The Nihilos: Trash Player Who Rewrote Reality

It had been three days since the gate appeared in the park.

To most of the world, it was dismissed as a glitch in city surveillance. The news showed low-res, static footage. Scientists called it a light anomaly. Conspiracy forums called it a soft breach. EvoCore said nothing.

But to Raven, it wasn't just a glitch. It was a memory trying to breathe again.

And it wasn't just him who noticed.

---

In a quiet bookstore at the edge of District 9, a girl with pale green glasses stood still before a shelf, holding a book she wasn't reading. Her name was Lyra — once a player who failed sync back in the beta phase. Declared brain-dead, she had "recovered" miraculously when the capsule network rebooted a year ago.

Her hand trembled as she watched the news flash about "aurora-like radiation" in city parks.

> "He's awake," she whispered.

---

Across town, in a dark apartment filled with tangled wires and broken VR gear, a boy known only as ZeroFox typed furiously into a terminal. On his wall was a map of past gate pings, crossed with player coma timelines. A red dot blinked on his screen.

> "Thirty percent sync," he muttered. "They lied. It's still going."

He paused.

> "Nihilos never ended."

---

Back at Raven's apartment, things were quiet.

Too quiet.

Ava sat curled on the couch, arms hugging her knees as she stared out the window. Sol was trying to fix the toaster again, using tools from a toolkit that looked like it belonged to a spaceship.

Raven stood near the balcony, staring at the fading sky.

> "She had your eyes," he said quietly.

Ava looked at him.

> "What do you mean?"

> "The girl in the gate. She… felt like a version of you. Or maybe one you forgot."

Ava said nothing.

Sol tossed a smoking wrench. "Or maybe the system is trying to pull you both back."

> "It won't," Raven said, but his voice lacked certainty.

Then, his phone buzzed.

No number. No ID. One message.

> "It's starting again. The sealed dungeons are waking. Players are missing. Be ready."

Sol read over his shoulder.

> "Guess the world didn't want peace after all."

Raven smiled faintly.

> "That's the thing about peace. It never really belonged to us."

He turned to Ava.

> "If it comes back... do we run?"

Ava looked at him and stood.

> "No. This time, we chase it."

---

Far underground, inside EvoCore's deepest archive, a red status bar blinked on a cold, curved screen.

> [NIHILOS SYSTEM SYNC: 41.2%] [UNKNOWN ENTITY — ACTIVE] [HIDDEN CLASS DETECTED: DREAM REPEATER]

And on another monitor, a single line of system log scrolled endlessly:

> "Not everyone who forgot... actually did."