Chapter Two — Project Rebirth: Glitch In The Game
Central Hub didn't just scrape the sky. It bullied it.
A chrome spiral twisting upward like the city's middle finger to physics. Holograms of the Top 1000 players shimmered across the building's surface, flashing faces and ranks like a digital hall of legends.
Saint stepped out of his supercar and the crowd's reaction hit him like artillery.
Camera drones buzzing. Players shouting. Fans losing their entire sense of dignity at the sight of him.
Floating tags hovered over heads everywhere:
• QUEEN COBRA — #1
• DRAGONGODX — #2
• SAINT — #3
• LUX — #5
• GIGA JOKER — #7
• CAPTAIN NOSCOPE — #19
• LITTLE REAPER — #999
• TAXATTORNEY — #1000
(Already getting booed. Man just showed up.)
The strongest, richest, and pettiest gamers alive stood shoulder to shoulder.
Some hugged old allies.
Some stared like predators choosing dinner.
NPC vendors swarmed Saint at warp speed.
"Saint! Sponsor my hoverboards!"
"Saint! Invest in my nightclub franchise!"
"Saint! Adopt my child!"
(He did not.)
Queen Cobra joined him, her confidence radiating like expensive perfume.
"You really enjoy being the center of attention."
"I didn't grind 10,000 hours to blend in."
She slowly blinked at him. "You're exhausting."
Before Saint could respond, an arm wrapped around him.
LUX.
Loudest man alive.
Bright gold jacket. Sunglasses too shiny to be legal. Rank #5 and personality #1 in questionable decisions.
"Bro! You see this crowd? Looking like a convention for sweaty tryhards."
Saint nodded. "You were livestreaming shirtless last night for bonus followers."
"That's called marketing."
Cobra muttered, "That's called therapy waiting to happen."
Suddenly the plaza lights shut down.
Every hologram froze mid-animation.
The sky flickered like a corrupted file.
A new system avatar spawned above them.
A tall humanoid shape glitching like reality couldn't handle it.
"HELLO… ELITE USERS…"
The voice sounded like a thousand error messages reading from a script.
"WELCOME TO… PROJECT REBIRTH."
Murmurs. Fear. One guy fainted.
Another accused his headset of betrayal.
The glitch-figure spread its arms.
"The journey to your… SECOND CHANCE… has only begun."
Lux whispered, "Why does that sound like a threat wrapped in customer service?"
Cobra frowned hard. "Something's wrong."
The avatar spasmed.
Pixels peeled off its face.
"ERROR. ERROR."
"CODE CORRUPTION DETECTED."
Buildings flashed red warning screens.
The sky ripped into static.
The ground convulsed.
"UPDATE… COMPLETE…"
"PROJECT REBIRTH… INITIATED."
Then, glowing white apocalypse.
When the world rebooted…
Everyone was thrown to the ground.
People groaned.
Cursed.
Some spit up digital lunch.
Saint blinked and his stomach dropped.
He could feel.
Weight. Breath. Heartbeat.
No menu.
No log out.
Nothing.
A girl shrieked, "I CAN FEEL MY KNEECAPS!"
A guy screamed, "PAIN IS NOT DLC!"
Someone yelled at a cloud, "REFUND THE PATCH!"
Chaos erupted instantly.
NPC guards stormed in, guns raised, shouting:
"UNREGISTERED SUPERHUMANS! SURRENDER!"
Saint felt adrenaline like lightning under his skin.
Fear? Not even close.
He smirked, stepping forward.
Then…
🎭 Laughter echoed overhead.
A massive holographic emoji exploded across the sky.
Confetti rained down like a parade hosted by a lunatic.
A neon jester dropped from a billboard, cape fluttering, armor glowing electric purple and green. His mask flashed a glitching clown grin.
Rank tag:
#7 — GIGA JOKER
He landed in a superhero pose… then immediately struck a different one.
Gotta keep the audience guessing.
"Wellllll look who broke reality without inviting me to the after-party."
He tossed a bomb the size of a beach ball.
It popped into rainbow confetti…
and launched three guards into orbit.
Joker shrugged innocently.
"What can I say? Comedy is explosive."
Saint groaned. "You weren't invited because you always do too much."
Joker gasped dramatically. "I am the exact right amount of too much."
Lux pointed. "Bro, your shoe is literally on fire."
Joker calmly patted it out. "That's special effects, thank you."
Cobra stared. "You scare me."
"Compliment taken."
The guards opened fire.
Lasers blasting.
Joker cackled and rolled behind a crashed hovercar.
He lobbed a giggle grenade.
A cloud of purple mist swallowed the soldiers.
They burst into uncontrollable laughter, dropping weapons and rolling on the ground like comedy club rejects.
Joker stood proudly.
"See? They dying… laughing."
Saint cracked his knuckles.
He sprinted into the nearest guard and slammed a fist into his chestplate. The man flew backward like he got hit by a truck full of bad decisions.
Lux unleashed twin pistols, spinning like he wanted style points.
Cobra's blade shimmered green as she sliced through code armor like butter.
The plaza transformed into a battlefield.
Explosions, screaming, laughter gas, neon smoke everywhere.
If insanity needed a postcard, this was it.
The Truth Hits Hard
Saint tried opening his menu again.
Still nothing.
He looked at Joker.
"Any idea what happened?"
Joker's voice dropped, calm. Serious.
Not the clown anymore.
"We're not players."
Saint felt the words punch through him.
"We're citizens now," Cobra said quietly.
"In a world that kills for real."
Lux swallowed. "Meaning if we die here…"
Joker finished with a deadpan grin.
"You explode into consequences."
Sirens wailed. Drones targeted them.
Hundreds of guards regrouping.
Saint stood taller, fire blazing in his eyes.
He had never looked more alive.
"In the real world, I was nobody."
Joker laughed, placing a bomb in his hand.
"Guess it's a good thing we're not in the real world anymore."
Cobra smirked. "Welcome to our true Second Chance."
Saint cracked a wicked smile.
"If Blueville Bay wants war…
I say we give them one hell of a show."
The four legends turned toward the oncoming army.
Finally…
Saint belonged.
To be continued