> "When a rift opens unexpectedly, it means something older than the world itself is trying to remember your name."
— Zovek, Arena Scholar (Executed)
---
I hadn't slept the night before.
Not because of nightmares.
But because I couldn't stop training.
The playback echoes of every failed spar. The slow-motion image of Kira's dagger slicing across my cheek. The sound of Cero's voice saying, "You don't break easy."
I replayed them all.
Until my hands shook from exhaustion and my breath came ragged.
Until the sun cracked through the gray sky and Vincent's messenger slammed on our barracks door.
---
"Team Eight. Summons. Urgent. Rift activity."
Naera was already pulling her coat on. Cero looked like he hadn't slept either. Thorne just stood and walked.
I followed.
Limping a little.
But walking.
---
The Arena Compound's outer ring was buzzing. Even veteran gladiators were holding weapons. Some stared at the sky. Some whispered.
A rift had opened.
Not part of the scheduled matches. Not sanctioned.
Spontaneous. Raw. Alive.
The kind that left entire outposts missing.
Vincent stood near the jagged tear that had cracked the sky like a glass plate hit with a hammer. Red mist curled around the edges, and the air tasted like scorched iron.
---
"Ah, my favorites," Vincent grinned, eyes sharp as razors. "Perfect time for a test."
I didn't like his tone.
Neither did Thorne.
"This wasn't on the schedule."
Vincent shrugged. "Plans change. This one's fresh—unranked. Might be Tier-F. Might be worse."
"And you want us to just... walk in?" Naera asked, coldly.
He didn't answer. He just handed me a shard—glowing with pulse-like energy—and said, "Three of you. One hour. Clear it, or die. Make me proud."
---
> [QUEST – Echo Rift: The Forgotten Burrow]
Tier Estimate: F (Data Corrupted)
Objective: Survive for 1 Hour
Sub-Objective: Identify and eliminate Rift Core
Time Dilation: 1 Hour Inside = 5 Minutes Outside
Failure Condition: Rift Anchors to Arena System – World Infection Risk
Rewards:
– Phantom Core Upgrade Route Unlocked
– Stat Boost: +2 (Random)
– System Fragment Drop Possible
> Warning: Shadow Activity Detected
Memory Contamination: HIGH
---
I barely had time to process the warning before the world sucked us in.
No animation. No bright light.
Just sudden, utter silence.
---
We landed hard.
My knees hit metal and bone.
The sky above us wasn't blue—it was red and cracked like dried blood. The terrain felt... sick. A graveyard of weapons and bones buried under twitching black grass.
Cero muttered, "This isn't Tier-F…"
Naera scanned with her ward sigils. "It's not even clean. The whole place is... cursed."
I checked my System. Combat Sync was at 40%. Phantom Core: Semi-Integrated. No new weapons. Just a cracked shortblade on my belt and a pouch of dried roots Naera had tossed at me earlier.
---
> [Location: Forgotten Burrow – Outer Tomb]
Rift Time Remaining: 59:48
Corruption Level: Moderate
Entity Detection: Echo Wraiths (Mid-range), Burrow Crawlers (Swarm), ???
---
The first thing we heard was the whispering.
Not words.
Just... pressure.
Voices trying to remember themselves. Or maybe trying to be remembered.
I gripped my weapon.
We moved.
Not fast—slow and careful—through a maze of broken pillars and bone trees wrapped in spirit sigils half-erased by time.
And then it hit.
---
The ground shook. Skittering. Fast. Hundreds of tiny clawed limbs.
They dropped from the ceiling. From trees. From the ground.
---
> [Monster Identified: Burrow Crawler]
Type: Echo-Infected Beast
Rank: E
Weakness: Underside core
Count: 9
Aggression: MAXIMUM
---
Naera shouted, "Flash!"
A burst of white light erupted, slowing the swarm.
Cero surged forward, his spears dancing in a figure-eight arc, impaling two Crawlers mid-air.
I—
—I stood frozen.
Again.
---
> [System Warning: Combat Lag Detected – Emotional Interference Present]
Emergency Override: Activating Phantom Reflex Sync (Tier I)
➤ Neural Delay Shift – On
Perception Accelerated: 40%
Combat Prediction – Partial Enabled
---
Time slowed.
The closest Crawler lunged.
I rolled beneath its arc, stabbed upward, and felt the shortblade dig into soft flesh.
It screeched—then shattered into violet shards.
The moment it died, a second lunged from behind.
I didn't think—I moved.
Duck. Slash. Roll.
> +32 XP
Phantom Core Sync: 44%
Agility: Temporary Boost (+5%)
---
We fought hard.
The swarm wasn't the challenge.
The fatigue was.
By the time the last crawler hissed and dissolved, my chest burned like it was filled with broken glass.
But then the earth screamed.
Literally screamed.
---
> [Rift Core Detected – Awakening Now]
Guardian Manifesting: Hollow Reclaimer
Estimated Rank: B–A
Objective Updated: SURVIVE
---
The floor split apart.
Stone cracked. Bones rose. A monster made of shadow and memory climbed from the earth—ten feet tall, with tendrils of armor and sinew.
Its face—
Its face was mine.
A twisted, screaming echo of my own features—burned and dead-eyed.
I staggered back.
"What—what the hell is that?!"
---
> [Answer: It is your reflection—of fear, hesitation, and self-hate. Given form.]
> [Echo Manifestation Triggered – Rift Threat Level Elevated to Class B]
---
Cero threw a spear into the Reclaimer's chest.
It didn't even flinch.
Naera activated her last ward and shouted, "MOVE!"
The beast roared and lunged at me.
There was no time.
Only instinct.
---
> [System Alert – Fatal Strike Predicted in 1.7 Seconds]
Offering Option: [Echo Fragment – Self]
Exchange: Memory for Power
Accept?
[Y]
---
I didn't hesitate.
I accepted.
And for one second—I wasn't me.
I was something else.
---
My shadow peeled off the floor.
Rose like smoke.
Then charged the beast.
---
> Shadow Possession – Temporary Skill Unlocked
➤ Specter Step: Evade reality to strike from beyond
Use Count: 1
> Shadow Trace – Fragment Unlocked (Locked Sync: 50%)
---
The phantom version of myself leapt onto the Reclaimer's back and began slicing—opening space in its defenses.
I followed the opening. Slammed my shortblade into the glowing heart inside its chest cage.
The creature shrieked. My ears bled.
But it collapsed.
Crashing into a mountain of bones.
Dead.
---
We didn't cheer.
We didn't speak.
We were too exhausted to do anything but breathe.
---
> [QUEST COMPLETE – RIFT CLEARED]
Time Taken: 54:22
Rewards:
– +2 Strength
– Shadow Trace (Locked)
– Phantom Core Sync: 50%
– System Fragment: Echo Memory Preserved
> [Rift Closing in 60 Seconds – Evac Required]
---
We sprinted.
And tumbled out into sunlight.
Vincent stood with his arms crossed.
When he saw us, he laughed.
"You're alive? Damn. That was unexpected."
Naera fell to her knees.
Cero collapsed beside her.
Thorne didn't say anything. But the way he looked at me... changed.
I stood, bleeding, barely holding the blade, and looked down.
My shadow stretched across the stones.
But it wasn't still.
It twitched.
Like it was waiting.
---
> [New Trait Acquired: Echo Residue – Shadow-Linked]
Effect: Your shadow has memory. And when called… it may respond.
---
I didn't know what I'd just awakened.
But for the first time…
I didn't feel like prey.
I felt like the story had just started.
And my name—Wicky Varian—was one the world was beginning to remember.