Chapter One: One Tester Remains

Lin looked up. The vaulted ceiling was peeling away—not collapsing, but coming loose like a texture stripped off by an invisible hand. Behind it lay no sky, only dense lines of gray code. An elevator rose from the center of the floor. Above its doors glowed a number that had never appeared in Ascension's interface. 0. “Where am I?” The channel was silent for two seconds. “Your root index is empty,” Gu said. “Lin Zhou, the system says you don't exist.” The countdown reached zero. The last icon in the world went dark. The channel died with it. Stone walls, corpses, and ranking boards vanished into blackness, and Lin fell. He landed seated behind a school desk.