Broken Core (A Dark Fantasy LitRPG)

Nothing mattered anymore…

How much time had passed?

Since I killed her? 

I couldn’t feel my body. It was like the brief loss of feeling from before. My senses vanished with darkness overtaking them. My cries and laughs from before, they were like a distant memory. I felt at peace. 

 I was back in my home ⁠— the void, I couldn’t mistake this feeling. Though, I had believed it to be shattered. A realm I’d never be able to return to ever in my life. A true safe-space. 

Ding! 

[Logic unit ‘Leah’ in partial slumber ⁠— in reparation]

Hmm? Logic unit? Right… I sighed in my mind recalling the notification. Computing unit, and Logic unit ‘Leah’ now bound. I was… a logic unit? Just like my fake sister? Though, she had the same kind of characters as some of the notifications, like corruption, whatever that meant. 

The feeling of my body returned and I opened my eyes. I was back in the void, standing on invisible ground. My body was… naked. But not bloody anymore. 

“You’re finally here, welcome Leah, to our… innards.” A female voice spoke to me, its tone of cadence slow and measured.

The voice was… familiar. But I couldn’t quite recognize it. I didn’t feel the same strange nugging as back then. I turned to face the voice, expecting someone familiar to be standing not too far away from me. Perhaps someone I’d instantly recognize, but I paused. Who was she? 

She was around my height, pale unblemished skin, silky silvery hair that went past her shoulders, and crystal clear blue eyes. Oh, she had… Ears. Fluffy ears. No tail, just ears. She was naked, though, I couldn’t really see, well, anything? Her body had no erogenous zones. 

I tried to recall,  but even though her voice was vaguely familiar, I didn’t know who she was. 

“Hmm,, does my…” She paused with a hand on her chin. “Nakedness, bother you?” 

“I…” How do I even answer? She did say, our innards.  “Who are you?” Her eyes widened for a second. 

“Truly an unconventional Logic unit,” she mused. “This wasn’t in the instructions. No matter.” 

Instructions? She raised her hand and snapped her fingers. 

As if commanded, my body fell back, in a blur, colors spun from the momentum as I eventually hit a fluffy surface. I found myself staring at a dull grid ceiling, the texturing of the bleak square panels reminding me of something. Sunlight indirectly hit my eyes from my left. 

Wasn’t I in the void? Before I could ask, I heard the sound of a curtain being reeled back on its metal hinges. 

The same girl from before stood in front of me, her figure towered over my vision. She was no longer naked, instead she was wearing a black long-sleeve turtleneck sweater and jeans. Her crystalline blue eyes looked down at me. 

I looked to my sides. I was in bed? No… it was familiar. A hospital bed. I looked around, saw the white curtain, the white walls and a sky-line view to a city, though it seemed blurry and non-detailed. 

“Don’t pay too much attention to the blurry things.” The girl said from behind me, her tone remaining mostly emotionless. “It’s bad for our memory.”  

I turned to look at her. “Our? And you’re?” I asked her. Why was she here with me in the void? Though I was in: partial slumber, according to the system. 

The girl sighed. “You’re truly an unconventional logic unit.” Unconventional? 

“My name is Leah,” I said with slight annoyance as I looked at her. 

“Right.” She nodded. “Leah, you’re unconventional. But, I suppose I will need to adjust to you.” Her tone slightly changed at the end, her eyes closed. 

“Adjust?” I was growing confused by the second. She was weird. “And what does the blur have to do with bad memory?” 

The girl opened her eyes and looked at me. “Leah, I am your computing unit, or well. The computing unit of the core, which is us.” 

I frowned instantly recalling things. “So you’re the one that warned me of my fake sister?” 

She nodded without hesitation. “That is the case, that logic unit was corrupted. Moreover, according to the instructions, a core is generated whole. Since I was generated with you, that logic unit was a foreign invader to us.” 

Foreign invader, generated. I thought for a second trying to digest the information I received.

“But the system said that fusing with the Logic Unit was necessary for Ascension.” 

“Indeed, though it is outside my knowledge why it was a requirement, or what Ascension is. All dungeon cores start off as Ascendant cores, but we are Descendant, which is something I have no knowledge of. But it is my task to aid you with potentially life-threatening things. Hence the warning.” 

“I see…” She did say I would die then. “So you’re my companion?” Computing unit thought for a second before nodding. 

“Yes, you could say that we are in fact companions. Though, do not be mistaken. You’re the driver.” Huh? “Meaning, that I just help while you make all the decisions. I am just your aid, and this is why I must warn you.” Her voice remained passive, though her brows made a very slight almost imperceptible frown. 

“Warn?” Warn me about what? 

“As a logic unit your job is to be objective for the both of us.” She paused, giving me a moment to think about what she had just said. “Meaning, if you get emotions when doing your job, it will lead to a subpar outcome.” 

Subpar? Emotions? I paused. My emotions are… 

“Looks like you’ve noticed. In our internals we can be almost perfectly objective. But the reason you’re here isn’t to be objective. You, the logic unit, have suffered damage.” 

I frowned slightly. “Damaged, how? I never got injured by my fake sister.” 

Computing unit looked at me, her eyes meeting mine for a second before she finally closed them. 

“Looks like you are missing your instructions, and instead they are replaced with whatever this world is and its concepts.” She said as she lazily gestured around. “I suppose that for now I will briefly tell you what I know. Once you fully awaken you will receive all of my instructions as well. This is why I can see your world and know what a hospital is, Leah.” 

I scratched my head in thought. This is troublesome, she knows everything... I looked at her again, a question suddenly popping into my head. 

“Since we are one, does that mean that what I am seeing is how I look in person?” 

She nodded. 

“Now to explain the peril we are both going through.” Her eyes met mine. “If we live our emotions rather than emulate them, it slowly begins to break us. Our base logic starts contradicting itself causing a myriad of errors in our innards. 

“Or in this case, your innards, which if contradicted too much will inevitably cause a critical failure. Or in the concepts you’re familiar with” she paused. ”Death. And your death will lead to the death of the core, or our death.” 

She says all of this but… “In the end, I am a human, not a core… And if I die, how is it our death? And I don’t get how I’ll actually die from… crying.” I said my tone was slightly heavy, though I still felt apathetic. 

“If you suffer from death, then I will suffer the same fate. That is why, if you run the risk of total collapse, I will have to intervene.” Her voice was unchanging as always, but it made me feel a bit worried for some reason. “As for how you’ll die from crying, contradictions lead to death, simple as that. Think cerebral failure if that helps.” 

I frowned. I still couldn’t see how. Though there was something else that bothered me. “Intervene? Intervene how?” There had to be a reason for my worry… 

“Cannot disclose.” I sighed hearing her reply. She turned away from me and looked out the window.

Seeing she wasn’t going to expand regarding the topic of emotions, I tried to think of another topic she might have answers for. And then it clicked. 

“How did you know it wasn’t my real sister?” Computing unit looked at me before looking back at the horizon. 

“It was clear. Ignoring her statements, it was the connection.” Her eyes narrowed looking at the sun. “She was connected to us in some way, though it should’ve been by all means impossible. The way she behaved was too optimal, she was simply put. Acting, what you should’ve been doing too. Her logic, never straying.” 

I paused. Right, emotions were bad according to my companion. 

“Emotional manipulation to lead you on.” She elaborated. ”But simply because you were too emotional you got mad instead of focusing on whatever she was doing. So I guess your instructions aren’t terrible.” 

She keeps mentioning instructions but… 

“What are the instructions you keep mentioning?” I asked, unable to be patient any longer. Though, I still felt apathetic and detached for the most part. Computing unit looked at me for a second before closing her eyes. 

“Simply put, they are our innate knowledge. Knowledge that we are born with. Does a baby know how to speak as soon as it’s born? No.” I nodded in understanding. “Though I do fail to understand why your instructions would be so peculiar.” 

For the first time, her voice changed volume. I could barely hear what she said after nodding, but it was nothing more than a mutter. 

“Well Leah, you will be spending some time here since your existence is in danger.” She went to look at the sun again. 

Right. She did indeed say that emotions could kill me. Even though I fail to understand it. It sounded troublesome. Moreover, why did I look like that? I couldn’t remember how I looked before, but… 

I looked at my Computing unit. Her silver hair, her ears, her blue eyes. Even though she was slender and not very tall. She was objectively great looking. How odd. It was unnatural. I couldn’t quite tell what made it feel off for me. But I was unable to keep staring. Was it the ears? Or just the peculiar features? 

“Is something wrong?” She asked, looking at with curiosity. 

“I can’t…” Should she even know this? No, wasn’t she going to know this regardless? “I can’t stop looking at you, your appearance is… weird, well our appearance.” 

Computing unit thought for a second. “Perhaps, given what I know, we should look closer to a wolf right now. That’s what the monsters in the cave were, mostly dead wolves and some bears.” 

“Huh?” 

She nodded. “The physical traits of a dungeon are determined from the things they are generated from. Since we were made from those things dying, then we should look like animals, but instead.” She fiddled with the ears atop her head. “We simply have these.”

Hmmm. “Maybe it’s because I was a human?” 

“Right, your instructions do indicate that. Perhaps.” She thought. “It’s not a bad thing though, hands are good for dexterity based tasks.” 

I nodded. “I couldn’t imagine being an animal.” 

She didn’t agree or disagree, instead continuing to watch the window. Right, she wasn’t… Human… Was⁠— Computing unit… She was just helping to make decisions as she had said. So… I had quite a hard time understanding it, she wasn’t human, so perhaps she didn’t enjoy small talk. But why did she even continue looking at the distance? Perhaps… 

“Do you find it interesting?” 

“Interesting?” She looked at me with expressionless innocence. “Interesting, what?”

“My memories,” I added with a suppressed sigh. 

“Your instructions are rather peculiar, things that aren’t of this world, at least from my understanding. It’s certainly interesting.” She agreed. “Though, perhaps I could call it curious rather than interesting.” 

“I see.” She wasn’t human. “So you just help me make decisions?” 

“That is right, I am an assist for you, at the same time it is also my job to keep you in line from⁠— well death.” Right… “Though.” She looked at me, and our eyes met. “I know you don’t seem to trust me, but it is in our best interest to do so, do know that I want you to live just as much as you.”

“Thanks…” 

 She gave me a small smile before finally shaking her head. “This feeling thing isn’t for me.” 

I paused. I guess she tried? 

“Oh!” She gasped in surprise. “Looks like you won’t get to stay here much longer.”

“Oh?” Wait. “How do you even know that?” 

“Hmm?” She gave me a weird glance. “Because I get to know the status of the vessel. In order to assist you. Anyway, goodbye for now.” 

“Now?” She walked up to me and did another small smile. 

“Yes, now.” Her hand touched my chest. “Nice to meet you Leah,” She pushed. 

“Wait⁠— 

Everything vanished like smoke, the endless void replacing it, Computing unit disappeared like air. And soon, there was nothing. 

Ding! 

[You have consumed: Middle Grade Health Potion ⁠— Your injuries have been adequately restored.] 

Huh?! What⁠— Cough! I closed my eyes, feeling my chest rock. I coughed violently, my lungs convulsed in an attempt to get more air. 

“Hey, are you okay?!” 

“Huh?!” My eyes shot open hearing the friendly male voice. Wasn’t, I in the vo⁠— I stared at a wooden ceiling, light came from a nearby window through the rocky walls around me. Where was I? 

“Good, you’re finally awake.” I turned to the voice, it was a middle-aged man with a deep black chin-strap beard, he had wrinkles to the sides of his eyes and a rather squared face. I looked around, confirming the room I was in, I was sitting on a bed. 

The man had a sword and was wearing armor. A knight? 

“Where am I?” I asked with growing confusion. One moment I was with computing unit, then⁠— Potion… I fainted. 

“Little one, you’re in Arlesh, The City of Heaven, well, town.” He awkwardly added. 

“Ah⁠— Ouch!” I flinched, crutching my head. System? The Beyond? Memories. Information. 

“I’ll⁠—” His voice called my attention. He closed his eyes with a frown and then he spoke. “I’ll need to do a detailed interrogation with you in about an hour. Try to remember things in the meantime, we need to find out what happened with the new Dungeon.” He turned away and then promptly left the room, the loose metal handle of the flimsy door rattling. 

“What⁠⁠—” I paused with a flinch again. Are these the instructions she spoke of? This world⁠— dungeons, monsters, The Beyond and its system… How to use it. And⁠— world domination? Ha?