LOGINThe starting lights appeared above the track.Five.Four.Three.Two.One.The race began.The entire street circuit came alive.Engines screamed between the buildings.The crowd exploded.Cars launched forward, fighting for the smallest gaps between them.Alina pushed the accelerator immediately.Her car responded.The silver machine moved like it already knew what she wanted before she even thought about it.The first corner came fast.Too fast for most drivers.Three cars ahead of her crashed into each other trying to take the inside line.Alina didn't slow down.She moved through the opening.Position twelve.Then nine.Then seven.The crowd reacted.The commentators noticed."Crosswell is moving incredibly fast!""She started near the back and she's already breaking into the top ten!"Alina ignored them.Her focus was completely on the track.This was different from yesterday.The Lagos race had been about surviving.This one was about control.Every corner was tighter.Every mis
The next morning, Alina woke up to the sound of someone banging repeatedly on her door. The kind that made it sound like the door owed somebody money.She groaned and pulled a pillow over her head. The banging continued."Go away.""No."Aria.Of course it was Aria.The banging became louder."Alina.""Dead.""You're not dead.""Emotionally I am.""Good. Get up."Alina threw the pillow at the door.Unfortunately Aria wasn't on the other side anymore.A second later the door opened.Aria walked in carrying a plate of pancakes.Alina sat up immediately."Where did you get those?""The kitchen."
The engines roared so loudly that the entire circuit seemed to vibrate.Alina sat behind the wheel, fingers wrapped around the steering wheel as she stared at the track ahead. Cars stretched across the starting grid. Sixty drivers.Only ten would advance.She could feel the excitement in the air.The crowd was loud.The announcers were louder.But inside the car everything felt strangely calm.A silver notification appeared in the corner of her vision.[QUALIFIER RACE][OBJECTIVE: FINISH TOP 10][CURRENT PROGRESS: 0/50]She exhaled slowly."Top ten first."The system chimed.[CORRECT]"Then fifty wins."[CORRECT]"Then Zaria."[CORRECT]"Then twenty thousand points."[CORRECT]"Then Earth."The screen remained silent for a moment.Then one final line appeared.[POSSIBILITY CONFIRMED]Alina stared at those words.Honestly, that sounded more realistic.The race official raised a flag.The crowd erupted.Every engine on the grid screamed at once.Then the countdown appeared above the tra
The next morning arrived far too quickly.Alina barely slept.Every time she closed her eyes, she saw something different.The message about another host.That stupid notification about Earth kept replaying in her head.Twenty thousand points.A way home.For the first time since arriving in this world, the goal felt real.Which was exactly why she couldn't stop thinking about it.A loud knock on her door dragged her out of bed.Before she could answer, the door opened.Aria walked in carrying a tray full of food."Good morning."Alina stared."Why do you have my breakfast?""I stole it.""Why?""I was hungry."The answer came so naturally that Alina almost accepted it.Almost."Then why are you bringing it here?"Aria grabbed a piece of toast."I stole yours too."Alina blinked."You're unbelievable.""I've been called worse."She dropped onto the chair beside the desk and immediately started eating.Alina was beginning to suspect Aria had never learned basic manners.Another knock c
The moment Alina saw another comparison coming, she turned around and walked out of the sitting room.Her mother's voice followed her immediately."Alina Crosswell, don't you dare walk away while I'm speaking to you."Alina kept walking.That only made things worse."Look at her," her mother snapped. "This is exactly what I mean. No respect. No discipline."Alina heard Zaria saying something polite behind her, probably trying to calm the situation down.Or pretending to.At this point Alina honestly didn't care. She was tired. Tired of waking up every morning in a life that wasn't hers.She climbed the stairs two at a time and finally reached her room. The door opened immediately. That still felt strange.Before the Archive, half the mansion had acted like it wanted her gone. Doors refused to open. Lights flickered. Entire hallways felt dead.Now everything worked. Almost as if whatever curse had settled over the mansion was gone.Alina stepped inside and closed the door, she paused fo
Large cracks spread across the Archive as though the entire place had finally reached its limit. Roads that had existed for centuries broke apart and vanished into the white emptiness below. Floating islands drifted away from one another. Towers collapsed silently in the distance.Alina stood frozen for a moment, watching it happen.After everything she had survived here, after the races, the Observer, the tower and the things hidden inside it, it felt strange seeing the Archive itself die.Beside her, Evelyn was staring upward.Kaira looked unusually serious.Even Aria had stopped making sarcastic comments.That alone was enough to tell Alina how bad things were.Another vibration rolled through the ground beneath them.A large section of white stone suddenly cracked open several meters away.The Observer remained visible in the distance, its massive eyes fixed on something beyond the horizon.It was no longer paying attention to them.And somehow that felt worse."We need to go," Ev
The black portal expanded. The darkness inside it seemed deeper than anything Alina had seen before. It wasn't empty. It felt occupied.The voice echoed from within again. "Come find me."Alina felt a chill run through her body because it was her voice.It sounded like a recording of herself speak
For a few seconds, nobody knew what had happened. The finish line exploded into silver light. The three cars vanished. The spiral track disappeared.And the entire Archive fell silent. Alina felt the ground beneath her feet again.When her vision cleared, she found herself standing back on the white
The sky remained split open above the Archive.Silver light poured through the crack like a wound carved into reality itself. The voice had vanished, but its presence lingered.*She found it.*Those three words refused to leave Alina's head.Beside the track, Kaira stood completely still.For the f
First DefeatA terrifying, suffocating silence spread through the Archive Alina stood frozen beneath the blood-red system warnings while the gigantic eye stared down from the darkness above.She couldn't explain it.The moment that eye focused on her, it felt as though every secret she had ever pos