Into the Abyss: The Rise of the Malevolent Player

Chapter 5: The Abyss Fractures

Aiden’s POV

The world was on fire.

The sky above The Abyss cracked open, jagged fissures of red light bleeding through as if the very fabric of reality was tearing apart. The once-familiar terrain around me—the crumbling towers, the neon-lit streets—morphed into a chaotic nightmare.

Buildings shifted, collapsing and reassembling themselves in impossible configurations. NPCs that usually ignored players now turned their glowing eyes on me with unnatural intent.

I swore under my breath, gripping my weapon tighter. "Kara, what the hell is happening?"

Her voice crackled through my comms, sharp and breathless. "It’s Malrik. He’s triggered an event—a fracture. He’s rewriting the game’s code in real time. This isn’t supposed to be possible."

I dodged as a chunk of debris crashed down where I’d been standing, the ground trembling beneath my boots. "Yeah, well, it’s happening. And it’s a damn mess."

Ahead, an NPC—a vendor I used to buy gear from—lunged at me with a wild scream. Its face was frozen in a grotesque rictus, its hands claw-like as it reached for my throat. I fired instinctively, the shot taking it down, but the sight of its body disintegrating into a burst of static made my stomach churn.

These weren’t just glitches. They were something else entirely.

Kara’s voice broke through again. "You need to get to the extraction point. We’re sitting ducks out here."

"You don’t say," I muttered, weaving through the chaos. "Where are you?"

"Two blocks north, pinned down by rogue enforcers. Don’t wait for me—"

The comms cut off with a sharp burst of static.

"Kara?" I yelled, but there was no response.

My pulse spiked. I could hate her all I wanted for her arrogance, her secrets, and her tendency to take unnecessary risks, but I couldn’t just leave her. Gritting my teeth, I turned north, sprinting toward her last known location.

The city distorted as I ran. Streets looped back on themselves, and walls materialized out of nowhere, forcing me to change direction. The sound of NPCs screaming, buildings collapsing, and weapons firing created a dissonant symphony of destruction.

And then I saw her.

Kara was backed against a shattered wall, her energy shield flickering as rogue enforcers fired relentlessly at her.

"Hold on!" I shouted, raising my weapon.

She glanced at me, her face pale but her eyes sharp. "About time, Cross. I was starting to think you bailed."

"You’d miss me too much," I shot back, taking aim at the nearest enforcer. The blast hit its mark, the enforcer’s body dissolving into code.

"Less banter, more shooting," Kara snapped, ducking as another shot whizzed past her head.

Together, we fought our way through the swarm of enemies. It wasn’t clean or easy, but eventually, the last enforcer fell, its body crumpling into static.

"You okay?" I asked, offering Kara a hand.

She took it, her grip surprisingly firm. "I’ve had worse days. Let’s move before more show up."

As we made our way through the fractured city, I started noticing... glitches. Not in the game, but in my own vision.

A flicker out of the corner of my eye. A shadow that didn’t belong. And then, just for a moment, I saw her.

Mila.

She was standing in the middle of the street, her face turned toward me, her lips moving as if she were saying something. But when I blinked, she was gone.

"Aiden?" Kara’s voice snapped me back to reality.

"Yeah?"

"You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

I hesitated. "It’s nothing. Let’s keep moving."

But it wasn’t nothing. The hallucinations kept coming—fragments of The Abyss overlaying Erebus Spire in my mind. Buildings from the game where there should have been real ones. NPCs wandering through my memories.

Something was wrong with me.

We reached a small hideout, one of Kara’s safe zones tucked away in the ruins. She immediately set to work on the data chip she’d stolen from the Crimson Hand, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

I paced behind her, my nerves fraying. "What did you find in there?"

"Patience, Cross," she said, not looking up. "This kind of encryption takes time."

"We don’t have time," I snapped. "The entire game is falling apart, and I’m seeing things I shouldn’t."

She paused, glancing over her shoulder at me. "What do you mean, ‘seeing things’?"

I hesitated, not sure how much I wanted to share. But before I could answer, the door to the hideout exploded inward.

Seraph Kain stepped through the smoke, his dark armor gleaming, his weapon aimed squarely at Kara.

"You’re predictable, Cross," he said, his voice calm and menacing. "Always running to save someone. It’s a weakness."

I moved to shield Kara, but Kain raised a hand. "Don’t bother. I’m not here to kill you—yet."

His gaze shifted to Kara, who was frozen in place, her hands hovering over her keyboard.

"You, on the other hand," Kain continued, his tone icy. "You’ve been a thorn in Malrik’s side for too long."

"Leave her out of this," I said, stepping forward.

Kain laughed, a low, mocking sound. "Oh, but she’s the leverage I need."

He reached out, grabbing Kara by the arm and yanking her to her feet. She struggled, but it was futile.

"Here’s the deal, Cross," Kain said, his grip tightening on Kara. "Trade her life for the key to Rhea Valen. Or watch her die."

I froze, my mind racing. The key to Rhea Valen—the one thing I’d been chasing, the one thing that could lead me to answers about Mila.

And now it was a choice.

Kara’s life... or the truth.

The room seemed to tilt, the air crackling with tension.

Kain’s voice cut through the chaos, cold and final. "What’s it going to be, Cross? Time’s running out."