Dex stumbled back as the grinning boy released him from the sudden hug. His Rocket Fist remained primed, the mechanism whirring softly. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded, keeping his voice low to avoid alerting his mom downstairs.
The boy flopped backward onto Dex's bed as if he owned it, his school uniform wrinkling. "Kai Renjou," he said cheerfully. "Fourteen years old, second of the Five to awaken, and..." He wiggled his fingers dramatically. "The Void Lord!"
Dex's eyes narrowed. "The what now?"
Kai sighed like he was explaining something obvious to a child. "You're the Cyber Lord - all tech and electricity and boring hacker stuff. Me?" He held up his hand, and the air around it distorted like heat waves. "I play with space and time. Teleportation, speed boosts, little reality warps - way cooler than your glowy eyes."
As if to demonstrate, he suddenly appeared leaning against Dex's dresser, then sitting cross-legged on the desk, all without seeming to move between points.
"Which makes me the best messenger," Kai continued. "The Bloom Lord wants to meet you. Like, now."
Dex's mind raced. "The level 120 one?"
Kai nodded. "First of us to awaken. Scary powerful. Also scary beautiful, but mostly scary powerful." He hopped up. "She says it's Convergence time. The Five are meant to gather, and you're the guest of honor."
Before Dex could protest, Kai grabbed his arm. The air around them shimmered, reality itself seeming to bend. "Don't puke," Kai warned. "First jump is always the worst."
Dex barely had time to register the warning before the world dissolved around them in a swirl of colors. For a terrifying moment, he felt stretched infinitely thin across space - then solid ground slammed into his feet as they materialized in...
[SERVER TRANSFER COMPLETE]
[WELCOME TO SYLVANOR - ELVEN TERRITORY]
...a glowing forest unlike anything in Neo-Tokyo Prime. Bioluminescent trees towered overhead, their canopies filtering moonlight into liquid silver. The air hummed with magic so thick Dex could taste it - like ozone and fresh-cut grass.
Kai stretched casually. "Told you not to puke." He pointed ahead where a path of glowing mushrooms led deeper into the woods. "She's waiting. Try not to freak out when you see her - the Bloom Lord hates when people freak out."
Dex swallowed hard. Somewhere in this alien forest was a player twelve times his level, one of the legendary Five, and apparently his destiny was now tangled with hers. The System message flashed again in his vision:
[UNIQUE HOLDERS DETECTED: 3/5]
[CONVERGENCE INITIATED]
The game had just gotten much, much bigger.
As they walked the bioluminescent path, Dex's vision flashed gold:
[QUEST COMPLETED: "GATHERING OF STORMS"]
[REWARD: CYBER LORD GENE LVL 2 UNLOCKED]
[NEW ORIGIN SKILL ACQUIRED]
The notification burned across Dex's vision as he and Kai walked the glowing path. Around them, Sylvanor buzzed with activity—elf players in flowing silver robes chased prismatic butterflies, their laughter ringing through the trees. A group of archers practiced shooting vines that grew mid-air to ensnare their targets.
Kai leaned in, trying to peek at the holographic text. Dex shoved his face away. "Stop eye-hacking my HUD, creep."
"Rude!" Kai grinned, teleporting ahead. "Just excited to see what you—wait." He froze mid-step. "Ohhh, she's pissed."
The forest held its breath.
Elven players nearby stumbled as their quest-target rabbits dissolved into petals. A guild of archers gasped when their bowstrings sprouted thorns. The very air thickened with the scent of crushed mint and iron.
Then—she appeared.
Petals swirled like a hurricane as the elf woman materialized atop a blooming dais. Her emerald eyes burned with ancient intelligence, vines braiding themselves into a crown above her silver hair.
"A Cyber Lord," she mused, voice like a poisoned lullaby. "How… industrial."
Her bare foot touched the ground.
Dex's cybernetic arm seized, joints locking as moss crawled between the plating.
"Let's see if you're more than a faulty circuit."
[COMBAT INITIATED: DEX VS. BLOOM SOVEREIGN]
Dex's cybernetic arm spasmed as moss crawled between the joints, the Bloom Sovereign's biotic hack seeping into his circuitry. His HUD flashed red:
[CYBERNETIC CORRUPTION DETECTED]
[NEW SKILL AVAILABLE: DATA DAGGER]
He focused—and the air screamed.
A blade of glitching pixels materialized in his grip, its edges fracturing reality like broken glass. The ground beneath him warped, grass blades dissolving into ones and zeroes where he stepped.
"Cute," the Bloom Sovereign mused, though her eyes flickered with interest. "A child's toy."
Dex didn't hesitate. He threw.
The dagger tore through the air, leaving a trail of distorted space—then impacted the vine coiled around his arm. The result was instantaneous:
The moss disintegrated into harmless data fragments.
The Sovereign's crown of flowers glitched, petals freezing mid-fall.
Every elf player within 20 meters staggered as their HUDs flickered.
[DATA DAGGER EFFECT]
- Bloom Sovereign's "Chlorokinesis" skill silenced for 3 seconds
- 10% of her INT stat drained → temporarily absorbed by Dex
The forest gasped.
Kai, watching from a tree branch, nearly fell off. "Okay, that's new—"
The Sovereign touched her crown, then smiled. A real smile, sharp as a scalpel.
"Perhaps not a toy after all."
Her vines lashed out again.
Dex barely had time to react before the Bloom Sovereign dissolved into a storm of petals. The vines lashed empty air—and then he felt it.
A warm presence pressed against his back. Soft hands rested on his shoulders. The scent of jasmine and morning dew filled his senses as she leaned in, her breath tickling his ear.
"You have potential, little lord," she murmured, her voice like silk over steel. "Welcome to the Five."
Dex stiffened, acutely aware of the curves of her body against him—the gentle pressure of her breasts, the way her hips brushed his lower back. For a heartbeat, the world narrowed to that single point of contact.
Then she was gone, stepping away with effortless grace.
[COMBAT ENDED: TIE]
The Bloom Sovereign turned, her emerald eyes gleaming with amusement. "My name is Liora," she said, extending a hand. "And we have much to discuss."
The elven capital of Sylvanor was nothing like Neo-Tokyo Prime. Towering spires of living wood stretched into the sky, their branches intertwined to form bridges where players in flowing robes glided between platforms. Pixies darted through the air, leaving trails of sparkling dust in their wake. A group of mages practiced spells nearby, their incantations making flowers bloom midair.
Liora led them to a grand structure woven from ancient trees, its walls covered in bioluminescent vines that pulsed gently with inner light.
"My home," she said, pushing open the arched double doors. "One of them, at least."
Inside, the air hummed with magic. Floating orbs of light drifted lazily near the ceiling, casting a warm glow over the spacious interior. A table carved from a single massive mushroom dominated the center of the room, its surface set with crystal goblets and bowls of exotic fruits.
Kai plopped onto a levitating cushion without invitation. "Nice digs! Way better than Emberfall's lava pits."
Liora ignored him, gesturing for Dex to sit. "You're wondering why you're here."
Dex remained standing, arms crossed. "The 'Convergence,' right? What the hell is that?"
Liora smiled, pouring golden liquid into a goblet. It smelled like honey and something distinctly alien.
"The beginning of the end," she said simply. "Or the end of the beginning. That part... is up to us."
[NEW QUEST: "THE FIVE'S GAMBIT"]
[OBJECTIVE: LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FIVE]
[REWARD: PORTAL KEY: (INTER SERVER TRAVEL)]
[WARNING: THIS PATH CANNOT BE UNDONE]