The countdown to emergency rescue in the real world hung overhead like the sword of Damocles.Sophia stared at the system interface where the numbers kept ticking down—14:32:17, the final deadline for her body's survival in reality.
[World Corruption Level: 79%][Male Lead Seal Status: Temporal Amber (Unlock Condition: Unknown)]
The mirror in the infirmary reflected golden code patterns spreading from the corners of her eyes, each breath stirring faint flickers of flowing data.The surveillance footage she cracked open last night played on loop in her mind: a hooded figure inserting a violet crystal into her main server—and the star-shaped scar on his right hand matched a very real person: her rival in the real world, CoreTech's chief engineer.
"You still have time to daydream?"Lillian barged in, her hair clip—shaped like a cluster of stars—shattered halfway."Bianca's awake. She says she wants to see you!"
In the isolation chamber, Bianca curled up in the corner.The purple marks on her neck had faded into a web of scars.When Sophia approached, she suddenly gripped the bars and screamed:
"No mirrors! They're O's eyes!"
Her pupils trembled between terror and lucidity, spitting out fragmented memories from when she was controlled:
"Mortimer... no, it was O—inhabiting him… incubating in the Crimson Corridor…He needs the Creator's access to complete the hatching…"
One of the guards suddenly began convulsing, his eyes rolling back into oily blackness.Sophia yanked Lillian away just as the guard's neck twisted a full 180 degrees and he spoke in Mortimer's distorted voice:
"Time to go home, Designer."
Lillian's broken star clip flared with a blinding light, ripping open a teleport gate as dark tendrils lashed out.
The entrance to the Crimson Corridor was hidden behind the third wine barrel in the kitchen cellar.The moment they stepped through, Sophia's system interface warped violently:
[WARNING: Entering Undefined Zone][Designer Privileges: Force-Activated]
The walls were no longer stone—they pulsed with a grotesque mix of flesh and gears.Fluorescent streams of code flowed across the floor.Scraps of her old design sketches floated through the air—one of them bore the same ∇ symbol as Lucien's pocket watch.
"These… are my memories?"Sophia touched a drifting sticky note, which held an early scrapped idea:"Male Lead Alt Design: Prisoner of Time."
A low, infant-like wailing echoed from deeper within the corridor.They turned a corner—and froze.
Hundreds of crystal coffins stood upright in a pool of blood.Each held a woman who looked just like Sophia.In the nearest one, a "Sophia" in modern pajamas had a violet crystal embedded in her chest.
[Identical DNA Detected][Identity Confirmed: Creator of the First Six World Iterations]
At the corridor's end floated an altar with a two-faced mirror.Its front reflected the crimson moon of the game world;its back showed her real-world body being rushed into surgery.Around the mirror frame was engraved the ultimate paradox:
"The Observer Is Also the Prisoner."
When Sophia's fingertip touched the glass, a flood of twin memories crashed into her—
Real-World Thread:The hooded man sneering as he embedded the crystal—"Your game will be O's incubator."
Game-World Thread:Lucien opening his eyes inside the Temporal Amber—his pocket watch projecting: "Use the First Mage's Key to rewrite the ending!"
Suddenly, the altar crumbled, revealing a massive black cocoon pulsing beneath.Mortimer's face surfaced on its shell.
"Welcome, seventh sacrifice."
As they fled, dark tendrils snared Lillian.She ripped off her broken clip and shoved it into Sophia's hands:
"Take this—find the Clocktower Ghost!"
The moment the clip pierced Sophia's palm, Lillian's body dissolved into cascading data.A final system message appeared:
[Key Item Acquired: Heart of Stars (Lillian's Personality Backup)][Friendship Level Locked: 100/100]
Sophia activated a time-jump and escaped to the top of the Clocktower—the place where she'd once designed a tragic NPC ghost:an assistant professor trapped in a time rift after an experiment gone wrong.
But the one waiting under the moonlight…was a half-transparent Bianca.
"There is no ghost..." Bianca's ankles were already fading."The First Mage is the prototype for all of us."
She pointed to the gears at the heart of the clock.Embedded there was a silver key—its shape a perfect fit for Lucien's watch.
At 00:04:11 left on the real-world timer, Sophia inserted the key into the mirror's frame.On the front, it showed Lucien still sealed in amber.On the back, her physical body was being wheeled into the operating room.
O's manic laughter cracked the walls:
"Which world will you choose?"
Sophia's fingertip ignited with golden Designer Privilege light—and she stabbed it into the point where both worlds intersected.
"I choose a third path—"
The key began to turn.Ancient gears inside the tower roared to life.In the blood-red corridor, all the crystal coffins opened—and the spectral versions of Sophia from the six past worlds rose above the blood pool.
Together, they spoke in unison:
"Initialize World Reboot Protocol!"
Blinding white light consumed everything.The last thing Sophia saw was a fractured system message:
[Final Boss Activation: 99% → ERROR][World Line Reconstruction Initiated—]
When the light faded, she was standing on a sunlit academy lawn.Her wristwatch displayed an impossible date: Enrollment Day One.
Not far away, Lucien was picking up a book titled Ancient Magical Theory.As he looked up, a flicker of golden data pulsed through his left eye.