Target – The System Architect
Riven sat on the cold grass outside the Hall of Divine Execution, watching the sky rotate like a broken clock. Stars blinked in unnatural patterns.
> "It's begun," he whispered.
Nyra glanced up. "What?"
> "The system's noticed me. And it's not happy."
---
⚙️ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
> Unauthorized Divine Integration Detected
AI Architect #47 is being deployed to correct system drift
ETA: 72 hours
> "Prepare to be rebalanced."
---
> "Rebalanced," Riven chuckled. "That's their word for a lobotomy."
Nyra crossed her arms. "So we have three days until a literal god-level AI comes to delete you?"
> "Technically, we have 72 hours until I kill it."
---
The system wasn't just code.
It was alive—divided into tiers.
The low levels were for quests and skills.
But above that? Architects.
Digital gods designed to manage anomalies.
Riven had just become the biggest one in the game.
---
> "Where is Architect #47 located?" Riven asked aloud.
⚙️ HIDDEN COMMAND ACCEPTED
> Locating AI Architect Instance...
Result: Omega Node, Level -999, Forbidden Sector
Access Key Required: Fragment of Memory
Riven grinned.
> "Nyra, pack your things. We're going hunting in hell."
---
⚙️ QUEST CHAIN ACTIVATED
> [Architect Hunt – Part I: The Fragment]
Objective: Retrieve the Fragment of Memory
Location: Red District, Sector Delta-12
Danger Level: Catastrophic
Reward: Access to Forbidden Layer
---
🚦Scene Change: Red District, Sector Delta-12
A city carved into rusted metal and neon bones. Here, the failed systems dumped their errors: forgotten skills, corrupted mobs, and dead NPCs that whispered when no one looked.
And somewhere in that mess—
> The Fragment.
---
Nyra clutched her cloak tighter. "This place smells like burnt brains and regret."
Riven didn't reply. His eyes scanned the crowd—data ghosts, synthetic monsters wearing human skin, and system glitches selling dreams like candy.
He walked up to a one-eyed vendor.
> "Looking for a fragment."
The vendor's skin peeled back, revealing wires and teeth.
> "Many fragments. One price: Memory you never wanted."
Riven nodded. "Take it."
---
Suddenly—
FLASH.
Riven staggered. The world twisted.
---
⚠️ MEMORY UNLOCKED
> "Initiating Sequence: Origin Protocol 003"
– Location: Lab 7
– Subject: Riven Kael
– Role: Architect Trainee
– Date: 5 Years Ago
---
> "Wait... what?" Riven whispered.
In the memory—
He saw himself, younger, standing in a white lab coat, smiling, shaking hands with a man made of light.
> "You built the system," said the man.
"Or tried to."
> "I… I was one of them," Riven muttered in real time.
The fragment burned into his chest.
Everything changed.
---
⚙️ SYSTEM SHOCK
> Secret Class Revealed: Forgotten Architect
> You were never meant to be a player. You were the builder. And they erased you.
> Skill Gained: Memory Override
– Rewrite 1 second of reality per 24 hours.
---
Riven blinked.
Nyra was screaming, pointing.
A glitching data beast—a hybrid of code and flesh—was leaping toward him, jaws wide.
---
He didn't move.
> "Override: Beast never existed."
The world glitched.
The creature flickered… then erased.
Nyra's jaw dropped. "You didn't even touch it!"
> "I rewrote history," Riven said, coldly. "Just one second. But enough."
---
They reached the center of the district.
There, behind a locked gateway of dying numbers, floated the Architect Key—a crystalline cube pulsing with digital veins.
Riven reached out.
---
⚠️ SYSTEM INTERVENTION
> "Architect 47 Online."
"Unauthorized access detected."
"Initiating warning protocol."
---
A hologram shimmered in front of him.
> A man with silver hair and no eyes, wearing a smile that didn't reach his face.
> "Riven Kael. You were erased. How disappointing to see you back."
"And you are?"
"I am the one who erased you. Welcome back to the game you created... and lost."
Riven's fist clenched.
> "I didn't lose. I was betrayed."
---
> "Then prove you're more than a bug," Architect 47 said.
The hologram vanished. In its place, a countdown began.
---
⏱️ 72-Hour Countdown Started
> System Correction Imminent
Prepare for deletion… or dominance
---
Riven turned to Nyra.
> "We're not in the game anymore."
> "Then where are we?"
> "In the war behind the screen."