The clearing was silent, except for my HUD's faint hum and the occasional rustle of leaves in the breeze. The Guardian was gone—erased from existence by whatever the hell I’d just done. Lucien stood a few feet away, his knees bent slightly as if he wasn’t sure whether to bow or run. His lute hung awkwardly across his back, and his usually sparkling demeanor had dulled into wide-eyed reverence.

I raised my hand in front of me, watching faint tendrils of shadow curl around my fingertips, flickering like tiny embers of violet fire.

My HUD was… different. It was cleaner and sharper, but it was also broken. My class icon was nothing but a black rectangle bordered with glitching pixels. My stat points glowed an eerie purple and a new tab labeled [Demonic Dominion] appeared at the bottom of my screen.

“Devon…” I said quietly. “Are you still there?”

His voice came back, shaky but clear. [Devon]: Yeah, I’m here. Kiera, what the hell was that? Your HUD looks wrong. Like, seriously wrong. And your class icon—it's completely blank. That’s not supposed to happen.

“I used the command,” I said, flexing my hand again. “The one from the email. And now… I’m this. Whatever this is.”

Lucien slowly stepped forward, his head slightly bowed. “My Lady… you wield power that does not belong to this world. It’s as though the threads of fate themselves have been unraveled in your hands.”

“Cool, Lucien. That’s very poetic,” I muttered, staring at my screen. “But what does that mean practically? Like, is the game going to delete me? Am I going to get banned?”

Devon hesitated. [Devon]: I don’t know, Kiera. I’ve seen glitches before. Duplication glitches stat exploits… but nothing like this. Whatever that cheat code was, it didn’t just change your stats—it changed your class. And this isn’t just some bugged skill; it’s like the game doesn’t even know what you are anymore.

I swallowed hard. The weight of what just happened began settling on my shoulders.

Lucien glanced around the clearing before speaking. “My Lady, we should not linger here. Whatever force granted you this… gift… it has left its mark. Others may sense it.”

I nodded and started walking toward the faint glow of Eldergrove Village in the distance. The weight of my new outfit—ornate and impossibly smooth against my skin—felt more real than any VR gear had the right to feel.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•

Back in Eldergrove Village

The transition from the forest to the village was seamless, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different. NPCs turned their heads as I walked past, their movements slightly… off. Some froze mid-step before continuing. Others glanced at me with hollow, glassy eyes before looking away quickly.

Lucien noticed it, too. His dagger remained half-drawn, and his ordinarily confident gait had turned cautious.

“Do they… always act like this?” I asked.

“No, my muse,” he said softly. “They do not.”

We arrived at the village square, where a familiar fountain gurgled peacefully under lantern light. Devon’s voice crackled back into the party chat.

[Devon]: Kiera, okay. Listen. I’ve been scanning forums and community boards—nothing. No one has seen this before. No one has even heard of a Succubus Demon Lord class. You’re flying completely blind right now.

“Cool, cool, love that for me,” I said dryly, crossing my arms. “So… what now?”

[Devon]: You need to lay low. I’ve got a raid with my guild in about ten minutes. They’ll murder me if I’m late. Just… go to an inn, and don’t—don’t—do anything until I get back. Got it?

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah. Okay. Fine. I’ll go to an inn.”

[Devon]: Seriously. Don’t poke anything, don’t talk to anything suspicious, and for the love of all things pixelated, don’t accept any weird quests.

“Scout’s honor,” I said, raising two fingers.

[Party Chat Ended]

The abrupt silence felt… unsettling. It was just me and Lucien for the first time since I’d logged in.

The bard turned to me with a lopsided smile. “Shall we, my Lady? I believe I saw an inn with a rather charming balcony view.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Let’s just… go.”

The Inn – The Midnight Hearth

The inn was a cozy two-story building with warm light spilling from its windows and the faint sound of chatter and clinking glasses drifting from inside. The wooden sign above the door read The Midnight Hearth in elegant lettering.

We stepped inside, and the innkeeper—a portly woman with rosy cheeks—politely nodded.

“Welcome to the Midnight Hearth. Rooms are ten Obsidian Crowns a night. Will you be staying, traveler?”

I opened my menu and handed over the coins. A notification popped up:

[Transaction Complete: -10 Obsidian Crowns][Room Key Acquired: #7]

“Your room is upstairs, third on the left,” the innkeeper chirped.

Lucien walked me up the creaky wooden stairs and stopped outside my door. “My Lady, I will remain nearby–If you still have use for me?”

Another notification appeared on the screen:

[Dismissal Activated upon Reaching Level 10]

[Dismiss the Master Bard Lucien? Yes or No]

Since starting the game, I had wanted to get rid of Lucien for the longest, but… the annoying bard was beginning to grow on me, and without Devon yelling in my ear, it was kind of lonely. Maybe I’ll keep him around for a little longer.

“No.”

[Lucien, the Master bard, will remain in your party]

“I am forever in your debts.”

“Thanks, Lucien.” I smiled faintly. “I think I just need to sit down for a bit.”

He nodded, then bowed slightly before heading toward a bench at the end of the hallway.

I stepped into the room. It was cozy—a small bed, a wooden table, and a window with a view of the moonlit village square. I collapsed into the chair by the window and opened my menu.

The stat screen looked… wrong. Numbers flickered, and values overlapped. My new class—Succubus Demon Lord—sat at the top in glitching purple text. The Demonic Dominion tab pulsed faintly, locked behind a notification that read:

Stolen story; please report.

[REQUIREMENT: Unknown]

“What the hell does that mean?” I muttered.

I scrolled through my inventory. The Midnight Fang, the Abyssal Crown, and the Empress of Shadows Armor Set glittered ominously in my bags. The Obsidian Crowns counter sat at a ridiculously high number.

Then, another notification pinged at the bottom of my screen.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE: UNKNOWN is typing…]

I froze.

Slowly, I selected the message and opened it.

[UNKNOWN]: They’ll come for you soon—players, admins, entities. Your glitch isn’t invisible. You’ll need to grow stronger… and quickly. The next marker has already been placed. Follow it, and you might survive what’s coming.

[QUEST ACCEPTED: SHADOW’S AWAKENING]

My heart hammered in my chest as the window closed. I hadn’t even clicked anything.

I glanced out the window at the village below, where NPCs continued their routines under flickering lantern light.

Devon had told me to stay put.

But something told me staying put wasn’t going to be an option.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•

The faint glow of morning sunlight filtered through the thin curtains of my inn room. Dust particles drifted lazily in the golden light, and somewhere downstairs, faint murmurs of NPCs and the clinking of glass echoed upward. It was peaceful—eerily peaceful, given the chaos of last night.

My HUD hovered faintly in the corner of my vision, the flickering Succubus Demon Lord class label still glitching in and out. The Demonic Dominion tab pulsed faintly, still locked, still unreadable.

I leaned against the wooden window frame, staring into the village square. The NPCs returned to their usual routines—hawking bread, sweeping doorsteps, and walking in perfectly looped patterns. Yet now and then, one would pause, their head turning toward the inn window, their glassy eyes staring directly at me.

Lucien sat cross-legged in the corner of the room, plucking at his lute absentmindedly. The usually confident bard looked… hesitant, his cheerful smile absent.

“You didn’t sleep, did you?” I asked.

He looked up, fingers halting mid-chord. “My Lady… it is not my place to question, but… have you truly found rest? Your aura—it has not stilled since the altar.”

Aura. Right. Another thing Devon hadn’t mentioned.

I sighed and turned back toward my HUD, briefly scrolling through my stats. The glitching was… less intense now, but it was still there. The Obsidian Crowns sat at an absurdly high number, and my inventory glittered with rare drops.

But one thing stood out more than anything:

[Quest: SHADOW’S AWAKENING]

Objective: Follow the Marker.

Reward: Unknown.

The glowing quest marker pulsed faintly on my minimap, leading out of the village and into the wilderness.

I hovered over it with my cursor. It felt… heavy, like even acknowledging it pulled me slightly toward it.

Lucien cleared his throat softly. “My Lady, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but… do you truly intend to follow that? Whatever foul force gifted you this power cannot possibly wish you well.”

I hesitated. Every part of me screamed to follow Devon’s advice—to stay put, log out, wait. But another part—the part tangled up with these new powers, with the shadows flickering faintly at the edge of my vision—pulled me toward that glowing marker.

I sighed. “Lucien, we’re going.”

His shoulders fell slightly, and he stood, sheathing his dagger. “Then I am with you, my muse—no matter where this path leads.”

The village was buzzing with activity, but something felt off. Every step I took through the cobbled streets drew stares—not the casual glances NPCs usually gave players, but long, unblinking stares.

I glanced at an older NPC woman sweeping her doorstep. Her head twitched slightly, like a marionette controlled by a fraying string, before her glassy eyes locked onto me.

“…Did they always do that?” I muttered under my breath.

Lucien walked beside me, one hand lightly gripping his lute strap. “No, my Lady. They did not.”

We reached the village gate, and just as I was about to cross into the wilds, a voice called out behind me.

“Traveler! Wait!”

I turned to see an armored NPC guard approaching us. His face was stiff, eyes hollow, and his movements too smooth—too artificial.

“You should not leave the village. There is… danger ahead.”

A dialogue box flickered into view:

[Dialogue Options]

1. “I can handle myself.”

2. “Why? What kind of danger?”

3. (Charm: Use Lustful Gaze)

I hesitated and selected Option 2.

The guard’s mouth twitched into something that resembled a smile but never quite reached his eyes.

“Danger… beyond your understanding.”

The HUD flickered briefly, and for a split second, the dialogue box glitched.

[System Error: NPC Dialogue Overwrite]

The guard’s eyes widened slightly before he abruptly turned and walked back toward the village square, disappearing into the crowd like nothing had happened.

Lucien stepped closer, lowering his voice. “That was… unnatural.”

“No kidding.”

We left the village gate, leaving the flickering lantern lights and the glitching stares behind.

The forest was dense, the air damp with morning dew and heavy with the scent of moss and damp earth. Birds chirped in distant branches, but the sounds felt muted, like background noise in a badly rendered soundscape.

The quest marker pulsed steadily on my HUD, leading us deeper into the woods.

Lucien walked a step behind me, his eyes constantly scanning the trees. “Do you feel it, my Lady? The weight of… something watching us?”

I nodded. The shadows felt thicker here, more aware.

After a few more minutes of walking, a sharp notification rang through my HUD.

[NEW AREA DISCOVERED: SHROUDED HOLLOW]

* Recommended Level: 20+

* Status: Restricted Zone

“Level twenty?!” I hissed. “Devon’s going to kill me.”

Lucien adjusted his lute strap. “Then we shall ensure he never needs to know, my muse.”

I was about to respond when a faint glow caught my eye—a faint blue light pulsing gently in the distance.

“It’s the quest marker,” I whispered.

We stepped carefully into a clearing, and there—suspended in mid-air above a cracked stone pedestal—was a glowing, violet crystal. It spun slowly, shards of energy orbiting around it in hypnotic patterns.

A notification popped up:

[OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: Find the Source of the Marker]

[New Objective: ???]

“What… is that?” I whispered.

Lucien took a cautious step back. “Something ancient. Something we were not meant to find.”

My HUD flickered again. A faint ping echoed in my ear, and a notification appeared.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE: UNKNOWN is typing…]

The message opened automatically.

[UNKNOWN]: You’re close. But be careful—this isn’t a gift. It’s a test. If you fail… well, let’s just say failure isn’t something the system tolerates. Proceed when ready.