No signal.No map.No system guidance.
Only darkness.
The spiral staircase twisted downward endlessly. The faint glow from his ice spear grew dimmer with each step, swallowed by a darkness thicker than shadow.
A sound echoed from below—clink... clink...—like metal claws scraping against stone.
He froze. "There's someone—no, something down there…"
As soon as he stopped moving, it went silent too.
[Location Unavailable.][You are temporarily outside system coverage.]
No. 43 gripped his spear tighter, nerves stretched taut. Every footstep became deliberate—silent, careful, measured.
Then he saw it.
A figure crawling on all fours, its body wrapped in cables, glowing red eyes piercing the dark. No human face—just a malformed machine twisted into humanoid shape, twitching and glitching.
"Data… error… unauthorized presence…"
It screeched, then lunged.
He triggered his skill—time freeze.
The world fell silent for three seconds.
One – he pivoted, sidestepping its charge.Two – the ice spear pierced through its neck joint.Three – he leapt backward, defensive stance ready.
Time resumed.A sharp crack echoed. The creature convulsed—then disintegrated into digital ash.
[You have defeated: Data-Corrupted Entity – Class F][+120 EXP][EXP: 740/1000 – Level Up Approaching]
"So this is what lives down here," he muttered. "Not monsters—glitches. Living errors."
The deeper he went, the colder it became. Not natural cold—but a stillness, as if time itself hesitated to move here.
Finally, he arrived at a fractured crystal gate, behind which lay a spherical chamber. Dim light pulsed from a central column of swirling data.
In the center—a girl.
White-haired, eyes closed, suspended by glowing data cables. On her forehead: the mark Beta 00.
[Alert: You have entered Zone 'Artificial Seed – Core Unit'][Unlocking Sealed Memory…]
Before he could react, a searing pain tore through his skull. The room warped.
And then he saw—
Himself.Not in this world.But before it.