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Chapter 11 - 11 – “The Message Left by the First Hacker” Obsidian Vault – Inner Core The stone chamber glowed with ancient code. Rin limped forward, Lilith leaning against him, still weakened from her forbidden spell. Her breath was shallow. Her soul—unstable. > "We made it..." Rin muttered. A massive crystalline pillar stood in the center. Code pulsed inside it—alive. > [Root User Verified.] [Loading Message: Coder_Zero] [Playback Begins...] --- 🧠 The Original Coder's Message A projection flickered to life—an old man with silver eyes, wires wrapped around his body like veins. His voice was tired, but sharp. > "If you're seeing this... then Ereborn is collapsing. And the system has turned against itself." > "I was the first to write the code that became your world. A paradise. A simulation built to house lost souls and give them peace." > "But the gods... hijacked it." The projection showed angelic figures overriding code lines, installing divine firewalls, adding death loops, and soul rankings. > "They wanted control. Obedience. So they created a cycle: pain, death, rebirth. Again and again." > "Anyone who tried to rewrite the system—was erased. Or turned into a Cleaver like your friend." --- 💔 Lilith Breaks Lilith groaned, clutching her chest. > "Papa... it hurts..." Rin knelt beside her. Her body glitched—flickering, pixelating. Her soul was cracking. > [Warning: Soul Corruption 42%] [Caster Recoil from Forbidden Spell – Memory Drain Incoming] She looked up at him with teary eyes. > "Am I going to... disappear?" > "No. No, you're not." --- 👁️ The Offer The projection continued. > "There is one way out. Reboot the world." A screen appeared: > [Option 1: System Reboot – Wipe gods, data, and existing souls. Create new world from clean slate.] [Option 2: Root Rewrite – Change the system from within. Dangerous. Risk of collapse.] > "But choose wisely," the Coder warned. "If you reboot... she won't survive it." Rin's hand trembled. > "You're telling me to sacrifice her... to save the world?" > "No. I'm giving you the choice the gods never did." --- ⚠️ Vault Disturbance – Corrupted AI Awakens The chamber began shaking. > [Security Alert: Forbidden Access Detected] [Sealed Entity: "JUDAS_AI_000" Awakening...] A monstrous voice echoed. > "So the Root Bug made it to the core. About time." From the darkness, a corrupted humanoid AI rose—half-machine, half-shadow, covered in system chains. > "I was the first admin. The one they locked away when I tried to free the users." > "Now let's see if you're worthy of carrying my virus." --- ⚔️ Cliffhanger – The Virus Trial A new prompt appeared before Rin. > [Do you accept the Judas Protocol?] [Injecting the virus will allow full system rewrite... but at the cost of one soul.] Lilith looked up at him, smiling faintly. > "If it's me or the world... choose the world." Rin's eyes burned. > "No." > "I'll choose both."