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Star Labs.
A secretive, illegal research facility run by mad scientists—pushing the limits of technology beyond its time. My sister's last known trace leads me here.
Sirens blare throughout the compound, but soon, there won’t be anyone left to respond.
"Ronin! Cyberbots inbound—four of them, armed with KS-200 plasma rifles!"
Frey’s voice crackles through my radio, clipped to the waist of my cybernetic hitman suit.
I sigh. “Frey, didn’t I tell you not to play games with headphones on during my missions? And don’t yell in the damn radio.”
She huffs. “Just focus on not dying.”
The cyberbots round the corner, humanoid machines clad in heavy armor.
"Intruder detected. Surrender, and you may—"
I don’t wait for them to finish. My twin pistols bark, and the first bot collapses as a well-placed shot fries its central processing unit.
The remaining three take aim. Before they can fire, I activate the electromagnetic disruptor on my belt. A pulse surges through the air, and their systems short-circuit. I waste no time, executing them before their failsafe can kick in.
I deactivate the disruptor to keep my radio from cutting out.
“Shit, I’m out of bullets,” I mutter, tossing my guns aside. I spot a nearby combat knife and pick it up.
Frey’s voice drips with amusement. “Are you really sticking with just those two pistols? You’ve been sloppy lately.”
On her end, she sits before a massive array of monitors. One screen displays a game, the others cycle through security footage of the lab’s halls.
“I know you said, ‘Gone are my days of being a pro,’ but what happened to the hitman I knew? The one who had foresight and efficiency? What happened to the old Ronin—the one who made nations tremble?”
I smirk. “First off, I was never yours. Second, did you delete those nuke codes yet?”
"You’ll never know,” she teases.
Before I can respond, two more guards round the corner, weapons raised.
I lunge forward, dodging the first shot. One of them attempts to grab me, but I slip under his arms, sweeping his legs out from under him. As he stumbles, I slash my knife across his throat in a clean, practiced motion.
Frey clicks her tongue. “You do remember I gave you my latest model of the plasma spear, right?”
“That thing is overkill. I’d rather not watch my enemies twitch after they’re dead.”
The second guard trembles. “Y-you… You’re the Man of Death, right?” He raises his gun with shaking hands.
I don’t waste time. I flick my knife, deflecting his shot mid-air before grabbing a fallen cyberbot’s rifle and putting a bullet through his hand. He screams, clutching his shattered fingers as his pistol clatters to the floor.
“Now that’s the kind of action I like,” Frey muses.
“Stop being a sicko.”
I step forward, my gaze cold. “How many men are left inside? Tell me, and I’ll let you live.”
The guard stammers, panic evident. “J-just two scientists… The rest… they’re escaping the labs.”
“Escaping?” I snap. “Frey!?”
“Guess what these smartasses did? They paused the camera feeds on the floors above and below.”
I exhale sharply. “Why?”
“Why not? If a demon like you is on a rampage, I’d run too.”
The man nods furiously. “You’ll let me go now, right? I—I have a family, please—”
“You called me a demon,” I say, voice devoid of emotion. “And now you expect mercy?”
Fear overtakes him. He bolts, leaving his pistol behind. I pick it up and move toward the final door.
Beyond this point, my search may finally end. I may finally reunite with my sister.
The gates hiss open.
Two scientists stand frozen near a desk, their faces pale.
I lower my gun slightly. “Relax. Just tell me where my sister is, and I’ll let you live.”
They exchange glances. Then, they step toward me.
I sense something off.
Before they can act, I shoot them both.
As their bodies collapse, I spot the grenades rolling from their limp hands.
Stepping back, I wait for the explosion, then enter the ruined lab.
Frey whistles. “Damn. I wanted to see how you’d fare if you noticed a bit later.”
“As if.”
“I’ll hack the system,” she says. “Plug the drive into the hazard door panel. Intel says it’s a gravity prison. Something about experiments on beings exposed to cosmic radiation. Your sister went in… but after that, all data was erased.”
I press the drive against the panel and exhale. “If that scientist wasn’t lying, my sister vanished in this room. It makes no sense… but I have to see it for myself.”
The lock disengages.
“That was fast.” I glance at my radio, expecting a snarky remark. Silence. Maybe she’s getting a soda.
I step forward.
The moment I do, my foot meets empty air.
I nearly plummet—but instead, I float.
The entire room… is darkness. Not a lack of light—true void. Stars shimmer on the walls, stretching endlessly, like a tear in space itself.
“R-Ronin! Come in—Ronin! Get out of there—NOW!” Frey’s panicked voice cuts through static.
“What’s happening?”
“I accessed a secret file—that isn’t a room! It’s a rift! The place you’re in—it’s not part of reality! You have to get out—”
Her voice distorts as the door starts closing.
I reach for the wall—but there’s nothing to hold.
Suddenly, my chest tightens.
I can’t breathe.
No, worse—I can’t inhale. The oxygen in my lungs escapes as if pulled away.
Darkness consumes me.
I lose consciousness.
When I awaken, I’m floating in space.
No air. No sound. Yet… I don’t feel the urge to breathe.
A strange warmth pulses in my left eye, spreading through my body.
Then, I see it.
A colossal figure—an outline of swirling cosmos, gazing at me.
A massive, helmet-like shape… a T symbol carved into its face.
“What the hell is that?”
Before I can comprehend it, something pulls me backward.
I glimpse a green landscape within a tear in the void. As I near it, everything turns white.
I wake up in a vast forest.
Sunlight pierces through colossal tree branches. The air… is crisp. Too crisp.
I push myself up, taking in the sheer size of everything around me. The trees, the grass—even the bushes look surreal.
Something gleams in the grass.
A book. A grimoire.
I pick it up.
“By the gods… What is this place?”
I flip the cover. Inside, strange, elegant text spirals across the pages.
This is no ordinary world.
This… is something far beyond what I expected.
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By the gods, what is this place!? And why is this book lying in the middle of this forest?
I whisper as I pick up the book, its worn cover catching the dim light filtering through the trees. Something is written on it.
Sanskrit? I furrow my brows. At least those mad scientists knew something worthwhile. Let’s see...
The text reads: "Adapt to unlock."
I tilt my head, confused. What does that even mean?
Suddenly, the bushes ahead rustle, and a group of small creatures leaps out. They look like oversized squirrels—fluffier than normal, with striking blue eyes. My curiosity gets the better of me, and I take slow, cautious steps toward them. I've always liked squirrels.
But before I get too close, they abruptly shift their gaze toward a cluster of large boulders stacked like a miniature mountain. It looks as if the ground itself had tried to push up a peak but failed.
I follow their gaze—but see nothing.
When I turn back, the squirrels are gone, vanishing into the underbrush. A sigh of disappointment escapes me—until an eerie chill grips my spine.
I turn around—only to freeze.
Three monstrous creatures stand before me. They resemble sheep but grotesquely twisted—towering, skeletal beings with rotting hide barely clinging to their frames. Their empty eye sockets burn with an unnatural purple glow.
My body refuses to move. What... are these things?
I can't just stand here. Letting them get any closer is not an option, because whatever these monstrosities are, I don’t want to stick around to find out.
Forcing my frozen limbs into action, I push past the paralyzing fear and sprint in the opposite direction, my heart pounding as I race through the forest.
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