"Luna is not property!" Raka snapped unacceptably. "She is the best fighter we have! Without her, I..."Raka stopped. His sentence hung in the air and he didn't dare to continue. He looked at Luna, who now slowly lowered her bow.The mute girl's face showed no anger, only a calmness as if realizing that in this world controlled by digital numbers, she was considered a second-class entity.Luna approached Raka, then pulled out her notebook."I WILL WAIT BEHIND THE GLASS. DON'T DIE."That writing made Raka restless. He shifted his gaze from that writing to Luna's face."But Luna, I cannot do it alone," he whispered, trembling. "All this time, you always gave me cover fire. You were the one who guarded me when I almost fell. If I go in there without you..."[System: Whoops, drama again. You're such a noob. Listen, Barista. This is the time for you to prove that you are a Player, not just a baby carried by a national athlete. The viewers want to see you 'Solo Carry'. If you keep being spo

"Vanya, are you sure this is a safe place to shop? I feel like there are at least ten people imagining what my kidneys taste like if they are fried," Raka whispered while pulling closer his barista apron that still bore dry mud stains from the preliminary round.After he managed to get into the top ten, he agreed to Vanya's request to go shopping. but the condition of the shopping place made Raka frown.The smell of rust, human sweat, and the aroma of burning engine oil greeted Raka's sense of smell as he walked down the concrete stairs heading to the basement floor of Sector 4.If the surface of Hive City was a grand stage full of neon lights, then this underground area was its large intestine. The place where all the filth and dark transactions were filtered."Security is an abstract concept in the Hive, Raka," Vanya's voice was heard through the earpiece, accompanied by the clinking sound of a coffee cup. "But the Black Market is the only place the System does not collect a 30 perc

The night inside The Toxic Goose truck bed was never truly silent. Besides the soft snoring sound of Baginda and the roar of the cooling fans from the laboratory equipment, there was now an additional sound haunting Raka's hearing, namely the mechanical beating of his own heart that constantly made a click-whirrr sound. Raka had just returned from the Black Market, his hands still feeling cold after touching the defective pineapple grenades now kept by Luna. He stepped into the truck's cargo area, intending to rest his body that felt crushed. However, the sight before him made him abandon that intention. Vanya was not sleeping. The woman was sitting in front of three monitor screens floating holographically from her tablet. The blue light from the screens reflected on her glasses, showing graphs moving up and down rapidly. In her left hand, V

"System, did I just enter a giant grill?" Raka wiped the sweat pouring down his temples, his eyes staring in horror at the arena floor that was usually covered in sand. The roaring sound of hydraulic machines echoed throughout the Coliseum. The sand floor suddenly sank, replaced by thick interlocking iron plates. However, what was terrifying was the color of those plates. The iron began to smolder, changing from black to glowing red, emitting heat waves capable of blurring vision. [System: Welcome to the quarter-finals, Barista! The Central Admin felt the previous round was too 'cold', so now they turned on the underfloor heating. The modification name: 'The Floor is Lava'. Cool, right?] "Cool your ass! I can smell the rubber of my shoes baking!" shouted Raka. He began running in place, lifting his feet high alternately so they did not stay in contact with the smoldering iron flo

CRAACK! "ARRGGHH!" The man screamed, his poison bottle slipping and shattering on the concrete floor. The second intruder tried to draw his dagger, but Baginda gave no space. The goose jumped into the air, flapping his strong wings to create a strong wind that blinded the opponent's eyes. With horrifying accuracy, Baginda pecked toward the face of the first man who was holding his arm. SPLAT! "MY EYEESSS! AAAARRRGGHH!" The tip of Baginda's beak pierced right into the intruder's right eyeball, gouging it out with one brutal jerk. Fresh blood splattered everywhere, soaking Baginda's white feathers. "Damn it! Demon fowl!" the second intruder thrust his dagger toward Baginda's neck. "KWWAAAAARRKKK!" Baginda retaliated with a close-range ultrasonic shriek. BOOM