The air in the Library of the Deleted didn't just vibrate; it shattered.
The squad of Silver Wing Paladins—six of them, clad in ivory-white 'Aegis' power-armor—didn't look like men.
They looked like statues of gods, their visors glowing with a cold, judgmental blue.
These were the "Cleaners,"
the elite enforcers used by the Guild to erase "bugs" in the system.
[Enemy: Silver Wing Paladin (Elite) — Level 32]
[Enemy: Silver Wing Paladin (Elite) — Level 31]
[Enemy: Squad Leader 'Vane' — Level 35]
Vane, the leader, stared at his empty hands.
The 'Sun-Piercer' spear, a Rare-grade weapon worth more than a city block, was simply gone. Not shattered. Not dropped. It had been erased from the server's memory. "Error,"
Vane muttered, his voice distorted by his helmet's comms.
"My weapon signature has been deleted. My inventory slot is... empty? That's impossible.My system says the item doesn't exist!"
"Neither do you," Han said.
His voice didn't sound like his own anymore.
It was layered with a low, metallic resonance, as if a thousand voices were speaking through a single throat.
The matte-black blade, [The Eraser's Edge], hummed with a sound like a dying star.
[Warning: 'King's Domain' is active.]
[All enemies within 10 meters suffer -20% to all stats.]
[Vane: Level 35 -> Level 28 (Effective)]
"He's a debuffer!" one of the Paladins shouted,
drawing a heavy broadsword.
"Shield wall! Don't let the glitch touch you!"
The five remaining Paladins slammed their shields together, creating a shimmering wall of translucent blue energy. [Skill: Aegis Barrier - Rank B].
It was a defense meant to stop tank shells and high-level spells.
Han didn't flinch.
He didn't even raise his guard.
He just walked toward them.
"Han, wait!" Rin screamed from behind a pillar, her mechanical owl, Pino, frantically scanning the area."
"That's a Rank B barrier! You're only Level 5! You'll break your arm hitting that!"
Han didn't listen.
Inside his mind, the golden code was screaming.
It wasn't just power; it was authority. To the Sovereign System, these Paladins weren't warriors—they were unauthorized programs running in a forbidden directory.
Delete, Han thought.
He swung the black blade in a wide, lazy arc.
The moment the black metal touched the blue energy of the barrier, there was no explosion. No sparks. The Rank B skill simply flickered and vanished.
The Paladins tumbled forward, the sudden loss of their magical support sending them stumbling into the dirt.
[Skill Activated: Delete (Rank E).]
[Mana Consumed: 15/50.]
[Target: 'Aegis Barrier' has been successfully removed from the instance.]
"My shield!"
A Paladin cried out, looking at his bare arm.
The physical shield was still there, but the enchantment—the code that made it strong—was gone.
It was just a piece of heavy metal now.
Han didn't stop.
He stepped into the gap of their formation.
[Movement Skill: Sovereign's Step (Rank F - Initial).]
[Effect: Short-range teleportation through the 'Void'.]
Zip.
Han disappeared in a puff of black smoke and reappeared behind the Squad Leader.
"Vane, was it?" Han whispered.
He gripped the back of Vane's ivory helmet with his left hand.
The golden veins in Han's palm flared bright.
[Passive Skill: Sovereign's Touch (Modified).]
[Command: Overwrite.]
"W-what are you doing?!" Vane screamed.
Suddenly, his HUD went haywire. His armor, which was programmed to protect him, began to constrict. The servos in the joints reversed their direction. The internal cooling system spiked to 200 degrees.
"I'm changing your permissions," Han said coldly.
[Target: 'Aegis Power Armor' — Ownership changed to: HAN.]
[New Command: Self-Destruct.]
BOOM.
The armor didn't explode with fire; it imploded.
Vane disappeared into a crushed ball of white metal and data-shards, his Level 35 HP bar dropping to zero in a single second.
[You have slain a Player: Squad Leader Vane (Level 35).]
[Experience Gained: 15,500!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Current Level: 8]
The remaining four Paladins froze. They had spent years grinding, killing monsters, and upgrading their gear.
They were the apex predators of the City. But looking at Han—a boy who was Level 2 ten minutes ago—they felt a primal terror.
He wasn't fighting them. He was editing them.
"Monster..." one of the Paladins whispered, dropping his sword.
"He's a GM... he's a rogue Admin!"
"Run!" another shouted.
They didn't even try to fight. They turned and ignited their jet-boots, desperate to reach the hole in the ceiling. Han watched them fly upward.
He raised his right hand, the black blade pointing at the retreating figures.
"Rin," Han said without looking back.
"Close the doors."
"I... I can't! The system is locked!" Rin yelled."
I didn't ask the system," Han said.
He thrust the blade into the ground of the Library
[Sovereign Command: 'Lockdown'.]
The matte-black doors that Silas had left behind suddenly reformed, not at the entrance, but in the air, blocking the exit like a giant flyswatter.
The Paladins slammed into the black stone, falling back down to the library floor like broken birds. Han walked toward them, the black blade dragging on the ground, leaving a trail of erased reality behind it.
"Wait! Wait!" the youngest Paladin begged, scrambling backward.
"We were just following orders! The Silver Wing... they'll give you anything! Money! Women! High-level gear! Just let us go!
"Han stopped. He looked at the boy, who couldn't have been much older than himself.
"Tell me," Han said, his golden eyes narrowing.
"When you 'deleted' Rin's brother last year for 'cheating'... did he beg too?"The Paladin's face went pale.
"That... that was just business! The Guild needs to maintain the balance!"
"The balance is a lie," Han said.
"The Sovereign has returned. And I'm revoking your access to this world."He raised the blade.
Intermission: The Surface In the glistening skyscrapers of the Silver Wing Headquarters, the "Gods"—the S-Rank Council—were gathered around a massive holographic map of Sector 7.Suddenly, the map turned red.
"Sir! We've lost contact with Vane's squad!" a technician shouted, his hands flying over the keyboard."
Their life-signs didn't just stop... they were deleted from the database. It's like they never existed!
"The man at the head of the table, a giant in golden armor known as
Aurelius (Level 95 - Sun Emperor), stood up.
The air in the room ionized from his sheer presence.
"A Null who can delete data?" Aurelius's voice was like rolling thunder."
Search every corner of the Dead Zone. If the First Sovereign's heir is back, then the 'Agreement' is void. Send the Seven Shadows. I want his head on my desk before the sun rises."
Back in the Library Han stood over the piles of data-shards that used to be the Paladins. He felt... stronger. But he also felt a deep, gnawing hunger.
The Sovereign System wasn't fueled by food; it was fueled by essence.
[Warning: Hunger Level - High.]
[Consume 'Data-Shards' to replenish Mana and HP?]
Han looked at the glowing blue fragments on the floor. With a wave of his hand, the shards flew into his chest, absorbed by the golden veins.
"Whoa," Rin said, stepping out from the shadows.
She looked at Han with a mixture of awe and genuine concern.
"You just ate five Level 30 players. Han... your eyes.
They aren't just golden anymore. They're... glowing."
Han looked into a nearby pool of dark water. His reflection was changing. His hair was turning a pale, silvery white at the tips, and his skin was becoming unnaturally pale.
He didn't look like a human anymore. He looked like an avatar of the Void.
"We have to move," Han said, his voice returning to normal.
"The S-Ranks are coming."
"Where?" Rin asked.
"The whole city is a trap now.
"Han looked at the yellow cube Silas had given him—the Archive Key. It was vibrating, pointing deeper into the floating bookshelves.
"Silas said the Library has a back door," Han said.
"But he didn't say it leads back to the City."
He turned and looked at a massive, shimmering portal at the far end of the hall.
It didn't show a street or a building. It showed a forest made of obsidian trees and a purple moon.
"That's a [Hidden Realm]," Rin whispered, her [Data-Thief] instincts screaming."
Han, that's a Level 50+ zone! We'll be killed the second we step through!"
"The System can't find us there," Han said, stepping toward the portal."
It's a glitch in the map. The only way to survive the 'Gods' is to go where they can't see.
"He grabbed Rin's hand."
"Ready for a world without a HUD?" Rin swallowed hard, then gripped his hand back."
"As long as you're the one deleting the monsters, I'm in.
"They stepped into the portal.
[You are entering: The Shadow Fold (Level 60 Zone).]
[System Connection: LOST.]
[Good Luck, Sovereign.]