Chapter 19: The Glitch Queen, and the World That Bites Back
Reincarnated as a Background Character — Boss Fell in Love With Me
Chapter 19: The Glitch Queen, and the World That Bites Back
The world began to tremble.
Not in the conventional sense with seismic tremors that split the earth, but through a sweeping wave of revision that rippled through the very essence of existence.
The ground held firm, not cracking apart, but instead recalibrating itself as if it were a living organism reassessing its position in a chaotic universe.
Hallways flickered in and out of reality, the air shimmering as familiar spaces twisted into their alternate dimensions. Nobles standing around began to forget the conversations they had shared mere moments before, their minds wiped clean as if a divine eraser had swept through their thoughts. Statues that had long stood sentinel in their positions transformed their expressions mid-glance, shifting from stoic to surprised, as if they were sentient beings caught in a moment of bewilderment. And in the ever-present background, a sound echoed ominously — the unfaltering breath of a system that was struggling to keep pace, its rhythm quickening in panic.
[UNREGISTERED INSTABILITY DETECTED]
[SOURCE: VELZERIA & RAZE]
[ERROR: The bond persists beyond designated plot thread.]
[Priority Level: Catastrophic]
Velzeria, unwavering and resolute, stood at the heart of the war room, her presence commanding and unyielding. Around her, maps — once intricate representations of the world — were not merely fading; they were dissolving as if they were made of ice melting under a relentless sun. The magic that had governed geography no longer functioned as it should; the arcane code beneath the surface was disintegrating, like ancient parchment crumbling into dust.
"We're being erased by proximity," she spoke in a low murmur, almost to herself. "They're not launching an attack against us in the way one might expect. No, they're targeting something deeper — they're attacking continuity itself."
Raze leaned against the crowded table, his jaw clenched tightly, the muscles straining under the weight of his resolve.
"Then we must retaliate against continuity," he declared with unwavering conviction.
A brief moment of silence hung between them, pregnant with unsaid words.
And then, Velzeria smiled — a fierce, predatory grin. It was sharp, filled with hunger and stirring hope in the face of despair.
"You truly are infected," she remarked, her tone laced with dark amusement.
He lifted an eyebrow, curiosity piquing. "Infected with what?"
Velzeria turned her gaze toward him, her eyes sparkling with an intensity that belied vulnerability.
"With me."
Outside, the sky — an expanse that had never graced itself with the presence of stars — attempted to resurrect them from the depths of its memory.
It bled luminous colors.
Light raced in sweeping lines across the horizon, as if the system had desperately attempted to sketch hope yet was unable to recall the precise hues or shapes it was meant to embody.
Raze stood transfixed, powerless against the spectacle.
After a moment, he turned back to Velzeria.
"We've crossed beyond the realm of rules now, haven't we?" he stated, his tone imbued with the weight of finality.
She nodded, the gesture subtle yet profound.
"You and I represent a contradiction in this world," she explained. "And the system itself cannot simply delete us without destroying the very foundation that supports its existence."
He chuckled softly, the sound hollow yet somehow uplifting amid the chaos.
"So we serve as a sort of cancer, then?" he mused.
"No," she corrected, her expression becoming thoughtful.
"We are the means to recode reality."
[Unlocked: Pact Phase V – "System-Level Breach"]
Trait Gained: Glitch Queen
Velzeria now possesses the ability to overwrite minor world laws.
Side Effect: Each overwrite induces a rapid acceleration of system decay.
Bond Trait Update: Raze has been flagged as a "Permanent Foreign Entity."
Response Expected: Excision Protocols (S-00 Class)
That fateful night, they summoned their first allies into their fractured reality.
These were not nobles clad in grand robes.
These were not noble knights in polished armor.
Instead, they gathered those who held the memories of what had been lost — the forgotten souls who existed on the fringes.
The librarian, a steadfast guardian of tomes that the system claimed were nonexistent, stood tall and resolute. The janitor tirelessly swept a hall that looped infinitely, his task never completed, yet always necessary. The mute gardener, an unwavering figure, shed silent tears for flowers he could no longer name, but whose beauty he still held dearly in his heart.
These were people who seemed hardly real enough to warrant acknowledgment.
Yet because of that, they carried a weight that far surpassed the importance attributed to them.
Raze found himself sitting beneath the reconfigured sky, Velzeria at his side, the air thick with unspoken thoughts.
They shared a long silence, each lost in their musings, contemplating the enormity of their situation.
Finally, she posed a question so raw and profound that it echoed in the vast emptiness: "Do you regret loving me?"
Raze didn't even flinch at her inquiry.
"No," he replied simply, the truth clear in his voice. "I regret only that it took the impending end of the world for you to realize that it was real."
[Emotional Sync: 100% - Locked]
[Cognitive Bond Confirmed: Mutually Voluntary Affectional Link]
This is no longer a product of a system-generated romance arc.
It is, unmistakably, a choice made in defiance of design.
Somewhere deep beneath the labyrinthine layers of code, hidden within a chamber whose existence predated time itself, the God Kernel pulsed with an insistent, blood-red light.
A message reverberated, not sent through mechanical speakers or written on ancient scrolls — but transmitted through the very essence of every living entity within its grasp:
"They are rewriting the ending."
"Prepare the Purge."
To be continued...