Chapter 1: The Glitch in Reality
The sky above Tokyo had been torn open.
Shinji stood frozen in the middle of the street, his breath ragged, his hands shaking. The rift pulsed like a living wound in the atmosphere, a swirling mass of fractured code and distorted light. The last thing he remembered was the Zod Corp VR headset malfunctioning, the laser beam that had split the heavens, and his friends' screams as they were pulled into the abyss.
But he was still here.
Shinji (gasping): "What… the hell just happened?!"
The city around him was in chaos. People ran in every direction, their augmented reality lenses flickering with static. Cars swerved, their autopilot systems glitching out. A Zod Corp billboard overhead shattered into fragments of corrupted data, the words "ERROR 2250" flashing in violent red across the sky.
Then—something even worse.
A deafening screech tore through the air. Shinji's head snapped toward the sound just in time to see them.
The Glitched Warriors.
Tall, skeletal figures clad in silver armor, their bodies a grotesque fusion of technology and organic horror. Their limbs elongated into razor-sharp claws, their backs sprouting jagged, metallic wings that hummed with energy. Above their heads floated a glowing red UI tag:
[GLITCHED WARRIORS – LVL ???]
They moved fast—faster than any human, faster than the flying cars that still hovered uselessly in the air. One of them turned its glowing, pupil-less eyes toward Shinji.
Shinji (panicked): "Oh, shit—"
He bolted.
His sneakers pounded against the pavement as he weaved through the panicked crowd. Behind him, the warriors gave chase, their clawed feet scraping against the ground with unnatural speed. Shinji's heart hammered in his chest—and then, suddenly, a blue holographic screen flashed before his eyes.
[SYSTEM ALERT: USER DETECTED]
[EQUIPPING: METAL DAGGER – LVL 1+]
[RANK REQUIRED: E]
A weight materialized in his hand. Shinji glanced down—a crude, jagged dagger made of flickering metal.
Shinji (breathless): "What the hell is this?!"
No time to question it. The first warrior lunged, its claws slashing downward in a blur. Shinji barely raised the dagger in time.
CLANG!
The impact sent shockwaves up his arm. He gritted his teeth, blocking another strike, then another. The dagger held—barely. But on the fourth hit, the blade shattered in his grip.
Shinji (eyes widening): "No—!"
The warrior's next slash caught him across the chest. Shinji screamed as blood sprayed, stumbling back. He tried to run, but another warrior was already behind him.
Its claw impaled him through the shoulder.
Shinji (choking): "G-GAH—!"
Then—worse.
A second warrior swung.
His arm hit the ground.
Then his leg.
Agony exploded through his body. Shinji collapsed, writhing, his vision swimming in red. The warriors loomed over him, their claws raised for the final strike—
A.I.R.I. (shouting): "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
A blast of energy sent the warriors flying back. Shinji's blurry vision caught a glimpse of her—a girl with silver hair and glowing cyan eyes, her body flickering between solid and digital.
A.I.R.I. (urgent): "Hold on!"
She grabbed him, her touch cold and electric. The world around them dissolved as she dragged him through the streets, moving faster than should have been possible. The last thing Shinji saw before passing out was the entrance to an underground bunker.
---
The Bunker
When Shinji woke, his body was wracked with pain—but intact. His missing limbs had been replaced with crude, cybernetic prosthetics, their surfaces glitching slightly at the edges.
Shinji (groaning): "W-What…?"
A.I.R.I. knelt beside him, her form stabilizing as she worked on a holographic console.
A.I.R.I.: "You're alive. Barely."
Shinji (weakly): "My arm… my leg…"
A.I.R.I.: "Temporary replacements. The real ones are… gone."
Shinji's stomach twisted. He tried to sit up, but the pain flared again.
Shinji (gritting teeth): "What are those things?!"
A.I.R.I.: "Glitched Warriors. Corrupted entities from the digital rift. They're hunting survivors."
Shinji (breathing hard): "And my friends? Kaito? Airi?!"
A.I.R.I. (hesitating): "I… don't know. The system is fragmented. But if they're alive, they're trapped in the—"
A massive explosion rocked the bunker.
The walls caved in.
A.I.R.I. turned just in time to see three Glitched Warriors burst through the rubble.
A.I.R.I. (shouting): "SHINJI, RUN!"
She lunged at them, her body erupting in a storm of digital energy. Shinji tried to move, but his prosthetics glitched—he couldn't.
The warriors tore through A.I.R.I. like paper.
Her form shattered into fragments of light.
A.I.R.I. (voice glitching): "S-Shinji… find… the core…"
Then—gone.
The last warrior turned to Shinji, raising its claw—
And the ground broke beneath him.
Shinji fell.
The world twisted, warped, inverted.
He saw the rift above him, swallowing him whole.
Then—
Darkness.
---
The Digital World – Japan, 500 B.C. (Simulation)
Cold air hit Shinji's face.
His eyes snapped open.
He was lying on hard-packed earth, surrounded by towering bamboo trees and the distant sound of flowing water. The sky was a perfect, unbroken blue—no rifts, no glitches.
But something was wrong.
A floating UI screen appeared before him.
[TRAINING SIMULATION: JAPAN, 500 B.C.]
[OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE.]
Shinji pushed himself up, his cybernetic limbs responding smoothly.
Shinji (hoarse): "Where… the hell am I?"
A voice answered from behind him.
Unknown Man: "Where you need to be, boy."
Shinji turned—and saw a samurai, his armor glitching at the edges like a corrupted file.
The man smirked.
Samurai: "Welcome to your new hell."
---
To Be Continued.
Error 2250: Chapter 2 – "The Mysterious samurai" – Coming Soon.
Ax/25/4/20
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