Ethan's breath came slow and heavy. His reflection in the shattered mirror twisted—his eyes flickering with an unstable glow, his form shifting between solid and spectral.
"You're saying… I'm a corruption?" Ethan's voice was low, controlled. But inside, a storm raged.
The nameless man nodded. "Not just any corruption. The last one."
Aya took a step forward. "What does that mean?"
The man's shifting form flickered between states. "In the System's eyes, corruption is an error. A virus. It either purges them… or they consume everything."
Ethan's jaw tightened. "And which one am I?"
The man studied him. "That's the question, isn't it?"
---
The Forgotten's Warning
The Nexus was silent, the weight of his revelation pressing down like a tombstone. The other Forgotten Ones kept their distance, watching him with expressions of fear and curiosity.
Ethan ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. "So what now? Am I supposed to just sit here and rot with the rest of you?"
The man chuckled—a dry, hollow sound. "No. You don't have that luxury."
Ethan frowned. "Why not?"
The man gestured at the mirror. "Because your corruption isn't static. It's growing."
Ethan's stomach turned cold.
Aya's fingers tensed around her gun. "What are you saying?"
The man stepped closer, his unstable presence crackling with distorted energy. "The moment Ethan entered this place, the Nexus… reacted. The cracks in reality here? They're widening."
Ethan narrowed his eyes. "And?"
The man's expression darkened. "And if you stay here too long, you might undo this entire place."
A hush fell over the ruins.
Aya stiffened. "Then we leave."
The nameless man sighed. "You don't get it. There is nowhere left for him to go. The System doesn't recognize him anymore. The world doesn't know what to do with him."
Ethan's fists clenched. "Then I'll force the world to make space."
The nameless man smiled—a grim, knowing expression. "Spoken like a true corruption."
Ethan's vision flickered—just for a second.
And in that brief instant, he saw something behind the man.
Something watching him.
A shape in the darkness.
A presence—vast, unrelenting, unseen by anyone else.
His breath hitched.
Then it was gone.
Aya's voice cut through the moment. "Then what do we do?"
The nameless man studied Ethan one last time.
"Your only option?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "You must find the source of the corruption."
Ethan's pulse pounded. "And where the hell do I start?"
The nameless man extended a shaking hand—toward the far end of the Nexus, where a massive gate of pure darkness loomed.
Beyond it… was nothingness.
"You start there," the man said. "Where even the System refuses to look."
Ethan met his gaze.
And without another word, he stepped forward.
The Gate of Nothingness
Ethan stood before the Gate of Nothingness, a massive void that pulsed with unnatural energy. It wasn't a door in the traditional sense—there were no hinges, no handles, no keyholes. Just an endless, swirling darkness that devoured the dim light of the Hollow Nexus.
Aya hesitated beside him. "Are you sure about this?"
Ethan clenched his fists. No. But there's no other choice.
The nameless man had said that beyond the gate was a place even the System refused to acknowledge. A place where rules broke down. If he wanted to understand what he had become, he had to step into the unknown.
Player_0001 adjusted his gloves. "I don't like this, but I'll go with you."
The nameless man shook his head. "You can't."
Ethan turned to him. "What do you mean?"
The man's flickering form pulsed, his expression grim. "That gate doesn't lead to a physical location. It leads to the System's blind spot—a place that doesn't officially exist. Only a corruption like you can enter."
Aya's grip tightened on her weapon. "And if we force our way in?"
The man's voice was low. "You'll cease to exist."
Silence.
Ethan swallowed. "Then I go alone."
Aya cursed under her breath. "Ethan—"
But he didn't wait.
He stepped forward.
And the darkness devoured him.
---
The Void Between Worlds
Everything was silent.
No wind. No sound. No feeling of weight or gravity.
Ethan floated in a black abyss, his body both weightless and unbearably heavy at the same time. The only thing that existed here was him.
Then—a voice.
It was not spoken. Not heard.
It simply was.
> [Entity Detected]
[Analyzing…]
[ERROR: DATA NOT FOUND]
[CORRUPTION LEVEL: ???]
The words burned into his mind, as if reality itself was trying—and failing—to define him.
> [Welcome, Lost One.]
Ethan gasped, clutching his head. His mind burned with fragmented memories—not his own, but the echoes of past anomalies.
> They were here before me.
They failed.
They were erased.
His heart pounded. "Who are you?"
No answer.
Only laughter.
Cold. Hollow. Endless.
> [You do not belong here.]
[Yet, here you are.]
[Will you break… or will you become?]
Ethan gritted his teeth. "I'm done with riddles. Tell me what's happening to me."
The abyss rippled.
And then—it spoke in his voice.
> "You are becoming what the System fears most."
Ethan froze.
Then the darkness rushed forward.