The air on the landing of the third floor was thick with cheap corporate coffee and ozone. Marcus Gray stood in the shadows just beyond the heavy fire door. The Void-Forged Carbon Cleaver hung loosely in his right hand, its matte-black finish absorbing the flickering fluorescence of the hallway. Beside him, Luke stared at his user interface, fingers trembling as he scrolled through the regional chat. The crimson bounty notification still pulsated at the top of their vision—a bloody reminder that Victor Kane had targeted them. "The chat is blowing up," Luke whispered. "There’s a group from accounting on four. Marcus, a thousand credits is enough to buy three Grade-D weapons. To people who have nothing, we look like a lottery ticket." "A lottery ticket that bites back," Marcus replied, his voice flat with the raspy resonance of his traded years. His attention was focused entirely on the long, carpeted corridor of human resources. He activated Ledger’s Appraisal. The blue data g

The sudden pull downward was fierce and freezing. Marcus Gray did not let panic overtake his mind. As his boot slipped through the cracked linoleum floor, he drove the blunt end of his black carbon cleaver straight into the solid wood of the door frame. The metal wedged deep into the timber, stopping his fall instantly.Beneath him, in the dark gap between the floors, a wet sound echoed. The cold hand around his ankle tightened, its skin feeling like damp paper. Marcus could feel his body heat draining where the fingers touched him. His system interface flashed in his peripheral vision, showing a small warning about his vitality attribute dropping.Luke scrambled forward in the dark, his heavy iron flashlight clicking on. The yellow beam cut through the black room, shaking wildly as it landed on Marcus's leg."Marcus! Hold on!" Luke yelled. He dropped his weapon and grabbed Marcus by the straps of his tactical vest, pulling upward with all his strength.With a heavy grunt, Marcus used

The metallic echo of the security gates slamming shut vibrated through the floorboards of the fourth floor corridor. The heavy steel bars blocked both ends of the narrow hallway, sealing the exit to the stairwell and the path to the main elevator banks. They were trapped inside a long concrete cage.Marcus Gray hit the floor hard as the temporary system boost vanished from his veins. The sudden drain felt like ice water pouring through his muscles, replacing his enhanced strength with a deep, crushing fatigue. His joints throbbed with a familiar, hollow ache. The sixteen years he had traded away to the system seemed to weigh heavier on his shoulders now, reminding him of his fragile mortality.Beside him, Luke dropped his flashlight, the iron casing rolling against the wall. The surviving corporate workers fell against the sealed iron bars of the security gate, rattling the metal handles in pure desperation."It locked us in," Luke gasped, his face pale under the flickering fluorescen

The office door splintered into wooden shards under the heavy swing of a rusted crowbar. Three desperate survivors surged through the broken frame, their faces twisted by starvation and the frantic desire to claim the thousand credit bounty. They held their iron bars high, their eyes tracking the glowing blue radar signal hovering over Marcus Gray's position.Marcus did not drop down to face them. He hung from the metal rim of the ventilation shaft, his arms straining as his vitality boost held his grip firm. He used his remaining physical leverage to swing his legs upward, disappearing into the dark, rectangular ceiling duct just as the first iron bar slammed against the wall beneath him"He went into the ceiling!" a man shouted from below, his voice echoing into the tight metal shaft. "Do not let him slide away! Grab his legs!"Ping.[System Notification: Radar tracking active. Time remaining: 4 minutes.][Notice: Proximity warning. Multiple user signatures closing in on Sector 7 co

The cold flesh of the monster's hand clamped around Marcus Gray's wrist like an iron shackle. The freezing temperature of the creature's skin seeped straight into his bones, rushing up his arm and stalling his breath. Below him, the utility platform tore completely away from the concrete walls, plunging into the dark basement pit with a distant, roaring crash. Marcus hung halfway through the open hatchway, his lower torso dangling in the empty space of the shaft.The two years of biological lifespan he had just traded away left his body feeling hollow. His muscles refused to cooperate, trembling under the simple strain of his own weight. The silver hair at his temples, damp with sweat, framed a face that suddenly looked older. He stared down into the darkness of the riser. The vertical seam of the Weeping Collector's head was rising toward him. The creature climbed the remaining structural pipes with horrifying speed, using its elongated arm to drag Marcus toward its waiting jaw."Mar