Kim awoke with a jolt to cold marble beneath him, the sky above shattered into prismatic cracks. He sat up, swinging his legs over a platform that felt too smooth, too sterile. This wasn't the messy ruin of the Fracture Spire's base. This was something else—a hollow hall of mirrors, each reflecting a different memory of his time in Eden Zero.
As he stood, a chorus of distant voices hissed his name. He approached the nearest mirror and saw himself: younger, hopeful, wielding that same beginner's blade in a tutorial zone. Behind him, zombies he hadn't healed cried out, their eyes accusing. A text overlay glowed on the glass:
> "You left us to chase a ghost."
Kim's heart pounded. He reached out, but his fingers passed through. The reflection smirked—and spoke in his own voice: "You think you're special? You cheated us all."
He turned, trying to retrace his steps, but the hall stretched on infinitely. Mirrors floated in midair, each one showing a fragment of his past: NPCs he'd ignored, quest-givers he'd abandoned, friends he'd never made. He realized this place was built from the data of every choice he'd rejected.
A system alert blinked at the corner of his HUD—except the HUD itself was collapsing. The XP bar had vanished, replaced by a new meter: "Obsession %." It pulsed with every step he took. His skill menu flickered, renaming his sword skill to "Chase Ghost (Unstable)."
He tried to access fast-travel. The menu refused. All his saved points were gone. His map was just a blank grid. A harsh whisper echoed through the hall:
> "If you break the system, the system will break you."
Kim swallowed hard. Panic rose. He sprinted forward, only to find himself face-to-face with a portal framed by crackling code. He leapt through—and the world snapped.
He was back at the moment Luna had vanished—only this time, he could see himself watching her go. Her avatar flickered in and out of existence as she walked away, fingers outstretched. He bolted forward, calling her name, but his own body in the mirror replayed the original scene: rooted, powerless. Luna's silhouette dissolved, and the scene reset. Again. And again.
Each loop burned a little more of his resolve. He tried yelling, moving, attacking the mirror behind him—nothing changed. The only constant was that unbearable emptiness as she disappeared every time.
After a third repetition, he collapsed to his knees, chest heaving. The final mirror in the row shattered with a thunderous crack. Light spilled in, revealing a pedestal where a lone NPC stood: a younger version of Kim—bright-eyed, unscarred, wielding a wooden sword. His voice was Luna's—soft, pleading.
> "Why can't you just let me go?"
The boy-Kim raised his sword with shaking hands. He fought silently, each strike echoing doubt and regret. Kim retaliated, but with every blow he delivered, the boy winced, stuttering lines of Luna's farewell.
Kim's arms trembled. His real sword hung heavy at his side. He realized this fight wasn't about winning. It was about listening.
With a single, defeated breath, Kim dropped his weapon. He reached out to the boy-Kim's shoulder. The echoes of every abandoned quest and lost ally faded into silence. The world around him stilled, mirrors dissolving into motes of light.
A final message glowed on his vision:
> Punishment Complete
Obsession Level Reset
Access to "Offline Archive – Luna" Unlocked
The marble beneath him rippled like water, then vanished. He stood in a new, half-rendered chamber—a soft blue light illuminating a single interface: Offline Archive: [Luna].
Kim's chest tightened with anticipation and dread. Whatever lay inside would be the next test of his will. He squared his shoulders, tapped the archive… and stepped forward into the unknown.