The cave flickered with dying aurora light. Jun remained still, his eyes half-lidded, his breaths shallow but controlled. The Flame Spiral fragment hummed faintly within his meridian web, nestled alongside Glacial Pulse like conflicting spirits pressed into uneasy harmony.
Dual Affinity Detected: Ice / Flame Conflict Coefficient: 41% Warning: Spiritual Disharmony may result in Breath Path Collapse.
He winced. This wasn't some cooldown clash or gear mismatch—this was elemental dissonance embedded in his being. Still, he smiled faintly. This kind of tension… it felt alive.
He sat up. Outside, snowfall blanketed the ridges, whispering over the stone like voices from a forgotten scripture.
Real World | Game Leaks and Shadow Markets
A day later, in a digital back alley on the black-net, someone leaked Rootless Codex screenshots. They spread like wildfire among elite hacker-forums, guild leaders, and underground game modders.
Sora was livid.
"Who accessed the Legacy Server?" she barked.
Minase replied, "It was a piggyback sync. Someone's mirroring Jun's Codex development. Possibly another Rootless candidate."
The Lead Systems Architect rubbed his temples. "We should've wiped Origin's base code. Now Rootless mechanics are bleeding into public threads. Players are asking questions. Our economy can't handle a second system."
"Too late," Minase said. "Three new users showed up last night. Same symptom: no system UI. All started near forgotten Breath Shrines."
Game Mechanics Unfolding
Jun stepped into a ravine choked with frost-brittle vines. Strange, translucent lotuses bloomed along the water's edge. As he approached, a glyph bloomed in midair.
Side Path Discovered: Breath Garden Function Unlocked: Organic Qi Conversion
He narrowed his eyes. Another mechanic?
The system window, curiously primitive, listed a new feature:
Qi Synthesis Tree [Experimental Mode] Available Inputs: Breath Residue, Echo Shards, Organic Affinity Flora
Jun plucked one of the lotus flowers and placed it on the interface's central ring.
Breath Lotus Accepted Flame Spiral Fragment + Glacial Pulse = ???
With a spark of will, he confirmed the merge. The lotus dissolved, shimmering into gold mist. His body shuddered.
New Breath Technique Formed: Frostburn Spiral Step Grade: Unranked (Experimental)
He staggered, nearly vomiting. His meridians flared with both ice and fire, coiling like dragons in a storm.
Character Introduction: Riven
"You shouldn't mix Breath Forms that recklessly."
The voice was calm, but edged with authority. A tall figure emerged from the foliage—long dark coat, a faintly humming weapon sheathed on his back, and no system tags.
Unknown Entity Detected: Rootless Signature Confirmed Name: Riven Title: Breathforged Hunter Alignment: ???
"You're another Rootless," Jun said.
Riven nodded. "Fourth Gen. Started two years ago. Before the Admin Lockdown."
Jun's eyes widened. "There were Rootless before me?"
Riven sat beside the pond. "There were nine of us. Now… just me. You. And maybe one more. The rest fell to Echo corruption or deletion protocols."
He tossed Jun a vial.
Item Received: Essence Stabilizer (Legacy Alchemy)
"You'll need that if you want to survive hybrid cultivation. Glacial and Flame aren't supposed to mix. But the system never considered what we are."
Quest Mechanic: Legacy Path Trial
Riven stood, tapping a carved stone with a knuckle. A sigil shimmered to life.
Trial Unlocked: Breathforge Baptism Description: Survive a full day in the Spiral Grove while resonating with dual affinities.
"I've seen three people try this," Riven said. "One came out half-mad. One never came out. The last… turned into an Echo."
Jun cracked his neck. "Guess I'm aiming for 'none of the above.'"
The sigil burned into the air, and Jun stepped forward.
Real World | Security Escalation
In NexSoul's Tokyo HQ, the crisis team pulled up new telemetry.
"Jun just triggered a Legacy Path Trial," said Sora. "That ritual hasn't been touched since Beta Year One."
"Let him," said Minase.
Sora blinked. "You're not worried?"
"I'm terrified. But I also want to see what happens when a player reclaims Breath inheritance with modern interpretation. He's not playing a game. He's rewriting its spiritual physics."
Outside, screens across Tokyo flickered. Ads for Heaven's Gate Online pulsed strangely—sometimes showing unfamiliar shrines. Sometimes showing Jun's silhouette.
System Broadcast Alert: Legacy Path Trial Active Location: Hidden
Sora cursed. "They're broadcasting his trial?!"
Breathforge Baptism Begins
The grove was alive with soundless pressure. Frost-covered blossoms clashed with flame-licked vines. Jun stood shirtless in the storm of conflict, his Breath rhythm struggling to synchronize.
Flame Spiral: Incomplete Glacial Pulse: Stage 1 Technique Integration: 38%
He gritted his teeth. Every moment burned and froze his spirit. But he focused on the stillness Mei had taught him. Breath wasn't movement. It was awareness.
Slow inhale.
Hold.
Slow exhale.
The winds obeyed.
Time fragmented. Visions danced around him—glimpses of the nine original Rootless, their paths, their failures. One sobbed as she shattered into pixels. One reached too far into system code and was swallowed by data voids.
Breath Path Anchor Achieved: Frostburn Core Trial Phase 1 Complete
The grove trembled. Riven, watching from the edge, murmured, "He's syncing with the myth engine. It's responding to him."
And above them, far beyond the in-game sky, a red eye blinked awake in the system's back-end codebase.