The forest changed the deeper Yuki traveled. Trees twisted like broken limbs, and mist crawled low over the roots. Every few steps, he felt a strange pull—as if the earth itself remembered him. Or was watching him.
He arrived at an abandoned mining village. The wooden homes stood collapsed and devoured by time. No birds. No wind. Just silence.
Inside what was once a chapel, Yuki found a massive stone slab at the altar's heart, etched with the same symbols he'd seen in the forest shrine. As he stepped forward, the air vibrated.
Ding! Memory Sync Detected. Ancient Sequence Decoded: Accessing Root Function...
The slab glowed. A holographic interface hovered above it—clearly not magic. This was technology, ancient and advanced.
User Detected: [Prototype Z]Root Access Granted: 17%New Title Acquired: "Heir of the Glitch"
Yuki reached out. As his fingers touched the glyph, visions flooded him.
A laboratory. Floating capsules. Children submerged in glowing fluid. A voice:
"Subject Zero has begun to diverge."
He yanked his hand away, heart racing. The slab darkened.
He wasn't summoned by mistake. He wasn't a leftover.
He was created.