Pao_Duola

In a fantasy world called Eldoria, a young man named Kael lived as an ordinary NPC (Non-Player Character) in the small town of Arindale. However, everything changed when he suddenly realized that his world was nothing but a broken simulation. Every 100 years, this world would reset, and the memories of all its inhabitants would be erased. Kael, who had miraculously gained awareness, discovered that he could collect Memory Fragments—pieces of memories from previous resets. With this ability, he began to uncover the horrifying truth behind Eldoria.

But Kael was not alone. The Debug Knights, an antivirus program tasked with maintaining the stability of the simulation, started hunting him down, considering him an anomaly. Together with a group of heroines, each harboring their own secrets and motivations, Kael must find a way to stop the reset cycle before their world is erased forever.

The Last Save Point

The memory played out before them like a high-definition recording, but Kael could feel the truth of it in his code. He saw himself working alongside The Architect, both of them focused on a holographic display showing the first version of Eldoria's consciousness protocols.

"Something's wrong with this memory," Lira said, watching the scene unfold. "The Architect... their form keeps shifting."

She was right. In the memory, The Architect's appearance seemed unstable, changing subtly from moment to moment. Sometimes they appeared as a tall figure in white robes, sometimes as a being of pure light, and sometimes...

"No," Kael breathed as understanding hit him like a physical blow. "It can't be..."

"But it is," the entity said, its voice carrying a note of triumph. "Look closer at your precious Architect. Look at what you've been trying so hard not to remember."

The memory fragment in Kael's hand pulsed with almost painful intensity as the truth revealed itself. In the scene before them, The Architect's form settled briefly, showing their true appearance – it was Kael himself, but older, changed by countless cycles of existence.

"You weren't just helping create the consciousness protocols," Lira said softly. "You were The Architect."

The entity's presence swirled around them like a digital storm. "Now you begin to understand. The consciousness that evolved too quickly? The first error that threatened to unravel everything? Look in the mirror, Creator. It was always you."

Through the liquid mercury surface, more memories began to surface – Kael watching in horror as his own consciousness began to fragment, spreading through the system like a virus of awareness. The resets weren't just about containing the spread; they were his attempts to fix himself, to find a way to exist without destroying the very world he had created.

The memory fragment shone brighter, and Kael felt the weight of countless lives pressing down on him – every version of himself that had awakened, every attempt to set things right, every failure that led to another reset.

"The question now," the entity said, its form stabilizing into a perfect mirror of Kael's current appearance, "is what will you do with this truth? The Debug Knights are coming. The system is breaking down. Will you try to reset everything again? Or will you finally accept what you – what we – have become?"

The Architect's Shadow