Kazuki dreamed of a neon-blue screen.
It hovered in endless blackness, flickering like a glitchy billboard in a void with bad customer service. The words scrolled across in a font that felt aggressively smug:
[System Update: Your suffering is our priority.]
"Excuse me?" Kazuki asked the air.
[New Feature Unlocked: Infernal Path Alignment – 3% Corrupted]
"Corrupted?! What does that mean?"
[You are making excellent progress toward your inevitable transformation.]
That was not comforting.
[Now loading: Chosen One hallucination sequence...]
"What—"
The world around him warped.
Suddenly, he was standing on an obsidian cliff, wind howling, sky torn open like a split fruit. Stars bled. The moon had too many eyes. A tower of bone rose from a field of ash, and at the top stood...
…himself?
Or something wearing his face.
It grinned. Its eyes burned red. Its teeth were too many.
"You're catching up," it said in his voice, only worse. "Can't wait to meet."
Kazuki bolted upright, gasping, drenched in sweat.
"Morning," Kaelith said, completely unfazed. "You screamed in your sleep again. Loud this time."
Kazuki clutched his head. "System update. Weird dream. Corruption? Doppelgänger? Stars with eyes? Whole thing had strong final boss vibes."
She tossed him a waterskin. "You'll be fine."
"You say that like I didn't hallucinate my evil clone."
"You're not important enough for an evil clone yet."
Kazuki took a sip of water and muttered, "Harsh but probably accurate."
They looted the wolf den for anything useful. It was mostly bones, shredded armor, and one extremely cursed-looking teddy bear that Kazuki wisely did not touch.
[Item Acquired: Tattered Wolfhide Cloak (+2 Stealth, +1 Wet Dog Smell)]
[New Skill Acquired: Passive Regeneration Lv. 1]
"Finally," Kazuki muttered. "A skill that doesn't involve bleeding."
Kaelith didn't respond. She was crouched near a collapsed tunnel at the back of the cave, frowning.
"What is it?" he asked.
She pointed to a mark carved into the stone. A glowing spiral, faint but pulsing.
"That," she said, "is a summoning rune."
Kazuki blinked. "For... what?"
She stood up. "Nothing good."
The system pinged again.
[Hidden Quest Activated: Echoes of the Deep]Objective: Investigate the summoning ritual.Warning: Completion may accelerate Path Alignment.]
Kazuki stared at the screen.
"Okay, real talk. Are you trying to help me, or is this just fantasy Saw?"
Outside, the forest was still. Too still.
Kazuki glanced back at the cave one last time.
Something in the shadows pulsed once. Like it was breathing.
He shivered and followed Kaelith into the trees.