The janitor died at 3:17 a.m.
I know because that's when the world broke.
Not with an explosion or scream—but a flicker.
Like a skipped frame in a corrupted video.
One second, he was there, humming a tuneless melody while mopping the school's hallway floor.
The next, his entire body twitched, like something inside was stretching too far for the skin to hold.
And then—
> [SYSTEM ALERT: ENTITY IDENTIFIED – FLESH WEAVER (LESSER)]
[WARNING: UNSANCTIONED ACCESS — YOU ARE NOT A REGISTERED USER.]
[INITIATING FORCED INTERFACE OVERRIDE…]
[CLASS: "UNASSIGNED" — ERROR]
[SOUL FRACTURE DETECTED. CALIBRATING…]
I stumbled back, eyes burning. A screen was floating in the air—no, in my vision.
A heads-up display. Stats. Warnings. Bright text printed over the janitor's body.
Or what used to be his body.
His flesh bubbled like boiling wax, sloughing off in chunks. Beneath it was something wrong—something with far too many joints and not enough eyes, but each one stared directly into me.
It smelled like copper and antiseptic. Like hospitals and dying breath.
> [STATUS: WARDEN CLASS AVAILABLE]
[INITIATING UNLOCK SEQUENCE…]
[TO ACCEPT, SAY "I SEE YOU."]
What the hell was this? A dream? Psychosis?
The janitor—no, the thing that had worn his skin—shuffled closer. Limbs clicked as they rearranged. Its jaw unhinged with a wet snap.
"I…" My voice cracked.
The smell got worse. The air trembled.
This wasn't a dream. Dreams don't stare back.
"I see you," I whispered.
> [CLASS UNLOCKED: WARDEN OF THE VEIL]
[WELCOME, KAI NAKAMURA.]
[YOU ARE NOW ONLINE.]
The thing lunged.
I didn't think. I didn't scream.
The System moved for me.
Light surged down my arm. A weapon formed in my hand—a blade made of fractured glyphs and flickering data. I swung.
Steel met sinew.
The hallway erupted in shrieks—not from it, but from the Veil itself. I saw the world split, just for a second—behind the walls, beneath the floors. Everything wrong.
Then silence.
The creature melted into static. Not blood. Not bones. Just… code.
I collapsed to my knees, breathing in short, ragged gasps.
The screen in my vision flickered again.
> [TARGET ELIMINATED]
[EXP GAINED: +40]
[SKILL UNLOCKED: JUDGMENT GLARE (LVL 1)]
[NEW OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE]
I didn't sleep that night.
The janitor's name was Mr. Polanski. He'd worked here for twelve years. Every kid knew him.
By morning, he was gone.
No blood. No remains. No trace.
And when I asked the front office…
"There's never been a janitor by that name, Kai," they told me, frowning. "Are you feeling alright?"