"Who are you?" he asked, gripping his ice spear tightly, eyes locked on the masked figure.
The stranger didn't answer right away. He stepped out from the ruins, a gray cloak trailing behind him, dust-covered. His porcelain-white mask shimmered faintly under the flickering light.No system tag. No life signal.
"I was once part of this game," the man said. "Just like you."
No.43 tilted his head. "A former candidate?"
"No. I was the first."
[WARNING: SYSTEM SIGNAL INTERFERENCE][Data Sync: Interrupted]
"That system you think is AI," he continued, "it's not a machine. It's a living entity. Something that exists between code and memory. It controls this world like a stage for experiments."
"Experiments in what?" No.43 asked.
"Time," the man said. "And you're its latest subject."
A chill ran down his spine.
"Three seconds… That's just part of a test?"
"Exactly. Out of hundreds of cycles, only a few candidates survived long enough to realize the truth."
No.43 narrowed his eyes. "Cycles?"
"This world has been reset hundreds of times. Every time, the system learns from how people die—then changes the rules."
[Temporal Resistance: 12% Confirmed][Next Phase Incoming…]
"How did you survive?" No.43 asked.
"I stopped playing by the system's rules.""How?"
"I became a glitch—something it can't delete."
"Can you help us beat the game?"
"No.""But I can show you the only place it can't fully control."
Behind him, a narrow path revealed itself—an old spiral staircase descending into darkness, far beneath the broken ruins.
Before vanishing, the masked figure turned one last time.
"If you ever meet the Watcher...Don't look into his eyes. Even if he sees your past."
[New Mission Unlocked: Crystal Tower – Lower Floors][Reward: Unknown]
Candidate No. 88 stared down the path, gripping his weapon.
The game wasn't ending.It was just beginning.