Sunrise hit the village like someone had flipped a switch.
Golden light poured over the palisade, catching on the empty space where two dozen riders and their horses had been standing just hours ago. No scorch marks. No footprints. No blood. Just morning dew on the grass and a couple of abandoned lances lying there like forgotten props.
I sat on the low wooden steps outside the long hall, elbows on my knees, staring at the nothing.
A mug of the same herbal tea from last night was cooling in my hands. It tasted better in daylight—less like medicine, more like someone had boiled fresh leaves with intention.
Villagers were already moving. Cautious at first—peeking around corners, whispering—but the fear from the night before had curdled into something quieter. Gratitude. Wariness. The kind of look you give a wild animal you've decided might be tame.
Tiro appeared out of nowhere, barefoot, carrying a small woven basket.
"Kai!" he whisper-shouted, like he was afraid of waking the sky. "I brought breakfast!"
He plopped the basket between us. Inside: two more flatbreads, a handful of dried fruit that looked like oversized raisins, and what I was pretty sure were hard-boiled eggs wrapped in leaves.
"You're up early, kid."
"Couldn't sleep. Mama said you saved us again."
I took an egg, cracked it on the step. The shell came away clean. Bright orange yolk.
"Yeah, well… saving's a strong word. I mostly just made problems disappear."
He tilted his head. "That's the same thing."
I didn't argue.
We ate in companionable silence for a minute. Then he pointed at the red button only I could see, floating patiently in my lower-right vision like a bad notification icon.
"Can I press it?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because last time someone asked to borrow my phone charger they never gave it back. Imagine what happens if I let a kid borrow reality-erase privileges."
He giggled.
The elder—Garrick—approached slowly, staff tapping the dirt. Elara walked beside him, still in the same patched leather armor, sword now sheathed at her hip.
"Honored Kai," Garrick began.
I waved the half-eaten egg at him. "Just Kai. Please. The 'honored' stuff makes me feel like I'm about to get a tax audit from the gods."
He bowed anyway. Habit.
"We have come to speak of… gratitude. And necessity."
Elara crossed her arms. "More knights will come. Lord Varn does not forgive. He does not forget. And now he has lost two full patrols in as many days. He will come himself—or send something worse."
I finished the egg, wiped my hands on my jeans.
"Worse like what? Dragons? Demons? Angry accountants?"
"Mercenaries," Elara said flatly. "Sellswords from the border marches. Some with mage-collars. Enchanted steel. Beasts on chains."
I whistled low. "Fancy."
Garrick cleared his throat. "We cannot defend against such a force. Not without—"
"Me," I finished.
They both nodded.
I looked out at the village again. Kids chasing chickens. Women carrying water jars. Men repairing a section of the palisade that had never been meant to stop an army.
I sighed.
"I'm not a mercenary. I'm not even a soldier. I'm literally a guy who once rage-quit a job because the printer jammed too many times."
Tiro piped up. "But you're the strongest."
"Strength isn't the issue, kid. Control is."
The blue box chose that exact second to remind me why control was a joke.
```
[Urgent Ripple Update]
Local causality strain: 6.9% (critical threshold approaching)
Nexus anomaly activity: escalating
Source location: 3.1 km northeast – confirmed ley-line fracture point
Administrative scan ETA: 14 hours
Final notice: Continued deletions without stabilization will trigger full system lockdown.
Would you like coordinates? [Y/N]
```
I mentally selected [Y].
A faint glowing line appeared in my vision—thin as spider silk—leading away from the village toward a distant tree line and then vanishing into low hills.
Great. A quest marker I couldn't ignore.
I stood up, brushing crumbs off my hoodie.
"Alright. Looks like I've got some sightseeing to do."
Elara's eyes narrowed. "You're leaving?"
"Not leaving. Investigating. There's… something out there making the world itchier every time I hit delete. If I don't poke it, the poking might get done to me."
Garrick looked alarmed. "Alone?"
I glanced at Tiro, then Elara.
"You two up for a walk? I could use someone who knows which plants are poisonous and which ones just taste bad."
Elara hesitated only a second. "I will accompany you."
Tiro jumped up. "Me too!"
Seline's voice cut across the square. "Tiro, no!"
He deflated instantly.
I ruffled his hair. "Next time, champ. Stay and guard the tea supply."
He nodded solemnly.
Garrick bowed again. "We will prepare what supplies we can. Food. Waterskins. A map of the hills."
I waved it off. "No map needed. The glitch is giving me GPS."
They stared.
"Never mind. Just don't burn the place down while I'm gone."
We left twenty minutes later.
Elara carried a small pack—bread, dried meat, a waterskin, her sword. I carried nothing but the hoodie I was wearing and the existential dread that had become my default setting.
The path northeast was little more than a game trail—narrow, overgrown, winding between stands of tall silver-barked trees whose leaves shimmered like they were catching light from nowhere.
Elara walked beside me in silence for the first kilometer.
Then she spoke.
"You fear your own power."
I snorted. "Fear? Nah. Respect. Big difference. Fear is what happens when you know you're screwed. Respect is what happens when you know you could screw everything else."
She glanced sideways. "And yet you hesitate."
"I hesitate because I'm not stupid. One wrong delete and poof—gravity's gone. Or air. Or the concept of 'breakfast.' I like breakfast."
A small smile tugged at her mouth. "You speak of food often."
"Food is the one thing that still makes sense. Everything else is negotiable."
We crested a rise.
Below us lay a shallow valley. In the center: a circle of standing stones—tall, weathered, carved with runes that pulsed faintly blue. Between them the air shimmered like heat haze, but colder. Wrong.
The glowing line in my vision pointed straight at the center stone.
The blue box updated.
```
[Anomaly Confirmed: Ley-Line Fracture (Unstable)]
Cause: Cumulative deletion stress on local reality weave.
Current instability: 7.4%
If not addressed, fracture will widen → chain-reaction cascade probable within 72 hours.
Options:
1. Stabilize (requires compatible energy source – unavailable)
2. Delete fracture (high risk – may amplify cascade)
3. Delete entire nexus site (catastrophic local reset)
4. Ignore (administrative lockdown in 14 hours)
```
I read it twice.
Then muttered, "Fantastic. My choices are bad, worse, apocalyptic, or 'let HR fire me from existence.'"
Elara frowned. "What do the voices say?"
"They say I've been naughty and the principal's coming."
She didn't laugh.
I stepped closer to the stones.
The air grew thick. Static crawled over my skin.
One of the runes flared brighter as I approached.
Then a voice—not the System's—whispered inside my skull. Soft. Tired. Female.
*You should not be here, child of errors.*
I froze.
Elara drew her sword halfway.
I raised a hand. "Easy. It's talking to me."
The voice again: *The button was never meant for mortal hands. Return it. Or be unmade.*
I looked at the red DELETE floating in my vision.
Then back at the stones.
Then I spoke out loud.
"Lady—or whatever you are—I didn't ask for this thing. Someone dumped it on me like bad juju. So how about you tell me how to fix your little crack without turning me into digital dust?"
Silence.
Then the voice, quieter:
*Delete me.*
I blinked.
"Come again?"
*The fracture is me. I am the anchor. Delete the anchor, the weave mends. But I will cease. All memory of this place will fade. The village will forget their fear… and their savior.*
Elara sucked in a breath. "She speaks of sacrifice."
I stared at the pulsing stones.
Then at the button.
Then back.
"Pass," I said.
The voice sounded almost surprised. *You refuse?*
"Yeah. I'm not in the business of deleting people—or whatever you are—just to clean up my own mess. Find another way."
A long pause.
Then: *Foolish. Admirable. Dangerous.*
The runes dimmed slightly.
*You have delayed the inevitable. The administrator comes sooner now. Prepare.*
The presence faded.
The air settled.
Elara sheathed her sword. "What did she say?"
"She offered to kill herself so I wouldn't have to. I said no."
Elara looked at me like she was seeing me for the first time.
"You… could have ended the threat."
"And erased someone who was asking for help? Nah. I'm chaotic neutral at best. Not straight-up evil."
We turned back toward the village.
The blue box appeared one last time for the morning.
```
[Anomaly Interaction Logged]
Fracture stabilization delayed.
Administrative ETA reduced: 9 hours.
New passive title unlocked: [The One Who Refused Easy Fixes]
Effect: +15% resistance to mind-altering effects | Increased likelihood of complications
```
I groaned.
"Of course there's a downside title. This System is savage."
Elara glanced at me sideways.
"You are strange, Kai Voss."
"Yeah," I said, starting down the path. "But strange is still winning."
Behind us, the standing stones pulsed once more—faint, almost sad.
Ahead, the village waited.
And somewhere closer every minute, something wearing an administrator's badge was coming to have a very serious talk.