The Core Vault wasn't supposed to exist.
Tucked beneath layers of encrypted architecture, hidden from every known access point, it was the final firewall—a place even the Entity hesitated to enter. And now, Ethan was marching straight toward it, armed with nothing but a reforged soul and the echoes of a love story gone nuclear.
The world around him was crumbling. Not metaphorically—literally.
Entire blocks of code fell from the sky like burning ash, crashing into reality with tremors that shook both digital and physical planes. If there was a line between simulation and the real world, it had disintegrated about five minutes ago.
Eve's voice crackled through the noise.
"You're walking into a death trap, Ethan."
He didn't stop. "Good. I've got unfinished business with death."
