Chapter 10

The snowstorm hadn't let up.

If anything, it had gotten worse—angrier. The wind screamed like a living thing as Justin crept silently through the frozen cliffside path, each breath burning in his lungs. His coat was soaked. His fingers numb. But his focus? Razor-sharp.

Behind him, Matilda moved with trained grace, chain-dagger looped tightly around her wrist. Bruno followed last, sniper rifle wrapped in cloth to keep the barrel from icing. Wren led the group. Hood up. Steps light. Eyes always scanning.

Their target lay just ahead.

Frostfang Fortress—the Syndicate's Floor 3 stronghold.

A spire of ice and bone carved into the side of a frozen waterfall, pulsing faintly with violet runes. From afar, it looked like a beautiful nightmare. Up close? It was a deathtrap.

[Quest Objective Updated – "The Broken Bridge Pact"]

Infiltrate Frostfang Fortress

Locate and retrieve Truth Fragment (1/10)

Extract undetected

Bonus Reward if no Syndicate kills are recorded during mission.

They huddled behind a jagged ice ridge overlooking the outer wall.

Matilda wiped frost from her lips. "So how are we getting in? There are two guards at every path. Drones in the sky. The gate's coded with Syndicate bloodprints."

"We don't go through the gate," Wren replied.

She pointed toward a lower ledge, nearly hidden under the snow. "Maintenance tunnel. It was buried in early beta. Still works if you know how to slip past the wall scripts."

Bruno arched an eyebrow. "Why does every rebel know all the secret holes in this death simulator?"

"Because we're the ones who tested the boundaries before anyone cared," she said simply.

The descent was brutal.

Wind sliced across exposed skin. Ice shattered beneath their feet. Matilda slipped once—Justin caught her wrist without thinking. Their eyes met for a second.

He said nothing. Just pulled her back up.

They found the tunnel.

Small. Cracked. Barely large enough for one at a time. But it was real.

Wren keyed in a sequence on a broken panel. It lit up—just once—then the wall hissed and slid open like a throat parting for a knife.

"Welcome to the Syndicate's basement," she whispered.

Inside, the silence was suffocating.

The air was unnaturally cold. Not just icy—dead. Like something in the system was draining warmth.

Wren led them down a spiraling staircase that didn't match the game's design aesthetic at all. Black metal. Exposed wiring. Red lights blinking in patterns Justin didn't recognize.

"This doesn't look like anything from the main floors," Bruno muttered.

"Because it isn't," Wren replied. "This is code-buried space. Not even the game devs knew it was here. The Syndicate didn't build Frostfang—they found it."

Justin felt a cold drop slide down his spine.

You are entering: UNMAPPED SYSTEM TERRITORY

Danger Level: Unknown

Map Function Disabled

Sound Suppression: Active

At the bottom was a chamber.

Spherical. Pulsing with a faint blue light that came from a crystal at the center of the room—suspended in a web of wires, ice, and fragments of code. It shimmered like starlight trapped in glass.

[You have found: Truth Fragment 1/10]

Origin: Unknown

Category: System Core Memory

Access Type: Direct Neural Contact

Warning: Exposure may cause disorientation, nausea, emotional trauma, or memory bleed.

"Well, that sounds comforting," Matilda muttered.

Justin stepped forward. The glow from the crystal touched his face—and suddenly, everything else fell away.

[System Initiating Memory Sync – Truth Fragment (1/10)]

Loading…

He wasn't in Frostfang anymore.

He was standing in a white void. Empty. Endless. A single voice echoed across it.

"Only one can escape. But only ten know why."

A screen materialized in front of him—lines of code, system logs, error reports, fragments of usernames flashing by too fast to read. One phrase appeared again and again:

> [Survivor DNA Sync Failed]

> [Ethical Protocol Override – Rejected]

> [HOST MUST EVOLVE]

Then he saw it.

A single photo.

Of a group of teenagers in VR headsets, standing in a lab. Smiling. Excited.

One of them looked like Justin.

He stepped closer.

But the memory shattered.

[TRUTH FRAGMENT ACQUIRED – MEMORY 1 OF 10 UNLOCKED]

Data Logged: The System is older than Ascension Protocol.

Original Purpose: Evolution Testing

Memory Status: Corrupted

Hidden Condition Revealed:

– Survivor must "Evolve" to access Final Floor.

– System views players as test subjects, not contestants.

Justin staggered backward, eyes wide. Breath ragged.

Wren steadied him. "What did you see?"

He didn't answer immediately. Just stared at the fragment as it dimmed.

"It's not a game," he finally whispered. "It never was."

Bruno frowned. "Then what is it?"

Justin looked at them all.

"A lab. A test. We're the rats."

Then they heard it.

Footsteps.

Matilda's head snapped toward the corridor. "We've got movement—north corridor."

Bruno dropped to one knee, rifle aimed. "Could be scouts."

"No time to sneak out," Wren said. "Too much echo in these tunnels."

Justin clenched his fists.

They couldn't afford to be caught.

Not now.

He turned to Matilda. "Hide the fragment. Now."

She nodded, opening her system inventory and placing it in a hidden sub-slot.

Then Wren did something unexpected.

She stood tall… and walked directly into the corridor.

"What are you doing?!" Justin hissed.

"Buying you time," she said without looking back. "I'm marked already. You're not."

Then she vanished into the dark.

They waited.

Tense.

Ten minutes passed.

Then gunfire.

Screams.

Justin gritted his teeth. "We go back."

"No," Matilda said. "We go forward."

"She just saved us," Bruno added. "You think she'd want you to get caught chasing her corpse?"

Justin stared at the corridor.

Then at his team.

They were right.

But it still hurt to turn away.

They escaped through a different shaft Wren had marked earlier—one that collapsed behind them the moment they exited, buried in an avalanche triggered by a trip line.

Cold air hit them again. The snowstorm hadn't eased.

But Justin didn't feel the wind anymore.

He only felt the weight.

Of truth.

Of sacrifice.

Of what was coming.

Back at the ruined tower, they huddled around the fire again. Silent. Changed.

Matilda broke the silence.

"You saw something… in that crystal."

Justin nodded slowly.

"I think I saw myself. Before the game. In a lab."

Bruno blinked. "Wait… you mean this isn't just some insane VR MMO with a billion-dollar prize pool?"

Justin didn't smile.

"It's something worse."

Matilda whispered: "It's a lie."

Justin didn't sleep that night.

He just sat in the snow, watching the storm.

Waiting for the next move.

(To Be Continued....)