Chapter 12: Echoes of the Core
The air inside Hollow City was different that morning — too still, too charged. Even the neon lights that usually flickered with restless life seemed muted, as if the city itself was holding its breath.
Kai's synchronization rate had stabilized at 93%, but the energy pulsing through his veins was anything but stable. Every movement felt heavier, more deliberate, like the world had gained weight overnight.
"Your vitals are running high," Lira's holographic form flickered beside him, her tone unusually sharp. "At this rate, you're going to burn yourself out."
Kai exhaled through gritted teeth. "Then I'll burn brighter before that happens."
"Typical human logic," she muttered, but a small smirk tugged at her lips — a digital glitch masquerading as affection.
Mira watched from the corner of the training chamber, arms crossed. "You know, for someone who nearly fried his neural core last night, you're surprisingly calm about dying."
Kai glanced at her. "It's not dying if I level up first."
She sighed, shaking her head. "You sound more like one of those players who refuse to log out even after losing everything."
"Maybe I am," Kai replied, his eyes distant. "Maybe the only way out… is forward."
---
Later that evening, Hollow City's underbelly came alive. The Aether Market, a hidden black market for awakened relics and digital codes, buzzed with activity. The smell of ozone and iron filled the air, and somewhere in the shadows, whispers spread about a new dungeon core that had appeared beneath the city's eastern sector.
Kai, Lira, and Mira stood before a rusted gate, beyond which the faint hum of power could be felt.
"Unregistered anomaly," Lira noted, scanning. "Class unknown. But the signal... it's almost identical to the one from the Lost Code."
Kai's eyes sharpened. "So it's back."
Before Mira could respond, the gate trembled — not from movement, but from something beneath reality shifting. A ripple of energy swept through the air, and a message flickered across Kai's interface:
> [WARNING: Dimensional Breach Detected]
[Entity Identified: Core Echo]
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Mira hissed.
Lira's voice was low, almost fearful. "It means the System isn't just evolving anymore… it's remembering."
Kai stepped forward, gripping his gauntlet tighter. "Then we'll remind it who started this."
As he crossed the threshold, the world inverted — gravity, sound, color — all twisting into a violent spiral. His body felt like it was being pulled apart and rewritten at once. And then… silence.
When his vision returned, he stood in an empty, endless corridor made of glass and light. Floating shards of code drifted like snowflakes, and in the distance, a massive glowing heart pulsed — the Echo Core.
"Kai…" Lira's voice echoed faintly. "This isn't a dungeon. It's a memory. The System's memory."
He clenched his fists, a surge of realization coursing through him.
If this was the System's memory — then somewhere within it, was the truth of his awakening.
And the ones who had tried to erase it.