The door clicked shut behind as Vice Chancellor Kevin Voss left. Leaving a soft echo lingering like a whisper in a tomb.
Ryker sat motionless on the infirmary bed.
The sterile scent of mana sterilized air did nothing to clear the chaos spiraling in his mind. The faint hum of mana circulation echoed in the silence, the sound too clean, too perfect too fake.
Above, the ceiling's crystal lights flickered softly, casting dim, cold shadows on the polished floor.
Outside these walls, the Academy still buzzed students healed, professors whispered, systems rebooted.
Inside, Ryker's thoughts clawed at the walls of his sanity.
'This isn't the same story I edited.'
His fists clenched the bed sheet tightly, making his knuckles pale.
The simulation. The abduction. The city that was soaked in blood and ruin.
None of it should have happened.
That wasn't a test... that was war.
Real. Brutal. Intentional.
And the worst part?
It felt deliberate.
'Goddamn it…'
Ryker had braced himself for divergences when he first transmigrated. He wasn't naive. The butterfly effect was inevitable. But this?
This fast? This far?
The rules of the world. The ones he had known and memorized, lived by, survived by were fracturing.
No,
Not just fracturing. Shattering.
It was as if the narrative thread had snapped and something else had taken over the loom.
He could feel it now. Like the pull of a riptide beneath calm waters. The flow of fate twisting, turning, spiraling toward something darker.
Something is wrong.
No more scripts. No more roadmaps.
The game had changed.
He needed to be unpredictable now.
He needed to be dangerous.
Knock…!!!
The sound hit like a jolt of lightning.
Ryker tensed, instincts snapping awake.
The door creaked open.
Arthur stepped inside, silhouetted by the hallway light. His usual swagger was gone, replaced by a weight that hung from his shoulders like iron chains.
"Yo," he greeted softly. "Didn't think you would be awake."
Ryker's voice was quiet and cracked. "Sleep's not really an option."
Arthur nodded and pulled up a chair, letting out a low grunt as he sank into it.
"You alright?"
Ryker gave a weak smirk. "I have been worse."
Arthur's lips twitched. "Yeah. Me too."
He leaned forward, elbows on knees, gaze distant.
"Lia is stable. Dean is recovering. Sasha is... silent. Not the 'just tired' kind. The kind where something inside her cracked." He paused. "And Lucas…"
Ryker's head jerked up.
"…he hasn't woken up. Medical team says his mana signature is unstable. Almost volatile. They are trying to contain it."
Of course it was. Of course he was.
"I fought a Wraith before I joined the Academy," Arthur continued, voice low. "Alone. It was brutal. Smart. Tactical. But this simulation?"
He shook his head, breath sharp.
"That wasn't a fight. That was a slaughterhouse. The beasts in there… they weren't part of any preset. They were real. And they were pissed."
Ryker's eyes narrowed.
Arthur met his gaze. "We weren't being tested. We were being dissected."
The words landed like a punch to the gut.
Silence stretched between them, thick and choking.
Then, Arthur stood up, "Chancellor Vael wants to see us. One on one. Her office. Tomorrow morning. No instructors."
Ryker blinked. "Vael herself?"
Arthur nodded grimly. "Yeah. Thought you would want to know." He paused at the door. "Be careful, Ryker. This isn't the same game anymore."
The door closed behind him with a soft, final click.
And silence returned.
But it was different now.
Not empty.
Watchful.
[DING!]
Ryker flinched as a translucent screen materialized before his eyes, casting a faint blue glow over the dim room.
[...Quest Failed!!!]
[•Hidden Quest: Save Lucas from the Corruption]
[...FAILED]
"What…?" Ryker whispered. "I didn't even…"
[Penalty Incurred…]
[Wisdom stat has been reduced by 30…]
[New Wisdom Stat: 10]
[...Warning…..]
[Wisdom stat critically low…]
[You are extremely vulnerable to mental
manipulation, illusions and psychic attacks.]
[Immediate recovery recommended.]
"Shit," Ryker hissed.
He hadn't even been told there was a quest.
No notification. No indicator. Just silent, invisible judgment.
And he had failed.
Another ping followed.
[Lucas Lockhart – Corruption Status: 9%]
[Please Note….]
[At 20% – Subject begins deviating from fate]
[At 50% – Irreversible corruption]
[At 80% – Cataclysmic transformation]
[At 100% – World termination scenario
triggered]
'No…'
'No, no, no.'
Ryker stared at the digits like they might change.
9%.
It had already started.
He hadn't saved Lucas.
He hadn't even known he was supposed to.
Goddammit!!!
Now, Lucas was slipping toward a fate not written in the novel. And how Fallen said only Lucas could save this world.
This is bad.
A darkness that didn't just corrupt this story way too fast.
It has been rewritten.
And Ryker?
He had just lost thirty points from his only line of mental defense.
"Perfect. Just… fcking perfect."
His breath hitched. Rage coiled in his chest like a striking viper.
"Two hits," he muttered. "No warning. No time. No goddamn chance."
His hands trembled.
But anger alone wouldn't fix anything.
Not anymore.
'Focus, Ryker. You don't get to panic.'
Huuuuh!!!
.
.
.
Huuuuh!!!
He took a deep breath. Then another.
The fire dulled into embers.
Ryker stood up even though every muscle in his body protesting and screaming in pain.
He ignored it.
Tomorrow, he would meet Seraphina Vael.
Chancellor of Nexus Academy.
The Crimson Queen.
One of the most powerful figures in the world and the most dangerous wildcard in the story.
She didn't ask for private meetings without a reason.
And Ryker?
He was walking in blind.
No. Not blind.
He began pacing, each step deliberate.
He rifled through every scene from the novel, memories, monologues, throwaway lines.
'Come on… there has to be something'
Then it clicked..
A memory surfaced.
A single line. Spoken in passing. But it had haunted the fanbase for years.
A phrase Seraphina had uttered one that didn't match the timeline, lore or logic.
Something no character in the novel should have known.
Not unless…
Ryker's lips curled into a smile.
Cold.
Calculated.
Predatory.
That's it.
He had found leverage.
Tomorrow, he would enter her den.
On her terms.
On her rules
But he wouldn't be unarmed.
Ryker would bring the one thing she didn't expect
An advantage.