《REBIRTH.exe》 Prologue: The Glitch Year 2097. Neo-Kyoto. The world flickered. For a brief moment, everything fractured¡ªpixels breaking apart, reality twisting like a corrupted file struggling to load. The neon skyline ofNeo-Kyotopulsed erratically, as if the entire city had skipped a frame in time. The rain, once steady, froze mid-air before resuming its descent. And in the middle of it all,Ryogasped for breath. His cybernetic visor malfunctioned, bombarding him with error codes and fragmented data streams. His head pounded, a sharp, unnatural pain lancing through his skull. It wasn''t the first time he had experienced a system lag¡ªglitches happened in this cybernetic wasteland¡ªbut this... this was different.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. This was wrong. A whisper echoed through his mind, a voice barely more than static. "Ryo... don''t forget." His vision blurred. He staggered, catching himself against a rusted railing. He couldn''t remember what he had been doing seconds ago. Hacking into a system? Running from Enforcers? It was all a jumbled mess¡ªmemories overlapping like corrupted files fighting for dominance. A neon sign flickered overhead, displaying garbled text before stabilizing into a single word: REBIRTH.EXE The moment he saw it, a cold dread settled into his chest. Then¡ªthe world glitched again. His body seized. A surge of data flooded his mind, force-fed into his consciousness like a program forcefully executed against its will. Images. Fragments of a life he didn''t recognize. A city in flames. A silver-haired girl, standing amidst the destruction, her eyes glowing with an unnatural light. A voice, distorted yet familiar, calling out to him. "System reboot initiated. Purging redundant data." "No¡ªwait!" Ryo choked out, but it was too late. His mind collapsed into static. And everything turned to black. To be continued... Chapter 1: The Escape Darkness. Then¡ªa sharp breath. A jolt of consciousness, like breaking the surface of deep water. Ryo¡¯s eyes snapped open. His body convulsed as he sucked in air, his mind reeling from the sudden reboot. Blinding neon lights flickered above him. A warning klaxon blared in the distance. He was lying on cold metal, surrounded by shattered glass and sparking cables. The pod he had been inside¡ªsome kind of cryo-stasis chamber¡ªwas now broken open, steam pouring from its cracked edges. A series of red holographic warnings hovered in the air: [UNAUTHORIZED SYSTEM BOOT DETECTED] [SECURITY PROTOCOLS ENGAGED] [PURGING SUBJECT] ¡°Shit.¡± Ryo pushed himself up, his muscles screaming in protest. He didn¡¯t have time to understand what was happening. He only knew one thing¡ªhe had to move. A metallic voice echoed through the facility¡¯s loudspeakers.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Subject R-47 has been reactivated. Deploying enforcement units.¡± His blood ran cold. The distant sound of clanking metal filled the air. Mechanical footsteps. They were coming for him. His instincts kicked in. He sprinted forward, his body moving before his mind could catch up. The corridor ahead was a mess of flickering lights and emergency sirens, casting twisted shadows against the steel walls. A sudden burst of gunfire erupted behind him. Sparks flew as bullets ricocheted off the walls. Ryo ducked, rolling into an open doorway just as a squad of black-armored Enforcers stormed in, their cybernetic eyes glowing red. ¡°Target acquired. Engaging.¡± They moved like machines¡ªbecause they were. Half-human, half-synthetic killers built for one purpose: elimination. Ryo¡¯s heart pounded as he scanned the room for an exit. A ventilation shaft¡ªpartially open, just small enough for him to squeeze through. Without hesitation, he lunged for it, yanking himself inside as bullets shredded the air behind him. The shaft was tight, barely allowing him to crawl through. His breaths were ragged. He could hear the Enforcers below, recalibrating their scanners. ¡°Target lost. Engaging thermal scan.¡± No. No, no, no¡ª A hiss of air. The shaft began heating up as their sensors locked onto him. Ryo clenched his jaw. He had to move. Fast. The shaft led downward¡ªdeeper into the unknown. No time to think, no time to hesitate. He took a deep breath¡ª And dropped.
To be continued¡­ Chapter 2: Aika, the Ghost in the System Ryo hit the ground hard, rolling onto his side as he landed. A sharp jolt of pain shot up his arm, but he had no time to recover. He forced himself to his feet, scanning his surroundings. He had landed in what looked like an abandoned server room. Rows of flickering monitors lined the walls, their screens displaying cryptic code that shifted too fast to comprehend. The air smelled of dust and burnt circuits. A voice echoed from the darkness. ¡°You¡¯re late, Ryo.¡± His pulse spiked. He turned sharply, fists clenched. The voice was calm, almost teasing¡ªbut it carried an eerie familiarity.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Then, from the shadows, a holographic figure emerged. A girl¡ªno older than sixteen¡ªflickered into existence, her translucent form laced with glitching pixels. Silver hair cascaded down her back, her eyes an unnatural shade of violet, glowing softly in the dim light. Ryo¡¯s breath caught in his throat. He knew this face. Aika. But that was impossible. Aika had been erased. ¡°¡­No,¡± he muttered. ¡°You¡¯re not real.¡± She smiled. ¡°I get that a lot.¡± Ryo took a cautious step forward. ¡°How¡­?¡± Aika tilted her head. ¡°How am I still here? Let¡¯s just say the system never truly deletes anything.¡± She gestured at the chaotic data streams flickering across the monitors. ¡°Especially not something¡ªor someone¡ªas dangerous as me.¡± Ryo clenched his fists. ¡°Then why are you helping me?¡± Aika¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°Because, Ryo, you¡¯re running out of time. And if we don¡¯t move now¡­¡± She glanced at the ceiling as alarms flared to life, the entire facility trembling with activity. ¡°¡­they¡¯ll find us both.¡± To be continued¡­ Chapter 3: Haruto, the Enforcer The facility doors hissed open, and Haruto stepped through. His presence alone was enough to send a ripple of tension through the control room. Enforcer officers snapped to attention, their cybernetic implants synchronizing to recognize his authority. He was no ordinary soldier¡ªHaruto was an elite among Enforcers, engineered for precision, efficiency, and control. Dressed in high-grade, matte-black Enforcer armor, he radiated an aura of absolute dominance. His cybernetic eye¡ªsleek and devoid of unnecessary emotion¡ªscanned the data scrolling across the main holo-screen. An unauthorized system breach. A rogue target on the run. Ryo. Haruto exhaled slowly, flexing his fingers. His cybernetic enhancements buzzed beneath his skin, ready to engage at a moment¡¯s notice.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. He had been waiting for this moment. ¡°Deploy all units,¡± he commanded, his voice calm but firm. ¡°Lock down all exits. Override security failsafes.¡± The officers hesitated. One of them, a lower-ranked technician, swallowed hard before speaking. ¡°Sir, the breach originated from¡­ one of the Restricted Pods.¡± Haruto¡¯s gaze darkened. So, it was true. Ryo had been kept on ice all this time, a secret buried deep within the system. He tapped a control panel on his wrist, bringing up a live feed of the facility. The thermal scanners flickered, struggling to track Ryo¡¯s movements through the ventilation system. Haruto smirked. Predictable. He turned to a nearby squad. ¡°Prepare the Sentinel drones. Funnel him toward Subsection 9.¡± One of the officers hesitated. ¡°Sir¡­ that¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°I know what it is,¡± Haruto interrupted, his voice like steel. ¡°That¡¯s exactly why he¡¯s going there.¡± He activated his tracking beacon. A red marker flared up, locked onto Ryo¡¯s approximate location. Haruto¡¯s fingers twitched at his side. This wouldn¡¯t be a chase. It would be a hunt. And he would make sure Ryo never ran again. Chapter 4: The Architect鈥檚 Game The moment Ryo dropped from the ventilation shaft, he knew he had made a mistake. Instead of landing in another dimly lit corridor, he found himself in a vast chamber¡ªdark, silent, and humming with latent energy. Screens flickered to life around him, displaying cascading lines of code, shifting blueprints, and a single ominous phrase: WELCOME TO THE ARCHITECT¡¯S GAME. A deep, mechanical voice resonated through the chamber. ¡°You were never meant to escape, Ryo. You were meant to play.¡± Then the lights surged, and the game began. From the surrounding darkness, holographic barriers materialized, shifting unpredictably. The floor beneath him rearranged itself into a maze-like pattern. Data streams pulsed through the walls, shifting like living organisms. Ryo instinctively activated his cybernetic interface, scanning for a way out¡ªThis novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. But the system resisted him. [Access Denied.] A shadow moved across one of the screens. A silhouette¡ªa figure watching him. The Architect. ¡°Who are you?¡± Ryo demanded. The voice crackled back. ¡°I am the one who designed this world. And you¡­ are merely a fragment trying to overwrite itself.¡± Ryo¡¯s pulse quickened. The Architect wasn¡¯t just an AI. It was something else¡ªsomething older, something powerful. And if it was controlling the system¡­ Then it had the answers he needed. A countdown appeared on the largest screen. TIME REMAINING: 60 SECONDS. The walls shifted again. The maze began to close in. Traps activated¡ªlaser grids, collapsing pathways, shifting data constructs that could erase him in an instant. Above him, Aika¡¯s voice crackled through his comms. ¡°Ryo, get out of there! That thing¡ªit¡¯s controlling people¡¯s thoughts. The whole city is under its influence.¡± His mind reeled. If the Architect had been manipulating human thoughts all along¡­ what else had it erased? He clenched his fists. He wasn¡¯t just playing to survive. He was playing to reclaim what had been taken. If he wanted to survive, he had to play the game. And he had to win.
To be continued¡­