> Location: Outer Ring — Abandoned Factory Outpost, South of Mist Forest
The rusted skeleton of the old factory loomed before me like a metal graveyard. Every step I took echoed off the corroded walls, a hollow sound that seemed to mock my presence. Moss crawled up the surfaces like green veins, cables hung like dead snakes from ceiling fixtures that had long since given up their ghost, and everything hummed with a sound that made my teeth ache and my bones vibrate.
This place felt wrong. Beautiful in its decay, but wrong on a fundamental level.
The air tasted of copper and ozone, with an undertone of something organic that shouldn't exist in a place so mechanical. I could feel the weight of abandonment here—not just physical abandonment, but something deeper. Like hope had died in this place and left its corpse to rot.
B.I.T. circled around me in increasingly agitated patterns, its sensors going absolutely insane.
"Energy anomaly detected. Imminent spatio-temporal instability."
I stopped dead, my heart skipping a beat. "What the hell? I'm not even done with basic mobs and you're talking about dimensional rifts?"
The silence that followed was deafening. Then, cutting through that silence like a blade through silk, came a metallic howl that made my blood turn to ice water. Then another. And another.
My hands started shaking. Not from fear—from anticipation. From that sick excitement that only came when I knew I was about to face something that could kill me.
I spun around, every muscle in my body coiled like a spring.
> Hostiles Detected — Race: Steel Lupus
> Description: Cybernetic wolves powered by corrupted plasma cores.
> Warning: Adaptive AI detected. Combat patterns will evolve.
Three nightmares emerged from a torn ventilation shaft, and I swear to God, they moved like liquid death. Their metallic fur gleamed like mercury under the factory's dying lights, each strand seeming to shift and flow with its own life. Red eyes burned like dying stars, and when they opened their mouths, I could see fangs that glowed white-hot, crackling with electricity.
They didn't just move—they flowed. Predatory grace that made my skin crawl and my heart race. These weren't just programmed enemies. They were hunters, and they knew it.
The first one lunged without warning. Time slowed to a crawl as I threw myself sideways, feeling the heat of its claws whisper past my face close enough to singe my eyebrows. I hit the cracked concrete hard, rolling across broken glass and rusted metal that bit into my skin even through my armor.
"Quick scan, B.I.T.!" I shouted, scrambling to my feet.
> Analysis complete: Cervical junction weakness confirmed. Overheating detected in chest cavity. Body susceptible to EMP charges. Warning: Pack hunting behavior active.
"Perfect."
I could feel sweat beading on my forehead as I reached for my gravitational grenade. The weight felt reassuring in my hand—solid, real, deadly. I pulled the pin and hurled it toward the two wolves that were trying to flank me.
The explosion was silent but devastating. A sphere of distorted space-time caught both creatures, their bodies folding in ways that shouldn't be possible, limbs bending at impossible angles as gravity played with them like a cruel god. Their howls became electronic screeches of pain and fury.
But the third one—the smart one—had used the distraction to circle behind me. I felt its presence before I saw it, that predatory instinct that every gamer develops when they've died too many times. I started to turn, but I was too slow.
Claws raked across my shoulder, tearing through my armor like it was paper. Pain exploded through my nervous system—real, visceral pain that made me gasp and stumble. The game's pain simulation was too good, too real. I could feel blood running down my arm, hot and sticky.
"Bad choice, you metal bastard."
Rage flooded through me, hot and pure. I spun around, my hand already crackling with energy, and grabbed the wolf by its throat. Its red eyes widened in what might have been surprise.
"Energy Overload!"
Azure lightning erupted from my fist, coursing through the beast's cybernetic nervous system. Sparks flew from its joints, its eyes flickered like dying bulbs, and its howl became a electronic death rattle. The smell of burning circuits filled the air as it collapsed in a shower of sparks and twitching metal.
The other two were still struggling against the gravitational field, their movements becoming more frantic as their systems overheated. B.I.T. dove like a bird of prey, releasing precision blasts directly into their visual sensors. Blinding flashes. Agonized electronic screams. Then blessed silence.
Three mechanical corpses lay scattered across the factory floor. Three victories that felt like they'd cost me years of my life.
> +320 EXP gained. Loot: 2 Corrupted Cores, 1 Unstable Circuit Panel, 1 Steel Jaws.
> Level up! Z3RO is now Level 6.
> New skill available: Drone Evolution
I leaned against a wall, gasping for breath that I didn't technically need but somehow felt essential. My shoulder throbbed where the claws had found their mark, and I could feel the adrenaline crash beginning to set in. That's when I saw it.
In the center of the factory, surrounded by the corpses of my enemies, stood something that shouldn't exist.
An unstable portal floated between two massive energy coils, its surface flickering like a dying lightbulb having a seizure. The air around it was alive, vibrating with potential that made my teeth ache and my skin crawl. I could see through it—not to another place, but to another possibility. Another reality.
The portal pulsed with colors that didn't have names, and each pulse sent ripples through the air that I could feel in my bones. It was beautiful. Terrifying. Completely impossible.
> Anomaly confirmed: Unstable portal of unknown type. Multiple destinations possible. High probability of corruption.
> Warning: Approaching the portal may result in permanent character alteration.
I approached it like a moth to flame, fascination overriding every survival instinct I'd ever developed. My reflection in its surface looked different—older, scarred, with eyes that had seen things that would break most people.
"Either I get rich... or I crash the server."
My voice sounded small in the vast factory space. I activated a marker beacon with trembling fingers, taking longer than usual to type because my hands wouldn't stop shaking:
> Portal - To be analyzed later. Probably related to Genesis Core quests. High risk. Possible gateway to advanced content. DO NOT APPROACH ALONE.
I turned to leave, but I couldn't resist one last look. The portal pulsed again, and for just a moment, I swear I saw something looking back at me. Not through the portal—from inside it. Something with eyes like burning coals and a smile that promised either transcendence or damnation.
"This game... it's not just a game."
The words fell from my lips like a prayer or a curse. Something was stirring in the depths of Genesis. Something that went beyond code and algorithms and carefully programmed encounters. Something that felt alive, aware, and infinitely hungry.
And I was going to find out what it was, even if it killed me.
Because that's what Z3RO does. He pushes boundaries. He breaks rules. He finds the truth that others are too afraid to look for.
The portal pulsed one more time, and I could have sworn I heard it whisper my name.
**End of Chapter 7**
*Next chapter: "Hakaijin — The Hunt for the Phantom Saber"*