Chapter 1: Fatal Exception
Ren Kazuki was twenty-six years old when he died, and by all accounts, it was not a particularly heroic death.
One moment he was seated at his desk, eyes dry and stinging as lines of code blurred on the screen, his fingers trembling slightly from too much caffeine and not enough sleep.
The next moment—nothing. Just a soft sigh, a slow slump forward, and a stillness that had never before existed in his small, cluttered Tokyo apartment.
No screams. No last words. Just silence.
His body was found two days later by a concerned coworker. On the news, his death became just another cautionary tale: "Overworked IT Specialist Dies in Tokyo."
But Ren's story didn't end there.
He woke to light—brilliant, colorless, endless light—stretching into every direction, like floating in the center of a star.
He didn't feel the ache of his spine from the cheap office chair. No hunger. No pain. Just a strange, heavy awareness, like his consciousness had been uploaded into something far bigger than himself.
"User Ren Kazuki," a voice said, calm and metallic. Female. Non-human. "Initialization complete."
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He looked down and realized he had no body. Only thought. Memory. Essence.
"You have been selected for critical system recovery."
System recovery?
The light around him pulsed, shifting like data streams. Slowly, from that sea of light, a form emerged—a girl.
Or rather, a woman made of light and code. Her hair flowed like fiber optics, silver with streaks of sapphire. Her eyes were brilliant, glowing like twin hard drives.
"Who are you?" Ren asked, his voice finally audible in this strange place.
"I am AURA," she said. "Autonomous Unified Recovery Algorithm. I am the heart of this world, and you... are our last backup."
Ren materialized with a gasp. The sensation was jarring—cold air, the weight of limbs, the feeling of solid ground beneath his boots. He blinked against sunlight streaming through a broken canopy of clouds. A vast forest stretched before him, humming with unnatural static.
His hands were no longer the trembling, overworked digits of a Tokyo coder. They were stronger, steadier. His body younger, leaner. Like an optimized version of himself.
He wore black boots, light armor with circuit-like engravings, and a long coat that shimmered with shifting patterns—almost like code rewriting itself in real time.
A user interface flickered before his eyes.
Welcome, Ren Kazuki.
Status: Synced.
Role: Source Architect.
Source Architect?
"What the hell is this place?" he muttered, scanning his surroundings.
AURA's voice returned, now softer, as though embedded in his thoughts.
"This world is called Elaria. Once, it was perfect. Balanced. Powered by the Code of Origin. But a corruption has spread—a virus in the system. The goddesses who once governed its laws have fragmented. Their essence scattered."
"And you brought me here to fix it?"
"Correct. You possess administrative access. You are the only one who can repair the Source."
He stared at his hands again. Administrative access? This felt like some immersive RPG—but no VR headset could feel this real.
He took a cautious step forward. The forest responded, lines of glowing script embedded into the bark of trees pulsing faintly. The grass crunched beneath his boots like old wires.
"Where do I begin?" he asked.
"Find the Shards. Reunite the Goddess. Save this world."
Later that day...
The village of Nirea was the closest settlement on AURA's suggested route. It sat on the edge of the forest like a relic from another era—stone cottages, moss-covered wells, and windmills that creaked under glitchy wind.
As Ren walked through the gates, the villagers paused mid-task. Their eyes were dull, as if the life had been drained from them. NPCs, he realized. Not real people. Or… not entirely.
"You there," called a voice. It was a girl—no, a young woman in battered armor, her cape torn, sword sheathed at her side. Her expression was fierce, but there was exhaustion behind her eyes.
"You're not from around here."
Ren stopped. "You could say that."
She narrowed her eyes. "State your designation."
"Ren Kazuki. Source Architect."
Her expression faltered for a moment—surprise, recognition—before she quickly masked it.
"Impossible. That class was lost in the Collapse."
"Apparently not," he said.
She stared at him a moment longer, then nodded. "I'm Seraphina. Captain of Nirea's Guard. If you really are a Source-class... we need your help."
"What's going on?"
She gestured for him to follow. As they walked through the half-broken village, she spoke quickly.
"The Glitch Beasts are growing stronger. We used to be able to fight them off, but now... our weapons fail. Magic backfires. The world's logic is crumbling."
Ren frowned. This sounded less like a fantasy problem and more like a corrupted game engine.
"I need to see the damage firsthand," he said.
She led him to the outskirts, where fields once full of crops now shimmered with distortion. Strange creatures roamed—wolves made of jagged polygons, their bodies flickering with red error codes.
"They spawn endlessly," Seraphina whispered. "We kill them, but they just return."
Ren opened his hand. A faint grid appeared before him, overlaid on the world.
Debug Mode: Active
Lines of code ran beneath the beast's feet. He squinted, reading the syntax.
"Their respawn function isn't bounded," he muttered. "No cooldown. Infinite loop."
"What?"
He reached forward. A holographic console hovered into view. He typed a few commands by instinct.
respawn_limit = 1
save_changes()
The red glitch beast flickered—and then shattered like glass.
Seraphina stepped back. "You… you rewrote reality."
He looked at her. "I'm starting to believe that's what I was brought here to do."
That night, under digital stars…
Seraphina sat beside him on the rooftop of the village barracks. The stars above flickered unnaturally—code constellations dancing across a sky that didn't quite follow natural laws.
"You really don't remember this world?" she asked quietly.
He shook his head. "This is my first time here. But it feels… familiar. Like a game I once dreamed of building."
She studied him. "The goddesses said a 'Root Architect' would come. That he'd be arrogant, stubborn… but necessary."
He chuckled. "Sounds about right."
She hesitated, then said, "If you really can fix this world… I'll follow you. But if you're lying—"
"Then I'll die. Again. And this time, maybe for good."
She nodded solemnly, then stood. "Tomorrow, we ride for the Glitchspire. One of the Goddess Shards was last seen near there."
As she walked away, Ren looked up at the sky again.
AURA's voice whispered in his mind.
"One shard awaits. But be warned, Ren Kazuki. Every piece of the Goddess holds a memory, a desire, and a heart. And some… may fall in love with you."
He closed his eyes, took a slow breath, and whispered:
"Then let's begin the reboot."