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Chapter 7 - 7 – “She’s Still Alive Inside the Code” Night – Broken Fortress Rin sat alone, cloak wrapped around his shoulders, a system screen flickering in the air. The voice still echoed in his head. > "Rin... why did you abandon us...?" His hands trembled. > "You died. You all died. I saw it happen." > "No. We were... taken. Fragmented. Stored." The system chimed. > [Echo Detected – Data Fragment: "Saki Hoshino"] [Soul state: Incomplete. Preserved in System Vault Beta.] [Current Location: Unknown. Traced to: Core 2 – The Obsidian Vault] Rin's heart dropped. > Saki's not gone. She's part of the system now. He stood up slowly. > "I'm gonna bring you back. I swear." --- ☀️ Morning – Training Ground Lilith yawned, holding her teddy. > "Papaaa, I dreamed the kitchen exploded." > "That... wasn't a dream." She looked over. The kitchen was still on fire. > "Oh." She kicked at the dirt. "I'm not good at anything..." Rin crouched beside her. "Lilith. You're a walking nuke with emotions. You're incredible." He pulled out a tiny glowing stone. > "Wanna help Papa find ancient relics inside a potentially unstable dungeon made from corrupted trauma?" > "YES." --- ⚠️ Mini Dungeon Accident Lilith tried channeling her mana to locate hidden Core fragments. She poured way too much into the ground... > [System Instability Triggered.] [Rift Activated: Sub-Dungeon "Heart of the Broken Child"] The ground cracked. Rin grabbed Lilith and jumped back as a vortex of glowing red code spiraled open beneath their fortress. > "I told you to focus your mana—not rip a hole in the world!" She giggled. > "Oops." --- ⛓️ Dungeon Dive – Inside the Core They entered a dark void—walls flickering like TV static. The place felt wrong. Voices whispered. Old memories. Forgotten pain. At the center stood a crystal platform with a black orb floating above it. > [You have found: "Fragment Core 1 – Root of the Broken Code"] [Warning: Memory Echoes are unstable. Boss imminent.] Suddenly, a figure emerged—a corrupted version of Rin with empty eyes. > "You can't fix this world. You're just a selfish coward who couldn't save anyone." Rin's jaw clenched. "I've heard enough." > [Skill Activated: "Reality Script Editor"] [Command: Rewrite(EnemyType, "Training Dummy")] The clone blinked. > "Huh?" Rin punted it across the room. > "Therapy session's over." The Core absorbed into his body, glowing in his chest. > [Core 1 Acquired. Total Fragments: 2/12] [Passive Upgrade: "Script Memory Expansion"] --- ⚔️ Meanwhile – Aikawa's Blessing At the center of the Divine Empire's cathedral, a golden archangel hovered over Aikawa. > "You have been chosen, Kento. Wield this to purge the bug." > [Weapon Granted: Holy Artifact – "System Cleaver"] [Effect: Deletes any line of code. Bypasses Error Magic.] Aikawa grinned, drawing a glowing blade made entirely of divine script. > "I'm coming, Rin. And this time, you won't be the one playing god." --- 🌀 Back in the Fortress Rin and Lilith exited the rift as it closed behind them. Lilith tugged his arm. "Did we just beat a dungeon?" > "Yeah. And now the system probably hates us more." He glanced at the sky. > Saki's soul is out there. Aikawa's coming. And the gods are watching. > I'm not just fighting for this world anymore... I'm fighting for everyone the system erased. He put his hand over his heart, where the Core pulsed. > "Let's start crashing it. One bug at a time."