I stumbled out of the goblin den exit.
Kira was right behind me, still catching her breath.
The quiet guy trailed last.
His name? I never bothered to ask.
He looked like he had just survived a war.
Not a beginner dungeon.
The system notification dinged in my vision.
It awarded the full fifty credits.
Plus a small pile of copper coins.
And a pair of leather gloves.
They boosted Reflex by one.
It wasn't much.
But it felt like winning the lottery.
That money meant I could log out.
Pay the collectors enough to shut them up for a few days.
Maybe even eat something.
Not instant noodles from a vending machine.
I opened my inventory.
Checked the balance.
Smiled for the first time in weeks.
"Alright," I said.
"That's my cue. I'm out."
Kira grabbed my arm.
Before I could hit the log-out button.
"Wait," she said.
"You can't just dip like that.
We just cleared that boss together.
You pulled some crazy moves with that rewrite thing.
I've never seen anyone do that before.
So at least stick around for the tavern drinks.
It's on me."
The quiet guy nodded once.
Like he agreed.
Even though he hadn't said more than five words the whole run.
I looked at them both.
I thought about how I didn't need friends.
Or party members.
I just needed credits.
But something in Kira's eyes made me hesitate.
She looked genuinely excited.
Not fake.
Like most players who just wanted to use you for a carry.
I sighed.
"Fine," I said.
"One drink. But then I'm gone."
We walked back through the forest path.
Now the goblins had despawned.
The sunlight felt warmer somehow.
Less threatening.
Kira kept talking the whole way.
Asking questions.
"Where are you from?"
"How long have you been playing?"
"What's your build?"
I gave short answers.
Dodging the personal stuff.
I didn't want to explain the dropout life.
The failing implant.
The debt that kept piling up like trash in an alley.
I just said, "I'm local.
Been playing on and off a couple months.
Mostly solo grinding for cash."
She laughed.
"Cash grinding in EIDOLON?
That's basically everyone these days.
The real world sucks so hard.
Most people live here full time anyway."
I didn't argue.
She wasn't wrong.
We reached the tavern again.
Pushed through the heavy wooden doors.
Into the same noisy crowd.
Only now it felt different.
Like I belonged a little more.
After surviving the den.
We grabbed a corner table.
Away from the loud groups.
Kira ordered three mugs.
Of something called starlight ale.
It glowed faintly blue.
Tasted sweet with a kick.
Warmed my virtual stomach.
Even though I knew it was all simulated.
She raised her mug.
"To not dying today."
We clinked glasses.
Drank.
For a minute, I almost forgot.
About the real world pounding on my door.
Then the whispers started again.
Soft at first.
Like static in my ears.
But growing clearer.
"You don't belong here, anomaly."
I froze mid-sip.
Stability dropped from seventy-two to seventy.
In one quick hit.
My vision flickered.
Just a tiny bit.
The edges of the tavern blurring.
Like bad signal.
Kira noticed right away.
She leaned forward.
"Hey, you okay?
Your face just went pale.
What's wrong?"
I shook my head.
Forced a smile.
"Nothing. Just the ale hitting fast, I guess."
She didn't buy it.
But she didn't push.
A system prompt popped up.
Private again.
"Low-level grind quest available:
Collect ten goblin ears from the eastern woods.
Reward: twenty credits and a minor skill point."
I accepted it without thinking.
More money meant more time.
I stood up.
"Actually, I got another quest popping.
Gotta run."
Kira frowned.
"Already? Come on.
We could farm together.
It's safer and faster with a party."
"I work better alone," I said.
"Thanks for the drink though."
I turned to leave.
Before she could argue more.
Outside, the forest looked the same.
But quieter.
No random spawns jumping out.
Which felt wrong.
Zones like this usually respawned fast.
I walked deeper.
Following the map marker.
Toward a small clearing.
Where goblins were supposed to patrol.
Sure enough, I spotted a group of five.
Huddled around a campfire.
Roasting some kind of meat.
I crouched behind a tree.
Pulled out my sword.
Planned my approach.
Hit the outer two first.
Then Rollback if things went south.
I charged out.
Swinging hard.
Caught the first goblin across the back of the neck.
Dropped it instantly.
Spun to block the second one's club.
While stabbing the third in the gut.
Green blood sprayed everywhere.
The pain feedback sharp.
But manageable now that I expected it.
I used Rollback once.
To undo a bad dodge.
That would have cost me half my health.
Rewinding the moment.
Feeling the buzz intensify.
Stability dipping to sixty-eight.
The whispers growing louder.
Almost forming sentences.
"Stop breaking the rules, you glitch."
I finished the pack.
Gathered the ears.
Ten exactly.
Perfect count.
The reward hit my account.
Twenty more credits.
Skill point banked.
I felt good.
For about three seconds.
Until the quest notification glitched.
Flickered.
Rewrote itself right in front of my eyes.
Changing from "completed" to "incomplete."
"Collect twenty goblin ears now.
Or face penalty."
I stared at it.
"What the hell," I said out loud.
Quests didn't just change like that.
Not in the middle of nothing.
A new line appeared below it.
"System override.
Anomaly activity detected.
Adjusting parameters."
Kira's voice came from behind me.
Surprising me.
I hadn't heard her follow.
"Okay, that was creepy," she said.
"I saw the quest rewrite from here.
What kind of hack are you running?
Because normal players don't get stuff like that."
I turned fast.
Sword still out.
"I'm not hacking anything.
This is happening to me."
She stepped closer.
Eyes wide.
"Then what is it?
Because I've been playing two years straight.
I've never seen a quest change on its own like that.
Not even in the high-end seasonal events."
Before I could answer, another pop-up appeared.
This one bigger.
Redder.
"Minor hallucination triggered.
Stability: sixty-five.
Visual distortion commencing."
The forest around us flickered.
Trees bending like rubber.
Ground rippling like water.
Shadows stretched long.
With tiny eyes blinking in them.
Watching us.
Kira gasped.
Stepped back.
"Do you see that too?
Or am I glitching?"
I nodded.
I saw it clear as day.
The shadows moving on their own.
Forming shapes that looked almost human.
One of them whispered my name.
"Aren. Come closer."
I shook my head hard.
Tried to focus.
The distortion faded a little.
But not completely.
Stability holding at sixty-five.
Kira grabbed my wrist.
"We need to get back to the hub city.
There's a clinic NPC who can check implant sync.
Maybe this is a bug on your end."
I pulled away.
"No. I can't waste time.
I need to grind more credits.
Or I'm screwed in the real world."
She looked at me.
Serious now.
"If you keep pushing whatever this is,
it's going to get worse.
I've seen players burn out from overgrinding.
Their implants fry.
They end up in comas.
So at least let me help you farm safer."
I wanted to say no again.
But the whispers were still there.
Quieter now.
But persistent.
The shadows hadn't fully gone away.
One lingered at the edge of the clearing.
Staring right at me.
With those glowing eyes.
I realized it wasn't a random glitch.
It was watching.
Waiting.
Like it knew me.
I felt cold all over.
Even though the game was supposed to be warm.
"Fine," I said.
"But only until I hit a hundred credits.
Then I'm solo again."
We started farming together.
Hitting small patrols.
Clearing them fast.
Her healing kept me topped up.
My Rollback saved us from bad pulls.
Every kill felt good.
Credits ticking up slowly but surely.
But every time I used the skill,
Stability dropped another point or two.
The whispers got personal.
"You're fracturing the code, Aren.
Soon there won't be anything left of you."
I ignored them.
Kept swinging.
Kept collecting ears.
Kept pretending everything was normal.
After about an hour,
we had enough.
For the rewritten quest to complete again.
Twenty ears turned in.
Reward doubled to forty credits.
Because of the override glitch.
I checked my total.
Ninety-eight credits.
Almost there.
Kira said, "See? Teaming up pays off.
Now let's head back. Celebrate."
I opened my mouth to agree.
When a new figure stepped out from the trees.
Tall.
Female player.
In sleek black armor.
With glowing cyan lines running across it.
A visor that hid her eyes.
She looked straight at me.
"Nice tricks, anomaly.
I've been watching you since the den."
Kira tensed beside me.
Whispered, "That's Lyra Voss.
Top rank.
She doesn't talk to lowbies unless she wants something."
Lyra walked closer.
Slow.
Confident.
Stopped a few feet away.
Tilted her head.
"You're breaking things you shouldn't be able to break.
The System doesn't like that.
So here's the deal:
Work with me.
Or I report you as a glitch.
Let the enforcers handle it.
Because trust me, they don't ask questions.
They just delete."
I stared at her.
Heart pounding.
I knew who she was.
Everyone did.
The player who lived in EIDOLON full time.
The one who never logged out.
"What do you want from me?" I said.
She smiled behind the visor.
"I want to see how far your little error class can go.
Before it crashes everything.
Including you.
So are you in?
Or are you out?"
Before I could answer,
my Stability dropped again.
To sixty-two.
Without me using any skill.
The shadows around us thickened.
The eyes multiplying.
Watching from every tree.
The whispers turned into a single clear voice.
"Anomaly alliance detected.
Purge priority elevated."
Lyra looked around.
Like she heard it too.
Then back at me.
"Looks like we don't have much choice now, do we?
Because whatever you woke up,
it's coming for both of us."