Chapter 3: Jayden’s Reality
The room was cold. Still and quiet. A faint breeze moved through the half-open window, brushing against the curtains. Outside, the streetlights cast long shadows across the floor, stretching over worn tiles and bare walls painting pale gold lines across the cracked walls and secondhand furniture.
Jayden shot up in bed, chest heaving, eyes darting. His heart thumped like a bass drum in his ears. And then it came.
Ringing.
Not from outside, but inside his skull—sharp, clean, and metallic like the start of some holy announcement.
[Ding! Welcome to the Ultimate Copy and Paste System, Host!]
A glowing interface unfolded before him, floating midair in glitchy blue light. His breath caught as the voice echoed again, cool and commanding, as if reading straight from a god's instruction manual.
[After betrayal and public humiliation, the host qualifies as a viable candidate for system bonding.]
[Synchronization complete. Base Host Status: Registered.]
*
> Name: Jayden Cross
Condition: Broke. Ghosted. Not even Friend-zoned.