[Convergence Protocol Initialized]
Zone Conflict: Danton vs. Lynden
Status: ACTIVE
Victory Condition:
– Protect the Dominion Core for 30 minutes
– OR eliminate the enemy Reader
Noah stood beside Talia and Seraphine inside the Control Tower of Danton's central platform. The system timer counted down in front of them, floating in the air like a burning clock.
00:00:30:00
A ripple passed through the station's floor as the Rift Gate opened on the west end of the sector.
Noah turned toward the sound.
"That's not just an invader," he muttered. "That's a story trying to write itself into our world."
Talia already had her blades drawn.
"I can feel it," she said. "The air tastes like glitching ink."
They moved quickly, flanked by ten survivors armed with restructured scrap-weapons and energy-coated barricade shields.
Seraphine's halberd glowed faintly in the dim light.
They passed through Sector Danton's second platform, now lined with barricades, tripwire glyphs, and sealed turret cores scavenged from broken security drones. Every entrance point had been fortified.
And yet—it wasn't enough.
Because what walked through the gate was not a monster.
It was a man.
Or… it used to be.
[Entity Classification: Distorted Reader]
Name: Unknown
Code Alias: Pagewalker_03
Status: Corrupted by Echo Verse
Traits:
– Narrative Override (40%)
– Character Desync
– Immune to Plot-Based Prediction
Warning: Dialogue cannot anchor this entity. Combat is inevitable.
He wore a black hooded coat, with pages glued to his skin like tattoos—flapping silently in the windless air. His face was covered by a mask shaped like an hourglass, constantly shedding dust.
Each step he took rewrote part of the platform beneath him.
Old railway bricks shifted into marble tiles.
Signs changed language.
Time slowed.
And Noah felt the narrative pressure twist the very rules of the scene.
[Sector Warning: Echo Verse Influence Level Rising – 11%]
Side Effect: Enemy may reject basic scenario logic. Expect contradictions.
The masked Reader finally stopped at the base of the platform stairs.
Then he spoke, voice two-toned—one human, one metallic.
"You are not the main character."
Noah pulled open his system window and immediately activated the sector's defensive trap circle.
[Territory Trap Activated]
– Glyph Lock Circle Engaged
– Platform Barricades Sealed
– Distorted Reader Temporarily Contained: 28 seconds
Talia was already moving.
She vanished and reappeared in front of the masked man in an instant, her blade slicing upward.
But he didn't dodge.
He reversed her.
Not physically. Not magically.
Narratively.
[Narrative Rejection Triggered]
Talia Vynn's attack → "Was never meant to happen."
Result: Strike Erased
Talia stumbled backward, eyes wide. Her cut never landed.
"What the—"
He raised his arm, and his sleeve fluttered like script.
"You strike too early," he said. "This scene belongs to someone else."
Seraphine lunged.
This time, her halberd pierced his ribs.
He coughed—but didn't bleed.
Instead, paper poured out.
Lines of dialogue.
Script fragments.
And then the wound sealed itself… with a new page.
Noah realized it immediately.
"He's writing new chapters… with our pain."
[Distorted Reader Ability: Pagebinding – Every attack received becomes part of the rewritten narrative. Damage heals unless the scene itself is disrupted.]
Countermeasure Available: Deploy Author's Rule
Noah didn't hesitate.
[Activating Sector Rule: Only One Author May Write This Sector]
Rule Enforcement Begun
Result: Enemy suffers Trait Lock – Narrative Override Blocked (80%)
Effect: Scene Control Returning to Original Timeline
The tiles beneath the invader cracked.
The marble vanished.
The station began reasserting itself.
The masked man stumbled as time returned to normal.
"Your pen… does not belong here," Noah growled.
The enemy straightened. His voice warped again.
"But the ink has already spilled."
[Enemy Trait Unlocked: Final Draft]
– Upon Death, rewrite one nearby system user's fate
– Only counterable by direct narrative disruption
Talia dashed forward again. This time, her blade landed—a clean strike across the enemy's mask.
It cracked.
And beneath it was not a face—
—but text.
Living sentences. Rotating. Screaming.
A memory of someone who used to be real.
Noah saw it for a second—an image flickering across the interface.
A gamer. A programmer. A lonely man in a dark room reading a light novel called Echo Verse.
Then:
[Entity Stability: 4%]
Core Breakdown Imminent
Talia shouted, "Finish him—before he rewrites one of us!"
Seraphine launched a final strike.
And Noah—he did something he had never done.
He opened his book.
The original one.
[Endgame Protocol – Reader Command Overwrite]
"This battle ends with the invader's death."
The system paused.
A page turned.
And the Distorted Reader collapsed, his body unraveling into dust and fluttering pages, each one catching fire in golden light.
[Enemy Eliminated]
Victory Condition Met
Reward: Echo Seed Acquired
+1 Rule Slot Gained
+2 Trait Points Gained
But the system wasn't done.
[Hidden Condition Fulfilled]
You used a narrative clause to anchor a death scene.
Unlocking Trait: [True Reader – Minor]
– You may now insert one line of Author Text per chapter (Cooldown: 24h)
– Author Text cannot be contradicted unless by equal-tier Reader
Noah breathed out.
It was over.
For now.
Talia knelt beside the ashes.
"More will come," she said.
"I know."
Seraphine looked up at him, her face unreadable.
"Are you going to keep writing the story now?"
Noah looked toward the sky, where the second book's glyphs still glimmered faintly.
"…No."
He clenched his fist.
"I'm going to end it."