I approached the Guardian slowly.
Its eyes lit up—red and furious—then whoosh, it swung its spear. Nearly took my face off. But this time… I could read the movement.
Still not perfect. My body had delays. Lag, hesitation, gaps in instinct.
I reached for the pistol—the one from before—and fired.
Bang. Bang.
The Guardian staggered. Small damage. Not enough.
Then I saw it.
A red gem. Embedded in its back.
Weak point.
I shifted—morphing into the bird form. Wings tore through the air as I dodged attack after attack, swerving through the storm of metal.
Then I dropped mid-flight—shifting into the thief.
One clean shot.
CRACK.
Right into the gem.
The Guardian froze. Then…
Shutdown.
Its body collapsed in slow motion, crashing like a tower crumbling to dust.
I turned, aimed the gun at the nearby camera. Ready to shoot.
But then—
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The room turned red.
Warning lights flaring.
Then a voice echoed through every wall:
> "Intruder located."
"Location: Camera 20."
I didn't even hear footsteps. Just… presence. A pressure behind me. Divine. Like something ancient had opened its eyes.
I turned.
And I saw it.
A being—golden. Towering. Silent. Its body shimmered like polished metal dipped in light.
Twenty hands. Three glowing marks across its forehead.
Judgment incarnate.
It looked at me like I wasn't even human.
Like I wasn't me.
Like I was a mistake.
Then—
> Emotion identified: Fear.
> Current emotion unlocked: ERROR.
> System Alert: Dangerous Entity Detected.
> User must deactivate Hacking Mode IMMEDIATELY.
> ERROR: Insufficient Time.
> Only Option: Initiating Emergency Transfer — CODE REALM.
The alerts vanished.
And in that exact moment, I saw it:
A hand—bigger than a mountain—descending from above, inches from crushing me into nothing.
Then—
Blackness.
And I fell.