Chapter 14: The Void Beckons
Chapter 14: The Void Beckons
A cold wind howled through the Void Safe Zone, though there was no visible sky, no sun, no horizon—just an endless abyss stretching in all directions. The ground beneath Amir's feet was an obsidian platform, floating on what seemed to be an infinite sea of twisting cosmic energy, streaked with streaks of violet and deep indigo.
His breathing was shallow. The air was thick with something unnatural, pressing against his body, as if the void itself was trying to consume him.
Then, his HUD flickered violently, as if struggling to stabilize in this forbidden space.
---
System Notification:
Warning: You have entered the Unstable Void Zone
Status Effects Applied
Void Corruption (1% per minute) – Exposure to the void erodes the player's data integrity.
Mental Strain (3% per minute) – The unnatural environment strains your cognitive functions.
Skill Instability – All abilities behave unpredictably.
---
Amir clenched his fists. His Void Manipulation skill had activated, but something was off. His body felt light, weightless, yet impossibly heavy at the same time, like he was being stretched between two planes of reality.
The Lucky Relic pulsed in his inventory, faintly resisting the void's pull.
---
Player Status:
Health: 72/100
Stamina: 50/100
Mental Clarity: 55/100 (-3 per minute)
Void Corruption: 1% (Increases over time)
Void Manipulation: Unstable
---
Suddenly, a ripple passed through the void, sending shockwaves across the platform. The space around Amir twisted violently—his vision fractured, splitting into dozens of overlapping images, showing alternate versions of himself moving slightly out of sync.
One version of him stood tall, clad in dark armor with glowing violet eyes.
Another version was slumped over, drained of all energy, eyes hollow and lifeless.
And another was missing entirely—just an empty silhouette, flickering in and out of existence.
Then, the whispers began.
They weren't voices. They were impressions, thoughts that weren't his own but somehow familiar.
"Embrace the void, and you shall know its secrets."
"The game is merely a fragment. The truth lies beyond the code."
"No one has ever controlled the void... only been consumed by it."
Amir gritted his teeth. Focus. He had to move. The corruption was creeping up faster than he had expected.
He raised his hands and activated Void Manipulation, trying to stabilize himself. But the energy responded in unexpected ways. Instead of forming a controlled barrier around him, it collapsed inward, wrapping around his body like spectral chains.
A sharp pain shot through his chest. He gasped, eyes widening.
Something was watching him.
A shadow stirred in the abyss. A presence. A massive, looming entity whose form was undefined yet immeasurable. Its existence was so overwhelming that Amir's HUD glitched violently, struggling to render what he was looking at.
---
System Alert:
Unknown Entity Detected
Analyzing...
ERROR: Data Cannot Be Read
Threat Level: ???
Hostility: Uncertain
---
The being did not move. It simply existed, but its sheer presence was enough to make Amir's knees weaken. He had encountered boss monsters, legendary NPCs, and even secret entities before—but nothing compared to this.
This wasn't just a creature.
This was something beyond the game itself.
And it was staring directly at him.
---
System Prompt:
A foreign entity has noticed your presence.
[Stand Your Ground]
[Attempt to Speak]
[Escape Immediately]
---
Amir hesitated. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to teleport out of this cursed void before he was erased from existence.
But he clenched his fists.
No. He came here for a reason.
Taking a deep breath, he chose [Attempt to Speak].
"Who... are you?" His voice came out hoarse, distorted by the surrounding void.
The entity did not respond in words.
Instead, reality collapsed.
The stars in the abyss shattered like glass, and the platform beneath Amir disintegrated, sending him plummeting into infinite nothingness.
---
System Alert:
Critical Instability Detected
You are being forcibly removed from the Void Safe Zone.
Destination: UNKNOWN.
---
Amir's body split apart into a million fragments of data, torn from reality itself—
And then—
He woke up.
---
New Location: ???
Amir gasped, his vision snapping back into focus. He was no longer in the Void Safe Zone. The abyss was gone. The overwhelming presence had vanished.
Instead, he stood on solid ground.
But the world around him was... different.
The sky was a deep crimson, pulsing like a living thing, while black stone structures jutted from the ground in unnatural angles. The very air vibrated with unspoken tension.
This was not a normal game area.
Something had changed.
And then—
A new prompt appeared before his eyes.
---
System Notification:
You have entered the Realm of the Forgotten.
Void Mastery Progression: 5%
Time Distortion Active: 1 minute in reality = 10 minutes here
No Map Data Available
---
His breath hitched.
This place—
It wasn't just a hidden zone.
It was off the grid.
Uncharted. Unknown.
A place players were never meant to find.
And somehow, Amir had been pulled inside it.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears. His hands trembled.
This was no longer just a game.
Something deeper was at play.
And for the first time, he realized—
He wasn't the one playing the game anymore.
The game was playing him.
---
End of Chapter 14.