Roy_6239

In the year 2090, Edenfall was more than just a game—it was the world’s second reality.

Players fought, traded, and lived inside the virtual realm… until five years ago, when its creator vanished without a trace. Then, the sky cracked.

From the rift between code and reality, monsters poured into the real world—creatures that no gun, no missile, no nuclear weapon could destroy. Cities burned. Nations fell. And billions died.

But from the ashes of collapse, something awakened in humanity. Powers once locked inside the game sparked to life in the real world. Guilds formed. Gates appeared. And the war for survival began.

Edenfall: Recode

The silence that followed the boss's death wasn't natural.

The crimson Gate pulsed once—like a dying heartbeat—before imploding inward. Its twisted walls of digital bone and corrupted magic shattered like glass, folding into nothingness.

Ji-Hoon stood alone at the center of the ruin. His breath visible in the cold air, heart steady despite what had just happened.

No roaring cheers. No squad of elite Hunters. No news drones. Just him—and the System.

✦ Alert: System Discrepancy Detected

Above him, the sky rippled—just for a moment. Not lightning. Not magic. Something subtle. Hidden.

["That wasn't part of the standard Gate protocol,"] his System voice echoed in his mind. ["Someone just flagged you. Hard."]

Ji-Hoon took a step forward. His new boots—black, sleek, and nearly silent—left faint afterimages that shimmered for a breath before vanishing. He looked down.

He hadn't noticed during the fight.

The Gate hadn't just rewarded experience or data.

His new jacket was a deep obsidian weave—matte, angular, sleeveless with a high collar and silver trim that shifted when it caught the light. Etched lines moved like code crawling over his shoulders. It felt light as air, but strong enough to take a blow from a corrupted knight without tearing.

His gloves were new too—fingerless, with small glowing UI veins that flickered whenever he focused. When he clenched his hand, a pulse of data ran across the surface like a heartbeat.

Ji-Hoon caught his reflection in a broken shard of obsidian.

Same dark hair—still messy, falling a little too far over his eyes. Same cold, focused gaze. But now his irises weren't just gray—they flickered faintly with the same system-blue hue that ran through his abilities.

He didn't look like a low-rank anymore.

He looked like a black-hat Operator who'd glitched his way into the game with a personal vendetta.

✦ Item Acquired: [Field Boss Memory Fragment]

✦ Stored in: Recode Archive – Access Locked

["A memory fragment?"] the voice said, sharper now. ["That's dev-level. That data isn't meant for you."]

"Too bad," Ji-Hoon muttered, pulling the jacket's hood over his head as the wind picked up.

He moved through Seoul like a shadow—cutting through neon alleyways and elevated train paths, never in one place long enough to be tracked.

But even shadows couldn't hide from headlines.

As he rounded a corner, an AR billboard lit up across a high-rise:

"E-RANK PLAYER SOLO CLEARS CORRUPTED GATE—RECORDED S-LEVEL CLEARANCE"

– Footage Leaked to Guild Board

– Player ID: Ji-Hoon Kwon

Someone had uploaded the entire fight.

Every moment. Every dodge. Every system hack.

["You were being streamed,"] his System said quietly. ["Encrypted Observer Feed. You triggered one of their hidden nodes."]

["Not anymore. You glitched the rules. Now the architects are watching."]

He clenched his jaw, pulse steady even as dozens of guild scouts and rogue players no doubt flooded to the local servers to find his name.

Behind him, a low hum vibrated the air.

But far away—beneath an abandoned observatory on the edge of the DMZ—a wall of screens flickered to life.

Dozens of angles. All focused on one boy.

A man in a white coat leaned forward, eyes glinting with something ancient.

Flagged