> [World Recompilation: 00:04:09 Remaining]
[Zeroth: Soul Lock Active | Core Bound to Anchor: Lian]
[System Stability: 1% and Falling]
[All surviving players will now undergo: Fate Audit]
The battlefield went silent—not because the battle had ended, but because the System had seized control.
Everyone was frozen mid-motion. Blades stopped mid-swing, blood hovered in the air, and even thoughts seemed slowed, thickened like syrup in cold.
Lian hovered above the earth, his body stitched together by threads of probability and system paradoxes. Zeroth's core—a writhing, corrupted soul-engine—was now fused into his chest like a burning black sun. Around him, the ground was erased, then rebuilt, then erased again. Reality couldn't decide what to do with him.
He wasn't human.
He wasn't system.
He was both, and neither.
Jayce blinked. "So… are we dead, in god-mode, or trapped in some metaphysical audit courtroom?"
Ria stared at the hovering red banners in the sky, each stamped with glowing golden text.
> [PLAYER: RIA VERN – Judgment Initiated]
[Sins Logged: 11 | Sacrifices Logged: 6 | Unredeemed Talents: 1]
[Judgment Outcome: 72% Retain Rank | 18% Mutation | 10% Deletion]
[Status: Mutating…]
She collapsed to the ground, gasping, as her body began to flicker. Tattoos spread over her skin—symbols of all the grief she had weaponized. She wasn't dying, but she was changing.
Kuro stepped forward, teeth gritted.
> [PLAYER: KURO DAEN – Judgment Initiated]
[Sins Logged: 3 | Sacrifices: 1 | System Interference Detected]
[Judgment Outcome: 40% Rank Reset | 60% Talent Lock]
[Status: Rank Reset to Gray Tier]
"No…" Kuro whispered. "I earned that…"
His armor disintegrated. His blade turned dull. His name flickered in red text. He fell to his knees, not from pain—but from shame.
Jayce, ever the wild card, smiled.
> [PLAYER: JAYCE CARTER – Judgment Initiated]
[Sins Logged: 17 | Sacrifices: 13 | World Bypasses: 4]
[Judgment Outcome: Class Undefined]
[Status: Promoted to Chaos Rank – Glitched Anomaly]
"Hell yeah," he muttered. "I always knew I was a mistake worth keeping."
Then the sky turned black. The kind of black that eats sound, thought, and light.
It was Lian's turn.
> [PLAYER: LIAN ARDEN – Judgment Initiated]
[Sins Logged: SYSTEM ERROR – Cannot Be Calculated]
[Sacrifices: SYSTEM ERROR – Undefined]
[Talents: Glitched | Evolution Path: Incompatible | Soul Core: Zeroth-Linked]
[WARNING: Player Exceeds Judgement Protocols]
[Status: Null Node – World Anchor Confirmed]
> [System Reboot Now Centered on Player Lian]
[Your existence will determine the next era.]
His eyes burned. Not with fire—but with weight.
If he made a single wrong move… the world could collapse again.
"You have five minutes," the system whispered in his mind. "To decide who survives the next cycle."
The others stared at him. Ria, her body cracking with new, unstable powers. Kuro, kneeling without rank. Jayce, surrounded by flickering bugs that laughed when he breathed.
Thousands of dead players floated in code, waiting.
> [CHOOSE: Which 100 players will ascend to the next world?]
[All others will be erased.]
Lian's hands trembled. "I… I can't choose. Not alone."
Zeroth's soul echoed in his chest.
> "Then don't. Let them earn it."
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