It was 4 AM and I was on Floor 3 when the flag flipped.
No ping. Not an automatic change to the corner of my screen. This was a system alert, the type that would flood my vision until I acknowledged it.
I drew my bow down.
SYSTEM ALERT — CRITICAL FLAG CHANGE
Character: LYRA
Corruption ter: 92/100 → 99/100
Trigger: Passive Influence – ambient Vorn corruption through Daren proximity
Point of No Return: Pending → Imminent
Ti To Threshold: Unknown – dependent upon conditions
Warning: When Corruption ter hits 100/100, it locks permanently
Warning: Cheat system override available – one-ti use only
Acknowledge? Y/N
I stood in the hallway with the corpse of a Thornback Runner at my feet while reading the system alert for the third ti.
99 percent.
Not from a direct encounter with Vorn. Not from visiting the stall. This was passive corruption from the influence of Vorn through Daren. Without even seeing him, Daren got close enough that Lyra’s corruption ter climbed past ninety nine.
Seven points in. I double-checked the tistamp; six hours while I’d been underground.
Cheat system override possible. Limited to one use at this threshold.
I tapped into the notification and pulled up the complete list of available functions from the cheat system. It was unlocked now, ever since Chapter Four. I had access to it for the whole ti. I just hadn’t used it yet because I thought it ant I couldn’t do what was asked in the normal way, and I didn’t need to because there wasn’t anything I couldn’t already do, and so part of was still doing the normal thing even though the system said I didn’t have to anymore.
CHEAT SYSTEM — ACTIVE
Status: fully unlocked
Functions available:
— Stat Override: temporary or permanent
— Corruption Reversal: individual character
— Relationship Manipulation: add/subtract/lock
— Flag Suppression: hide/delete/redirect
— Wiki Access: instant, unlimited, no generation delay
— Weapon Tier Unlock: instant, all tiers
Active restrictions: none
Threshold bonus option: corruption reversal – full reset available for Lyra, limited to this instance
Full Reset. Not one point. Not a partial reset. Full reset – return corruption stat to 0%, delete all contact logs with Vorn, clear Point of No Return flag.
Only once. With this one particular window open. So once the ter reached 100 and the tir expired, I would lose my chance. And the lock would be on permanently.
The nu opened up right in front of , in the dungeon corridor.
And this was what the cheat engine had always been built for. Not for the shortbow. Not for the stat boosts. Not for the EXP grinding that brought from Unclassified to D-rank in less ti than originally calculated. No. This. The point where the regular ga plan falls through, and you have to use the special key that you’ve been saving since Floor 1.
I rembered Lyra in the stall. The trust value at 61. How she froze up when I told her that ntioning Vorn to Daren was okay. The 8-second period when the corruption had been at 92% for two weeks straight.
99% currently. While I was grinding underground, getting more EXP while convincing myself that the rate was good enough.
And so I clicked on the corruption removal.
CORRUPTION REVERSAL — LYRA
Current corruption: 99/100
Target corruption: 0/100
Vorn Contact Logs: wipe all / wipe partial / retain
Point of No Return flag: remove
Effect on relationship ter: None
Confirm? Y/N
Wipe all was my choice for the Vorn contact logs. The Point of No Return flag was removed. I confird the choice.
CORRUPTION REVERSAL — PROCESSING
The ssage appeared directly in front of for three seconds.
Then it disappeared.
LYRA — STATUS UPDATE
Corruption level: 0/100
Vorn contact logs: cleared
Point of No Return: REMOVED
Mood Flag: update pending
System notes: Character will feel disoriented — corruption track removed, recalibration of emotional state
Disorientation. It appeared to be one of the anticipated effects of the process, since when the track was removed the character couldn’t rember anything about the corruption, only felt the lack of its presence. It was like coming out of sleep and realizing sothing was missing.
Lyra’s monitoring box was opened.
PASSIVE MONITORING — LYRA
Relationship / Daren: 612 — stable
Corruption: 0/100
Mood flag: Disoriented / Unclear
Current interactions: NONE
Vorn contact: no entries — log clear
Zero.
I stared at it for so ti.
I then looked down at how much I had just spent.
CHEAT SYSTEM — UPDATE
Ti limit bonus activation: UTILIZED
Full reset via corruption reversal: UTILIZED
Full reset uses remaining: 0
Note: Normal corruption reversal can be utilized, limited use only
No more. Ti limit bonus used. I did have the cheat system, fully equipped. Stat overrides. Relationship manipulation. Flag suppression. Everything. Except the free full reset that could be acquired after reaching the threshold. All future corruption reversions for Lyra, or anyone else, were going to cost sothing that would be told by the nu whenever it was required.
That I put into mory and then I looked at the dungeon corridor.
The corpse of the Thornback Runner was still there. The EXP ssage was right where I left it.
14 EXP — Thornback Runner (Weak Point Kill)
EXP Total: 437/1000
I accepted it.
The corruption was now at zero. The Point of No Return was gone. Lyra was disoriented but safe and the log was spotless and no one even suspected a thing, since flag suppression ca with the package.
VORN — PASSIVE MONITORING
Corruption Status of Lyra: [DATA UNAVAILABLE]
Contact Log: [DATA UNAVAILABLE]
Assessnt: recalculating
Not available. Vorn would see nothing but blanks when he checked the stats at so point during the day and expected to see ninety nine. No sign of corruption, no log, no point of no return notice. It had erased all evidence of his contact with her.
I did not know how he would react when he discovered that. The wiki was still partially erratic in relation to his records. But I knew what a careful predator did if the ground had shifted beneath his feet — stop, assess and figure out what had happened.
Vorn was going to assess .
I grabbed another arrow and notched it.
It was tomorrow’s problem. Tonight I had 437 experience points and a corridor filled with Thornback Runners, plus Lyra’s first pure corruption stat. And the cheat system had co into play.
Really into play. Not potentially usable, not theoretically open, but really and truly accessible, and I knew what it cost and what it could give .
I still had 128 points with Daren and the Lyra corruption scan, which would be going blank soon.
I had no corruption from Lyra, shortbow, Pattern Recognition II and no free actions left.
But this was an improvent over where I had been this morning.
14 EXP — Thornback Runner (Weak Point Kill)
Total EXP: 451/1000
I continued on.
CURRENT STATS
STR: 12
AGI: 17
INT: 20
Skills: Friendly Conversation / Moral Support / Observe / Evasion I / Throwing I / Fast Learner / Precision Shot II / Enemy Analysis I / Pattern Recognition II
EXP: 451/1000
Rank: D
Cheat system: ACTIVE — full control
One ti bonus: USED
The loop was broken.
Now ca the part where I figured out what to do with that.
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