Kai stepped into a world made entirely of broken promises. The sky was an endless stream of oaths, each whispered too softly to be fulfilled. Beneath his feet: a shattered mirror that reflected not just his body, but every time he’d hesitated, doubted, or betrayed his own ideals.
A voice rose, tender yet venomous.
“You’ve climbed far, Kai. But not alone.”
The speaker emerged from the fractures of space like a secret finally told.
It was Kieva.His oldest friend. His first guildmate. The only person from the early stages of the Glitched World who shouldn't have been here.
Except she was no longer just Kieva.
Her hair was a torrent of flickering code. Her armor shimmered with command lines.Her Codex Sigil burned bright across her neck.
Codex Rank: Nodebound DevoteeClass: Mirror of IntentionAffinity: Loyalty-CorruptedTitle: The Traitor Who Stayed
Kai’s grip on the Whispered Edge trembled—not from fear. From memory.
“You left me,” she whispered. “When the glitch first opened, you made a choice. You walked away. And I had to become someone else to survive.”
Kai's voice cracked. “Kieva… I thought you were—”
“Dead? No. Just rewritten.”
Kieva’s blade was emotion turned into code. Each swing wasn’t a strike—it was a test.Her skill: Memory Hijack. Each wound she landed forced Kai to relive the moment he made a selfish decision.
—The time he let another fighter fall to save a data scroll.—The time he abandoned an allied node to chase personal power.—The time he silenced Rynera’s warning just to avoid doubt.
“Every leader rewrites their history,” she hissed. “I just see yours.”
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Kai bled—and not just from the body.
[New Passive Acquired]Whenever a close ally’s memory is weaponized against you, create a shadow of your past self.Shadow Traits: Unstable, Merciless, Self-aware.
And just like that—another Kai emerged beside him. Cold-eyed. Brutal.Wielding a crude version of the Whispered Edge—but without restraint.
“You should’ve burned the guild yourself,” the shadow spat.
“I didn’t know—”
“You didn’t want to.”
They fought together, barely containing Kieva’s onslaught of recursive attacks.
Kieva activated her ultimate—
“Code of the Unbroken Bond.”
Lines of glowing syntax wrapped around Kai’s body, forming a noose of past alliances.
Rynera’s voice echoed.Zayn’s final scream.Kieva’s laughter—before the corruption.
Kai was immobilized, every step now judged by former trust.The more trust he had once earned, the harder it was to move.
“This is what loyalty really is,” she said. “A weight you can't carry forever.”
Kai whispered into the Codex:
“Then I’ll use it.”
[Skill Fused: Absolute Invocation + Memory Hijack]New Skill: The Burden of BetrayalWeaponize loyalty by converting it into kinetic backlash. For every bond lost, unleash a rewriting pulse.
The air cracked.
Kai moved forward—not despite the guilt, but because of it.
“I was weak. I failed you. I failed them all.”“But I’m still walking.”
The Whispered Edge split into three: one blade for each of Kai’s greatest regrets.
The attack didn't strike Kieva’s body.It hit her devotion.
The lines binding her shattered.
She fell to her knees, eyes wide.
“You still... care?”
Kai helped her up. “I never stopped.”
[Node Cleared: Mirror of Loyalty][Ally Status: Kieva Recruited (Semi-Stable)][Title Earned: The One Who Walks With Ghosts][New Area Unlocked: Node 16 - The Archive of Disobedience]
That night, Kai sat beside the flickering campfire of broken syntax. Kieva slept beside a glitched wall, still glitching between memory and code.
Rynera sat next to him.
“She’ll never fully recover.”
Kai nodded. “Neither will I.”
They stared into the fire.It whispered old guild chants.Some still hurt.Some still healed.
But for the first time in what felt like forever—
Kai didn’t feel alone.