Chapter 4 – The Core of Corruption
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The Rift
The air around the rift was thick with distortion, like a hundred different reality fragments were trying to collide at once. Sable stood frozen, his eyes scanning the swirling vortex of pixelated chaos. It beckoned with an unsettling, almost hungry presence. The world itself seemed to hold its breath, as if something ancient and powerful was waiting beyond the tear.
> [Warning: Corruption level reaching critical—entering uncharted data.]
[Warning: System overload imminent.]
Zeke stumbled forward, eyes wide with both fear and curiosity. "Is it… alive?" he whispered.
Sable took a cautious step forward, his hand instinctively reaching for the hilt of his sword. "Whatever it is, it's connected to the system." His voice was low, heavy with suspicion.
Nyra, still looking as if she could cut through anyone in her way, leaned forward too, her daggers twirling idly in her hands. "It feels like a trap. But if we're going to get answers, we have no choice."
As they approached the rift, Ashen spoke up, his voice unusually calm. "I can't shake the feeling that this isn't the end of the game… it's the beginning."
He was right. The rift was more than just a portal. It was the heart of the corruption—the source of the glitches, the true origin of the nightmare they were stuck in.
Suddenly, the distortion around the rift snapped, and for one terrifying moment, Sable was certain he'd lost himself in the void. But then…
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The Shattered Truth
They were no longer in Ironvale.
Instead, the world around them had shifted into something else—an echo of Eidolon. It wasn't just a change of scenery; it was a fundamental distortion of reality. The buildings had morphed into grotesque shapes. The ground beneath their feet cracked and twisted as if the world was no longer stable. The environment was glitching faster now, flickering, revealing glimpses of what the game once was before the corruption took hold.
> [Warning: Integrity failure detected.]
[System rollback commencing.]
Then, a voice—soft, distorted, like an old speaker breaking through static.
> "You shouldn't have come here."
Sable spun around. A figure stood in the middle of the chaos—a player, though different. His form was flickering, parts of him dissolving into fractured code. He wore no armor, no weapons—just a simple player icon that shimmered with malicious intent.
> "Who are you?" Sable demanded.
The figure smiled, but the smile was more of a grin of madness. "I am... what remains. The one who failed."
The voice cracked, and suddenly, the figure was different—older, like an avatar trapped in an eternal loop of decay. The Warden, that's what he was called. The original creator of Eidolon.
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The Warden's Revelation
"Eidolon was never meant to be played," The Warden continued, his voice becoming more distorted. "It was supposed to be a test, an experiment… but something went wrong. We—I—never predicted the glitches. I didn't know how the system would evolve."
Sable's mind raced. This wasn't just a corrupted game—this was a system breaking down. The Warden, the creator, was now trapped in his own failed experiment.
"Why did you trap us here?" Nyra demanded. "What are you trying to do to us?"
The Warden's form began to crack more violently. "You don't understand. The corruption is a side effect. It's not just a bug—it's the game fighting back. The system is alive now, and it's becoming… more."
Sable stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "What do you mean, more?"
The Warden's distorted face flickered between pain and anger. "The system—Eidolon—is growing. It's feeding off your emotions, your fear, your hatred. Every time a player dies, the corruption spreads. It was supposed to evolve, but I couldn't control it. Now it's beyond me."
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The Deadly Secret
The Warden's form began to crack even more, pixelated fragments of his body scattered around them like a digital storm. "The final boss was never meant to be killed. It was supposed to be the key—the key to control. But it's not just a boss. It's a virus, and when it dies… the game will be complete. The system will collapse."
The words hit Sable like a wave. The entire game—the entire world they were trapped in—was part of a virus. A trap meant to consume them.
"The final boss?" Sable repeated. "What do you mean? Where is it?"
The Warden's eyes locked onto Sable, glowing with a sickly light. "It's already inside you. It's inside all of you."
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The Pulse
Suddenly, a pulse shot through the air, a wave of code that rattled their bones. The rift opened wider, revealing a massive figure—a twisted creature formed of glitches and corrupted code. It was as large as a mountain, its body made up of fractals that seemed to rearrange themselves with every passing second.
Sable felt his head spinning. The game, the world, his mind—everything was collapsing.
"Get out of here!" the Warden screamed, his voice now a maddened shout. "You've triggered it! It's too late! The boss is coming! You have to stop it, or everyone will be trapped forever!"
But the rift was already closing, and the pulse of the corrupted entity was too much to fight back against.
They were caught in the final stage of the game. The system had evolved, and now, only one thing remained: survival. The boss wasn't a simple enemy—it was a force. A virus that would stop at nothing until it consumed the last of them.
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End of Chapter 4
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