S Ranked Reincarnation: My Infinite Leveling System-Chapter 32: System Failure

The sound of footsteps reverberated through the clearing, steadily growing louder. Ning Que and Lian Zhen exchanged a wary glance, both tensing up as the air thickened with unspoken tension. Birds, previously chirping in the trees, fell silent, as if sensing the mood shift.

"Get ready," Ning whispered. He locked his eyes on the haze beyond the ridge, primal instincts kicking in. An urgent pressure built in his chest—a drive to defend, to attack. Every muscle in his body was primed for action. Still, nothing appeared on his system. Not a prompt, not an interface. Just an oppressive silence drilling a nail into his spine.

He couldn’t summon his katana, but he was prepared and ready to fight when it came to it. He just couldn’t decide on how just yet.

Lian twirled her glaive in an elaborate but annoyed flourish, hints of impatience brewing in her expression.

"I’m not waiting around for something to pounce on us, Ning. If you’ve got a plan, now’s the time."

"Plan?" Ning hissed, still focused on the threshold between safety and uncertainty. "I’d settle for a weapon."

The silhouettes began to surface through the fog—vague shapes, shrouded in the mist. Lian raised her glaive, holding it like a barrier. Ning shifted to a low, defensive stance, even though he was weaponless, feeling the weight of his vulnerability.

"Ning!" The voice cut through the silence, startling him.

He straightened abruptly. He had recognized that voice. He knew that voice!

"Aeris?"

Clarity emerged as the figures drew nearer, revealing Linx and Viera among them. Each was poised, weapons drawn, approaching with equal measures of caution and relief.

"Friend or foe?" Linx shouted, scanning the area with narrowed eyes.

"Relax, it’s us!" Aeris called back, lowering his sword a fraction. Yet he remained cautious, glancing over Ning’s shoulder at Lian, who stayed silently tense beside him, glaive still raised slightly.

Linx sighed, almost dramatic in his relief as he caught sight of Ning’s face.

"Man, you had us worried. After the Rift implosion, we figured you were dead or worse."

"Still kicking somehow," Ning replied, aware of Lian’s silent scrutiny. He could feel her energy shifting, assessing every detail. "We need to talk."

"What’s up with the glaive Barbie?" Linx asked, his tone half-serious, half-comical as he pointed toward Lian.

Lian spun her weapon once more, a careless flick of her wrist that left an air of nonchalance.

"Lian Zhen. S-Rank. And it’s cute you think I’m just a pretty face, kid."

"Kid? I’m not the one who looks like I stepped out of a dollhouse," Linx shot back.

Ning interrupted before things could escalate.

"Focus, guys. We’re not safe yet."

He wanted nothing more than to see Lian humbled in a quarrel, but now really wasn’t the time for that, and as much as he wanted to see the naive girl diced, he believed they all had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

"Safety isn’t really the issue," Aeris reminded them, looking grim. "We heard the eruption. You weren’t supposed to be in Sector Nine, Ning."

"I wasn’t supposed to survive a Rift implosion either," he muttered, glancing briefly toward the remnants of the battlefield.

Tension tightened again, palpable in the air, as Aeris explained what transpired after the Rift collapsed.

"Tao is issuing pursuit orders across multiple sectors. Words like ’uncontrolled post-Rift contamination’ and ’possible system deviation’ are being thrown around."

"Wonderful," Ning said, voice straining with suppressed frustration. "We’re being hunted like game."

"They’ve been careful," Viera added, her voice steady. "There’s no Guild-wide alert. Just whispers, rumors, and quiet sweeps. But we’re running out of time."

Lian narrowed her eyes, taking it all in.

"Sounds like our reputation is getting us into trouble. If they’re hunting you, that makes you very interesting. And interesting things deserve my attention for... research purposes."

"Research? You mean, you just want to tag along," Aeris countered, frowning. "You’re not part of this."

"Actually, I am now," Lian replied smugly, tilting her head and giving a hard smile. "I saved this one’s life twice, I think. Can’t let him die stupid, right?"

"I didn’t ask you to save me," Ning grumbled, his jaw clenching at her teasing tone.

"Well, you should’ve been more specific," Lian quipped.

Linx seemed to have identified a target, frustration bubbling up into his voice.

"This could be a setup! She could be a plant from the Guild! How do we know she isn’t here to babysit us all while we get wiped out?"

"Because she would’ve let that thing kill us instead," Ning replied, his gaze hardening. The memory of Lian charging that shadow version of himself from moments before lingered, haunting and raw. "I’ve watched her fight. She’s as sharp as her glaive."

"Nice to know I’ve got at least one fan," Lian grinned, but her eyes flickered with interest at Ning’s fierce protectiveness.

"Whether we trust her or not doesn’t change our situation," Aeris interrupted, urgency creeping back into his tone. "We need a plan, and fast."

Frustration bubbled in Ning’s gut as he tried to check his system again. It was still nothing. No interface, no prompts, just a creeping sensation—like losing a part of himself.

It was like trying to remember a dream just out of reach, and with every swipe of his mind, he felt more disconnected. The last encounter with... with that shadow. What if it wasn’t just a mental showdown? What if the fight had altered something fundamental?

Aeris’s voice snapped him back into the present.

"If we stay here too long, we’ll be trapped."

They were back in a grim circle, each member exchanging uneasy glances. Viera spoke up, caution lacing her words.

"We can split up. Create diversions, get information before regrouping somewhere safe."

"No," Ning said swiftly, shaking his head. "We can’t risk it. One another’s safety is non-negotiable."

"Speak for yourself, hero," Linx scoffed, clearly testing the waters. "You’ve got an S-rank joining your merry band. Who’s going to protect her if things go south?"

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," Lian replied pointedly, irritation creeping into her voice.

"Clearly," Linx sneered back, but the mood cracked slightly with the shared humor.

Unwilling to contribute to the growing debate, Ning sat near the wall, his back against the cold stone. The silence around him began to thrum with urgency, and he focused inward.

The feeling of something fundamentally off gnawed at him—his system, once a reliable tool of survival, was dead silent, a fractured part of him now feeling alien.

Lian, seemingly understanding his unspoken turmoil, ambled close and dropped to the ground beside him. She pulled out a stick of dried rations, munching thoughtfully.

"What are you doing, emo?" she asked, her tone light, but there was a gentleness hidden within.

"Trying to fix something," he muttered, barely loud enough for her to hear.

"Your attitude?" she shot back, lips curling into a teasing smile.

He didn’t even look her way, fingers tightening in frustration.

"My system’s dead."

For once, her quick wit fell short. Lian stilled, momentarily disarmed by his sincerity.

"Great. You know how to wield a glaive but can’t figure out your little power-up system? Sounds like a personal problem," she joked lightly, but her eyes held an unusual mix of concern.

Ning’s voice remained low as he tried to explain.

"I didn’t level up after that monster. No reward. Nothing. It’s like... It’s like I’m locked out."

"Maybe it’s scared of you now," Lian suggested, chewing slowly.

Ning’s head snapped to her.

"What? Scared?"

Lian shrugged, her demeanor entirely casual.

"You met your shadow self, right? That’s a no-regular-glitch deal. Maybe the system isn’t dead. Maybe it’s just waiting. Testing you. Or maybe you went off the path it was built for." She paused, tapping her fingers against the glaive resting on her lap.

Ning stared at her.

"And you’re guessing all this?"

"I’m S-rank. I make dangerous guesses for fun," she retorted, unyieldingly confident.

Before he could respond, Linx rushed into the space again with Viera following hot on his heels, urgency evident on both their faces.

"We just picked up a Guild ping—encrypted message."

"What did it say?" Aeris asked rapidly, straightening up, tension returning.

"Tao’s elite squad just deployed from the Capital branch." Linx looked grim, dread creeping in. "We need to go. Now."

The weight of those words settled heavily around them, casting an even darker shadow. Ning’s heart raced. They hadn’t even settled into safety, and already their pursuers were tightening a noose around them.

Aeris voiced what everyone was thinking.

"That’s not just a sweep. That’s a kill order."

Ning stood abruptly, adrenaline firing through his veins.

"We need to move. Now. Gather what you can. We don’t have much time."

As they scrambled into action, Ning felt a sudden flicker in his vision. His heart stilled. The figure of a glitchy whisper flickered in front of his eyes, almost too quick to comprehend.

SYSTEM ERROR. CORE PATH UNRECOGNIZED. NEW ASCENSION TRIGGER: PENDING... [DATA CORRUPTED.]