The moment Kazen accepted the Root Coordinates, the air folded inward.
Not warped—rewritten.
> System Beacon Activated: Root Layer Descent
> Layer Access: Level 1
> Clearance: Codebreaker Verified
The world collapsed into strands of glowing script. Kazen felt his body invert—like falling through his own code. He didn't land. He existed somewhere new.
The Root Domain wasn't a place.
It was the system's memory.
Strings of unfiltered data flowed across a dark void, crisscrossed with broken admin panels, corrupted commands, and relics from forgotten updates.
Kazen's interface flickered.
> Warning: Reality Context Unstable
> Timeflow: Nonlinear
> Entity Presence: High
The Codebreaker's voice echoed in his mind, faint but precise.
"Every god is buried in a layer. Seven in total. The first is named Nullfather. He governs all beginnings—and all deletions."
From the distance, a signal pulsed—red and hollow. Kazen followed it across floating code fragments.
He passed monuments from other players. Avatars sealed in crystal. A log file with the name "PLAYER_001" etched into a tomb.
He stopped at a floating altar, engraved with binary that translated into one word:
"REMEMBER."
Then the world lit up.
From the void emerged a titan—faceless, arms stretched endlessly through the data-streams, each finger connected to system commands like puppet strings.
> Entity Detected: Forgotten God - Nullfather
> Function: Initiation / Memory Erasure
> Class: Cosmic
> Power Rating: Unknown
Its voice echoed like a deletion prompt.
"You were never meant to reach me."
Kazen raised his blade. "Good. That means I'm in the right place."
The Nullfather didn't attack.
Instead, Kazen's HUD collapsed.
All his skills—gone. His stats—blurred.
> You are in Null Space.
> All Code Advantage: Disabled
> Combat Mode: Memory Reversion Only
Suddenly, Kazen was back in his school uniform. No sword. No system.
Just… himself.
And the god staring down like a parental firewall.
Patchling hovered nearby, barely visible. "This… is a soul test."
A voice echoed inside him: his own.
"I am nothing without the system."
"No," he whispered back. "I'm the reason it matters."
Then he ran forward—barehanded—into the god's reach.
The Nullfather lashed out with lines of code. Kazen dodged—not with reflexes, but with intent. With memory.
Each time he resisted, something reignited inside.
> Soul Fragment Recovered: "Choice"
> Soul Fragment Recovered: "Defiance"
> Soul Fragment Recovered: "Hope"
His form stabilized.
The system returned.
> Combat Mode: Reinstated
> Weapon Manifested: Soul Drive Reforged
> New Skill Unlocked: Core Override
He leapt and slashed.
The Nullfather's fingers snapped—trying to erase the world.
But Kazen rewrote himself.
Not a user. Not a puppet.
A Codeborn.
His blade struck the titan's core.
The god exploded in streams of pale light.
> Victory Confirmed
> Layer One Cleared
> Sync Progress: 74%
> Ability Unlocked: Code Anchor (Immune to Forced Memory Resets)
Patchling drifted beside him, stunned. "You just killed a god."
"No," Kazen said. "I just started the war."