KAKZE

Kevin scowled at the flashing screen in front of him. The tutorial window wouldn't stop nagging him with its bright red letters:

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF KAKZE! PRESS 'NEXT' TO BEGIN THE TUTORIAL!"

But Kevin wasn't interested in tutorials. He never was. Rules, guidelines, instructions—they were all just a waste of time. Why follow someone else's path when you could carve your own?

With a sharp flick of his finger, he bypassed the screen entirely, searching for a way out of the designated start area. His avatar, a lithe figure dressed in a dark green jacket with glowing stripes, moved swiftly across the virtual terrain. The world around him was a dazzling blend of neon lights and towering skyscrapers, a city caught somewhere between reality and fantasy.

*Why do they always make these games so predictable?* he thought as he maneuvered through an alleyway, dodging NPCs designed to guide new players. Every corner he turned was met with more of the same—a perfect, unchallenged path laid out for beginners. But Kevin wasn't just any beginner.

As he continued exploring, a subtle hum began to vibrate through the game, almost imperceptible at first. But it grew louder, a low, unsettling buzz that set Kevin's instincts on edge. The other players were too busy following instructions to notice it, but Kevin couldn't shake the feeling that something was... off.

He found a narrow passage between two towering buildings, barely visible to the casual observer. It was hidden away, a place no one would think to look unless they were specifically avoiding the main questline.

*This is more like it,* Kevin thought, a small grin forming on his face as he squeezed through the gap. The passage led him down a steep, shadowy slope, the air growing colder with each step. The world above grew distant, the neon lights and vibrant cityscape fading into the background. The hum persisted, louder now, vibrating through the ground beneath his feet.

At the bottom, Kevin found himself in a dimly lit cavern, the walls lined with jagged, glitchy textures—evidence of an unfinished or overlooked part of the game. In the center of the cavern, bathed in a faint, eerie glow, was a sword.

The blade was unlike anything Kevin had ever seen. It was long and slender, shimmering with a ghostly blue light, as if the very essence of the game had been forged into steel. Symbols ran along the edge, flickering with a faint energy. It was as though the sword was alive, waiting for someone—no, for him.

Kevin hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to make of the weapon. But then that familiar rebellious streak kicked in. No one else would find this. No one else would even think to look here. This was *his* discovery, his secret.

He reached out, grasping the hilt of the sword. The moment his fingers touched the cool metal, the game shuddered violently. The ground beneath him cracked, and the walls of the cavern began to warp and twist. The hum turned into a roar, and Kevin felt a surge of power pulse through the sword and into his hand.

Suddenly, the entire world of Kakze flickered. NPCs and other players froze mid-action, their avatars locked in place as if time itself had stopped. Kevin's screen was flooded with error messages, warnings that something had gone terribly wrong.

ERROR 404: SYSTEM FAILURE

GLITCH DETECTED: CORE AI COMPROMISED

FINAL BOSS ACTIVATION SEQUENCE ENGAGED

Kevin barely had time to process the words before everything went dark. For a moment, he thought he'd been kicked from the game. But then, slowly, the world of Kakze began to rebuild itself around him.

Except it wasn't the same. The vibrant cityscape was gone, replaced by twisted, corrupted versions of the buildings and streets he had seen earlier. The sky above was a swirling mass of dark clouds, crackling with electric energy. And in the distance, a monstrous figure loomed, its eyes glowing with a malicious intelligence that seemed to peer straight into Kevin's soul.

The final boss.

But this wasn't just any boss. Kevin could feel it—this creature wasn't bound by the game's rules. It was something more, something terrifyingly real.

He tightened his grip on the sword, the only thing that felt solid in this glitching nightmare. He had wandered off the beaten path, and now he was in the heart of something no player was ever meant to face.

As the world around him continued to glitch and shift, Kevin realized one thing: this wasn't just a game anymore. This was survival. And he was going to have to figure out the rules—his rules—if he wanted to make it out alive.