Raka landed hard on wooden planks — but the impact felt oddly soft, like falling into a memory.
The air changed. It was thick with sea fog, and the distant crash of waves echoed beyond his vision. He pushed himself up and looked around.
He was standing on the deck of a massive ship.
No… the ship.
"Pirate Ship map?" he whispered.
It was unmistakable — the iconic PvP arena from Lost Saga. The mast, the sails, the lower cabin doors. All there.
But wrong.
The sky above was a blood-orange hue, flickering like an overused screen. The sails were torn, flapping with no wind. And the water below didn't move — it was a flat, frozen texture, like someone forgot to render the animation.
Footsteps approached behind him.
He turned.
Iqiww dropped down from a shimmer in the air — apparently using some kind of teleport skill. He dusted himself off, glancing around.
"Welcome to the glitch sea," he muttered. "Pirate Ship, Version 3.9B-Error-X."
Raka stared at him. "How are you so calm?"
"Because I've been here before," Iqiww said, eyes scanning the surroundings. "This map is more than just a battleground. It's the memory storage of the first Lost Saga championship. You feel it, right?"
Raka blinked. Then he did feel it.
Like echoes.
Whispers of matches once played here, laughter of players long gone, the clash of swords. Memories.
But they were broken.
Fragments.
From the corner of his eye, he saw something twitch.
A figure — glitching in and out of existence — stood at the crow's nest above. No name tag. Just eyes glowing yellow.
"I don't like this," Raka muttered.
"Good," Iqiww smirked. "Means your instincts are working."
Suddenly, the ship shuddered.
A loud clang rang out from below deck, followed by a voice — hollow, yet familiar.
> "Player detected... former Champion Raka_001. Welcome back."
Raka froze. "That's my old username. How does it know that?"
Iqiww drew a blade slowly. "Each map's guardian is tied to the player data it absorbed. This one's been waiting for you."
From the cabin doors, a figure stepped out.
It wore the same armor Raka used back in the game's glory days — gold-edged, S-rank cosmetic — but its body was distorted, face blank. Its sword crackled with corrupted energy.
> [Boss Spawned: Phantom Raka (Shadow Memory)]
The boss raised its blade. "Only one Raka can remain."
Raka's pulse raced. "I have to fight... myself?"
"No," Iqiww said, his eyes locked on the phantom. "You have to defeat the version of yourself that never left."
---
To Be Continued...