Kabanata 3: Chapter 3: The Marked Anomaly
Ethan's breath came in ragged gasps as he bolted through the dense forest, the distant screeches of the Night Entity fading behind him. His pulse pounded in his ears, but he didn't dare slow down. Not yet. Not until he was sure he was out of its reach.
His foot snagged on a root, sending him stumbling forward. He caught himself against a tree, chest heaving, his hands trembling from both exhaustion and something far worse—the mark.
A dull, eerie glow pulsed on his forearm, forming a strange, shifting insignia. It wasn't a normal system notification. It wasn't a debuff. It wasn't even something he could check in his status window. Instead, it felt… wrong.
Like something that shouldn't exist.
"Shit…" He gritted his teeth, shaking his head. "What the hell is this?"
His system interface flickered.
[You have been Marked.]
[Status: Anomaly Detected.]
The words glitched in and out of existence before vanishing completely, leaving behind only a lingering sense of unease.
"You're still alive?"
The voice cut through the night, and Ethan turned sharply to find Vance leaning against a nearby tree, arms crossed. The older player's usual smirk was gone, replaced with an unreadable expression.
Ethan steadied himself, still catching his breath. "Barely."
Vance studied him for a long moment before his gaze flickered to Ethan's arm. His eyes narrowed.
"Ah… hell."
Ethan's stomach dropped. "You know what this is?"
Vance let out a slow breath, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've seen something like it before. Once. And let's just say… it didn't end well."
Ethan clenched his fists. "For who?"
Vance's gaze darkened. "For everyone involved."
A cold chill ran down Ethan's spine, but he forced himself to focus. Panic wouldn't help him now. He needed information. "What does it mean? What does being Marked actually do?"
Vance hesitated, then shook his head. "That depends. Some Marks make you a target. Some change how the system interacts with you. But yours?" He let out a dry chuckle. "You're officially a walking bug now, kid. The system doesn't know what to do with you."
Ethan's jaw tightened. He had already guessed that much when his interface started glitching. But if the system didn't recognize him properly anymore…
"Does that mean I can exploit it?"
Vance raised an eyebrow, then smirked. "You've got balls, I'll give you that. But if you're thinking of bending the rules, be careful. Some things don't like anomalies."
Ethan exhaled slowly, forcing his racing thoughts into order. If the system had flagged him as something outside its normal parameters, then he needed to figure out why. He needed to push the limits of what this Mark could do before it became a death sentence.
He flexed his fingers. His body still ached from the chase, but deep beneath the fatigue, something else stirred—an idea.
A glitch was only dangerous if it couldn't be controlled.
If he could understand it… then maybe, just maybe, he could use it.
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