Episode 11: The City Beneath Starlight

"I'm part of its broken code."

Kuro Jin's words faded into the night, the echoes lost in the wind sweeping across the Whispering Woods.

He turned away from the scorched battlefield, every step heavy with exhaustion, yet laced with resolve. The Observer's final words repeated in his mind:

> "North of Elaria… beneath the city drowned by stars."

Jin's gaze shifted northward, where mountains loomed like sleeping titans beneath the night sky.

[New Objective Added: Locate the Second Flame | Region: Starfall Ruins]

Suggested Level: 40+ | Current: 28

He scoffed quietly.

"Of course it's too early. When has that ever stopped me?"

---

The Next Morning – Ember Hollow

Elder Hara's hut felt quieter than usual. Jin sat across from the elder, bruised and silent as he recounted everything—the Observer, the battle, the message about the Second Flame.

The elder's expression darkened with each word.

"There are legends," he finally said. "Of a city swallowed by the sky. Starfall was its name… a place that defied the heavens."

He reached beneath the floor mat, pulling out a weathered map inked with ancient runes and unstable leyline patterns.

"That place was once Noveria's center of magical convergence—until the cataclysm."

Jin traced a path along the map—north past Elaria, through the Veiled Ridge, then deep beneath the Shattered Moon Crater.

"Guess I'll need to move fast before the system throws another omega-class babysitter at me."

---

Later That Day – Northern Road Out of Ember Hollow

With a fresh cloak, a bag of supplies, and his dagger now engraved with a faint system rune, Jin began his trek north.

[Quest Thread Activated: The Lost Flame of Starfall]

Warning: Entering contested zone. Enemy factions may interfere.

As he walked, a voice echoed in his mind—calm, ancient, half-glitched:

> [Memory Echo: Arlen Kairos – Entry #17]

"When the system first fused with Noveria, it created Observers to maintain order… but they began forming judgments of their own. The deeper you synchronize, the more their eyes fall on you. Beware those who wear reason like armor."

He exhaled slowly.

"They're not guardians... they're jailers."

---

Three Days Later – Elaria's Northern Border

The city of Elaria shimmered with mage-lamps and patrol drones, the capital of magic-tech civilization built atop crumbling ruins.

Jin didn't stop.

He bypassed it through the merchant tunnels—thanks to a rogue trader who owed a favor to Elder Hara—and entered the wildlands beyond.

There, the terrain shifted. The sky seemed... wrong.

Stars above flickered like broken code.

The trees grew sideways, twisted, humming with faint system energy. Magic here didn't flow—it spiraled.

[Entering Zone: Starfall Ruins – Forbidden Access Layer Detected]

The air chilled instantly.

He descended into a ravine veiled in thick blue mist, where ancient towers jutted from beneath the earth like shattered bones.

And then he saw it—

A monolithic gate covered in runes. At its center, a broken sigil pulsed weakly.

The same symbol carved into his palm.

He stepped forward.

[System Recognition Confirmed: Divine Flamebearer]

Access Granted – Inner Sanctum Unlocked

The gate rumbled and split open.

---

Inside the Starfall Sanctum

The air turned weightless.

Data fragments shimmered like stardust, floating between collapsed columns of obsidian and glass. Strange crystalline creatures wandered silently—glitching in and out of existence.

A central platform rose from below, revealing a core crystal—fractured, yet radiating power.

Then—he heard it.

A voice. Soft. Feminine. Mechanical, but sorrowful.

> "...Flamebearer detected. Synchronization incomplete. Initiating Phase Two. Retrieving Arlen Protocols…"

Jin stepped forward, but then—

A ripple.

From behind the core, a figure emerged.

She was tall, cloaked in midnight blue robes. Her eyes glowed with gold circuitry. Skin pale as moonlight.

> "So. The Second Flame awakens… and another chosen appears. You're late, Kuro Jin."

His pulse froze.

"You know my name?"

She nodded once.

"I remember you. All of you. Every bearer the system has consumed."

> [New Character Introduced: Seris, Flame of Memory | Role: System Guardian (Defected)]

She drew a sigil in the air.

The ruins responded with a pulse of power.

> "If you truly seek to finish what Arlen began… then survive the collapse that's coming."

[WARNING – System Interruption Detected | Area Instability: 94%]

The ground beneath Jin cracked.

The entire sanctum began to shake—data storms forming around them.

Seris didn't move.

> "Choose now, Flamebearer. Synchronize fully… or be erased like the rest."

Jin stared at the flickering core.

Then stepped forward.

> [System Prompt: Synchronize with the Second Flame?]

Consequences unknown. Proceed?

He reached out.

"Yes."

[Synchronization Surge – 72%]

[Skill Acquired: Core Rewrite]

Temporarily alters the rules of reality within a limited zone. Duration: 15 sec. Cooldown: 48 hrs.

The surge of power nearly shattered him.

And just before he blacked out—

Seris whispered, "Welcome to the deeper game, Kuro Jin."

---

[To Be Continued...]

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