I walked through fire.

  Not figuratively. Not emotionally. Real, damn fire. The kind that licked the horizon like hell’s tongue and cracked the bones under my skin with every step.

  My feet were torn open. No shoes. No clothes. Just charred skin, sweat, and adrenaline.

  [System Calibration: 43%]

  [Warning: Combat Capabilities — Not Detected]

  [Recommendation: Die Quickly]

  “Screw your recommendation,” I muttered.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Something howled nearby.

  I froze. Half-man, half-monster, it limped through the ash on three legs. The fourth was missing — bone jutting from the stump. It dragged a blade made from what looked like its own rib.

  Its eyes burned with data.

  Lines of floating red code spiraled around its body like a glitching game file.

  [Target: Glitched Beast — Tier 0.5]

  [System: Corrupted. Skillset: Unstable. Kill chance: 0.003%]

  “So you’re saying there’s a chance?” I laughed — a dry, cracked sound.

  The thing charged.

  No sword. No armor. No hope.

  But I had desperation. That counts for something.

  I dodged left. Barely. The rib-blade sliced the air where my head had been. I grabbed a chunk of stone and slammed it into the thing’s temple.

  It screamed. Glitched code shattered like glass.

  It fell.

  [Critical Hit Registered.]

  [Target: Dying…]

  [New Option Unlocked: Consume Core — Corrupted]

  The screen blinked red.

  [Warning: Consumption of corrupted data may result in system instability, madness, or death.]

  I stared at the dying monster. At the black pulsating core pulsing in its chest.

  “I was already broken before I got here,” I whispered.

  I reached in and took it.