> [Welcome to Floor 14: The Labyrinth of Lost Codes]
Primary Objective: Find each other. Secondary: Survive.
Timer: 06:00:00
SeTa landed on glass.
Not the clear kind — it was black, fractalized, humming with encrypted runes that reconfigured every five seconds. The room was massive, shifting. A machine-thought maze.
He reached for Kael—
Nothing.
No link. No resonance.
The floor had severed their bond.
---
> [Solo Mode Engaged – Synchronization Inhibited]
Warning: This Floor adapts to your intellect and past deceptions.
Sub-trial: Regain truth through contradiction.
SeTa scanned the area. Pillars blinked with logic puzzles, riddles, and lines of corrupted code. Behind each was a door — some led to progress.
Others? Death.
He moved to the first pillar.
> "I always lie. I tell you now: this door is safe."
Classic paradox.
He didn't hesitate — chose the second door, the one with no text.
The wall folded open.
Correct.
But it wasn't about logic. It was about SeTa's refusal to play games by rules designed to fail.
---
Meanwhile…
Kael awoke in a space of liquid mirrors. Every step echoed memories — friends he betrayed, alliances he turned on.
A voice, cold and exacting:
> "You survived your world by manipulation. Now manipulate us. Convince three illusions of your sincerity, or perish in silence."
Three versions of himself stepped forward. One young and hopeful. One twisted and power-hungry. One — the dead version.
Kael stared at them.
Then whispered, "I'm not proud. But I am evolving."
---
Back in SeTa's sector, the maze twisted again.
An automaton dropped from the ceiling, spinning blades for arms and a face like a corrupted chessboard. Its voice grated in binary shrieks.
> "C̸̕A̷̐L̵͋L̷̐ ̵T̵H̴E̷ ̶B̶L̸U̶F̸F̷."
SeTa's eyes narrowed. This wasn't a brawl. It was a baiting tactic. He let the machine close the gap — then blinked sideways with [Void Tactic: Negative Mirror], reversing their positions in an instant.
The machine struck itself mid-swing. SeTa didn't wait. He plunged his dagger of unlight into its logic core.
> [Enemy Defeated – Map Node Acquired]
Three left.
---
Kael knelt before his final version — the dead one.
It didn't speak. Just stared.
"I'm not sorry," Kael said quietly. "But I do wish I made different choices. I can't undo it. I can only push forward."
The corpse-version smiled. Then dissolved.
> [Emotional Integrity Test Passed. Path Unlocked.]
He ran.
---
Timer: 01:07:15
A mirrored chamber stretched out before SeTa — and at its far end, a silhouette.
Kael.
> [Warning: Final Maze Node Detected. Puzzle Synchronization Required.]
Four glowing pedestals blinked to life, each with half-symbols. Their task was clear: reconstruct the code that would unlock the final gate.
But neither of them could see the other's half.
> "Say what you see. Trust what you hear."
Kael exhaled. "First symbol looks like… a reversed '3' with a hook."
SeTa frowned. "Could be part of a 'Phi' glyph. I have a double bar."
"Then combine it."
The glyph flickered. Correct.
One by one, they built the sequence.
The gate shuddered. Opened.
---
They stepped through.
And faced it.
A being of glitch and echo — humanoid, faceless, with arms like cascading data. It didn't speak.
But it moved.
Fast.
---
> [Mini-Boss: ERROR_001 – The Forgotten Admin]
HP: 120,000 | Phase: 1 of 2
Kael moved left. SeTa right.
The boss fragmented — one clone for each.
Alone again.
---
SeTa activated [Void Anchor], halting the clone's teleport and striking in a smooth arc of entropy. But the boss adapted mid-blow, switching its own form to shadow.
His own trick — used against him.
He countered with [Reality Thread Snap], slicing control away from the mimic's logic layer.
Across the chamber, Kael leveraged [Cognitive Burst], creating false versions of himself to bait the clone into burning its cooldowns — then blinked behind it for a point-blank Psy-Lance.
---
> [HP: 0%]
[Trial Boss Neutralized]
The fragmented room slowly pieced itself together — and both clones dissolved into air.
The real SeTa and Kael reunited in the center.
> [Floor Cleared]
Reward: Skill Upgrade – "Shared Requiem" evolved to "Twin Eidolon"
Effect: Both parties may merge traits momentarily, borrowing one skill from the other for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 5 Floors.
They didn't speak.
They didn't need to.
They simply looked at each other — and ascended.