Part 1: The Missing
It had been four days.
Kyle Sundara's room—usually calm and smelling of old books—now felt suffocating and cold. The police had been back and forth, fingerprints had been taken, and the same questions had been repeated a hundred times.
Livia, Kyle's older sister, sat on the edge of her brother's bed, her eyes swollen from crying.
"I don't understand," she said to a tired-looking police officer. "His wallet is here. His shoes are in the drawer. He wouldn't leave without them. He wouldn't run away!"
The officer sighed. "Miss, there are no signs of forced entry. The window was locked from the inside. We've marked him as a high-priority missing person, but... honestly, this is strange."
Rakai stood in the corner of the room, his face pale. He hadn't slept in four days. Guilt gnawed at him like acid.
(Four days,) he thought, trembling. (He... vanished. Right after I... after that game. This is my fault. If I hadn't invited him... if I had just listened... would he still be here?)
The police questioned him again. "Kid, you were the last one with him. Did he say anything?"
Rakai swallowed, the lie bitter on his tongue. "He... he said he was dizzy. He said he was going to logout. That's all."
That night, in his dark room, Rakai couldn't take it anymore. The police had found nothing. Kyle's family was falling apart. He had to search himself. If Kyle was missing, he had to search in the only place left.
He put on his VR headset. "Login... Beastverse Online."
The bright virtual world greeted him, but Rakai felt nothing but cold. The first thing he did was open his system interface.
[Friends List]
He scrolled to "K".
His heart seemed to stop.
K... K... Nothing. The name Kyle_Sundara wasn't there.
(No... where? Impossible. He wouldn't have deleted me.)
His hands trembled as he opened the search function. He typed the name manually: Kyle_Sundara.
A system notification appeared.
[Player not found.]
"No..." Rakai whispered in the real world.
His breathing quickened. This wasn't 'running away'. This wasn't an 'unfriend'. Kyle had been... erased. As if he never existed. This wasn't an accident anymore. This was... something else.
Frantically, Rakai ran. He sprinted out of the starting city, through the forest, ignoring the low-level monsters trying to attack him. He had to go back to the last place he saw Kyle.
He had to return to the place of the White Rabbit Gate.
After running non-stop, he arrived at the clearing in the forest.
And there, he found the truth that shattered him.
The White Gate... was gone.
All that remained was a strange patch of scorched earth, smelling of ozone. Just like what he had heard on the forums about the "Fox Gate" that had mysteriously collapsed last week.
Kyle had disappeared in the real world. Kyle was erased from the game system. And the Gate they had entered... had also vanished.
It was all connected.
Rakai fell to his knees on the scorched earth. The guilt he had held back for four days finally exploded.
(This is my fault. This is all my fault!)
The thought repeated over and over.
(He was scared. He asked me to stop. And I... I laughed at him. I told him he was overreacting.)
A dry sob escaped his throat.
(Why couldn't I understand him? I'm his best friend... why didn't I listen? Kyle... what happened to you?)
Rakai forcibly logged out.
He ripped his VR headset off, throwing it across the room. In his dark bedroom, alone, Rakai finally wept.
Part 2: The Ghost
Hard Cut.
From Rakai's dark, grief-filled room, the scene cuts to the bright, white light of a new Genesis Gate (White).
Kyle, now Level 2, stood at the Gate's entrance, alone. He knew what he had to do. But he also knew what happened at the Fox Gate—he had repelled the Players. He had become an enemy.
(Those Players... they saw my face. If Rakai is in this game, he could look for me. I can't risk it. I have to hide who I am.)
Kyle concentrated on his new skill: [Fox's Shroud (Lv.1)].
He remembered how the Elder Fox created five illusions. He couldn't do that yet. But maybe... something simpler. He directed the illusionary energy, not to create a clone, but just to his face.
Thin shadows gathered around his head. His features blurred, becoming a hazy, unrecognizable mask, leaving only two faint points where his eyes were. It flickered, unstable, but it worked.
(It works. From now on, "Kyle" must hide. Only the "Emissary" can be seen.)
With his new identity as "The Ghost"—as Players would soon begin to call him—he stepped into the next White Gate.
[Race Threatened: Stone-Shelled Badger]
He found the Badger Boss in the main cave. The same "Resonance of Freedom" occurred. The Badger Boss was desperate to be free. But before they could act, a party of Level 7 Players stormed in.
Kyle, masked and hidden, activated his Ark interface. (I can't fight... but I don't have to fight alone.)
He pressed the new tab: [Summon Ark Forces].
[Summon: Eternal Forest (Unit: 5)]
A small rainbow portal opened behind the Players. Five agile Silver Foxes leaped out.
"What the hell?!" yelled the Player Tank. "Why are there Foxes in a Badger dungeon?!"
"The system's bugged!" shrieked the Mage. "This Gate is broken!"
Before they could react, Kyle (still hidden) used [Universal Language] to give orders. The foxes, moving with an intelligence no AI monster possessed, used illusions to confuse the Tank while two others flanked the Mage.
The Players, confused by the "mixed-race bug" and the impossible, intelligent tactics, finally grew frustrated.
"Retreat! Let's report this bug! Waste of time!"
They "Rage Quit".
The Gate became "Quiet". Kyle took the Core.
[Level Up! Level 2 -> Level 4] [New Skill: Stone Shell (Passive)] [New Biome: Rooted Cavern]
The pattern was set.
Two weeks passed in Hexa. Gossip on the "Beastverse Online" Player forums was filled with stories of the "Gate Ghost"—a mysterious masked figure who appeared, caused impossible "mixed-race bugs", and made Gates collapse without loot.
In the Genesis Gate (Green): Silent Marsh, Kyle (Level 4, masked) faced a stronger party. This time, his tactics were more sophisticated.
He summoned [Summon: Rooted Cavern (Unit: 3)]. Three Stone-Shelled Badgers appeared and immediately held the Player Tank.
While the Players focused forward, Kyle summoned [Summon: Eternal Forest (Unit: 10)]. Ten Silver Foxes attacked their Mage and Archer from behind.
The Players were slaughtered.
[Level Up! Level 4 -> Level 8] [New Skill: Golem's Punch (Physical Attack)]
Two more Green Gates—[Venomous Nest] and [Dark Cave]—fell to The Ghost in the same way.
At the end of the third week, Kyle stood inside his Ark. The place was no longer an empty grassland. Now, his Ark had a vast silver forest, a deep underground cave system, a misty swamp, and small mountains.
Kyle (now Level 12) opened his status screen.
[Name: Kyle Sundara (Identity Hidden)] [Level: 12 (EXP: 1,500/12,000)] [Job: Genesis Keeper] [Divine Status: Mortal (Disconnected)]
[Personal Skills Acquired (from Three Pillar Rewards):] - [Fox's Shroud (Lv.3)] (Stealth/Face Illusion) - [Stone Shell (Lv.2)] (Passive: Physical Defense) - [Golem's Punch (Lv.2)] (Heavy Physical Attack) - [Calming Venom (Lv.1)] (Debuff: Sleep Poison) - [Echolocation (Lv.1)] (Detection/Passive)
[Ark Biomes / Ark Forces (Available):] - Eternal Forest (Meadow Fox - 45 units) - Rooted Cavern (Stone-Shelled Badger - 28 units) - Silent Marsh (Moss Golem - 10 units) - Venomous Nest (Shadow Viper - 22 units) - Dark Cave (Giant Bat - 50 units)
[Harmony Level: 94% (Very Stable)]
Kyle closed his status. He knew the White and Green Gates in this area were gone. He was ready for the next challenge.
Right on cue, the new notification he had been waiting for appeared. Its color was different.
[Warning! Genesis Gate (YELLOW) detected!] [System Name: Genesis Fragment: Solar Heart] [Location: Old City Ruins] [Danger Level: Medium] -> [Adjusted Rating (Level 12): Challenging]