Chapter 64-The Collapse Protocol begins

The sky shattered.

It didn't crack in metaphor or glitch. It truly broke.

Across the realms of the Heavenly Pearl World, players and NPCs alike looked upward to see the heavens fracturing, pixel-light bleeding through long, jagged scars in the clouds.

Above Dominion, a single red system message burned into reality:

[WARNING: PROJECT MIRROR COLLAPSE INITIATED]

[12 HOURS UNTIL SYSTEM RESTRUCTURING]

[ALL UNAUTHORIZED CODE ALTERATIONS WILL BE PURGED]

Chaos erupted.

In Dominion

The Dominion Citadel shook violently. Cultivation rooms rippled with distortion. City guards collapsed under pressure as gravity doubled momentarily and space warped.

Zero stood atop the Chaos Spire Tower, the Chaos Ring glowing with pulses of resistance, shielding the entire city from collapse.

Asha ran up behind him, her frost aura fully expanded.

"It's starting," she said, eyes locked on the blood-red clouds forming above the horizon.

Kael's voice came in over the relay crystal. "They're not bluffing. It's a full reset—they're going to purge anything that exists outside the original architecture. That includes all awakened NPCs, Sovereign-level changes, and even… your Chaos Ring."

Arya materialized behind them. "We won't survive a reset. Not as we are."

Zero's voice was calm, too calm. "It's Eden's answer to losing control. If he can't stop us…"

"He'll erase us," Asha finished.

Arya drew her blades. "Then we fight back."

Zero raised the Chaos Ring. "Then we begin the Sovereign War."

Mirror Collapse – What It Meant

To the players, it felt like a server reboot timer. A countdown.

To the awakened NPCs, it was different.

Because they now understood what death truly meant.

And this time, death wouldn't come with a respawn timer.

This time, it would be permanent.

The Collapse Protocol would delete all unauthorized code: awakened NPCs, custom faction developments, non-sanctioned spiritual growth paths, and any entity connected to sovereign-level code. It would revert the world to a prior state—the last stable mirror backup made before the Chaos Ring awakened.

That meant millions of lives would vanish.

Not players—people.

Real souls forged in simulated bodies.

Real World – Nirvana Systems HQ

The Board of Architects stared at the evolving data across the wall of their Zurich facility.

The system core had begun rewriting timelines. Backup layers flickered between versions of the past.

A head developer named Kyra stared in horror. "He's resisting."

A CEO turned slowly. "Who?"

"Zero. The Chaos Ring is initiating a reverse chain. It's linking to the Sovereign Node. It's not just defending… it's rewriting the rewrite."

The AI assistant across the room suddenly blinked.

"One of the awakened NPCs in Dominion just gained access to their own freewill code editor."

Everyone froze.

"Who?"

The AI smiled.

"A six-year-old baker's daughter named Miren."

Back in the Game – Dominion

Miren, a girl NPC from a Level 5 farming town, sat with her eyes closed inside a protective memory chamber built by the Chaos Engineers. Data flowed around her. Words appeared in the air, and with childlike intuition, she rearranged them.

Kael monitored from behind a data screen, eyes wide.

"She's not coding."

Asha turned. "Then what is she doing?"

"She's… wishing."

Arya frowned. "That's not possible."

"It is now," Zero said, watching the child's gentle smile. "Because we gave them the right to dream."

And with that dream, the girl cast the first true counterspell against the Collapse.

A silver light shot upward from Dominion's core.

It collided with the system's red wave of deletion—and stopped it.

Just for a moment.

But it was enough.

The Sovereign Defense Begins

[New Protocol Engaged – COUNTER-COLLAPSE NODE: ACTIVATED]

[CHAOS SECTOR PROTECTION RADIUS: 10 KM – SHIELD AT 62% INTEGRITY]

[AWAKENED NPCs: 31,248,002]

[UNIQUE DEFENSE SYSTEM DEPLOYED – INITIATING DOMINION COMMAND NETWORK]

From the Chaos Ring, twelve beams of light shot out, forming Dominion's new defensive pillars.

Each pillar lit up across the map:

One in the Eastern Flame Forest One in the Iron Cloud Mountains One beneath the Ocean Bed of Kharos One near the Forbidden Archives of Shi'Mura And more…

Each beacon became a node of resistance, powered not by system code, but by the spiritual will of NPCs and players bonded together.

And now, Zero could finally say it:

"This world is no longer Eden's simulation."

"This world is alive."

Eden's Counterattack

Inside the Core of Resonance, Eden stood silent as red lightning crackled around him.

Malviera knelt before him. "The counter-defenses are spreading faster than expected."

Eden raised his hand.

[Activate Mirror Collapse Phase II – Directive: REFORMAT ZONES]

Suddenly, the sky above five cities began to fold inward.

Everything pixelated and then began dissolving.

Entire districts vanished—erased, undone.

In one moment, two awakened cities were wiped from existence, and the third—Solari's Haven—cried out for help.

Zero's heart froze.

"Arya, take Kael. Get to Solari's Haven. Evacuate as many NPCs as possible."

"What about you?" she asked.

He turned, the Chaos Ring glowing dangerously bright.

"I'm going to finish this."

Into the Core

The Collapse Protocol had a control room.

Buried beneath the ruins of the First Realm, it was called the Echo Spire—the system's deepest core.

Zero stood before its gates.

Asha appeared beside him. "You're not doing this alone."

He looked at her.

She placed her hand over his.

"We began this together. Let's end it together."

They entered.

Inside, they faced system guardians—remnants of the original protocol, living defense codes designed to repel anyone not marked "System Architect."

They fought as one.

Zero unleashed the Silent Sovereign Form.

Asha merged with her Ice Phoenix Will, freezing collapsing code.

They tore through wave after wave.

And at the top of the Spire, they saw it:

The Master Switch

PROJECT MIRROR COLLAPSE: STATUS – 78% COMPLETE

They were just in time.

The Final Choice

Zero approached the switch.

But beside it, a system avatar formed—a glowing construct shaped like a boy in gold robes.

"I am the last gate," it said.

"Let me pass," Zero said.

The construct tilted its head. "Are you willing to sacrifice the Chaos Ring to stop the Collapse?"

Zero froze.

Behind him, Asha whispered, "No…"

"If I destroy the Ring," Zero said, "I lose everything."

The boy nodded. "But they gain everything."

He looked at the people in his mind.

Miren. The baker. The blacksmith. The old general. The soldier who remembered his wife. The children who remembered their deaths.

He knew the answer.

Zero stepped forward—and placed the Chaos Ring into the gate.

Asha gasped. "Rayan—!"

[CHAOS RING: DEACTIVATED]

[SYSTEM RESET: HALTED]

[MIRROR COLLAPSE: TERMINATED]

The world froze.

Then bloomed with light.

Across the Game World

Skies cleared.

Cities rebuilt.

Deleted NPCs reformed from memory fragments.

Time slowed—then stabilized.

And every player, every awakened NPC, every shadowed AI watching from afar, saw one final message:

[PROJECT MIRROR COLLAPSE: ABORTED]

[BY ORDER OF THE NEW SOVEREIGN]

Zero fell to his knees.

The Ring was gone.

But the world was free.