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Debtbound: The Price of Power
By: Alyah NightOngoing
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Chapters: 13
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What would you do to clear a debt you could never repay? Isaac Rhoades is at rock bottom. After taking a massive illegal loan to pay for his sister’s surgery—only for her to die anyway—he’s hunted by brutal loan sharks, fired from his warehouse job, and left homeless. Just as he's about to end it all, a strange voice echoes in his mind: “System Activation: Mission Credit Redemption Protocol Initiated.” The Debtbound System offers him a way out—but every cleared dollar requires a mission. Deliver cursed packages. Eliminate dangerous criminals. Expose corrupt politicians. Some missions save lives. Others destroy them. Every success earns him powers and a chunk off his debt. Every failure comes at a horrifying cost. As Isaac navigates this deadly path, he discovers he's not the only one bound by the system—and some users will do anything to break free. What started as a fight for survival becomes a war for redemption, power, and the truth behind the system’s origin. To win his freedom, Isaac must conquer the missions. But to keep his soul… he must conquer himself.
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Chapter 1
Chapter One: Zero Balance
The rain never stopped in the part of the city where debts go to die.
Isaac Rhoades stood at the edge of the overpass, toes curling just over the crumbling concrete ledge. Below, cars rushed like veins of light in a world too fast to care. His soaked hoodie clung to his skin, heavy with the same weight he'd been carrying for months—failure, grief, and ten thousand dollars of blood-soaked IOUs.
A gust of wind slapped his face. He didn’t flinch.
Behind him, the world had nothing left to offer. The loan sharks had emptied his pockets, his landlord had changed the locks, and his boss at the warehouse had fired him with one line:
“You’re a liability, Rhoades.”
He had nothing left. Not even the will to scream.
He looked up. “Sorry, Lara.”
His little sister’s name felt like broken glass in his mouth.
The hospital bed. The tubes. The bill they couldn’t pay.
Isaac clenched his fists. Every second she spent in that cold white room had cost him more—until the loans swallowed him whole. And when she died, they didn’t just bury her. They buried him with her.
He closed his eyes.
One step. That’s all it would take.
Then…
DING.
A sound. Digital, mechanical, clean. Not from a phone. Not from the city.
From inside his head.
Isaac staggered back from the ledge, heart hammering. “What the hell—?”
A transparent blue screen blinked into existence before his eyes, floating midair like a hologram from a sci-fi film.
SYSTEM ACTIVATION DETECTED
Debtbound Protocol Initiated
Mission Path: Credit Redemption Mode
Would you like to reduce your debt?
☐ Yes
☐ No
His jaw dropped. He stared at the words, blinking fast.
This was a joke. A breakdown. The result of no food, no sleep, and too many punches to the head.
But the interface didn’t disappear.
He slowly reached out and tapped the word Yes.
The screen blinked again.
Mission #001: Courier of Consequences
Deadline: 2 hours.
Reward: -$500 Debt, +1 System Credit
Failure: +$1,000 Debt Penalty
Do you accept?
☐ Accept ☐ Decline
He didn’t move.
Bench 14B?
He knew Cinder Park. It was just a few blocks away—dangerous turf after dark, crawling with addicts and outcasts. But… a package? What kind of twisted joke was this?
“...This isn’t real,” he muttered.
And yet—
The debt counter blinked above the screen in ominous red:
$10,000
Isaac swallowed. His entire body trembled—not from fear, but something worse.
Hope.
He tapped Accept.
The screen vanished.
1 Hour 42 Minutes Later
Cinder Park was worse than he remembered.
Trash crunched under his sneakers. Graffiti ran like veins across the crumbling walls. He passed a man arguing with a tree, and a woman sobbing into an empty shopping cart.
Bench 14B was half-buried in weeds, surrounded by dead leaves and glass shards.
Beneath it sat a small, black box sealed with crimson wax.
Isaac crouched, hand hovering over it.
“Deliver this… to who?”
A new prompt popped up.
MISSION UPDATE:
DO NOT open the package.
Survival Tip: Do NOT ask questions.
Isaac’s throat went dry.
He grabbed the box, stood, and immediately felt a shift in the air. A subtle pressure. Like the whole city had inhaled.
A voice echoed from the shadows.
“You’ve got something that doesn’t belong to you.”
Isaac turned.
A tall man in a tattered coat stepped forward. No shoes. No expression. Just cold, clouded eyes that locked onto the box.
“Give it.”
“Are you the—”
The man was suddenly inches away.
Isaac recoiled. “Back off!”
“No questions,” the man whispered.
Isaac held out the box with a shaky hand.
The man took it—and smiled.
“You passed.”
He vanished.
Literally.
No footsteps. No wind. Just gone.
A new screen popped up instantly.
Mission Complete.
Remaining Balance: $9,500
System Credit Earned: +1
New Ability Unlocked: Instinct Surge (Level 1)
▶ Grants 3-second foresight during extreme danger. Cooldown: 1 hour.
Isaac gasped.
The red debt counter flickered.
$9,500
It was real.
The Next Morning
He awoke in the alley behind a 24/7 diner, heart pounding with a mix of exhaustion and adrenaline. His system HUD floated in the air again, this time updated with new tabs:
Debt Ledger
Mission Queue
Skill Tree (Locked)
System Store (Coming Soon)
Another alert blinked:
Mission #002: Collect or Die
He owes loan sharks. You are now the collector.
Deadline: 6 hours.
Reward: -$1,000 Debt
Failure: +$2,000 Debt Penalty + Physical Injury
☐ Accept ☐ Decline
Isaac’s blood ran cold.
He knew that name. Marcus Venn was a mechanic who once helped Lara when her chair broke. A kind man. Poor, but honest.
“This… this isn’t right.”
He hovered over Decline.
But then the red counter blinked again.
$9,500
He stared at it for a long time.
Then slowly, he tapped Accept.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Debtbound: The Price of Power Chapter Thirteen: The Forgotten Blade
Unknown Location – Beneath the Deadlink DistrictThe tunnel echoed with the sound of boots and breath. Isaac walked behind Nyx, trying to wrap his head around what just happened.She had gone toe-to-toe with the Phantom Reaper.And he backed down.Mayra limped beside him, her ribs wrapped with a temporary stabilizer, eyes sharp despite the pain. “You saw that too, right?”Isaac nodded. “He stopped. Not because of us. Because of her.”Calen followed, quiet. Watching Nyx like she might disappear at any moment.The corridor narrowed. Then expanded into a stone chamber bathed in pale blue light — tech carved into ancient walls, inscriptions humming.“This place predates the System,” Nyx said softly. “Before the Sovereign Protocol. Before the ranking. Back when users weren’t tagged. Just chosen.”“You mean like... the Archive?”She turned. “No. Older.”She raised a hand.The wall pulsed — and slid open.Chamber of the BladeAt the center floated a relic.A sword, hovering in midair, wrappe
Last Updated : 2025-06-25Debtbound: The Price of Power Chapter Twelve: Phantom Protocol
East Sector – Safehouse Bunker – 4:36 AMThe city was still asleep, but Isaac’s heart wasn’t.He sat alone, the faint hum of his HUD dancing in the dark. His mind wouldn’t shut off. The file still burned on his retina.“Phantom Reaper – CLEARED FOR REACTIVATION.”Mayra entered quietly, two mugs of something steaming in hand. She handed one to him and sat opposite without saying anything.They didn’t need words.Not yet.“I thought Phantom Reapers were myths,” Isaac finally muttered.“They used to be,” Mayra said. “Until they weren’t.”He turned the mug in his hand. “How much do you know?”She hesitated, then answered quietly, “Enough to be scared.”Flashback – Mayra’s Past (6 Years Ago)Mayra was just a low-tier scout then, barely a registered user.Her squad had been assigned to extract a group of civilians from a collapsing data node west of the Null Field.But the mission had gone… wrong.The Sovereign’s answer?They sent in a Reaper.Not to save them.To silence them.“One second
Last Updated : 2025-06-25Debtbound: The Price of Power Chapter Eleven: Memory Market
Nightfall – West Underground Loop – Sector Delta-ZThe air was thick with copper and heat as Isaac descended into the abandoned metro station. Dim lights buzzed weakly. Every wall was coated in faded ads and graffiti — most unreadable, overwritten by system code symbols and black-market insignias.His HUD flickered.Objective: Infiltrate “The Memory Market”▶ Location: Tier-Restricted Zone (Unauthorized)▶ Security: Civilian + Fragment-Level Defenders▶ Disguise Protocol: Active▶ Reward: Court Archive +6%, Credit x4, Artifact Extraction Access▶ Warning: System does NOT control this zone. You are on your own.Isaac pulled the hood of his cloak lower and activated his new artifact:Voidmark Sigil – Cloaking Type▶ Masks Tier Identity▶ Jams Local HUD scanners▶ Allows brief “no trace” movementThrough the veil, he saw hundreds of people — Users, System Defectors, Rogues, Eater-Touched — wandering through a massive underground bazaar.Instead of stalls with weapons or food, they displa
Last Updated : 2025-06-25Debtbound: The Price of Power Chapter Ten: The Gray Court
Two Days Later – Undisclosed Drop PointIsaac stood in front of a concrete structure hidden beneath a scrapyard on the edge of the East District. No HUD map pointed to it. No coordinates. Just an encrypted invite that pulsed in his vision:Invitation Confirmed▶ Entry Code: RHOADES-VOID-7▶ Level: SILVER▶ Affiliation: Unbound▶ Status: Evaluating for Gray CourtMayra and Calen waited by the vehicle, engine still hot.“You sure about this?” Mayra asked, arms crossed.Isaac nodded. “If we’re going to stop the Sovereign Protocol, we need allies.”Calen, pale and tired but recovering, looked up. “If they start talking in riddles, just punch the closest one.”Isaac smirked. “Got it.”Interior – The Gray CourtThe door opened to darkness.A whispering hum welcomed him.Inside, the walls were covered in silver-threaded code lines—like spiderwebs made of thought. The air smelled of ozone and ink.Seven individuals sat in elevated thrones, each backlit by system glyphs.They weren’t ordinary
Last Updated : 2025-06-25Debtbound: The Price of Power Chapter Nine: Hive Assault
East District Rooftops – 11:23 PMThe wind howled as Isaac stood on the rooftop, silver eyes scanning the darkness. Across the city, red static danced above one building — a decaying broadcast tower long since abandoned.Mayra crouched beside him, rifle slung over her back. “This is where the signal’s coming from?”Isaac nodded.System Scan: Active▶ System-Eater Hive Detected▶ Estimated Occupants: 9▶ Hive Class: Class Beta▶ Structural Integrity: 17%▶ Access Points: 3Warning: Hostile swarm behavior confirmedIsaac’s HUD shimmered with a new feature since his ascension: Fragment Radar.The nine red dots inside the hive pulsed erratically—like something barely contained.They’re not just hiding. They’re building something.Mayra checked her weapon. “Plan?”“We get in. We find out what they're guarding. We get out—alive.”She smirked. “Simple enough.”11:44 PM – InfiltrationThey entered through the service hatch on the rooftop.The air inside was thick with digital static—heavy, oi
Last Updated : 2025-06-25Debtbound: The Price of Power Chapter Eight: Trial of the Ascendant
East Sector Safehouse – 5:02 PMThe HUD dimmed. A pulse of static ran through the interface.Then—“Tier Evaluation Protocol: Initiating.”Isaac’s body stiffened. Light exploded behind his eyes, and everything around him—Mayra, the city, the rooftop—fractured like glass.[WELCOME TO THE ASCENSION REALM]Tier Evaluation: ActiveUser: Isaac RhoadesCurrent Tier: BronzeEvaluation Type: Combat | Memory | MoralitySurvival Threshold: 3/3 Tests Passed▶ Rewards: System Upgrade, New Trait Branch, +5% Archive Access▶ Failure: Forced Downgrade / System FreezeHe stood alone on a glowing battlefield that stretched endlessly in all directions. Skies pulsed with red lightning. His feet were planted on translucent crystal panels, each etched with memories: his mother’s grave, his sister’s hospital bed, old ramen wrappers from his tiny flat.A voice echoed above him:“You have been chosen to ascend.But first, you must be broken.”Phase 1: Combat Trial – “Phantoms of the Debt”The panels around h
Last Updated : 2025-06-25
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