My Healer System Won’t Save You

Threads of the Breach (1)

(voice-over) Graviel Outpost’s skyline flickered again, a faint ripple coursing through the neon-lit horizon. NPC vendors froze mid-gesture for half a heartbeat, then resumed as if nothing had happened. Kaien stood just outside the Adventurers’ Board, parcel reward still warm in his inventory, staring at the fractured sky.

(mutters) Do I bail before the sky literally falls?

(inner thought) It’s tempting, hit log out, grab a snack in the real world, maybe pretend my bugged healer life isn’t constantly one sneeze from the apocalypse. My HP bar isn’t the only thing cracking at the edges.

(voice-over) His HUD glitched again: the edges of his minimap wobbled like a soap bubble. A faint hum, like a server fan under strain, echoed faintly through the alley.

(inner thought) The Nexus Breach countdown… seventy-two hours. Three days until… what? A giant patch? A full wipe? A surprise pinata party from the devs? My luck says all three at once.

SYSTEM: ‘Hint: Logging out now will suspend quest progress. Unclaimed rewards may be forfeited.’

(inner thought) Yeah, yeah, fine. But seriously, what’s the point of leveling if the server’s about to eat itself?

(voice-over) Kaien flicked open his status window. His Level 9 badge pulsed faintly, EXP bar glimmering with smug satisfaction. The Mystery Trinket still pulsed like a heartbeat in his inventory.

(inner thought) If I quit now, I could go make ramen, watch bad anime, and pretend none of this exists…

(voice-over) He reached for the log-out option. A voice, calm and precise, cut through the distorted ambient noise.

Stranger: ‘Leaving now won’t help.’

Tak… tak… tak… (footsteps sound effect)

(voice-over) Kaien turned, with a startled expression. The person with the voice stood a few paces away a tall figure covered in gleaming steel-gray armor traced with faint blue circuitry. A crimson scarf fluttered around her shoulders despite the still air. A longsword rested across her back, its sheath carved with flowing circuit-runes pulsing faintly, like a heartbeat synced with the Nexus itself. Her username hovered above her head.

[Player: Nyra Vail]

Level: ??

Class: (Unknown)

(Kaien’s Pov) (Inner thought) Woah! How much did she play to have an unmeasurable level? Even the class isn’t showing.

(blink) Uh… hi? You here for the, uh, local parcel recovery program?

Nyra: ‘You’re the bugged healer.’ (calmly)

(Kaien’s Pov) … I prefer the term “systemically misunderstood”.

(voice-over) Nyra approached without haste, gaze flicking skyward toward the fracture line splitting Graviel’s artificial heavens.

Nyra: ‘You saw the shadow too.’

(Kaien’s Pov) Hard to miss. A giant segmented thing blots out the sky, that’s usually a Tuesday for me. (shrugs)

[T/N: “That’s usually a Tuesday for me.” - ‘sarcastic way of saying that crazy, dangerous, or absurd things like a giant segmented creature blotting out the sky happen to him so often they feel routine’]

(inner thought) She doesn’t look impressed. Great. My sarcasm stat must be capped.

Nyra (tilts her head slightly): ‘You were at Hollowfang Burrows.’

(Kaien’s Pov) (grins weakly) Define ‘at’. If by ‘at’ you mean ‘accidentally triggered multiple bugged achievements while saving everyone’, then yeah.

SYSTEM: ‘Hint - New Player Interaction Detected. Potential Ally Rating: (Calculating…)’

Kaien: (inner thought) ‘Huh? Out of nowhere I am getting an ally? And how did she know I was at the Hollowfang burrows?’

(voice-over) Nyra’s sword grip pulsed faintly, her eyes narrowing as if listening to something distant.

Nyra: ‘The Breach isn’t a normal world event. The dev logs mention… anomalies. Whole zones collapsing.’

(Kaien’s Pov) (inner thought) Great. Even mysterious sword ladies are reading the patch notes I didn’t bother to check.

(Kaien’s Pov) So… what? We prepare? Stock up on health potions, which my Bug Bloom will delete anyway?

Nyra: ‘Or we get there first.’ (quietly)

(voice-over) The fractured sky pulsed again. Somewhere deep in Graviel’s ruins, a siren cracked up, a sound Kaien had never heard in this zone. NPC vendors froze again mid-motion, their faces blank for a heartbeat before resuming their chatter again.

(Kaien’s Pov) (inner thought) Yeah, no, that’s not creepy at all.

Nyra: ‘You have… a knack. The glitches follow you.’

(Kaien’s Pov) You say that like it’s a good thing.

Nyra: (smirks faintly) ‘Sometimes the worst code breaks open the best shortcuts.’

(voice-over) Kaien hesitated. Her words carried a weight he couldn’t place, like someone speaking from outside the script.

Nyra: ‘I remember the original code.’ (whispers)

(inner thought) … What does that even mean? Nobody talks like that unless they’re... nah. She looks human. Just… uncanny.

[SYSTEM UPDATE]

New Questline: Threads of the Breach

Objective: Investigate Nexus Anomalies before countdown expiration.

Reward: ???

(Kaien’s Pov) … Threads of the Breach? That sounds like a fancy way to say, “Kaien trips into danger again”.

(inner thought) But maybe… maybe she’s right. If the world collapses and I’m logged in, there’s no guarantee I’ll wake up outside even with the power turned off. I might end up being in a coma in the real world. And if I’m already stuck, sitting around isn’t going to fix anything.

BOOOM (blast sound effect)

(voice-over) A distant blast rolled across Graviel’s skyline. A section of the neon horizon flickered and vanished for half a second, revealing raw code framework beneath, a grid-like glimpse of nothingness.

Nyra: ‘You’re staying.’

(Kaien’s Pov) Wasn’t planning on it. The game had other ideas.

Nyra: ‘Then we move before the servers do.’ (smiling softly)

(voice-over) Kaien glanced at his inventory. Mystery Trinket: ??? pulsed faintly. He selected Inspect, but the interface glitched, flashing random symbols. A dark tower flickered in his vision, as if warning him.

(fragmented, distorted) Whisper: 'Find the Anchor… or watch it all fall.'

(Kaien’s Pov) Oh good. My loot is now giving me creepy prophecies.

Nyra: ‘The trinket’s tied to the Breach. Keep it close.’

(Kaien’s Pov) Or throw it in a volcano?

Nyra (without hesitation): ‘Only if you want the volcano to explode sideways.’

BOOOM (blast sound effect)

(voice-over) Another blast shook Graviel. Cracks spider-webbed across the sky’s fracture. NPCs shook like broken marionettes. Kaien’s minimap rotated wildly before settling on a new blinking marker.

SYSTEM: ‘North Gate: Breach Rift Signature Detected.’

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

World Event Trigger Point: North Gate Ruins.

Recommended Party Size: 6+

Danger Level: Catastrophic.

(inner thought) Catastrophic? They’re not even pretending anymore.

(voice-over) A pair of lower-level players ran past, yelling about a dragon sighting in the snowy region. Behind them, a merchant NPC froze mid-step, then slowly turned its head a full 180 degrees before snapping back to normal.

(Kaien’s Pov) Yeah, I’m convinced. We’re living in a horror patch.

Nyra: ‘Grab what you need. North Gate won’t wait.’

(Kaien’s Pov) What I need is a refund. (grins weakly)

(inner thought) But… a strange feeling is dwelling in my chest. I don’t know why but, amid this frustration, there is a thrill. The kind of thrill I haven’t felt in this game for a long time.