Night settled over Mossbridge like a heavy curtain.
Riven crept along the guild's lower corridor, lantern in one hand, map in the other. "You coming or what?" he whispered.
Ash followed, his senses sharper than they should be. The system's passive still clung to his nerves like static. Even with its combat functions quiet, something in him felt more aware. Or maybe more hunted.
"You sure about this?" Ash muttered, glancing behind them.
Riven nodded. "Old man at the archive said there's a sealed room. No one's opened it in years. Used to belong to a Rank SR memory mage." He paused. "Name's scratched out."
Ash didn't like that. Memory mages and scratched names rarely meant something good.
They reached a rusted door at the very end of the hallway—no keyhole, no knob. Just a glyph etched in cracked stone.
Ash crouched. The system pinged softly.
> [Ancient Lock Detected]
[Trigger Condition: Direct Mana Surge or Legacy Code Signature]
Error: You match partial legacy code.
[Override Authorization: GRANTED]
The glyph flared blue. Dust scattered.
With a hiss, the door slid open sideways, revealing a pitch-black room.
Riven stepped inside, blade half-drawn. "Smells like dead magic."
Ash entered behind him—and stopped cold.
The room wasn't just a vault. It was a tomb of forgotten systems.
On the walls, glowing fragments of code drifted like fireflies—shattered UI screens frozen in time. Broken stat windows. Corrupted skill trees. Warnings. Glitches.
> [Welcome to: Memory Locker #07]
[Status: Sealed System Archives | Fragmented Hosts: 12]
> Data Core Detected
Residual Entity Echo Active…
A small podium in the center held a floating crystal. Inside it—a faint silhouette of a person flickered, like a ghost trapped in code.
Ash stepped forward, heart hammering.
> [Echo Playback Available: Proceed? (Y/N)]
He selected Yes.
The room darkened. The crystal flared.
A voice played—distorted but still audible.
"If you're hearing this… then the system survived."
"I tried to contain it. The leech protocol—unstable. It spreads. Consumes. Be warned: it's not just a power… it's a predator."
Riven flinched. "What the hell is that?"
The voice continued. "The first bearer couldn't control it. Nor could the second. If you're next—pray you die before the limiter breaks."
The crystal cracked—and the room went dark again.
> [System Alert: Echo Data Synced. Passive Skill Log Updated.]
[New Passive Trait Unlocked: Leech Pulse – Auto-trigger when HP < 25% | Temporarily freezes stat decay and siphons ambient energy]
Ash staggered back. He hadn't chosen that. The system gave it to him.
Riven looked at him. "Okay… that was not normal dungeon loot."
Ash said nothing. He was still processing. Twelve hosts. A predator. A leech that chooses its next bearer.
> [Your designation: Host #13]
[Limiter: Incomplete | Auto-Stabilization: Failing Slowly]
A cold sweat broke down Ash's neck.
He wasn't just using the system.
It was using him too.
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