The night air reeked of oil, damp steel, and urban decay. A perfect backdrop for trouble.
Riku crouched beside a rusting dumpster, eyes locked on a hulking, graffiti-scarred warehouse looming in the distance. The address—Warehouse 17—was burned into his mind, a mark tied to Jin Tagawa, Makabe's superior, and one of the key players in the criminal underworld beginning to coil its way into his life.
Next to him, Kira adjusted the collar of her black jacket, her expression unreadable.
"This place stinks of setup," she muttered.
Riku smirked. "Wouldn't be the first time someone wanted me dead."
"You're way too casual about that."
"Blame the system. Ever since I got this thing, I've been acting two inches from reckless."
> SP: 9,550
[Shop Suggestions:]
Urban Stealth Lv.1 – 1,200 SP
Night Vision Enhancement – 1,500 SP
Distraction Device x2 – 300 SP
Tactical Escape Route Mapping – 600 SP
Riku purchased Urban Stealth Lv.1 and Night Vision Enhancement, feeling a brief surge of warmth flood his senses. His limbs moved with sharper precision, and the murky alley brightened just enough for him to see every crevice and shadow inside the warehouse's perimeter.
"Let's move."
---
Inside Warehouse 17, silence reigned. Crates sat in neat stacks, some marked with foreign script, others unmarked altogether. A faint hum of electricity buzzed above, powering overhead security lights.
Kira and Riku crept along the upper rafters, out of sight but close enough to hear muffled voices.
> Enemy Count: 6 (Armed)
Two patrolling the lower level.
Two stationed near the security door.
One smoking on the loading dock.
One inside the central office—Jin Tagawa.
Kira nodded to the far corner, whispering, "I'll handle the dock guy. Quietly."
Riku gave a brief nod, then slipped down behind a tall stack of crates toward the office, his footsteps silent as smoke.
Jin was visible through the glass. He stood tall—built like a brawler—talking animatedly into a phone while gesturing to a detailed map on the wall. Red pins clustered around districts across Tokyo, each labeled with numbers and supply codes.
"…shipment's coming in two nights. It's not just gear this time—this is the prototype. The investors expect a live trial. No mistakes."
Investors?
Riku leaned closer. The tone Jin used wasn't just criminal confidence—it was corporate. Like someone important had put their money into this madness.
Inside the room, a locked metal case sat under the table. Riku's system highlighted it immediately.
> Scan:
Object: Unregistered Prototype
Risk Level: High
Estimated Value: 10,000+ SP
Option: Extract microdrive for intel.
Riku popped open his tool belt—recently stocked via system perks—and fished out a compact micro-hack tool. He eased open the office door, ducked low, and slipped beneath the desk, working silently.
Click.
Whirr.
Download in progress…
Then—a shout.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?!"
Too late.
A flashlight's beam lit the floor. Riku dove sideways, rolled across the floor, and slammed his hand against the microdrive housing. Snatched!
"INTRUDER!"
Alarms blared.
Riku burst from the office as the warehouse erupted into chaos.
Bullets cracked through the crates as he sprinted for the scaffolding. Kira was already in motion, her knife flashing as she disarmed the guard on the loading dock, booting him into a pile of boxes.
"Guess we're improvising!" she yelled, joining him on the run.
"Business as usual!"
Riku tapped his Distraction Device, hurling it behind him. It popped with a sharp snap and flared, buying them a few seconds to vanish behind the industrial elevator shaft.
Jin's voice rang out behind them. "Find them! Whoever they are, they don't leave alive!"
Riku's system pinged.
> Escape Route Activated
Underground service tunnel, 12 meters east.
Exit connects to canal underpass.
Risk of pursuit: Medium.
"Down there!" Riku shouted.
Kira didn't hesitate. They dove through a rusted service door, descended a damp ladder, and landed in a narrow maintenance tunnel.
"I got the microdrive," he said, panting.
"I hope it's worth all this," she replied, already pulling the next knife from her boot.
---
Thirty minutes later, drenched in canal water and breathing heavily, they collapsed on a park bench behind a shuttered café.
Riku grinned through the exhaustion.
"We're alive."
"Barely."
He opened his system, flicking through the new items. The microdrive lit up his interface.
> Prototype Data Acquired
Weaponized Neural Drive
Augmented Combat Enhancer (ACE)
Experimental Distribution Plans
New Quest Unlocked: Chainbreaker: Disrupt the Prototype Test
Rewards: 1,500 SP, System Upgrade Token, Network Interference Access
"What the hell is ACE?" Kira muttered, peeking over his shoulder.
"Some kind of cybernetic enhancement system. Think combat drugs, but… in your brain."
"Who builds something like that?"
Riku's grin vanished.
"Someone planning to start a war."
---
Back at the apartment, Riku didn't sleep. Instead, he sat by the window, watching the city lights blink like slow, watching eyes.
He opened a new System thread:
> Target: Jin Tagawa – Active
Objective: Cut off funding, sabotage the prototype, trace the investors.
Personal Note: No more playing small. If they want to play god with people's lives, I'll break their machines—and the hands behind them.
> Reputation Tracker Unlocked:
Your actions have begun to echo.
Factions are becoming aware of your existence.
Codename Generated: Phantom Buyer
Riku smirked.
Let them wonder who he was.
He had a system.
He had allies.
He had nothing to lose.