The sky above Neo-Seoul was never dark. It was a grid of shimmering ultraviolet light, with floating skyscrapers held aloft by massive gravity-anchors. This was the "Beta-City," a place where the 2025 reset had already begun to merge with reality.
Arthur stood on a hovering transit platform, his Architect Eyes scanning the crowds. Thousands of people moved in perfect, synchronized patterns. To anyone else, it looked like a bustling utopia. To Arthur, it looked like a System Stress Test.
[LOCATION: NEO-SEOUL – THE CLOUD DISTRICT]
[SYSTEM ALERT: HIGH-DENSITY SURVEILLANCE ZONE]
[STABILITY: 41% – EMOTIONAL BUFFER: LOW]
"Everyone here... they have 'Status Bars' over their heads, Arthur," Sarah whispered through the comms. She was disguised as a corporate security officer, her face hidden behind a digital mask. "But they're all the same. Name: 'Citizen.' Level: 1. HP: 100. It's like they aren't even people anymore."
"They aren't," Arthur said, his voice cold and analytical. "They are Placeholder Assets. The System hasn't finished rendering their personalities yet. They are just ghosts in a shell."
[The Sky-City Heist]
The 6th Fragment—The Chrono-Gear—was housed in the Apex Spire, the tallest building in the city. The Spire was protected by a "Time-Dilation Field." Seconds outside were minutes inside, making it impossible to infiltrate without being detected by the hyper-fast security AI.
"How do we get in?" Sarah asked. "The moment we step into that field, the security drones will see us in slow motion. They'll have a thousand years to plan our execution."
"We don't go in," Arthur said, his golden eyes fixing on the gravity-anchor beneath the Spire. "We bring the Spire down to us."
[SKILL: SYSTEM COMMANDER – COMMAND: 'DE-PRIORITIZE GRAVITY']
Arthur didn't attack the building. He attacked the physics of the zone. By using his Level 6 access, he convinced the local network that the Spire's weight was a "Rounding Error."
The massive building groaned. The gravity-anchors flickered red. Slowly, the 150-story skyscraper began to sink toward the city floor.
[The Sentinel Protocol]
The System didn't take kindly to its architecture being moved.
[WARNING: SYSTEM POLICE 'ENFORCERS' DEPLOYED]
Six figures drifted down from the ultraviolet sky. They were ten feet tall, faceless, and draped in robes made of flowing binary code. They carried "Eraser Blades"—weapons that didn't cut flesh, but deleted the memory of the limb they hit.
"Sarah, take the left three," Arthur commanded. "Use the 'Soul-Tipped' rounds I gave you. They are the only things that can hurt 'Old Code'."
Sarah didn't hesitate. She rolled behind a transit bench and opened fire. The bullets, infused with the energy of the 5th Fragment, tore through the binary robes, causing the Enforcers to leak white static.
Arthur faced the remaining three. He didn't draw a weapon. He simply walked toward them.
One Enforcer lunged, its Eraser Blade whistling toward Arthur's neck. Arthur didn't dodge. He reached out and grabbed the blade with his bare hand.
[SKILL: REALITY EDIT – COMMAND: 'ASSIGN OWNERSHIP']
The blade turned from white to gold. Arthur didn't just stop the attack; he "re-coded" the weapon to belong to him. With a single flick of his wrist, he sent the blade flying back, slicing the three Enforcers into digital dust.
[The Mirror in the Spire]
As the Apex Spire touched the ground, the Time-Dilation field shattered. Arthur walked through the lobby, stepping over the frozen bodies of "Placeholder" receptionists.
He reached the center of the lobby, where a golden clockwork mechanism—The Chrono-Gear—floated in a stasis field.
But someone was standing in front of it.
It wasn't a drone or an Enforcer. It was a woman with long silver hair, wearing a gown that looked like a starlit sky. She looked exactly like the Oracle from the Abyssal Forge, but older.
NAME: The Chronicler (System Admin)
THREAT LEVEL:UNDEFINED
"You've grown strong, Arthur Vance," she said, her voice like the chiming of a thousand bells. "But you are still missing the most important piece of the puzzle."
"The 7th Fragment," Arthur said.
"No," the Chronicler smiled sadly. "The Reason. Do you know why the Architect wants to reset the world? It's not for power. It's for her."
She waved her hand, and a hologram appeared. It showed Sarah Vance. Not the Sarah standing outside fighting drones, but a Sarah from a thousand timelines ago, dying in Arthur's arms over and over again.
"The Architect isn't trying to rule the world, Arthur," the Chronicler whispered. "He's trying to find a timeline where Sarah Vance lives. And so far, he has failed 9,999 times. You are his 10,000th attempt."
Arthur's golden eyes flickered. His Stability plummeted.
[STABILITY: 30% – CRITICAL FAILURE IMMINENT]
"Arthur! Don't listen to her!" Sarah's voice screamed over the comms. "She's trying to glitch your mind! Just take the fragment!"
Arthur reached for the Chrono-Gear. His hand trembled. If he took the fragment, he would gain the power to control time. He could save Sarah. He could save everyone. But he would officially become the Architect.
[NOTIFICATION: CORE FRAGMENT 6/7 ACQUIRED]
[ACCESS LEVEL: 7 – 'SYSTEM ARCHITECT (PROVISIONAL)' REACHED]
The world around Arthur began to dissolve into white light. Neo-Seoul, the Spire, the Enforcers—everything was being "Archived."
"Go to the beginning, Arthur," the Chronicler said as she vanished. "Go to the place where the first lie was told. The 7th Fragment is waiting."