The night after purging the first temple, Rishi and his team sat by the ruins—exhausted, injured, but victorious.
Above them, the sky rippled as if reality itself had just been updated.
"SYSTEM PATCH 3.0 – LIVE NOW."
The stars shimmered… then glitched.
And suddenly, every remaining creature, plant, or AI in the world looked up—as if something ancient had just logged in.
A Mysterious Transmission
Rehan was tuning his scavenged radio-sat for fun when a static burst interrupted everyone.
"—YoU tHiNk YoU'Re the pLaYeR oNe?""I'm not a remake. I'm the upgrade.""The true heir to the Trainer has arrived. Call me… Player Two.""I don't copy. I create."
The signal burned into every surface—on moss walls, into tree bark, and even onto the back of Rehan's hand.
Coordinates detected: Sector X49—Origin Valley
"He wants us to come," Nyra whispered.
"No," Rishi replied darkly. "He wants us to chase him."
Sector X49 – Origin Valley
It took two days to reach Sector X49. This wasn't just any place.
This was where the first glitch was born—the place where the Trainer appeared before Rishi for the first time.
But now?
It had become something else.
Ruins shaped like massive console buttons.
Trees bearing USB-like fruit.
Streams flowing with neon-blue code.
AI constructs building towers… by themselves.
Hovering above the central hill was a platform, floating like a boss arena.
On it stood Player Two.
Who is Player Two?
He was around Rishi's age.
His white trench coat glitched with every breath. A floating HUD danced around him, not unlike the original Trainer interface—but his wasn't blue. It was crimson. Corrupted.
"Nice to finally meet you, Player One," he smirked. "Or should I say… Beta Tester."
"Who are you?" Rishi asked, fists clenched.
"Call me Veil," he said, his voice like a corrupted audio file. "I was born from every failed version of you. Every timeline, every simulation you didn't survive… I survived them all."
Behind Veil appeared others. A party.
A girl made of raw code named NULLA, who erased anything she touched.
A beast called CrashDog, half-glitch, half-machine.
A former trainer AI named DevMode, who turned sentient after Patchworld collapsed.
"You built your team on growth," Veil smirked. "I built mine on broken limits."
Veil's Proposal
"This world?" Veil gestured to the chaos around him. "It's not ready for rules. It's a game that deserves chaos. And I'll rewrite it to be the way I want."
"You're crazy," Saanvi snapped. "You'll destroy everything!"
"So will the next system reset," Veil said calmly. "This world is bleeding debug codes. Either I fix it… or it crashes for good."
"And you think you're the fix?" Rishi asked.
"No," Veil smirked. "I think I'm the upgrade."
He then held out a Trainer-like device—and crushed it with his bare hand. Instead of shattering, it evolved into a red orb and sank into his chest.
PLAYER TWO: SYSTEM MERGE COMPLETE.
NEW SKILL: REALITY SCRIPTING – ALPHA STAGE.
"Now," Veil grinned, "let's see who deserves to hold the pen."
Midair Battle: Rishi vs Veil
Before anyone could move, the arena activated. A dome of glitch-energy shot into the sky, trapping the teams inside.
"You've got five minutes, Rishi," Veil smirked. "Impress me."
Rishi charged, faster than before—no Trainer, no hacks, only learned skills.
They clashed midair, fists wrapped in kinetic energy, memories sparking with every hit.
Rishi used parries, raw physical skill, and adrenaline-triggered powers.
Veil used rewrite scripts—he altered the terrain, reversed gravity, even swapped cooldowns between them mid-fight.
"This isn't fair!" Nyra shouted.
"Exactly," Rehan muttered. "He's not playing fair—he's modding reality."
The Twist: A Traitor's Choice
During the fight, NULLA vanished.
Moments later, Nyra screamed.
"Where's Saanvi!?"
The battlefield shifted—suddenly Saanvi stood next to Veil… her expression unreadable.
"You were strong, Rishi," she said quietly. "But maybe too righteous. You still think mercy works in a broken world."
"What are you doing?" Rishi asked, stunned.
Saanvi's eyes glowed red.
PLAYER TWO PARTY MEMBER: SAANVI – DARK CODE INITIATED.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But maybe Veil's way is what the world needs now."
"She's not corrupted," Nyra gasped. "She chose this."
The Arena Collapses
Before Rishi could react, Veil activated a failsafe.
DUNGEON ENDING IN 10… 9…
The dome shattered. Everyone was thrown from the sky.
Veil caught Saanvi midair and warped away with NULLA and DevMode.
"We'll be watching," Veil said as his body disintegrated into red static.
Aftermath
Back in Origin Valley, the group was silent.
"She left," Rehan said flatly. "Just like that."
"No," Rishi whispered. "She didn't leave… she joined him."
Nyra clutched Rishi's arm.
"What now?"
Rishi looked at the broken sky above."Now… we rebuild. We train harder. We find the next temple."
"And when we face them again?"
Rishi's eyes narrowed.
"This time… we write our own patch."
End of Chapter 5