Ren's breath caught in his throat as the voice resonated through the void, its words wrapping around him like a suffocating blanket. The Origin. The place where all errors converged. The very name felt ancient, as though it held the secrets of the world—secrets that had been buried for eons.
Lira looked around, her eyes wide with disbelief. "The Origin? What does that even mean? Is this… is this what's been behind everything?"
Eon, his scanner still flickering erratically, shook his head. "This place—this space—doesn't exist in any of the system's protocols. It's not supposed to be here. We've crossed into something beyond the code."
The void around them stretched infinitely in all directions. There were no walls, no landmarks—just an endless expanse of shifting, glitching colors. The air hummed with a strange energy, and Ren could feel it buzzing beneath his skin, vibrating with something that wasn't quite right.
"We need to find out what's here," Ren said, his voice steady despite the unease that churned in his stomach. "This is the heart of it all. The remnant, the glitches, everything—it all leads back here."
Lira nodded, though her expression was filled with uncertainty. "And how do we get answers? This place doesn't even look like it's part of the world we know."
Before Ren could respond, the voice spoke again, its tone almost… amused.
> "You seek answers, but answers are not so easily given."
The words reverberated through the void, and suddenly, before them, a shimmering portal began to materialize. It was circular, its surface like a mirror, reflecting their surroundings, though it twisted the image in strange and unsettling ways.
Ren took a cautious step forward, his eyes fixed on the portal. "Is that… the way forward?"
The voice responded, its presence looming over them like a dark cloud.
> "The path you seek lies beyond, but beware. The Origin will not yield to those who are unworthy. The trials await."
A low, rumbling sound filled the air, and the ground beneath their feet trembled. The portal's surface rippled, distorting like water disturbed by a stone. Ren's heart raced. Whatever lay beyond it, whatever tests awaited them—he had no choice but to face it.
Without another word, Ren stepped forward, his eyes locked onto the portal. Lira and Eon followed closely behind, their steps hesitant but resolute.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the world around them changed again. The void was replaced by a vast, sprawling landscape—one that felt both familiar and alien at the same time. It was as if they had been transported to a version of the world they knew, but distorted, like a dream or a half-remembered memory.
The ground beneath their feet was cracked and uneven, with jagged cliffs rising high into the air. The sky above them was a swirling mixture of colors, dark storm clouds swirling in an unnatural dance, as if the world itself was unstable.
Lira's voice trembled as she took in the scene. "This… this place is wrong. It's like the world, but… broken."
Ren nodded, his gaze sweeping across the horizon. The air felt heavy, charged with energy. The Origin was clearly not just a place—it was a force, something far more powerful than they had imagined. And it wasn't just a physical location—it was a manifestation of something deeper, something that affected the very structure of the world.
"We're in the heart of it now," Ren said, his voice low and firm. "The code of the world itself is unstable here. We have to find the source—the core. That's where the true error lies."
Eon's scanner beeped rapidly, the readings spiking in intensity. "It's not just unstable. It's actively shifting. The system's protocols are constantly changing here. This place doesn't adhere to any known structure."
Suddenly, a strange crackling sound filled the air, followed by a series of sharp, jagged forms materializing out of the air. They were like shadows, flickering in and out of existence, taking on monstrous, distorted shapes. Their eyes glowed with an eerie red light, and they moved with inhuman speed.
Ren's hand instinctively went to his Thread Splicer. "Looks like we have company," he muttered, his tone hardening.
The first of the shadow creatures lunged at them with a screech, its body shifting and warping as it moved. Ren slashed out with the Thread Splicer, but the creature dissolved into mist before his blade could make contact. He barely had time to react as another shadow emerged behind him, its claws extending like jagged blades.
"Watch out!" Lira shouted, pushing Ren aside just in time to avoid the creature's attack. She drew her weapon—a sleek, modified staff—and swung it at the creature, striking it square in the chest. The creature recoiled, but instead of dissolving, it seemed to reform itself, twisting its shape before lunging again.
Ren gritted his teeth. "They're not stopping. We have to move!"
The creatures were relentless, their movements disjointed and erratic as they attacked in waves. Each strike they made was met with a wave of distortion, as though they were born from the errors themselves. With each failed attack, the creatures shifted, adapting and reforming, growing stronger with every passing moment.
"We need to get to the core," Ren said between gritted teeth, slashing at another of the creatures. "The longer we stay here, the harder it's going to be to escape."
Eon fired his weapon, creating a barrage of energy blasts that disintegrated several of the creatures. "I'm not sure we can escape. They're not like anything we've faced before. This world is alive in a way we don't understand. The creatures aren't just enemies—they're a manifestation of the error itself."
Ren's mind raced as the creatures closed in, their forms shifting and warping in the air. He could feel the pulse of the Origin, the core of the world, calling to him. This was it. This was the heart of the system. If they didn't reach it now, if they didn't solve the riddle of the Origin, they might never escape.
"We'll fight our way through," Ren said, voice filled with determination. "We have to reach the core and reset this place. If we don't… this world will fall apart."
As the last of the shadow creatures descended upon them, Ren, Lira, and Eon stood together, ready for the trial that awaited them.