(click to enlarge)
Mission objective: Rescue classmate Yoon Jihoon.
But without her glasses, she couldn't read his lips.
Click. Click. Click.
Heels in the distance echoed, sharp and unhurried. There was no time to argue. No time to herd them back together.
The team was already in motion. Five sets of frantic footsteps fragmented in different directions. His team, scattered. A second later, the heavy, synchronized thud of Enforcers echoed from the opposite end of the hall, moving to intercept.
Ghost took the wall. He activated his Gecko Grip, scaling the smooth vertical surface in two silent bounds. He shoved a ceiling tile aside and hauled himself into the dark ductwork. His Haloglove cast a pale blue light over a nest of thick white cables. He didn't hesitate. He grabbed the primary data bundle and ripped it from its housing just as Minjo rounded the far corner.
Below him, the red eyes of the security cameras flickered and died.
It was a brutal, unrefined solution, but it blinded the hunters. It gave his pack a fighting chance.
Ghost popped the Cursed Energy battery from his Haloglove and slid it into his Nano Stealth Cloak. Communication was a luxury. Stealth was survival. The high-tech fabric flickered with violent static, and then, pixel by pixel, he dissolved into the dark architecture of the ceiling.
Click. Click. Stop. MasterGin stepped into the corridor directly beneath the vent.
Clove smoke drifted upwards. Then the silence. The silence was the worst part.
Ghost’s lungs locked tight. The air pressure in the hallway seemed to drop, stolen entirely by the monster standing below. A false surgeon. A vain god. The kind of monster whose presence warped the room around him. In that moment, Ghost finally understood how Jihoon had been seduced by Monstrum.
The powerful vampire’s icy gaze swept the dead cameras. He sensed the blind spot.
Ghost snapped his eyes shut. He clamped down on his own biology, willing his heartbeat into a slow, dormant rhythm. It was a Shinobi discipline meant for surviving underwater. His chest burned with the need for oxygen. His internal clock ticked away the longest twenty seconds of his life.
Finally, the heels clicked into an adjacent consultation room.
Ghost let out one slow breath through his nose. He gave it three more seconds, listening for the pause of someone turning back, before dropping weightlessly to the floor. He pressed his ear against the cold white marble wall. MasterGin's voice came through, sharp enough to cut. "...those cameras are worth more than a hundred of you! Either restore my cameras immediately, or explain to me why I continue paying you!" A second later, a new command, "Scratch that. Weld the sewer access doors shut. Permanently!"
Higher and higher he climbed through the gloom. Left. Straight. Another left. Then a hard turn right.
Finally the sterile chill of the clinic faded, replaced by a growing scent of rot and humidity.
A large cavern opened up. The Safe Zone.
The air felt different here. Cleaner. Quieter. The pressure that haunted the rest of the sewer was absent, as though the safe zone itself refused to respect Monstrum’s authority.
He dropped silently to a limestone slab near the 1929 Ford Coupe, using the glow of his haloglove to cut through the dark. The car was still smoking, frozen in the violent aftermath of a crash that happened a century ago. Inside, a body sat perfectly still, preserved by whatever force kept the car from rusting. High above the wreckage, a rebel had slashed the Monstrum logo with red ink.
Ghost stood still for a moment and let his body recalibrate. The ambient hum that had been pressing against his skull since they entered the clinic was gone.
He scanned the damp cavern. The only sound was the rushing water of the drainage outflow.
No one else had made it.
He pulled the toolkit from his belt and laid the instruments out in a perfect, disciplined row on the fender.
The dented hood groaned as he wrenched it upward. No engine block. No pistons. He already knew that. The carbon fiber lattice was still intact, the obsidian coils still spiraled around the ceramic core like ribs around a heart. The violet liquid still pulsed through its tubes in a slow, deliberate rhythm, the one that vibrated in the back of the teeth rather than the ears.
Minjo had called it an Entropy Drive.
Ghost had a different name for it.
Team: 7 students of Jae Won University, 6 remaining.
Location: GIN AESTHETICA™ plastic surgery clinic.
It was a tragedy in slow motion.
Ghost smelled it first. Clove smoke and a cold that didn't belong to the building. Something ancient was close. His hands flew up in a sharp, commanding gesture toward a nearby door, but no one was looking at his hands.
"Scatter!" Minjo yelled. "Rendezvous at the car in the Safe Zone!”
Ghost gripped her shoulder hard and stepped into her path. Speech was not an option. He mouthed a single, fierce command: No. Stronger together.
It was a tragedy in slow motion.
Ghost smelled it first. Clove smoke and a cold that didn't belong to the building. Something ancient was close. His hands flew up in a sharp, commanding gesture toward a nearby door, but no one was looking at his hands.
"Scatter!" Minjo yelled. "Rendezvous at the car in the Safe Zone!”
Ghost gripped her shoulder hard and stepped into her path. Speech was not an option. He mouthed a single, fierce command: No. Stronger together.
But without her glasses, she couldn't read his lips.
Click. Click. Click.
Heels in the distance echoed, sharp and unhurried. There was no time to argue. No time to herd them back together.
The team was already in motion. Five sets of frantic footsteps fragmented in different directions. His team, scattered. A second later, the heavy, synchronized thud of Enforcers echoed from the opposite end of the hall, moving to intercept.
Ghost took the wall. He activated his Gecko Grip, scaling the smooth vertical surface in two silent bounds. He shoved a ceiling tile aside and hauled himself into the dark ductwork. His Haloglove cast a pale blue light over a nest of thick white cables. He didn't hesitate. He grabbed the primary data bundle and ripped it from its housing just as Minjo rounded the far corner.
Below him, the red eyes of the security cameras flickered and died.
It was a brutal, unrefined solution, but it blinded the hunters. It gave his pack a fighting chance.
Ghost popped the Cursed Energy battery from his Haloglove and slid it into his Nano Stealth Cloak. Communication was a luxury. Stealth was survival. The high-tech fabric flickered with violent static, and then, pixel by pixel, he dissolved into the dark architecture of the ceiling.
Click. Click. Stop. MasterGin stepped into the corridor directly beneath the vent.
Clove smoke drifted upwards. Then the silence. The silence was the worst part.
Ghost’s lungs locked tight. The air pressure in the hallway seemed to drop, stolen entirely by the monster standing below. A false surgeon. A vain god. The kind of monster whose presence warped the room around him. In that moment, Ghost finally understood how Jihoon had been seduced by Monstrum.
The powerful vampire’s icy gaze swept the dead cameras. He sensed the blind spot.
Ghost snapped his eyes shut. He clamped down on his own biology, willing his heartbeat into a slow, dormant rhythm. It was a Shinobi discipline meant for surviving underwater. His chest burned with the need for oxygen. His internal clock ticked away the longest twenty seconds of his life.
Finally, the heels clicked into an adjacent consultation room.
Ghost let out one slow breath through his nose. He gave it three more seconds, listening for the pause of someone turning back, before dropping weightlessly to the floor. He pressed his ear against the cold white marble wall. MasterGin's voice came through, sharp enough to cut. "...those cameras are worth more than a hundred of you! Either restore my cameras immediately, or explain to me why I continue paying you!" A second later, a new command, "Scratch that. Weld the sewer access doors shut. Permanently!"
Ghost pulled back from the wall. His mind mapped the variables. One exit. One priority.
He moved.
He sprinted back the way MasterGin had come, moving soundlessly toward a new set of approaching footsteps. The maintenance crew. Ghost had memorized the labyrinth of the Clinic. He knew exactly where the choke points were. He slipped into an alcove and waited.
The crew rushed past. One man lagged heavily behind the rest, panting under the massive weight of a multi-arm mechanical welding unit strapped to his back.
Perfect.
Ghost transferred the Cursed Energy battery from his cloak back to his Haloglove. Stealth was no longer needed. A weapon was.
He stepped from the shadows directly behind the straggler. He pressed two fingers to the exposed skin of the man's neck and delivered a maximum voltage jolt from his glove. The man folded without a sound. Ghost caught the heavy equipment before it could hit the floor and dragged the unconscious body into a dark supply closet.
Within ninety seconds, Ghost was wearing the straggler’s red and black uniform, and strapped the heavy welding apparatus on. He pulled the dark welding visor down over his face and sprinted to catch up with the crew, forcing his lungs to heave in loud, ragged pants.
The Crew Leader spun around. "You! What's wrong with you, are you dying?"
Ghost nodded, slumped his shoulders, and feigned breathlessness. It was a flawless cover for his muteness.
The Crew Leader turned away, disgusted.
When they reached the sewer access door, Ghost pushed to the front. The leader ordered him to lock down the compromised digital kiosk and weld the door shut, while the main crew handled the heavy elevator doors nearby.
Ghost knelt by the panel. He didn’t fix the kiosk. His gloved fingers flew across the exposed circuitry, completing his earlier hack, a backdoor bypass. Then he engaged the welding torch. He laid down a line of sparks on the doorframe that looked convincing to the naked eye but actually left the door completely unsealed.
"Move!" the Crew Leader barked. "Find the camera short!"
Ghost shuffled after them, disgruntled and bored. As they swept the next corridor, he deliberately lingered behind to cross the wires of a secondary junction box, shorting out a fresh row of cameras.
He moved.
He sprinted back the way MasterGin had come, moving soundlessly toward a new set of approaching footsteps. The maintenance crew. Ghost had memorized the labyrinth of the Clinic. He knew exactly where the choke points were. He slipped into an alcove and waited.
The crew rushed past. One man lagged heavily behind the rest, panting under the massive weight of a multi-arm mechanical welding unit strapped to his back.
Perfect.
Ghost transferred the Cursed Energy battery from his cloak back to his Haloglove. Stealth was no longer needed. A weapon was.
He stepped from the shadows directly behind the straggler. He pressed two fingers to the exposed skin of the man's neck and delivered a maximum voltage jolt from his glove. The man folded without a sound. Ghost caught the heavy equipment before it could hit the floor and dragged the unconscious body into a dark supply closet.
Within ninety seconds, Ghost was wearing the straggler’s red and black uniform, and strapped the heavy welding apparatus on. He pulled the dark welding visor down over his face and sprinted to catch up with the crew, forcing his lungs to heave in loud, ragged pants.
The Crew Leader spun around. "You! What's wrong with you, are you dying?"
Ghost nodded, slumped his shoulders, and feigned breathlessness. It was a flawless cover for his muteness.
The Crew Leader turned away, disgusted.
When they reached the sewer access door, Ghost pushed to the front. The leader ordered him to lock down the compromised digital kiosk and weld the door shut, while the main crew handled the heavy elevator doors nearby.
Ghost knelt by the panel. He didn’t fix the kiosk. His gloved fingers flew across the exposed circuitry, completing his earlier hack, a backdoor bypass. Then he engaged the welding torch. He laid down a line of sparks on the doorframe that looked convincing to the naked eye but actually left the door completely unsealed.
"Move!" the Crew Leader barked. "Find the camera short!"
Ghost shuffled after them, disgruntled and bored. As they swept the next corridor, he deliberately lingered behind to cross the wires of a secondary junction box, shorting out a fresh row of cameras.
The Crew Leader threw his hands up in enraged confusion, screaming into his halophone about a cascading system failure.
In the chaos, Ghost stepped backward into a shadow and vanished.
By the access door, he paused and graded his performance. Approximately half of the clinic's surveillance network was disabled, and the team's escape route remained intact.
In the chaos, Ghost stepped backward into a shadow and vanished.
By the access door, he paused and graded his performance. Approximately half of the clinic's surveillance network was disabled, and the team's escape route remained intact.
Before leaving, he projected from his Haloglove the underground map. Satisfied he knew the way, he plunged into the dark labyrinth with his Gecko Grip reactivated.
Scrambling across the vaulted stone like a spider, he was careful to avoid the foul, rushing water below and the toxic bioluminescent fungi clinging to the walls.
Higher and higher he climbed through the gloom. Left. Straight. Another left. Then a hard turn right.
Finally the sterile chill of the clinic faded, replaced by a growing scent of rot and humidity.
A large cavern opened up. The Safe Zone.
The air felt different here. Cleaner. Quieter. The pressure that haunted the rest of the sewer was absent, as though the safe zone itself refused to respect Monstrum’s authority.
He dropped silently to a limestone slab near the 1929 Ford Coupe, using the glow of his haloglove to cut through the dark. The car was still smoking, frozen in the violent aftermath of a crash that happened a century ago. Inside, a body sat perfectly still, preserved by whatever force kept the car from rusting. High above the wreckage, a rebel had slashed the Monstrum logo with red ink.
Ghost stood still for a moment and let his body recalibrate. The ambient hum that had been pressing against his skull since they entered the clinic was gone.
He scanned the damp cavern. The only sound was the rushing water of the drainage outflow.
No one else had made it.
He stood very still. The water rushed. Nothing.
He shoved the panic aside and reached for rage instead.
He unbuckled the heavy welding rig and let it drop to the stone with a loud echoing thud.
If he was the only one to reach the safe zone, then it was up to him to ruin whatever MasterGin was planning for Jihoon.
He pulled the toolkit from his belt and laid the instruments out in a perfect, disciplined row on the fender.
The dented hood groaned as he wrenched it upward. No engine block. No pistons. He already knew that. The carbon fiber lattice was still intact, the obsidian coils still spiraled around the ceramic core like ribs around a heart. The violet liquid still pulsed through its tubes in a slow, deliberate rhythm, the one that vibrated in the back of the teeth rather than the ears.
Minjo had called it an Entropy Drive.
Ghost had a different name for it.
A bomb.
He reached blindly to his right to grab his screwdriver.
Fingers met empty stone.
He frowned and shined the haloglove downward. The screwdriver was now sitting neatly on his left side.
He blinked, turning his head slowly, sweeping the empty, violet-lit cavern.
Fingers met empty stone.
He frowned and shined the haloglove downward. The screwdriver was now sitting neatly on his left side.
He blinked, turning his head slowly, sweeping the empty, violet-lit cavern.
Nothing moved. Nothing breathed.
Ghost picked the tool up and placed it deliberately back on his right side.
Ghost picked the tool up and placed it deliberately back on his right side.
Strange.
He turned his attention back to the engine.
Guess what time it is? It's Cyber Fair o'clock! Woo woo! I'm back from a break to dive back into the Cyber Awesomeness as we count down to the finale of Escape from Club Apophis. Ghost has his moment to shine this chapter, and I loved all these cool items that worked so well together. ....The Authority Mask by Just Tony is unrigged so you can move and scale it for the perfect fit. To change its colors tap on each part in the texture hud. ....From SEKA's is the E-Tech Neck, with animating LED texture. It's rigged and mod to get the perfect fit. It comes with a SEKA style texture HUD with lots of texture options. ...From 129129 is the 222 Outset outfit which has a top, upper body Cawl, and shorts (not shown). The Fatpack allows mixing and matching textures. ...From HAM Store are the fun Leg warmers and stompers. The Fatpack on this also allows for fun texture mixing. ...From RED Shadow is the Viper MultiArms and backpack. There is animated LED texture tracker-beam from the backpack to the Arms. The Arms are Animesh, with their own AO. ...Meanwhile at another awesome event that just opened is Floro Solar Relic at Salvage Station. Wear the holdable, and touch it to create a popup Halogram. It's mod so you can change the halogram tint and add your own art to the Halogram if you want. There is also a Decor version. ...Other items used are the Lanevo Silence Gloves for men, CheerNo CHN F22 BOM latex body suit, and Sintiklia Gerald hair.
Guess what time it is? It's Cyber Fair o'clock! Woo woo! I'm back from a break to dive back into the Cyber Awesomeness as we count down to the finale of Escape from Club Apophis. Ghost has his moment to shine this chapter, and I loved all these cool items that worked so well together. ....The Authority Mask by Just Tony is unrigged so you can move and scale it for the perfect fit. To change its colors tap on each part in the texture hud. ....From SEKA's is the E-Tech Neck, with animating LED texture. It's rigged and mod to get the perfect fit. It comes with a SEKA style texture HUD with lots of texture options. ...From 129129 is the 222 Outset outfit which has a top, upper body Cawl, and shorts (not shown). The Fatpack allows mixing and matching textures. ...From HAM Store are the fun Leg warmers and stompers. The Fatpack on this also allows for fun texture mixing. ...From RED Shadow is the Viper MultiArms and backpack. There is animated LED texture tracker-beam from the backpack to the Arms. The Arms are Animesh, with their own AO. ...Meanwhile at another awesome event that just opened is Floro Solar Relic at Salvage Station. Wear the holdable, and touch it to create a popup Halogram. It's mod so you can change the halogram tint and add your own art to the Halogram if you want. There is also a Decor version. ...Other items used are the Lanevo Silence Gloves for men, CheerNo CHN F22 BOM latex body suit, and Sintiklia Gerald hair.
Collar: SEKA's - E-Tech Neck [mesh](CyberFair)(399L)
Top, armor: 129129 - **222 Outset HAIL/NECK [mesh](CyberFair)(fatpack 2,000L)
Halogram Map projector: Floro - Solar Relic, holdable (Salvage Station)(499L)
Shoes: HAM. Store - ERR0R Leg Warmers, Stompers, LegacyM [mesh](CyberFair)(fatpack 999L)
Arms: RED Shadow - RS-ViperMultiArms, Arms AO Include [Animesh](CyberFair)(fatpack 689L)
Gloves: LANEVO - Silence Gloves, LegacyM, Fatpack [mesh]
Hair: Sintiklia - Geralt Unrigged&resized [mesh]
Bodysuit: CheerNo - CHN F22 latexbody, blakc, LegacyM [BOM]
Head: LeLUTKA - CAMDEN 4.0 [mesh](3990L)
Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)
Pose: momomuller [3M]_sc)_m_3
BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots, hi-res, midday sky:
