"Right, because a swirling void of chaotic data is *totally* a Tuesday for me," Aiden muttered, his fingers twitching.


    He instinctively reached out, not to touch the void, but to… *poke* it.


    His Bug Vision flickered, highlighting lines of code within the swirling mess like neon graffiti on a brick wall.


    He squinted.


    "Huh. Looks like somebody forgot to close their parenthesis." He mimed a typing motion in the air, a smirk playing on his lips.


    "Let''s see if *this* works..."


    Before he could finish his digital sleight of hand, a solid, decidedly *non-digital* boot slammed into his back, sending him sprawling.


    "Enough with the glitching, glitch-boy," a voice snarled.


    It was Ivy, her silver hair practically shimmering with barely-contained fury.


    Her usual icy demeanor had thawed into something more akin to molten lava.


    "We have bigger problems."


    Aiden scrambled to his feet, dusting off his virtual trousers.


    "Bigger than a gaping maw of coding errors that could potentially swallow the entire game? I''m intrigued." His eyes flickered to Irene, whose face was a thundercloud of rage.


    She gripped her battleaxe, the metal practically groaning under the pressure.


    "Show him," Ivy commanded, her voice clipped.


    She pointed a finger at Irene’s axe, a flicker of ice magic clinging to her fingertips like a winter’s kiss.


    Aiden’s Bug Vision activated, scanning the weapon.


    He frowned.


    Normally, he saw lines of code defining the item’s stats – damage, durability, etc.


    This time, however, something else flashed across his vision: *Shadow Ring – Experimental Subject #14*.


    His blood ran cold.


    Irene''s roar echoed through the tavern, shaking the virtual rafters.


    “That’s what they did to my brother!


    They banned his account, labelled him a cheater, and wiped him from the game!


    ” She swung the axe, cleaving the tavern''s mahogany bar in two with a sickening crunch.


    Splintered wood and virtual beer flew everywhere.


    "Easy there, Hulk," Ivy muttered, conjuring a wall of ice between Irene and the rest of the shocked (and now slightly soggy) tavern patrons.


    "We need to focus." She turned to Aiden, her eyes sharp.


    "Marta, pull up the security footage from the real-world bank."


    A shimmering window appeared in the air, displaying a grainy black-and-white feed.


    There, clear as day, was Cyrus.


    Not his in-game avatar, but his actual, physical self.


    A gleaming, chrome prosthetic arm snaked out from his tailored suit, interacting with a holographic interface displaying Aiden’s bank account.


    Gold coins, Aiden''s hard-earned virtual currency, drained away like water down a drain.


    Beside it, Irene’s account balance flashed: *Zero*.


    Aiden felt a chill crawl down his spine.


    "They set us up. We''re… we''re supposed to be fighting each other. They’re siphoning resources from the game through us, using our rivalry as a smokescreen." He felt sick.


    The whole thing, this entire *reality*, suddenly felt like a rigged game, and they were the unwitting pawns.


    Suddenly, the wall behind them exploded inwards in a shower of bricks and dust.


    Standing amidst the debris was Cyrus himself, his physical form even more imposing than his in-game avatar.


    His prosthetic arm, no longer chrome, but a pulsing, bio-mechanical monstrosity, flexed menacingly.


    Aiden’s Bug Vision flickered, analyzing the intruder.


    *70% NPC code*.


    Ivy''s silver hair whipped around her face, her eyes widening in disbelief.


    Her ice magic, usually a pristine, crystalline blue, flared into an erratic, unstable violet.


    "You… you''ve overwritten real-world NPCs with your code! You''re blurring the lines!"


    Cyrus’s lips curled into a cruel smile.


    He reached out, his bio-mechanical hand crackling with energy.


    “Such a perceptive little glitch…” he purred, his voice dripping with malice.


    "But perception without power…"


    His hand shot out, aiming directly at Aiden’s chest.


    "Is simply… *fatal*."


    "Right, because a swirling void of chaotic data is *totally* on my bingo card for today," Aiden quipped, his fingers itching to just *mess* with the digital abyss.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    His Bug Vision pulsed, highlighting lines of code within the swirling mess like a deranged rainbow vomited over a chalkboard.


    He squinted.


    "Hold up. Is that… a missing semicolon? Seriously?" He mimed air-typing, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.


    "Let''s see what happens when I sprinkle a little syntactic sugar on *this* bad boy…"


    Before his digital magic act could reach its grand finale, a boot – a very *real*, very *solid* boot – connected with his backside, sending him sprawling.


    "Get your head out of the matrix, glitch-for-brains," Ivy snarled, her silver hair practically vibrating with a barely-contained rage.


    Her usual ice-queen persona had melted faster than a popsicle in a volcano.


    "We''ve got bigger fish to fry."


    Aiden picked himself up, dusting off his virtual pants .


    "Bigger than a digital black hole that might swallow the entire game? Color me intrigued." He shot a glance at Irene.


    Her face?


    A thunderstorm waiting to happen.


    Her grip on her battleaxe?


    Enough to make the virtual steel whimper.


    This wasn''t good.


    "Show him," Ivy snapped, a flicker of ice magic dancing around her fingers like angry snowflakes.


    She gestured towards Irene’s axe.


    Aiden''s Bug Vision kicked in, scanning the weapon.


    And then his jaw dropped.


    Forget damage stats and durability – this thing had a *secret*.


    Blazoned across his vision in glaring red letters: *Shadow Ring – Experimental Subject #14*.


    Ice water trickled down his spine.


    Suddenly, Irene’s rage made a whole lot of sense.


    "Those BASTARDS!" Irene roared, her voice echoing through the virtual tavern like a sonic boom.


    "They did this to my brother! Banned him, called him a cheater, wiped him from existence!" The axe swung, cleaving the tavern''s mahogany bar clean in two.


    Virtual splinters and ale went *everywhere*.


    The other patrons looked like they’d just witnessed a unicorn puke rainbows – shocked, confused, and a little bit sticky.


    "Whoa there, Amazonian Warrior Princess," Ivy muttered, conjuring a wall of ice between Irene and the traumatized tavern-goers.


    "Focus, please. Before we all end up as digital kebab." She fixed Aiden with a steely gaze.


    "Marta, security footage from the real-world bank. Now."


    A shimmering window materialized, displaying a grainy black-and-white feed.


    And there he was – Cyrus.


    Not his pixelated avatar, but the real McCoy, flesh and blood (well, mostly flesh and blood).


    A gleaming, chrome prosthetic arm extended from his impeccably tailored suit, manipulating a holographic interface displaying Aiden''s bank account.


    His precious gold coins, the fruits of his digital labor, were vanishing faster than free beer at a gamer convention.


    Next to it, Irene’s account balance blinked: *Zero*.


    The puzzle pieces clicked into place, and Aiden felt a wave of nausea wash over him.


    "The bastards… they played us. Pitted us against each other while they raided the coffers." The whole game, this whole *reality*, felt like a giant, elaborate con.


    And they were the marks.


    Then, the wall behind them exploded inwards in a shower of brick dust.


    Standing amidst the rubble, like a villain from a cheesy action movie, was Cyrus himself.


    Only this wasn''t his in-game avatar – this was the real deal, amplified.


    His prosthetic arm, no longer chrome but a pulsating, bio-mechanical monstrosity, flexed menacingly.


    Aiden’s Bug Vision glitched, struggling to process the sight: *70% NPC code*.


    This guy was blurring the lines between virtual and real, and it wasn’t pretty.


    Ivy''s silver hair whipped around her face, her normally icy demeanor cracking like thin ice on a frozen lake.


    Her ice magic, usually a pristine, crystalline blue, sputtered and flared into an erratic, violent violet.


    "You… you''ve overwritten real-world NPCs with your code! You''re breaking the damn game!"


    Cyrus just smiled, a cruel, predatory grin that promised nothing but pain.


    He extended his bio-mechanical hand, crackling with malevolent energy.


    “Such a clever little glitch…" he purred, his voice dripping with venom. "But cleverness without power…"


    His hand shot out, aimed directly at Aiden’s chest.


    "Is simply… *fatal*."