登入The air in the narrow underground corridor was freezing, but sweat still ran down the side of Ronan’s face. He stood with his back against a heavy electrical panel, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.He was furious.For the last twenty minutes, eight of Ryan’s high-level players had kept him trapped here. They formed a loose semi-circle around him, hands resting on their weapons, eyes locked on him without blinking. There had been no word from Ara. No radio traffic. No sign of Ryan, who had ordered his men to watch the former black-ops soldier closely. The silence from upstairs pressed down on him.Even surrounded, Ronan kept scanning everything. His gaze stayed mostly on Kayla, who stood near the center of the group with her rifle held low.“Kayla,” Ronan said, his voice low and rough. “Look at me. Don’t do this. Don’t let a guy like Ryan turn you into his weapon. You’re a soldier, not some cleanup crew for a psychopath.”Kayla didn’t move. Her eyes stayed fixed on the wall
The micro-screwdriver whirred quietly, popping the last structural rivets with sharp mechanical clicks. Ara kept her balance on Ronan’s shoulders, knees gripping the sides of his neck as the heavy tungsten-plated vent cover came loose. She caught the edge with her fingers and carefully lowered the metal panel onto the desk below so it wouldn’t make noise.A dark, square opening appeared above them, letting out a draft of cold, stale air that smelled like dust and old insulation.Ronan looked up, his face in shadow. “I’ll go first,” he whispered, his hands sliding down her legs to help her down. “If there’s an ambush or sensors up there, my vest can take the hit better than your jacket.”Ara shook her head and dropped lightly to the desk beside him. “No. Look at me, I’m half your size. You’re built like a tank. If you get stuck in a tight spot, we’re both screwed. Plus, I have the system interface if I need coordinates.”Ronan frowned, staring at the narrow vent. He didn’t like it, but
The moment Ara’s eyes locked onto Ryan’s smug, familiar face, a sickening wave of clarity hit her. She shouldn’t have trusted that guard outside. She shouldn’t have let her guard down even for a second.When the man had grabbed her shoulder in the crowded press area, her first thought was to pull her weapon. But he had leaned in close, whispering urgently that he was there to stop Hawkins too. He claimed he was a fellow player trying to sabotage the launch. To prove it, he triggered a proximity ping, and her LUS interface flashed a blue confirmation of his player status. He acted genuinely impressed, saying he’d heard rumors about Player 001 and felt lucky to meet her. Posing as one of the perimeter guards, he’d walked her straight past security and into the executive suite. Only when she saw Ronan arrive with Kayla — and noticed there was zero recognition between Ronan and the guard — did the trap finally click shut. She had been led right into it.Ryan’s grin widened, his eyes crink
The matte-black dirt bike slowed to a stop in a trash-filled alley three blocks from City Hall. Ronan killed the engine and sat still for a moment, hands on the handlebars, trying to process what he’d seen twenty minutes earlier.Ara had simply vanished. One second she was standing next to him, eyes glowing with that strange golden light. The next, she had launched forward like a rocket, blurring down the industrial bypass faster than his bike could go. He had no idea how it was possible.*What the hell was that?* he thought, jaw tight, as he climbed off the bike.Without her map, he had to rely on his own sense of direction, pushing through the heavy traffic. He pulled out the radio Ara had left behind and turned up the volume.“…the public address has concluded. CEO Ramsdale Hawkins and Mayor Higgins have re-entered the secure area of City Hall to finish the authorization protocols. Heavy military blockades are now in place at every entrance…”The window was closing fast. Ronan tuck
Ara stared at the number. Four hundred EXP was almost everything she had saved up from days of tough survival tasks. Spending it now would reset her progress and leave her weak for what was coming in the next ten days.She looked at the radio in her hand. She thought of Daniel’s kind eyes, Silas’s sharp grin, and the cold toxic river closing over her head in her past life.*I’m done being weak.*“Accept,” Ara whispered.The system chimed softly.**EXP CONSUMED. 'ADRENALINE OVERDRIVE' INITIATED.** **COUNTDOWN: 20:00...**“Ronan, stop the bike!” Ara shouted.Ronan hit the brakes hard, skidding the dirt bike into a narrow alley near the shipping canal. He turned to look at her, confused. “What are you doing? We don’t have time to stop.”Ara climbed off the bike, her boots hitting the gravel. A strange burning energy surged through her veins, making her muscles twitch with power.“Keep riding toward City Hall,” she told him firmly. “Take the canal route. I need to get there faster than
The sirens wailed so loudly Ara could feel them in her teeth. She kept running hard, legs pumping, chest burning like it was full of broken glass. The sedan was gone. The team was split. And those red numbers in her vision kept dropping.*19:42... 19:41...*She cut sideways into a narrow service chute behind some old meatpacking buildings, brick walls closing in on both sides. Her boots slipped on the greasy concrete. She spun around, back against the wall, and raised her 9mm with shaky hands.Heavy footsteps echoed at the mouth of the alley. Two police officers appeared with their guns drawn, red and blue lights flashing across the bricks.“Drop the weapon! Hands where I can see them! Now!” the first one shouted.Ara’s thumb rested on the safety. She was trapped. Firing would bring more trouble. Letting them take her would run out the timer anyway.The second officer stepped closer, handcuffs ready. “Do it now, girl. Don’t make this harder.”Before he could move any further, a loud d
Ara POV: The hideout was not what she expected. She had pictured something grim. Bare concrete, a single flickering light, maybe a bucket in the corner. What she got instead was a gutted storage room three floors underground with actual furniture, a generator humming in the back, and the smell of
Ara POV: "Do you accept your first mission?" "Absolutely not," Ara said out loud, to empty the air, in an empty lot, like a completely sane person. "No. Who even are you? Get out of my head." The voice said nothing for a moment. Then it said, pleasantly and mechanically and with absolutely no re
Chapter 2: The Day Before The End Ara POV: "Ara? Ara, wake up already!" She shot upright, gasping for air. Her hands flew to her throat first. Then her arms. Then her face. She noticed there were no bites, no blood, and no open wounds oozing something dark and wrong. She pressed both palms flat
Ara Pov: “Run faster, they're getting close” A voice called out in front of Ara, as she jumped over the huge crack on the ground, her knee almost giving out, but she kept her stance. Her foot caught the edge of the concrete crack and she stumbled, her body lurching forward. The ground came up at he







