Zupud

Alexander, a man mysteriously summoned to a strange and dangerous world, must navigate a perilous landscape filled with deadly creatures and cryptic trials set by an all-powerful system. As he grows stronger, he uncovers the secret of the “Game of Eternity” and learns that survival depends not only on defeating monsters but also on finding the right allies—while being wary of those who may turn into enemies. With each trial, Alexander must decide how far he’s willing to go to survive and, perhaps, find a way back home.

The System Of Eternity

Alexander sat in the dimly lit planning room, eyes fixed on the monitor as images rolled in—chaotic, fragmented, real. Loyalist gunships cutting across the skies. Streets flooded with Wraithbound. Rebels vanishing in flashes of white noise. The air in the room was thick—not just with fear, but with the weight of something missing.

A quiet panic had started to ripple through the resistance. Echo-sensitive operatives had begun reporting the same thing: their abilities, once instinctive and alive, were now… muted. Like a scream underwater. Not erased, but buried—chained.

"Something's wrong," whispered Mira, one of the more gifted Echo users, her voice trembling. "I can't feel the frequency. It's like my Echo's gone to sleep. I've never felt this before. It's like I'm blind."

Alexander's brow furrowed. His Echo—usually an ever-present hum at the edge of his consciousness—had dulled as well. Not gone. Just… distant. Like it was trying to warn him through thick walls.

"They've done something," he muttered. "A countermeasure."

"Echo Suppression?" Rael asked from across the room, adjusting the flickering holo-map. "We thought it was theoretical."

"Not anymore," Alexander replied, rising from his chair. "And if they're willing to deploy something that dangerous… they're more afraid than they've ever been."

A sudden buzz erupted from the comm unit. Static. Then a fractured voice.

"This is Cell Twelve. We're surrounded. Repeat—we're—"

"Suppressors… inside us. Burning. Eyes—eyes won't stop bleeding. We—"

"No," Mira whispered. "They're using it on civilians."

Alexander clenched his fists. This wasn't just control anymore. It was psychological warfare. Terror refined into a science.

He turned to the others. "We need to regroup. Find those still unaffected. There has to be someone out there who isn't bound by the Suppressor's reach. We find them. We build around them."

Rael narrowed his eyes. "You think someone could be immune?"

"Not just immune," Alexander said. "I think they're waiting. Watching. Hidden in the cracks of the system."

A silence settled over the group, not of fear—but resolve. Even in the face of impossible odds, something had begun to shift. The people were still awakening. The machine could stifle powers, but it couldn't erase the will behind them.

Alexander stepped toward the map, eyes burning with new focus. "They've shown us their hand. Now we show them ours."

He reached into his coat, pulling out a sealed case. Inside was a drive—encrypted, ancient, and illegal.

Alexander's voice was calm, but sharp. "A ghost from before the System. Before Vex. Something they tried to erase, but couldn't."

The light from the drive flickered—a pulse against the veil of silence.

Shuddering Silence