The last thing I remembered was the sound of glass shattering—except it wasn't glass. It was the sky itself.
I had been sitting in my cramped apartment, fingers flying across the keyboard as I pushed my avatar through the final dungeon of Shattered Realm Online. The boss's health bar had just dipped below 5% when thunder rolled outside my window.
Lightning split the night. The world went white.
And then—silence.
When I opened my eyes again, the room was gone. My chair, my desk, the cheap noodles I hadn't finished… all vanished.
Instead, I stood on cracked stone beneath a burning sky. Giant fragments of crystal floated overhead like broken mirrors of reality, glowing faintly with power. The ground trembled as if the world itself were struggling to hold together.
> [System Booting…]
Welcome, Fragment Bearer.
A metallic voice rang inside my skull. Cold, feminine, and precise.
I froze.
"What the—who said that?"
> [Crystal AI Interface Online. Identity Confirmed. Name: Alex Nightfall. Status: Newly Awakened.]
My blood ran cold. Alex Nightfall. That was the name of my in-game character. But this wasn't a game. The air was too sharp, the heat of the cracked earth too real.
I glanced down. My hands weren't my usual ones—they were covered in faint glowing lines, as if someone had carved runes into my skin. A faint aura pulsed around me, responding to my heartbeat.
"No way…" I whispered. "I actually… became him?"
The voice spoke again.
> [Reality Collapse: 87%. The Shattered Realm requires stabilization. Bearer detected. Synchronization initiated.]
Before I could respond, a sudden roar tore through the air.
From the horizon, a beast emerged—a wolf the size of a house, its body fused with black crystal spikes. Its eyes glowed crimson, locked on me.
"Oh, hell no…" I staggered back, heart racing. I had fought monsters like this a hundred times in-game, but face-to-face? The ground shook as it charged, each step cracking stone.
"Crystal AI!" I shouted. "Do something!"
> [Combat Protocol Unlocked. Beginner Skill Granted.]
Skill: Shard Slash (Lv.1) — Condense fractured reality into a blade of crystal energy.
A blue light ignited in my palm. A blade of jagged crystal extended outward, humming with unstable power.
I barely had time to raise it before the wolf lunged. Its maw opened, fangs dripping with molten saliva.
"Come on!" I roared, swinging the blade with everything I had.
The crystal edge sliced across its snout, sparks flying. The beast howled, stumbling back, but not dead—not even close.
> [First Strike Registered. Energy Resonance Increased by 3%.]
The voice was calm, mechanical, while my heart pounded like a war drum.
"Three percent? Are you kidding me?!"
The wolf circled, growling, crystal spikes rattling like knives ready to pierce me. My grip on the Shard Blade tightened.
If this really was Shattered Realm made real, then I only had two choices: fight… or die.
The beast lunged again. I braced myself, crystal blade raised—
And then, from the shattered sky above, a new fragment of glowing crystal plummeted toward us like a falling star.
It slammed into the ground between me and the wolf, erupting in a shockwave that hurled me backward.
Dust and light blinded me. I coughed, struggling to see.
When the glow cleared, I realized the fragment wasn't just a chunk of crystal.
It was a person.
A girl, lying unconscious, her body glowing faintly with the same runes that marked my skin.
The Crystal AI's voice spoke again, sharper this time.
> [Warning: Second Fragment Bearer Detected. Destiny Protocol Activated.]
My pulse froze.
Another bearer? Already?
The wolf growled again, circling us both. And as the girl stirred, opening her eyes, I knew one thing for certain—
My journey in the Shattered Realm had only just begun.
To be continued…