2026-01-27 19:25:15The world did not end with a dramatic big bang. For Mark Miller, the apocalypse began with the long, continuous beep of a jammed photocopier and the pungent stench of burning human flesh.
Mark lay beneath the ruins of a shattered concrete desk. His left ribs were no longer in their proper place. Every time he tried to draw a breath, a sharp pain, like the stabbing of a thousand hot needles, pierced his lungs. A thick, warm fluid flowed from his temple, seeping into his right eye and casting a red filter over the horrific scene before him.
"Cough! Uh... dammit," Mark cursed.
Blood spilled from his mouth, soaking his now-tattered white shirt. The world did not look okay at this moment. For some reason, this strange atmosphere had suddenly manifested right before his eyes.
In the middle of the destroyed meeting room stood The Shredder. The creature was an insult to the laws of nature. It was three meters tall, its skin pale and dry like old parchment, and where its fingers should have been, there were slowly rotating paper-cutter blades, smeared with the remains of human organs.
The monster had just ripped through the shoulder of the poor HR manager. Mark could see the manager’s eyes still flickering in horror before the blades crushed his skull.
It was a truly gruesome sight, but Mark had to escape before the creature could make him its next target.
"I should have... taken a sick day today," Mark whispered hoarsely.
Suddenly, a faint blue light flickered before his eyes.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: END-OF-DAYS CUSTOMER SERVICE]
[User Status: Mark Miller – Near Death (Critical)]
"What... what the hell is this? Am I hallucinating? Am I dead?"
[System: "Negative. You are currently in a reality transition probationary period. We have detected your stress levels reaching the 'Highly Profitable' threshold. Would you like to file a complaint?"]
Mark coughed again; the pain in his chest made him want to pass out, but his survival instinct refused.
"A complaint? Yeah... I’ve got a complaint! There’s a monster... eating my boss... and my ton-weight desk is crushing me! Stop talking nonsense and help me!"
[System: "Complaint accepted. Searching for solutions... Found: 'Contract Employee Promotion Package'. Would you like to borrow low-level combat power?"]
"What did you say? What package was that?"
[System: "Repeating: 'Contract Employee Promotion Package'. Would you like to borrow low-level combat power?"]
Mark saw The Shredder begin to turn toward him. The creature's eyes were milky white, without pupils, yet Mark knew he was being hunted.
"Whatever it is, I don't care. Can it save me from that monster or not?"
[System: "Complaint accepted. Searching for solutions... Found: Not yet confirmed whether it can save you. Would you like to borrow low-level combat power?"]
"How much does it cost? I don't have any cash!"
[System: "We do not accept cash. Administrative f*e: 99% of your remaining lifespan as collateral, plus a 300% physical pain interest. Do you agree?"]
"Three hundred percent? Are you joking?! I can't even breathe—"
The monster roared. The sound was like the ear-piercing screech of grinding metal. It leaped, the blades on its hands spinning at high speed, creating a storm of dust and concrete shards. At a time like this, there was nothing left for Mark to do but agree to the terms.
"AGREED! DAMMIT, I AGREE!" Mark screamed.
[System: "Transaction Successful. Activating: 'Illegal Adrenaline'. Please endure the pain. The Company is not responsible for ruptured blood vessels."]
At that exact moment, Mark felt as if boiling gasoline was being injected directly into his bone marrow. The muscles in his legs, which were pinned by the desk, suddenly tensed by force. A terrifying crack echoed—not from the desk, but from Mark's leg bones being forced to move beyond their anatomical limits.
"AAAAAAGH!" Mark shrieked as he kicked the concrete desk, sending it flying.
He rolled to the side just as The Shredder’s blades slammed into the floor where his head had been a second ago. The concrete floor shattered into pieces. Mark tried to stand, but his legs trembled violently. His muscles were torn internally due to the system's coercion.
"Hey, system! Why do my legs feel like they’re being ironed?! I can't move them at all!"
[System: "That is a side effect of the power loan. Your body is too weak to contain this energy. Suggestion: Do not stop moving if you do not want your heart to explode."]
"Very helpful suggestion! You're just like the management at this office! I hate you!"
Mark grabbed a broken iron support beam. His hands blistered as he gripped it—an effect of his body temperature rising drastically from the 'Illegal Adrenaline'.
The Shredder attacked again. Mark evaded with clumsy movements. Every time he leaped, he could feel the ligaments in his knees nearly snapping. He struck the monster's back with the iron beam. Mark attacked with all his might, even though he knew his strength was no match for The Shredder's.
Unfortunately, Mark's fears came true. A mere pole would not be enough to fight that deadly monster. The iron simply bent. The monster's skin was as hard as steel.
"You've got to be kidding..." Mark gasped. His lungs felt like they were on fire. "System, give me something that can kill it!"
[System: "Available: 'Critical Attack Upgrade'. Cost: Break three fingers on your left hand as an energy sacrifice."]
"Are you insane?! How am I supposed to hit it if my fingers are broken?"
[System: "The choice is yours, Customer. The monster will attack in 1.2 seconds."]
Mark saw the shadow of a massive blade swinging toward his neck. Without a second thought, he slammed his left hand against the concrete wall with all his strength. This time, he could only howl at the unimaginable pain.
"AAAKHHH!" Mark howled.
The pain was so pure that his vision momentarily went black. However, at the same time, his right hand, which was holding the iron beam, was suddenly enveloped in a throbbing black aura.
"My god, my head! What's happening?"
With the last of his strength, Mark lunged the beam into the monster's neck.
This time, the iron pierced the monster's pale flesh. Hot black blood sprayed out, hitting Mark's face and burning the skin of his cheek. The monster thrashed, its blades slashing Mark's arm before it finally collapsed and went still.
Mark fell to his knees. His breath was short. His left hand hung limp, fingers bent in the wrong direction. His entire body was covered in a cold sweat and shaking violently.
"Did I... did I win? Cough... I did it?"
[System: "Combat finished. You have successfully survived with 1.5% remaining health. Congratulations, you have been promoted to 'Probationary Contract Employee' status."]
"Promotion... my ass," Mark whispered before darkness finally overtook him, and he fell unconscious beside the rotting corpse of the monster.
[System: "Warning: Your break time is 5 minutes before the second stage of the pain interest billing begins. Thank you for using our services."]
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CHAPTER 112: THE PHOENIX PROJECT REVEALED
The central lift rocketed upwards at a speed that made the stomach churn, but Mark Miller paid no heed to the physical sensation. His eyes were fixed on the screen of his decryption device, now glowing brightly with the access he had just forced open using the Phoenix code. The light from the display reflected in Mark’s pupils, revealing rows of data that were finally beginning to coalesce into coherent information. Beside him, David was still panting, his trembling fingers attempting to stabilise the wireless connection so their access path wouldn't be severed by ARCH’s central defence systems, which were undoubtedly tracking them with aggression now.Sarah stood in the corner of the lift, her binary rifle aimed at the ceiling, her eyes alert to every floor number flashing on the indicator panel. This lift wasn't stopping at administrative levels or Management’s residential sectors. It was heading to coordinates that technically didn't exist in the Megastructure’s public blueprints:
CHAPTER 111: THE CORE PROCESSOR CODE
The air inside the Sector 14 transit room felt paper-thin and reeked of a sharp, metallic tang—the lingering scent of scorched circuits from the research lab they’d left behind. Mark Miller leaned against a corridor wall that vibrated with a low, rhythmic tremor, trying to steady his ragged breathing. Under the erratic flicker of neon lights, Mark’s shadow stretched and fractured against the floor, a mirror to his own shattered state of mind following the revelation of Alistair Thorne’s true identity. He could feel the pulse of the Illegal Ware strapped to his wrist; its heat had yet to subside, as if the forbidden device were ravenous for more data to consume.Before him, David was kneeling in front of a secondary data distribution panel tucked away behind a structural pillar. Sweat poured down the young man's temples, soaking a shirt collar already grimed with industrial dust. Sarah stood a few paces ahead, her back to Mark and David, her binary rifle held with steady precision towa
CHAPTER 110: THE ARCHITECT OF BARBARISM
Mark Miller’s footsteps echoed heavily across the cold metal floor of Sector 14, leaving behind the lingering remnants of data bursts from the previous storage vault. The scent of burnt ozone and the suffocating heat radiating from the server engines behind the walls felt like a physical weight. Red emergency lights pulsed rhythmically along the corridor, casting a ghastly hue over Mark’s face and sharpening the lines of exhaustion and stony fury etched there. Behind him, David monitored his digital tablet with trembling fingers, while Sarah maintained the rearguard, her binary rifle leveled and ready to spit pure energy into the encroaching darkness.They had just managed to breach the black particle curtain that barred the way to the primary research laboratory. Mark came to a halt before a terminal desk unlike any he had ever encountered. It was crafted from obsidian glass that reflected their shadows with an eerie clarity, as if the surface itself were scanning their biological es
CHAPTER 109: DESPERATE MEASURES
The air inside the R&D core database felt suffocatingly heavy, as if gravity here exerted twice the force of the previous sectors. A sharp scent of ozone mingled with the stifling heat radiating from thousands of crystal data pillars that loomed toward the darkened ceiling. Mark Miller stepped forward, his legs still feeling a trace of weakness after weathering the cognitive onslaught of the Logic Traps. Behind him, David kept a frantic eye on his scanner, while Sarah took up a position at the mouth of a narrow corridor, her index finger never straying from the trigger of her binary rifle.They now stood before the final gate, a digital architectural anomaly known as the Causality Firewall. Unlike steel doors or light partitions, the barrier ahead was a curtain of slow-swirling black particles, emitting static waves that made Mark’s skin crawl. Every time a particle collided with the air, a faint hiss echoed—a sound that reminded Mark of the thousands of agonized whispers he had heard
CHAPTER 108: THE LOGIC TRAP
The pulsing red emergency lights along the R&D corridor created a sickening illusion that the metallic walls of Sector 14 were breathing, contracting and expanding in sync with Mark Miller’s erratic heartbeat. Mark came to a halt before a massive gate. It wasn't forged from steel, but rather from a lattice of liquid crystal screens displaying thousands of raw data streams flowing vertically. This was the entrance to the R&D core database—the final bastion holding the secrets of what truly happened to test subjects like the figure he had seen in the earlier footage.David attempted to link his device to the gate’s interface, but a static shock wave instantly repelled the panel, sending the young man tumbling backward. The screens in front of them abruptly turned a blinding, clinical white, and a layered mechanical voice—sounding as if it were composed of thousands of overlaid human voices—echoed through the stale air."Access denied. Cognitive Defense Protocol engaged. Prove your logic
CHAPTER 107: SHREDDED MEMORIES
The Sector 14 corridor felt increasingly claustrophobic, its metallic walls encased in a web of pulsing fiber optics that carried raw data like lifeblood through the veins of a titan. The sharp tang of scorched ozone and the stifling heat radiating from the server banks behind the bulkheads made the air thick and heavy. Mark Miller moved forward, still reeling from the shock of the previous archive room. His mind was trapped in a loop, haunted by the echo of a child’s voice calling out for "Father" within the system—a ghost in the machine that played over and over like a corrupted tape.Behind him, David and Sarah remained on high alert. David wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, his eyes fixed on a scanner showing the Management’s defense systems growing increasingly aggressive. Sarah held her weapon at the ready, though her gaze frequently drifted toward Mark with a look of profound concern. She could tell their leader was standing on the precipice of an emotional breakdown."Ma
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