Neon fungal steam filled the narrow hallway of the Yogyakarta Palace bunker. The colors were beautiful—electric purple and faded green—but the smell was like jasmine rotting inside a grave. Je panted, his back pressed against the damp stone wall. In front of him, something that was once the reason he wanted to retire from art theft was now crawling closer."Sekar... stop! Damn it, it’s me, Je!" Je screamed. His voice cracked, choked by spores beginning to pierce his lungs.Sekar, his fiancée, was no longer wearing the velvet kebaya he had prepared for their wedding. Her body had bloomed. Button mushrooms sprouted from the pores of her pale skin, and on her chest, a giant flower petal throbbed like an exposed heart."Je... sweet... hungry..." Sekar hissed. Her voice was no longer human, but the vibrating scrape of a wet membrane."Hungry? You just ate two guards out front, Sekar! Damn it, stay back!" Je tried to raise his hands, but Sekar had already lunged.BRUGH!The slender body, no

Je kicked the iron bunker door until it slammed against the hallway wall. The metallic clang echoed, triggering a chain reaction from the darkness. Sekar stepped out beside him, her movements graceful yet lethal, like a predator freshly polished in a god’s workshop."Damn... is this Jogja or another planet?!" Je muttered.In front of him, Malioboro Street—usually filled with the smell of hot asphalt and the aroma of bakpia—had transformed into a mad neon forest. Cracked asphalt was overgrown with giant moss glowing electric blue. Mushrooms as tall as palm trees towered between old buildings, unfurling delicate tendrils that danced in the wind. The air was thick with a shimmering, thin purple mist. It was beautiful, but Je knew every spore could turn his lungs into a flowerbed in seconds."Master... danger..." Sekar hissed. Her cold hand gripped Je's arm. Her eyes, now flecked with purple, swept the street warily."I know, Sekar. But look at that," Je pointed toward thousands of figure

The iron gates of Fort Vredeburg creaked heavily as they closed behind them. Outside, Yogyakarta was a neon hell filled with the screams of monsters, but here, the atmosphere was so contrasting it made Je nauseous. Crystal chandeliers powered by alien generators hung from the ceilings of luxury barracks built over the fort's grounds. There was the smell of expensive perfume mixed with antiseptic, a futile attempt to mask the scent of death from outside the walls."Damn, is this a refugee camp or a five-star hotel, Je?" Guntur whispered, eyeing long rows of tables laden with premium canned food and bottles of wine. "If I’d known, I would've been picking up fares to this place since yesterday!""Don't get too happy, Guntur. Look at the guards," Je said flatly.In every corner, "Purifier" soldiers stood stiffly, laser rifles aimed not outward, but at the refugees eating with pale faces. They weren't guests; they were assets.Sekar walked close to Je, her hand clutching his ruined shirt.

"Damn it, slow down, Sinta! my legs aren’t made of iron!" Je shouted while leaping over a pile of burning files in the underground corridor of Fort Vredeburg.Sinta glanced back briefly, her black hair fluttering in the wind from the broken ventilation system, "Stop complaining, Thief! If you want Sekar to stay stable, we need that specimen now!""What specimen are you even talking about? We’re supposed to be escaping, not heading deeper into a monster's nest!""Pure Spores from the 'Hive Queen'!" Sinta stopped right in front of a busted steel door, "The spores in Sekar’s body are corrosive. They’re eating her brain cells. The only way to neutralize them is to inject Pure Spores from a Queen type that hasn't been contaminated by Surya’s frequencies!"Suddenly, from the opposite direction, the deafening roar of a motorcycle exhaust and the pungent sting of 'ciu' (moonshine) filled the air.VROOOOMMM! DAK-DAK-DAK!"OI! MOVE IT! HANDSOME DRIVER COMING THROUGH!"A modified N-Max motorcycl

The N-Max motorcycle roared past car wrecks at the intersection on the edge of Malioboro. Je pinned the throttle to the max while Saraswati clung tightly to his waist. The scent of jasmine wafting from the former dancer’s body mixed with the smell of gasoline and sweat, creating a heady, pleasurable dizziness in Je's head."Oi, Je! Slow down, damn it! My ass is numb from the vibrations of this rear box!" Guntur shouted, clutching his bag of loot tightly."Shut it, Guntur! We have to get there before the fortress gates are completely sealed by Surya’s forces!" Je shot back without looking away from the road.Suddenly, the System in Je’s eyes flickered wildly. The interface color shifted from purple to a glowing gold.[Notification: Pure Spores Detected within Host Radius.][Integration Commencing: Modifying 'The Thief' Painting Tools...][Upgrade Successful: 'Curator’s Palette' (Level 1) Activated!]Je felt his waist bag—where he kept his brushes and signature spray paint—vibrate with