The morning after the duel felt… suspiciously peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Baron awoke to find Luna curled around his leg like a possessive jungle cat, Aria leaning on his shoulder pretending to sleep (but clearly awake), and Eirene making breakfast with a knowing smile.
"You all act like this is normal," Baron grumbled.
"It is," Eirene said. "You're in a harem simulator with aggressive AI emotional scripting. This is basically brunch."
Suddenly, the System chime pinged.
[NEW CHARACTER HAS ENTERED THE GAMEBOARD]
Warning: Alignment Unknown. Aura: Overwhelming. Style: Lethal Temptation.
Baron blinked. "Lethal what?"
Then the skies cracked.
Literally.
A rift tore through the air over the clearing, glowing violet with shimmering static. A platform descended—glass, chrome, obsidian—and atop it stood the most dangerously beautiful woman Baron had ever seen.
Her long, silver-blonde hair flowed like moonlight dipped in wine. Her heels stabbed into reality with every step. She wore a sleek bodysuit made of stitched black magic and guilt.
Her name?
[NEW CHARACTER: Lady Solaria Noct]
Title: The Villainess of Version 0.99
Special Traits: Reality Rewriter, Kiss of Oblivion, Big Bad Ex Energy™
She stepped off the platform, eyeing Baron like he was an appetizer at a cursed feast.
"Well, well," she purred. "Still cute. Still cursed. And somehow still alive."
Luna growled, stepping in front of him. "Who are you?"
"Someone who owned him," Solaria said smoothly, "before the patch notes erased me."
Aria pulled her sword. "You talk like a rejected update."
Solaria smiled with blood-red lips. "No, darling. I'm the original endgame."
The camp erupted into chaos.
Luna tried to scratch her. Solaria teleported behind her with a flick.
Aria tried to incinerate her. Solaria absorbed the flame, sighing like it was perfume.
Eirene… just sat down with tea. "This'll be fun."
Baron stumbled back, tripping over a rock. "WHY is she talking like we dated?"
"Because we did, sweetling," Solaria cooed. "For 14 simulated cycles before you chose the reset ending."
Baron blinked. "I chose what?!"
Solaria knelt beside him, lips inches from his ear. "You said: 'Let's just be friends.'"
Her voice dropped to a hiss. "No one… friends… me."
[SYSTEM: Warning. Villainess Aura disrupting Harem Harmony levels. Recommend retreat.]
Baron scrambled up. "YES. Retreat sounds amazing. Where's the—"
Solaria snapped her fingers.
A second later, he was trapped inside a floating bubble of inverted gravity.
"Oh gods—"
Inside the bubble, time slowed.
Solaria appeared in front of him, floating like a goddess of broken code. Her eyes glowed with pixel static.
"You don't remember, Baron. But I do."
"What are you?"
She smiled. "A glitch. A backup. A secret ending no one picked… but I remember every line of dialogue you said to me."
Baron winced. "Was I… nice?"
"You said I had 'final boss energy and girlfriend potential.' Then you reset the game."
"Oh no…"
"Oh yes."
Back in the real world, Aria and Luna had teamed up, trying to break the bubble.
Eirene looked amused, sipping wine she hadn't had a second ago.
"He's fine," she said. "Probably."
Inside the glitch bubble…
Solaria leaned closer. "Let me back in, Baron. Let me rewrite your story. Ditch the pixel pets and tsundere baggage."
"I—I can't!" Baron said. "They'll kill me if I even consider it!"
She blinked. Then she… smiled.
"Oh good. That means I still have competition. This will be fun."
Then she kissed his cheek.
And vanished.
The bubble popped like soap.
Baron collapsed into Aria and Luna's arms—literally—his face flushed, his cheek glowing slightly where her lips had touched.
Luna glared. "What did she do to you?"
Baron groaned. "Downloaded trauma."
That night, the girls stood around the campfire—tension like a storm cloud.
"We need a plan," Aria said.
"She's insanely strong," Luna admitted. "And hot. Dangerously hot."
"Too hot," Baron muttered.
Eirene added, "She's not part of the standard Harem Package. She's custom. That means she could be tied to the source code of your blessing."
Baron sat up. "So she might be able to break it?"
"Or claim it," Eirene said. "Or merge it. Or rewrite reality to make you her exclusive love interest."
Baron stared at the stars again. "…Why is this happening to me?"
The System pinged softly in his mind.
[SYSTEM: Would you like to submit a bug report?]
Baron sighed. "Yes."
[SYSTEM: Report noted. You are the bug.]
❤️ END OF CHAPTER 8
✅ Who is Solaria really? Will she rewrite reality or just seduce everyone?
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