[GLOBAL NOTICE: WARNING — ROOT REAPER DETECTED IN ZONE 9]
📍 Location breach in progress
[This is a S-Rank Reality Event. All active players are advised to evacuate or prepare for permanent character loss.]
The ground rumbled like a war drum.
The city lights dimmed one by one, block by block. Electrical hums fell silent. Neon signs buzzed… then blacked out.
From the horizon, a crimson haze crept across the skyline.
And inside it—he came walking.
Tall. Slender. Wrapped in a long, torn cloak made from system logs and corrupted code. His boots didn't touch the ground. His mask glitched between forms: a skull, a circuit board, a blank slate.
And behind him…
Black smoke trailed like blood.
[Player: XERO][Class: Root Reaper (Corrupted Class)]
➤ HP: ???➤ Level: 12➤ Passive: Reaper's Domain (Reality decay within 200 meters)➤ Active: Reality Break – Can shatter any single skill or defense➤ Trait: "Can smell Root Code. Anywhere."
📍Zone 9 – Rooftop HQ
Priyanshu's console screamed.
[Target Lock Detected – Your location has been sniffed by Root Reaper XERO][Estimated Arrival: 03:44 Minutes]
Sanjay dropped his sandwich mid-bite. "...We're screwed, aren't we?"
Aeris's expression darkened as her staff lit up involuntarily. "That class isn't meant for players. It was made by the system. It's... unnatural."
Priyanshu didn't flinch.Instead, he reached out to the console and opened a brand-new window.
[Command Shroud Activated]➤ You can now mimic any existing skill from observed data➤ Duration: 60 seconds➤ Side Effect: Creates a digital echo trail that may lead Fragment attention
He inhaled. "Then we'll give him a fight so big, even the Core will blink."
As the clock ticked down, Priyanshu tapped into the Command Archive.
He copied a move he saw used during a dungeon glitch run in beta testing:
/spoof "Chrono Slash – Reversal Blade"
His sword shimmered.
Time bled off the edge of his blade, reversing gravity around it for a moment.
Sanjay, meanwhile, was eating power bars and flexing his knuckles.
[Level Up: 3 → 4][New Passive: Brutal Endurance]➤ You gain +5% STR every time your HP drops below 40%
[Hidden Trait Awakened: Iron Heart]➤ You will not fall unconscious unless HP = 0
Aeris placed a hand on the ground, whispering words in a language older than the game engine itself.
[Ancient Spell Queued: Starfall Ward – Triggers automatically upon death of ally]
[Warning: This spell cannot be recast for 7 days]
Then… the temperature dropped.
The rooftop iced over.
A shadow stepped through a broken firewall barrier like it wasn't even there.
XERO had arrived.
He didn't speak.
His presence spoke for him — bending light, choking oxygen, rewriting what was real.
[Reaper's Domain Engaged]➤ All cooldowns +100%➤ Healing reduced by 90%➤ Vision clarity: 60%➤ Random stat corruption: Active
"You've made quite the mess," XERO said finally, his voice glitched and hollow.
"Blame the system," Priyanshu replied. "They made the wrong player the Root."
⚔️ [BATTLE INITIATED: ROOT VANGUARD vs. ROOT REAPER]
XERO moved first — faster than code.
One step, and he appeared directly in front of Priyanshu.
[Skill Activated: Reality Break]
His sword slammed forward — a jagged glitching katana meant to erase defenses.
But Priyanshu had already spoofed the skill.
[Counter Activated: Chrono Slash – Reversal Blade]
Time hiccupped.
XERO's Reality Break struck the air—And came back at him.
He was blown backward, crashing through a steel beam.
But he didn't bleed. He cracked.
Like porcelain over code.
Sanjay moved next, launching forward with a roar, fists glowing red with overclocked adrenaline.
"YOU LIKE FACING ROOTS?! COME FACE MY FISTS!"
[Skill Combo: Meteor Knuckle + Gravity Drop]
He hammered XERO into the floor with both fists — a crater opened beneath them.
[Damage Dealt: 1,200 | 1,500 | 900 (Corrupted Armor Absorbed)]
XERO responded by impaling Sanjay with a reverse blade from his own shadow.
[HP: 21/100][Brutal Endurance Activated][STR Bonus Applied]
Sanjay coughed blood but grinned."Still alive, asshole."
XERO rose.
"Enough."
[Skill: Domain Purge]➤ For 5 seconds, disables all active skills in the radius.
The rooftop shimmered.
Aeris's spells vanished. Sanjay froze. Even the Worldshaper Larva hissed and blinked out of visibility.
Only Priyanshu remained standing, sword steady.
Because he wasn't using a skill.
He was using commands.
[Root Access Confirmed: Override Commands Permitted in Locked Zones]
He whispered.
/inject -code anchor stability node HERE
A burst of blue fire surged under his feet, locking his presence into place and undoing the domain purge around him.
He raised his blade.
"You rewrote your class to hunt me," he said coldly. "But I've rewritten my purpose."
He stabbed forward—
The blade entered XERO's chest—
And then Priyanshu whispered:
"/shatter mask"
[Command Accepted.][Mask Integrity: 0%]
XERO's mask exploded.
Underneath… wasn't human.
It was a face made of a thousand eyes.
Each one blinking. Each one crying. Each one whispering…
"Help me."
[Hidden Truth Unlocked: XERO is not a player. He is a vessel. A shell. Made from the first Alpha Tester ever deleted by the system.]
[Name: RAAN | Soul Status: Fragmented][Forced Resurrection: Bound to Core Fragment WHISPER]
Aeris gasped.
Sanjay's knuckles went pale.
And Priyanshu… stared into the fractured soul beneath the armor.
"No wonder I couldn't kill you," he whispered.
"You're already dead."