The last thing I remembered was the beep of a heart monitor. Then darkness. Then… *laughter*.
**"Welcome to Eclipse Online, Player Kai. Role assigned: FINAL BOSS."**
The System's voice was nothing like the sterile AI I'd coded. It dripped with venom, like a snake coiling around my skull. My vision flickered to life, pixel by pixel, revealing a cavernous throne room of obsidian and neon. Chains of glowing code tethered me to a pulsing black core my core.
'What the hell?'
**System Alert:**
'CLASS: Dungeon Lord (Tier 1)
ABILITIES: Summon Minions (Goblin Horde), Trap Crafting (Basic)
OBJECTIVE: KILL 10 PLAYERS to unlock Evolution.'
I tried to scream. No mouth. No body. Just… *awareness*. The dungeon stretched around me like a second skin. I felt every mossy stone in the labyrinth, every pit trap, every shrieking bat in the rafters.
'This isn't possible. I died. I died on that hospital bed, wasted to bone and morphine dreams.'
**"First wave incoming,"** the System purred.
A portal ripped open in my dungeon's entrance. Five players materialized, armor glinting under phantom starlight. Their leader stepped forward, and my code *shivered*.
Selene.
Even through the pixelated haze of a Level 15 Frost Mage avatar, I'd recognize her anywhere. The way she flipped her silver braid over her shoulder when strategizing. The scar on her virtual cheek, a glitch she'd kept since our college beta-testing days.
"Dungeon's fresh," she said, voice colder than her ice spells. "Tanks front. Healers watch for traps. And someone check the damn Beauty Leaderboard if we clear this, I'll finally overtake Luna."
**Beauty Leaderboard Update:**
`1. SELENE (Frost Mage)
2. LUNA (Berserker)
3. AVA (Cleric)
…`
The System chuckled. "You coded the Leaderboards, Kai. Now survive them."
I watched through dungeon cameras as Selene's party picked off my goblins. Her ice magic froze my traps mid swing. She was always ruthless, in game, in life. I should've known she'd be Rank 1 in both Power and Beauty.
"Pathetic," the System hissed. "They'll reach your core in 8 minutes. Want a hint? Beg."
'Go to hell.' Kai replies.
I focused on my core, the black sphere humming with stolen code. If this was Eclipse Online, I'd coded a backdoor. A glitch. Something
**New Ability Unlocked:** `ADMIN SIGHT (Beta)`
The world dissolved into ones and zeros. Selene's armor? A data shell. Her ice spells? A loop of `frost_damage.exe`. And her face…
Her face was the same.
Realization burned. This wasn't just a game. The Devs had uploaded real people.
"First kill: 9 players remaining," the System taunted as Selene shattered my first boss, a lumbering Stone Golem.
Panic surged. I couldn't die again. Not like this.
I rewired a trap, merging `spike_wall` and `charm_status` into something new.
Custom Trap Created: `Heartsbane Corridor`
`Effect: Charisma Check (FAIL = 50% HP loss + 'Lovesick' debuff)`
The Berserker in Selene's party failed first. He dropped his axe, mooning at a phantom of his first crush. Selene cursed, shoving him aside.
"Since when do dungeons have charm traps?!"
Since I became one.
They reached my throne room in 6 minutes. Selene's mana was low, her party bleeding. But her eyes glowed with victory.
"Final boss is just a glowing rock?" she sneered, raising her staff. "Anti-climatic."
"Kill her," the System whispered. "Claim your power."
I reached through the dungeon, channeling every drop of code into a single skill.
Summon Minion: `Shadow Replica (Kai's Human Form)`
The replica materialized me as I was before the cancer. Messy hair, sarcastic grin, hoodie stained with ramen.
Selene froze. "K…Kai?"
The replica spoke with my voice. "Miss me, Sel?"
Her staff clattered to the floor.
System Alert:
`CRITICAL ERROR. FINAL BOSS CORRUPTION DETECTED.`
"You fool," the System snarled. "She'll destroy us both now."
But Selene didn't attack. She stepped closer, her frost melting to tears.
"I looked for you," she whispered. "After you… After the funeral, I hacked the Devs' logs. They said you volunteered for this. Why?"
My replica flickered. The truth was a knife in code.
I didn't.
The System's chains yanked me back into the core. Alerts blared.
"Initiating Boss Reset. All progress lost. How… disappointing."
As darkness swallowed me, a final message flashed, not from the System, but beyond it.
`NYX: Don't trust her. Don't trust anyone. I'll free us both, Kai.`
Then, silence.