The corridor ended in silence.
No glyphs this time. No red-threaded warnings. Just a wall of smooth stone—untouched, unmarked, impossibly still.
But Root felt it.
Behind that wall, something vast was breathing.
Veyr appeared beside him, arms behind his back, mask dim.
"This wasn't built for you."
Root said nothing. His pulse was already rising.
His hand twitched—and Sigil Sight flared.
The wall dissolved.
Not physically. Not visually.
But in perception.
What was once blank became covered in layered glyphs—stacked, spiraled, coded in an ancient, looping pattern. Not Hollow. Not System. Thronebound.
[ WARNING: Layer Violation – Unauthorized Throne Signature Detected ]
[ Description: A Throne Core structure exists behind this seal. Accessing may alter system authority. ]
Proceed?
Root hesitated.
Then he laughed—quiet, tired.
"Everything I do alters the system now."
He pressed his palm to the seal.
The wall didn't open.
It knelt.
A tremor ran through the floor as the stone bowed inward, folding like a robed figure in prayer. Beyond it, the room opened—not like a door—but like a confession.
Root stepped through.
The chamber inside was circular, ringed in massive spirals of polished black stone. No torches. No glowing glyphs. The light here came from a single source:
A raised platform.
Upon it, a throne.
Simple. Jagged. Made from the same Rift-stone as the world around it—but crowned at the top with a carved sigil halo pulsing slowly in Hollow blue.
At its base was a nameplate. Faint. Almost wiped clean.
But Root could still read it:
"THRONE: OBSERVER-CLASS | STATUS: OCCUPIED"
He stopped.
His hand moved instinctively toward his blade.
There was already someone seated in the throne.
They didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
But they were watching.
And Root knew—
This wasn't just a seat of power.
*This was a console.
A control node for everything beneath.
Veyr's voice dropped to a hush behind him.
"This is where the Rift listens from."
Root stared forward.
The figure on the throne wore no armor. Just a long black coat—half-eaten by decay. Their head was bowed. Their chest glowed faintly with a cracked sigil—not unlike Veyr's, but far more eroded.
[ Signature: Observer-Class Echo – Dormant ]
This entity once held control of a Rift layer. Now inactive. Corruption level: 91%
[ Option Available: Assume Control Temporarily? ]
Warning: Doing so may draw attention from External Layers.
Root looked at Veyr.
"If I sit—what happens?"
Veyr didn't answer at first.
Then, softly:
"You'll stop being a player."
Root approached the throne.
The figure seated on it didn't move.
But as he drew near, he felt it—an invisible current, like standing next to an engine that had long since stopped running but still hummed with old heat.
[ Observer-Class Throne – Access Conditions Met ]
Corruption Threshold: Above 90%
Null Signature: Confirmed
Fixed Anomaly Detected
[ Access Granted – Temporary Control Initiating… ]
Root stopped at the final step.
The throne was plain up close—just stone. No gold. No carvings. But somehow… it felt heavier than reality. Like sitting down would make the world tilt.
He looked back at Veyr.
"You sure?" Root asked.
Veyr said nothing.
But he didn't stop him.
Root sat.
And the Rift opened.
Not with light.
With data.
The world peeled apart—not in vision, but in understanding. Code strings laced through the air. Room schematics layered beneath floor tiles. Every entity he'd encountered pulsed like a blinking light on a vast, unseen map.
[ Welcome, Temporary Observer. ]
[ Displaying Rift Control Grid: Layer 4 – Hollow Simulation Sector ]
Active Trials: 4
Failed Users: 13
Echo-Class Entities: 2
Adaptive Units: 1 (Destroyed)
Parasite Threads: 5 (Quarantined)
Unclassified Signatures: 1 (Yours)
Root blinked.
His breath slowed.
He wasn't looking at the Rift anymore.
He was inside its spine.
[ Remote Access Options: ]
• Review Hollow Memory Logs
• Trace Sigil Erosion Patterns
• Flag Entities for Removal
• Access Global Throne Map (Read-Only)
Root selected the last option.
The chamber trembled—then flattened. In its place hovered a star map of the Rift's deeper layers.
Each star was a Throne.
Each Throne pulsed in a color.
Most were dark.
But a handful still glowed.
[ Active Thrones: 7 ]
[ Inactive Thrones: 19 ]
[ Corrupted Thrones: 11 ]
[ Unknown Thrones: 3 ]
Root hovered his hand over one of the glowing nodes.
THRONE: BASTION | ACTIVE | USER: REDACTED
Summoning Discipline: Celestial
Authority Level: High. Observation Status: Suppressed.
Another pulsed erratically.
THRONE: MAW OF GLASS | CORRUPTED | USER: LOST
Functionality: Consumes memories. Self-repair halted.
Warning: Observers avoid contact.
Root's heart beat faster.
He wasn't the only anomaly.
He wasn't the first.
But most of them were either buried… or sitting in silence, still watching.
[ Observer Control – Ending Soon. External Attention Rising… ]
[ Optional Action: Leave Mark Before Exiting? ]
Marks are permanent. They will be noticed.
➤ Write Name
➤ Leave Warning
➤ Plant Echo
➤ Exit Silently
Root hovered over the options.
Then he reached forward—and chose one.
Root's finger hovered over the final options.
➤ Write Name
➤ Leave Warning
➤ Plant Echo
➤ Exit Silently
His eyes flicked to Veyr, who stood at the edge of the throne room like a statue too still to be human. Even now, he didn't speak.
Because this wasn't his choice.
This was Root's.
His voice, his mark, his line scratched into a system that wasn't built to remember him.
He selected:
➤ Leave Warning
A new prompt appeared:
[ Enter Warning Message – Max 5 Words ]
Note: All current and future throne-bound users may encounter this inscription.
Root stared at the blinking cursor.
Then typed:
"I See You Watching Me."
The words carved themselves into the crown-ring above the throne, etched in silver-blue script, glowing faintly like a whisper caught in code.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then…
The temperature dropped.
Not the air.
The pressure—the feel of being under water, beneath an ancient depth.
Veyr's head turned slowly toward the far wall. His voice, soft and tense:
"They saw it."
A single glyph blinked into existence on the center of the throne room floor.
Just one.
Primitive. Crooked. Scrawled in the style of a child's signature.
And it pulsed once.
[ External Observer Acknowledged Your Presence. ]
Designation: [REDACTED]
Communication: Established.
Message Incoming…
Root froze.
The throne trembled.
Then the message appeared—not in the system, but inside his mind:
"Are you the one who eats?"
Root clenched his teeth.
"Then keep going."
"And don't stop."
"I want to see what breaks first—
the Rift…"
"…or you."
Then the glyph faded.
The lights died.
The throne went still.
[ Observer Control Ended. Access Revoked. ]
[ Rift Layer Resetting… Standby. ]
Root blinked—and found himself back in the original hallway.
The door behind him was sealed.
The throne room no longer existed.
But above him, high on the ceiling, was one thing that hadn't been there before:
A new glyph.
Not Rift-made.
Not Hollow-born.
Just five words scratched in with glowing script:
I SAW WHAT YOU DID.