The countdown to the fourth round flashed on their screens. The arena’s setting was revealed: **The Nexus**, a massive circular battlefield suspended over a virtual void, with platforms that shifted and disappeared at random. The space was illuminated by pulsating blue and purple lights, and strange glyphs hovered in the air—symbols of the metaverse’s deep code.
The rules for the fourth round were different. This time, it wasn’t about eliminating your opponent. Instead, players had to capture a series of energy nodes scattered across the arena. The first to claim three nodes would move on to the final round.
But there was a catch. Each node was guarded by an AI sentinel—a digital warrior programmed to protect the node at all costs. Defeating the sentinel required not just physical skill
