2026-06-25 17:31:30Night air. Neo-Jakarta.
It smelled like wet metal and burnt synth-oil. Dane crashed into a pile of discarded crates in Alley D, Block 9. His knees nearly shattered. Above him, sirens screamed. Red light from Reputation Police drones swept across peeling walls like a blood tide. [BAD REVIEW SYSTEM] Level: 10. Hate EXP: 1,513 / 2,000 --> Level 11. Skill: Insult Wave level 2, Sarcastic Retort level 1. He ran. Holes in his shoes slapped dirty water. Behind him, hologram boots pounded concrete. “TARGET MOVING TO ALLEY 9! BLOCK ALL EXITS!” No plan. No money. No safe place. Only one thing: people who hated him. “Good,” Dane whispered, taking a sharp turn into a narrow gap. “Hate me harder.” [+2 EXP: Drone Detected Target] [+3 EXP: Officer Shouted Your Name] A small green panel flickered in the corner of his vision. New strength flooded his calves. His ragged breath smoothed out. Insane. Six days ago he’d shake climbing 200 meters. Now he was sprinting under targeting lasers and getting stronger. Alley 9 was a dead end. Four-meter wall. Graffiti screamed across it: 5-STARS SUCK. At the end, two Reputation Police officers waited. Blue vests glowing. Scores on their chests: 4.2 and 4.3. Faces flat. Like AI. “Stop, Dane Mercer,” the left one said. Voice flat. “Your Adoration is 3/100. You violated Article 17: Inciting Mass Disdain. Come with us.” Dane stepped back. Wall behind. Drone above. No exit. “I have a question,” Dane said. His voice was still gravel, but something new rose under it. A sharp edge that appeared every time someone cursed him. “If I go with you, what happens to Mira?” The officer frowned. “Who’s Mira?” “My sister. The one you just saved because three million people hated me. Remember? Or did 4.2 erase your heart?” The officer’s face shifted. Not anger. Not pity. Confusion. Enough. [+5 EXP: Target Showed Doubt] [Skill Insult Wave Lv2 Activated] Air trembled around Dane. Thin red energy spilled from his chest, washing over the two officers. They staggered. Blue vests flickered. Scores dropped to 4.1. “What ...” Dane didn’t let them finish. He darted left, kicked an oil can, jumped onto a stack of pipes. His hands grabbed the top of the wall. Muscles that trembled lifting five kilos last week now pulled four meters of bodyweight like feathers. On top of the wall, wind bit colder. Below, an officer barked into his radio: “Target shows anomalous ability! Requesting Hate Hunter backup!” Dane paused. “Hate Hunter?” He’d heard it in underground forums. 4-Star predators. Their job: bully 1-2 Star citizens. Every tear they forced, their score climbed 0.1. Official monsters. “Good,” Dane muttered. “Send me the one who hates me most.” He jumped to the next rooftop. Neo-Jakarta at night looked like a giant circuit board. Blue neon from 5-Star towers in the distance. Red glow from Block D below. A levitation train slid silently through the middle. Dane ran across corrugated roofs, breathing steady, feet light. Three weeks ago he’d fainted climbing three flights. [+1 EXP: Drone lost target temporarily] [+2 EXP: Civilian saw you jump roofs] “Hey! That’s Dane!” someone shouted from below. “The 1-Star!” Phones came out. Recordings. Streams. Curses. [+10 EXP: Mass Stream Detected] [Total EXP: 1,540 / 2,000] Dane laughed while running. Insane. He was hunted, and he was evolving. He ducked into an abandoned building roof. Inside: darkness. Smell of mold and oil. He needed ten seconds to breathe. Only ten. The door below shattered. “Dane Mercer!” A new voice. Different from the officers. Enjoying this. “Come out. I’m bored of hide and seek.” Dane peeked through a vent hole. The man was tall, thin, wearing a black leather jacket. Score glowing bright on his chest: 4.8. Almost 5-Star. In his hand, hologram handcuffs buzzed like saws. 4.8. That meant he’d broken hundreds of 1-Stars. “Hate Hunter,” Dane whispered. The man looked up. Eyes locked with Dane’s through the vent. He smiled. Wide. Like meeting a new toy. “Found you,” he said. The roof above Dane exploded. The man didn’t use stairs. He leapt six meters, kicked the corrugated roof until it caved, landed in front of Dane with bent knees. Movement clean. Efficient. 4.8 was different. “Name’s Kade,” he said. “I hunt trash like you. Every time I make a 1-Star cry on stream, my score goes up 0.1. Wanna know how many 1-Stars I’ve made delete themselves?” He held up three fingers. “Three,” he said proudly. “You’ll be number four.” Dane stepped back. Heart pounded. Not fear. Panic. Because the Bad Review System panel in the corner flashed yellow. [WARNING: Target Kade shows low adoration] [Kade doesn’t hate you. He enjoys you.] Shit. Bad Review System only worked if people hated Dane. If they just saw him as entertainment, no EXP. Kade stepped forward. Hologram cuffs buzzed louder. “I love my job,” he said. “I’ll give you a choice. Cry now, on my stream, or I break your legs one by one.” He activated his own stream. Viewer count: 1.2 million. “Hello everyone,” Kade said to his camera. “Today I got a new toy. Name’s Dane Mercer. The 1-Star who thinks he can fight me.” Kade’s chat exploded. @FansKade: destroy him @AdoredFanGirl: I hate Dane @NeoFlex: 1 star for Dane [+3 EXP] [+3 EXP] [+3 EXP] Okay. Still hate. Still fuel. Kade attacked. Speed unnatural. One second he was in front of Dane, next second his fist slammed into Dane’s ribs. Dane flew three meters, crashed into a wood pile. Rib cracked. He coughed blood. “Slow,” Kade said. “I want you crying on camera. Tears are good for my score.” He lifted his foot, aiming for Dane’s chest. Dane had no time to think. Only one weapon. “You know what,” Dane said through blood, “why your score’s stuck at 4.8?” Kade stopped. “Because you’re a coward,” Dane continued. “You only bully people who can’t fight back. You never touch 5-Stars. You never expose corruption. You’re just the system’s pet dog.” Kade’s eyes changed. From amusement to rage. “What did you say?” “I said you’re trash,” Dane said. “4.8 trash that’ll never touch 5-Star because you have no guts.” [+15 EXP: Personal insult detected] [+20 EXP: Target enraged] [Total EXP: 1,578 / 2,000] Red waves burst from Dane’s chest again. Stronger this time. Kade staggered. Hologram cuffs flickered. “I ...” Kade tried to speak, but voice caught. Dane stood. Ribs still hurt, but he could stand. “You know the difference between us?” Dane said. “I get hated for exposing rot. You get worshipped for bullying the weak. You think you’re strong? You’re a parasite.” [+25 EXP: Insult went viral on Kade’s stream] [Level Up! --> Level 11] The world sharpened. Colors brighter. Pain in his ribs faded 40%. Kade roared. He charged again, this time aiming to kill. But Dane was different now. He twisted, dodged Kade’s punch, then kicked the back of Kade’s knee. The 4.8 knee made a crack. Kade dropped to one knee. “I don’t want to kill you,” Dane said. Standing over Kade. “I want you alive. I want you to see yourself in the mirror every day: you’re only 4.8 because you’re scared.” Then he ran. Behind him, Kade screamed: “I’ll Kill You, DANE!” [+50 EXP: Death Threat Detected] [Total EXP: 1,653 / 2,000] Dane dropped from the building into the chaos of Sector 9 night market. Smell of fried food, music, hanging lights. Worst place to hide. Best place to farm EXP. “Look!” someone shouted. “It’s Dane!” Hell broke loose. People pulled out phones. Curses. Bottles thrown. “Die!” “1-Star!” “Traitor!” Dane ran and laughed. [+5 EXP] [+5 EXP] [+10 EXP] [Total EXP: 1,683 / 2,000] He turned into an alley, burst into a public toilet, locked the door. Breathing ragged. Ribs still hurt, but he was alive. He opened the hologram. Checked notifications. Message from unknown number: “Kak, it’s Mira. I borrowed the nurse’s phone. Where are you? Police are looking for you.” Dane’s heart stopped for a second. Mira wasn’t blocked on the hospital line. The Bad Review System panel flashed red instantly. [WARNING: GENUINE AFFECTION DETECTED] [SOURCE: Mira Mercer] [EFFECT: -40% POWER] It felt like someone yanked a cable from his chest. Legs gave out. He collapsed onto the wet toilet floor. “Don’t,” he whispered. “Not now.” But Mira kept typing: “Dane, you’re the best person I have. Thank you for saving me.” [-20% POWER] [-20% POWER] [TOTAL LOSS: -80%] Dane vomited. Black blood. Skill Insult Wave level 2 cracked in the air, shattered into particles. He was weak. Weaker than yesterday. The toilet door slammed. “Dane! Come out!” Kade’s voice. Hoarse with rage. Dane couldn’t run. Couldn’t fight. He could only... He opened Mira’s chat. Typed one sentence. Hand shaking. “Never contact me again. I hate you.” Send. Block. Red panel vanished. Strength returned. Not 100%, but enough to stand. Dane opened the toilet door. Kade stood there. Hologram cuffs fully active. “Found you,” Kade said. Dane smiled. A real smile. “I just realized,” Dane said. “I don’t need all of you to like me. I just need you to hate me.” Then he shouted to the crowd outside: “HEY! I’m Dane! The 1-Star! I’m right hERE!” The crowd exploded. [+100 EXP: Mass provocation detected] [Level Up! --> Level 12] Red energy burst from Dane’s body. Kade flew back, slammed into a wall. Dane ran again. Faster this time. Unburdened. Behind him, Kade screamed, “I’LL CHASE YOU UNTIL YOU’RE DEAD!” Dane didn’t answer. He was busy reading a new notification from Bad Review System: [New Mission: Survive 24 Hours without blocking anyone] [Reward: Tier 3 Skill – Mass hate conversion] Dane ran into the darkness of Sector 9. Sirens behind. A city that hated him ahead. And for the first time in six months, Dane wasn’t afraid. Because the more they hated him, the more he lived.
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28. THE BLOOD TRAIL
The sun had just risen when Dane’s group left Beta’s post.The air was still cold. Thin fog hung between the trees. Behind them, twenty villagers from Ciranjang lay on the ground. The chips on their foreheads were dead. Their breathing was slow, but they were alive. Sera said they would wake up in a few hours, with no memory of the last three days.“Ten more,” said Dane as he walked. His voice was hoarse.“Ten more,” Mira repeated beside him. She carried a bag that held a map, supplies, and the remaining grenades.They had direction now. Sera had updated the map after pulling data from Beta’s post. The next Backup, Gamma, was under Black Lake. One hundred twenty meters deep. Two days’ travel away.But two days felt long if Beta had already sent a signal.---*Day One*They walked all day without incident. The forest grew denser. The trail disappeared more and more. Only Sera knew the direction because of her signal compass.“We have to be careful,” Sera said that afternoon. “Gamma is
27. LEVEL 9 ARRIVES
Ciranjang Village felt like a graveyard that hadn’t been buried yet.Wooden houses stood, but their doors were open. Pots on the stoves still had embers in them. Clothes hung on lines, but no one was wearing them. Only the wind passed through, carrying the smell of rotten wood and something else — the smell of old iron, the smell of electricity.*“LEVEL 9 IS COMING.”*That writing was still on the field ground, scratched with charcoal. The letters were big, rough, as if written by someone in a hurry or in panic.“This isn’t the villagers’ writing,” said Rara as she crouched down, touching the charcoal marks. “Look, the pressure isn’t even. Several hands wrote this.”“That means they were forced,” replied Sera, her face pale. “The Backup didn’t wait for us to arrive. It’s already started looking for the Host.”Dane stared toward the forest in the north. From here, the Southern Mountains were still visible, blue in the distance. Below those mountains, there were eleven more bunkers. And
26. THE WHISPERING MAP
Dane’s group had been walking for five full days out of Neo-Jakarta.Five days without a voice in his head. Five days sleeping on dirt and dry leaves. Five days eating dry rations—boiled sweet potatoes, salted fish, river water they boiled—and walking under a sun no longer watched by Adoration’s satellites. But every step felt heavier, not because of sore muscles or blistered feet, but because they knew: they were walking toward something that didn’t want to be found, and that something was moving toward them too.“According to Sera’s map,” Rara said, unfolding a paper that was already wrinkled and torn at the edges, “the first backup is under the Southern Mountains. An old bunker owned by Adoration’s research division. About eighty meters deep.”“Eighty meters?” Jax grumbled, wiping sweat from his forehead. “What do we use to get down? Rope? Prayer? Or do we just jump and hope we land right on the crystal core?”“With this,” Sera answered, pulling a small tool from her canvas bag. It
25. A PEACE THAT MAKES NOISE
Three months had passed since the dust of Core Assistant 3.0 scattered across the depths of Central City.Three months without a voice in their heads. Three months without numbers floating above people’s heads. Three months where Neo-Jakarta relearned how to live without being rated, without being monitored, without being sorted by stars and Levels.And for the first time in Dane’s life, three months felt… peaceful. A strange peace. A peace that sometimes made his chest tight because he wasn’t used to it._An Ordinary Morning_Dane didn’t wake up because of a notification. Not because of a voice in his head ordering efficiency. But because of the smell of tea brewed by Mira on the ground floor of Sector 1 City Hall.The tea always smelled the same since they were kids. The smell of dried tea leaves stored in an old biscuit tin, mixed with a little palm sugar if there was any.“Your tea,” said Mira as she handed him the cup. Steam rose, condensing in the morning air. “No sugar. Like al
24. Signal From the City
The signal came every midnight.At first, only Dane noticed it. Not because he could hear it, but because he could feel it. There was an itch at his temple, like tiny needles tapping against the bone of his skull. Right at 00:00, for three seconds, then gone.“Host 01,” Dane muttered on the third day. “You’re still calling me.”He sat on the roof of City Hall, staring at a starless sky. Central City was west, dark and silent since they’d destroyed the system’s heart. But now, something from there was calling him home._The First Week After the Server Went Down_Neo-Jakarta was trying to be a normal city.Vendors started opening stalls without fear of being judged. Kids flew kites above the rubble. Mira started remembering small things: Dane’s face when he was angry, the smell of the tea they always drank in the morning, the winding way home to Sector 9.But she didn’t remember everything yet. And Dane didn’t push.“You don’t have to rush,” Dane said one afternoon as they sat by the ri
23. STARTING FROM ZERO
Twenty‑four hours is a very long time when you have to introduce yourself all over again to your own younger sister.Dane sat on the floor inside Sector 1 City Hall, his back pressed against the cold wall. Across from him, Mira prepared tea with stiff, awkward movements. Every now and then she glanced at him, as if trying to recall where she had ever seen his face before.“You said your name is Dane?” Mira asked.“That’s right,” Dane answered. His voice was rough and hoarse from staying silent for too long.“And… do we know each other?”Dane swallowed hard. “We are family.”Mira fell silent. The spoon in her hand stopped stirring. “Family?”“My younger sister,” Dane said softly. “Your name is Mira. You love sweet tea, yet you always say you don’t like sugar. You used to be afraid of the dark, so I would sit right outside your bedroom door until you fell asleep.”Mira stared at him for a long moment. Then she shook her head slowly. “I don’t remember any of that.”Dane nodded. He had ex
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