Boom.
A window shattered across the street. Rain poured through the broken glass like blood from a fresh wound.
Rael stood in silence.
The lights in his apartment had dimmed—flickering unnaturally, as if something was interfering with the power grid. But he didn't move. His hand hovered just over the boy's sleeping body, shielding him from what was coming.
Then, a sound—faint, deliberate.
Tap… tap… tap…
Someone was walking across the rooftop.
Rael's corrupted system flickered open, warning red blinking across the screen.
> [DANGER APPROACHING – HIGH RANK SIGNATURE DETECTED]
[UNKNOWN ENTITY – MASKED STATUS BLOCKING ANALYSIS]
A shadow dropped silently from above.
And then—
CRASH.
A figure crashed through the ceiling like a spear of darkness, landing in a crouch right in front of Rael.
She wore a black and crimson combat suit, her face covered by a smooth metal mask. Her twin blades gleamed with crimson runes. She didn't speak.
Just activated her skill.
> [Hunter Art – Blood Edge: Phantom Bloom]
Rael dodged instantly, his body flickering to the side with Glitch Step. Her strike sliced through the air where he stood—clean, surgical, terrifyingly fast.
> "You came fast," Rael muttered, eyes narrowing. "Black Bounty class?"
The masked woman tilted her head slightly. Her voice was modulated, ghostly and hollow.
> "You're not supposed to exist."
Rael smiled faintly.
> "Yeah. That's the point."
She moved again—faster this time.
Rael blocked with his glitch-blade, sparks flying. The room quaked under the impact, furniture shattering as the two clashed like shadows in a storm.
---
Outside, rain fell harder.
It wasn't water anymore—it was red, tainted with misted energy bleeding from an unstable rift above the city. A side effect of the broken dungeon's collapse. Another "glitch" in the world.
The masked woman leapt back, raising both blades.
> "Surrender the system orphan."
Rael's eyes darkened.
> "You want the boy?"
His voice dropped. Cold. Merciless.
> "Then you'll have to delete me first."
She charged.
But this time, Rael didn't dodge.
Instead, he activated something new.
> [Memory Loop – Activated]
(Combat Data Sync: Repetition Error Exploited)
His eyes glowed red-blue.
In an instant, he moved like a phantom—predicting her patterns, countering every move. Every strike she landed in the previous timeline… was now useless.
Steel met corrupted data. Her twin blades shattered.
She stumbled backward, stunned.
> "Impossible…"
Rael raised his hand.
> [Stat Override – Unlocked: Partial]
(Strength x3, Speed x2 for 10 seconds)
His form blurred—then appeared behind her.
A glitched explosion of energy followed.
BOOM.
She flew across the room, crashing into the wall and slumping to the floor.
Rael approached slowly, his blade humming beside him.
> "Remove the mask."
She didn't respond.
So Rael reached down—and pulled it off.
Beneath the helmet was… a girl.
Young. Around his age. Short silver hair soaked in blood. Her face pale, beautiful, and unfamiliar—yet there was something... strangely familiar in her eyes.
She coughed and opened her mouth, whispering—
> "We… were chosen… both of us... before the system was born."
Then she passed out.
Rael stared in stunned silence.
> What does that even mean…?
> Who are these people? Why are they coming after me… and this child?
Behind him, the boy in the bed stirred, his eyes flickering open—still half-asleep, yet glowing with unreadable symbols.
Rael turned toward him.
The pieces were forming. Slowly. One glitch at a time.
And he knew—this wasn't about revenge anymore.
It was a war.
A war against the very code that bound the world together.