the passage and collapsed inside, hidden behind a cluster of broken stalagmites. Weak monsters — basic shadow rats and crawling tendrils — skittered away at first, then began circling, sensing easy prey.
Kael raised a trembling hand.
"Analyze…"
The deprecated skill flickered, feeding him fragmented but usable data after its usual slow load.
[Shadow Rat – Level 8. Weak to light-based attacks. Current health: 62%. (Loading full scan… complete.)]
[Tendril Spawn – Level 12. Vulnerable to fire or slashing.]
Not much. But enough.
Weak monsters appeared — shadow rats and crawling tendrils. They sensed easy prey and attacked.
Kael forced himself up and fought.
He swung his rusted short sword in desperate Basic Strikes. The first rat died. Then another. A tendril bit deep into his leg, but he crushed it against the wall.
Each kill gave a tiny spark of experience — not the clean flood others received, but raw, glitchy threads that burned as they entered.
[Experience gained from Shadow Rat… Loading… 41%… 78%…]
Level up!
Level: 2
Stats rose slightly. The bleeding slowed.
He killed three more rats and two tendrils in the narrow passage, each victory harder than the last because of his wounds.
[Experience gained… Loading allocation…]
Level: 3
Vitality increased enough for him to stand without collapsing.
The final tendril horror lunged. Kael activated Echo Strike for the first time. His sword hit once, then echoed twice more, cracking the creature apart.
[Experience gained from Tendril Spawn…]
Level: 4
The system finally displayed the full update after its usual delay.
Level: 4
Stats improved modestly. Legacy penalty reduced.
New Passive partially unlocked: Glitch Resilience (minor health regeneration in low-health states).
Kael collapsed against the wall, breathing hard, blood still seeping but no longer life-threatening.
A bitter, exhausted laugh escaped him.
'... Four levels from killing trash mobs while bleeding out. Not exactly heroic grinding. But it's mine. Earned with my own hands while my perfect family fights the big boss with lagging skills. Six months of being useless, and now every rat I kill matters more than their fancy classes...'
The system offered one more line, text appearing slowly.
[Temporary Health Regeneration engaged – Legacy style. Don't expect miracles. Eat something or find better shelter soon. (Loading nutrition advice… skipped.)]
Kael pushed deeper into the side passage, leaving a faint trail of blood that he tried to smear away with his boot. Every step hurt. Every breath reminded him of the hole in his chest.
But he kept moving.
Because somewhere ahead, the Spire had hidden floors — older sections the modern guilds never mapped properly. Places where ancient code might still linger, even if it took forever to load.
And behind him, the sounds of battle grew more desperate.
Darius's roar of frustration echoed faintly: "Why won't my skills stabilize?!"
Kael didn't smile this time. The cold fury in his chest had settled into something quieter. Harder.
'... Run back to Father with your half-broken skills and your excuses. Tell him the glitch died heroically. I'll be the ghost that haunts every perfect system from now on. Even if my haunting comes with loading screens...'
He reached a small, forgotten alcove with a crumbling altar covered in faded runes that looked suspiciously like the gray syntax of his own system.
Collapsing against it, Kael closed his eyes for a moment, letting the slow regeneration do its painful work while the system continued its lazy background processes.
The system window pulsed once more after another delay.
[New Skill Fragment Acquired: Echo Strike (Legacy)]
[Loading skill details… 58%… 84%…]
Description: Your next basic attack echoes up to 3 times with diminishing damage. Cost: Minimal. Side effect: May cause temporary skill desync in nearby v4.7 users.
Note: They removed echoes because "unfair combos" broke their precious balance. Enjoy. (Finally loaded.)
Kael stared at the new skill, vision still blurry but clearing.
'... Not much. But it's mine. Not handed down from their perfect Nexus. Earned in blood and spite. Even if it took its sweet time to arrive...'
He whispered to the empty air, voice hoarse but steady.
"You should have made sure I was dead."
__________________________________
Hours later, on the surface, the surviving members of the Voss expedition stumbled out of the Abyssal Spire.
Darius clutched a shattered arm, his once-flawless void aura sputtering like a dying torch with occasional lag. Lira's shadows refused to obey properly, flickering in and out after visible delays. Elara's face was a mask of controlled fury, her ice magic leaving frost burns on her own hands from feedback.
They told the waiting retainers a tragic tale: the youngest son had heroically sacrificed himself to buy them time against the Shadow Drake. A noble end for a flawed awakening.
Baron Harlan received the news with a grim nod and ordered a small memorial.
None of them noticed the faint gray flicker that occasionally crossed their status windows — a tiny echo of something outdated and hungry, still loading its revenge.
Deep below, in the forgotten alcove, Kael Voss opened his eyes.
His wound had closed into an ugly scar. His level had crawled to 4 after the slow experience trickle. The new Echo Strike skill sat ready in his mind like a promise that had finally finished buffering.
The system spoke, voice low and serious this time, with only a slight delay.
[Main Quest Updated: Survive the Betrayal → Become the Fracture.]
They think the error is gone.
Prove them wrong. Break the code they worship. (Loading next objective…)
Kael stood slowly, testing his legs. The pain was still there, but so was something sharper.
Revenge wasn't a fire anymore.
It was cold, patient code — waiting to compile, one laggy step at a time.
He looked toward the dark tunnels leading deeper into the Spire, then back the way he had come.
'... I'm coming back. Not as the glitch they discarded.'
'As the one who rewrites the entire system.'