The red mist didn't clear.

It thickened.

Kael’s HUD warped again. A flicker of raw system text scrolled across the top of his vision.

:: ADMIN NOTICE – UNAUTHORIZED CODEBREAKER ACCESS DETECTED ::

The air buzzed like feedback static.

Then—

A man stepped forward. Silver and green armor. Broad-shouldered, blade already drawn.

His name tag blinked:
DRAIN // Lvl 4 – Paladin

“You. You’re the glitch freak, right?” he snapped. “You caused this.”

Kael stared at him. “I just kept people alive.”

“You broke the system,” Drain growled. “Now it's turning on all of us.”

He pointed his sword.

“Either you log out—or we log you out.”

“There is no logout,” Lena said behind Kael.

Drain sneered. “Then I guess it’s PvP.”

[DUEL INITIATED]
Challenger: Drain
Type: Lethal / System Bound

Accept Duel? [Y/N]

Kael didn’t press anything.

The duel auto-accepted.

[AUTO-ACCEPT ENABLED: CODEBREAKER CLASS RESTRICTION]

“Of course it did,” Kael muttered.