7 - How To Netrun (As A Soulful)

“Nachtvessel Alpha.”

“It’s unfortunate that you have no way to directly access the GSC’s database.”

“But I picked you because I knew that you’d manage to conquer such issues.”

“Now do what comes natural.”

“Yuuka? What’s going on?” Jian asked, starting to panic. The idea of a digital threat seemed alien to her, especially given the circumstances.

“We’re not just getting hacked.” Yuuka said. “More specifically, we’re not the only ones being hacked. Whoever’s doing this is gonna use our laptop as a method to jump into the GSC’s digital archives.”

“What does that mean?!”

“It means we’re in a really bad situation, Jian!” Yuuka said, making a sad face. “And...uhh...”

“What?” Jian asked, failing to notice one of the laptops slowly getting hotter and hotter, so hot in fact that steam started to escape it. Jian, smelling the awful stench of a burning device, quickly tried putting the fire out.

“That’s no good.” Yuuka said. “We have to kill whoever’s doing this. I’m not gonna let them hack into my socials.”

“What?” Dima asked, surprised.

“Do not question it.” Jian said. “Yuuka, can you handle the situation?”

“I might have to break a sweat...” Yuuka replied. A few moments later, she pouted. “No.”

“Yuuka...”

“Hey, wait, aren’t you supposed to protect us or something? What if that guy can hack into our brains?” Dima asked.

“I said don’t question it.” Jian shut him up. “That is not how you negotiate with her.”

Yuuka’s pout remained, but she opened one of her eyes, as if excited by the initiative. The second laptop was barely hanging on, close to being completely overrun as various error messages and notifications appeared on its screen.

“One trip.” Jian said.

“...”

“One trip and we can stay the night.” Jian said. “And yes, I will let you stay in the bouncy castle.”

“Deal! :D” Yuuka cheered. “The soulless guy said something pretty good, though. Whoever is doing this might have a way to hack into things other than technology. Ugh, I can’t imagine someone else snooping around my brain...”

“There might be a diversion attack.” Jian said. “I’ll guard you while you take care of this.”

“Oh no, it might not be that simple, Jian.” Yuuka said. She dug her fingers into the side of her head, after digging around and forcing quite a bit of blood out, she got a pink cable and thoroughly inspected it. “You’re a sad little peanut when it comes to this type of stuff, and I’ve been doxxing people in online games since forever.”

“Connect.”

She inserted the cable into the laptop, and all the error messages disappeared. The laptop’s screen went dark, and a few seconds later, a navigation screen with a suspicious amount of pink was installed.

[INITIALIZING KITTENWARE-V2-PRIVATE.EXE]

[CHECKING FOR INTERFERENCE]

[-]

[-]

[-]

[INTERFERENCE DETECTED]

[ERROR: DIGITAL SPACE INTEGRITY HAS BEEN COMPROMISED]

[FATAL ERROR]

“Well that’s not good...” Yuuka said. Her nose started bleeding, and her eyes reddened a little.

“Yuuka, are you alright?!” Jian lunged at her, cupping her face and wiping the blood. Her eyes stopped staring at nothing and locked onto her.

“What? Is she getting hacked?!” Dima asked, jumping back. “Is she gonna turn into a zombie and betray us or something?”

“It takes a lot more to hack someone like me.” Yuuka proudly exclaimed. Her nosebleed got more and more intense, and one of the veins in her hands popped open, squirting blood like an outside fountain in a city-center restaurant.

“What’s going on?!” Jian said. “Stop doing...that!”

“No way. He thinks he’s better than me, huh?” Yuuka said. “This is a personal matter now.”

"Yuuka, I need you to concentrate." Jian said with a more serious voice.

“Oh, you don’t understand anything about this, eh? I didn’t just build a presence, I became an idol! A shining star of hope for all my kittens!” Yuuka lashed out with an adorably angry expression. “I’m not in the media business, I’m in the empire business! And you think I should sacrifice everything? How dare you?!” She rapidly shook Jian.

“Then proceed however you think is right.” Jian said, escaping the deadly centrifuge of Yuuka’s cute embrace. “Just...focus.”

“I’ll need your help in that case.” Yuuka said. Her foot felt a little numb for a second and she almost tripped over.

“Huh?”

“I was able to transform the laptop into a digital safe space that is constructed through effectively digitized soul prowess.” Yuuka said. “But it’s just me there. This guy created a whole army and a battlefield there, and if they corrupt the digital space enough, they’ll win. And I’ll also probably die.”

“So what do we do?”

“Oh, Jian, you’re so clueless. My clueless adorable little peanut kitten...” Yuuka said, pinching Jian’s cheeks. She was probably the only person alive who could do that without getting their head blown off. “You’re gonna go in there and fight off whatever is corrupting the digital space. Here, take this.”

Yuuka dug deeper and extended another cable out of her head, proudly showcasing it to Jian. It looked just like the other one and had a strange veil of soul prowess surrounding it.

“I’ll act as a proxy to allow you to jump there.” Yuuka smiled. “There’s a chance my brain turns into mush from strain but I’d rather have that than having my career fall apart.”

She approached Jian and held her face, bringing the cable close to her eye.

“Now stay still...”

Without any remorse, she shoved the cable right beneath the eyeball - penetrating it into the eye socket. As she punched the cable deeper, it made contact with Jian’s brain. Her face went limp for a second and she lost consciousness.

“Aww, did I mess it up...? :( ” Yuuka asked herself, disappointed.

She punched the cable a few more times.

“Come on, why isn’t it working?!” She said, almost ramming it in. She slapped Jian a few times, and after not seeing any results, she grabbed her by her pretty hair and slammed her head against hers. And it finally looked like something connected.

“Well, damn me...” Dima said, sitting down on the ground. “I...uh...good luck to you two, I guess...”

“What the fuck have I gotten myself into...”

[PAYLOAD DETECTED]

“Let’s see...” Yuuka smirked.

[IDENTIFYING PAYLOAD AS “CLUELESS_PEANUT46”]

[INITIALIZING PAYLOAD]

[-]

[WARNING: PAYLOAD INVIOLABILITY IS NOT GUARANTEED. PROCEED ANYWAYS? Y/N]

[Y]

[-]

[-]

[TRANSFERRING SOUL INFORMATION...]

[INITIALIZING...]

[OPERATION COMPLETE]

“Yuuka!” Jian yelled in panic, finding herself in a strange dark area. She could only see her immediate surroundings, which were thin green lines accompanied by a hopeless darkness. “Where am I?”

“Relax, the map didn’t load yet.” Yuuka’s voice was heard echoing through the vastness. “Ugh, this is what happens when I do this on some cheap-ass laptop...”

“Map...?”

“Jian, I’ll give you a quick rundown.” Yuuka said. Jian could already see small chunks of space materializing next to her. Slowly, the green grids disappeared and were replaced by a combination of swap and azure-color thin lines paired with dark green hues forming a vast space. A few seconds later, color was also introduced, and the textures became smooth, looking like actual surfaces. And a moment later, everything looked like Akihabara, but transformed into a graphically low-quality map for some obscure video game.

“You know all those stories that have the main character gain access to video game mechanics, and they have to clear out dungeons or something like that? More specifically, do you know what a 'system' is?” Yuuka asked.

“No, I do not read that type of literature.” Jian said. “Why are we-”

“You don’t?!” Yuuka asked, sounding almost shocked. “That type of stuff is everywhere! People want escapism tied with something they can relate to, and a character that is so strong it satisfies all their power fantasies!”

“Yuuka, you’re getting distracted.” Jian sounded reasonably annoyed.

“I’m telling you what will happen to you.” Yuuka said. “I’ll act as your ‘system’ and help you as much as I can, all while making sure the space isn’t corrupted too much. You’ll have to clean out whatever army is here and eventually bait the hacker himself in. Once they’re here, I’ll hit them with all I’ve got.”

“Got it.” Jian said.

“Sorry if the graphics are bad, this laptop is a piece of garbage.” Yuuka said.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[PAYLOAD_SYSTEM_V1 IS REQUESTING INTEGRATION]

[ACCEPT? Y/N]

“Click yes.” Yuuka said.

[Y]

[INSTALLING SYSTEM...]

[SYSTEM NOT INSTALLED.]

“Is this...supposed to happen?” Jian asked. She stared at the system’s messages.

“Nope!” Yuuka said. “Let’s see...I think it’ll work soon. Jian, I’m gonna spawn an electrified rod for you. I need you to lobotomize yourself with it so the electricity stimulates your brain.”

“What?!”

“Oh, nevermind. I’ll just tweak the files a little here...mhm, and a little there...”

The sky turned pink.

“Oops, not intentional.” Yuuka said. “You don’t mind it though, right? Looks like an intentional artistic decision.”

[PAYLOAD_SYSTEM_V2 IS REQUESTING INTEGRATION]

[ACCEPT? Y/N]

“Click yes.” Yuuka said.

[Y]

[INSTALLING SYSTEM...]

[SYSTEM INSTALLED!]

[CLUELESS_PEANUT46 HAS BEEN CHOSEN AS ITS PLAYER]

Jian was now in a bunny suit.

“Yuuka, what is this?” She calmly asked, looking genuinely disappointed and even a little disgusted. “Clueless...peanut?”

“Ah, hehe, my bad...” Yuuka sounded a little ashamed. “I thought I’d optimize everything a little since the Heisei outfit is pretty textured...”

She equipped her with the Heisei outfit.

In the distance, a large explosion caused a powerful quake. The seemingly peaceful pink sky was devoured by a chain of black cracks. Jian looked to the other side of the street she was on, noticing a group of figures rapidly approach her.

“The ceasefire is over.” Yuuka said. “If you need any items and buffs, tell me. I’ll prepare the main payload.”

“Got it.”

“I have no idea what is happening...”

Jian jumped up to the roof of a nearby building and began blasting the figures away. The ground beneath was barely getting damaged, all the craters had triangular shapes and looked like copies of one another. She jumped onto another building and continued sniping the figures one by one. They looked like humans, gray humans, or more specifically - mannequins. Soulless constructs that acted merely as puppets.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“My capabilities aren’t compromised. That’s good.”

[PLAYER HAS CLEARED THE ENEMIES]

[YOU HAVE ONE REWARD! X-RAY POTION]

[ACCEPT? Y/N]

“X-ray..?” Jian thought to herself. “Yuuka, what is this?”

“Exactly what it says. There’s a bunch of different stuff there.” Yuuka said. “Just...do your thing, alright? I’m figuring out how to make the payload not fry your brain while you carry it.”

[Y]

Jian observed the glass bottle filled with green liquid. She removed the wooden cork and took a sip. After having a grueling headache for a few moments, she opened her eye, blessed with information regarding where all of the enemies were. This time there were many more of them.

“This certainly feels nice.”

“Yuuka, I’ll take care of things here.”

She started demolishing the ground troops one by one. There was really nothing they could’ve done against her, none of them had any ranged weaponry, and Jian’s overwhelming accuracy paired with her high ground utilization proved to be very effective. She jumped from building to building and rained hellfire on all beneath.

What she didn’t notice, however, was a bird-like creature preparing to ambush her from the sky. The creature, which looked like a mixture of an eagle and a pterodactyl, charged at Jian and managed to rip a chunk out of her right arm. Jian shrieked in pain. She managed to turn around and destroy the creature before it could do any further damage.

“What is this? They weren’t here before!” Jian exclaimed.

“Things get progressively harder.” Yuuka said. “Come on, you still have questions about this? Most protagonists can blow up planets after leveling up just once.”

“Right.” Jian said.

[PLAYER HAS CLEARED THE ENEMIES]

[REWARD HAS BEEN AUTOMATICALLY DEPOSITED INTO PLAYER’S INVENTORY]

“It’s a health potion.” Yuuka said, describing the similar bottle which housed a red liquid. “Drink it.”

Jian chugged it and her arm was as fresh as new.

“Right.” Jian said to herself, already seeing outlines of the incoming enemies. There were more air units, and a new type of ground unit was also in place.

“Just like a video game?”

“Just like the stuff Yuuka forced me to watch her play.”

Jian heard the loud screeching of the airborne creatures. She carefully dodged their attacks and took them out one by one, her accuracy unmatched. The last creature descended a little too much, and Jian took the opportunity to grab onto it and even mount it. As it flew around, Jian destroyed all the ground troops.

However, the detour was short-lived. A spear pierced the creature and even wounded Jian’s leg. It plummeted down, and Jian, hardly managed to stand back up, was immediately ambushed by a group of ground troops - these, however, had proper weapons and armor. There were four of them and one of Jian.

“So these are the new additions?”

“Every wave has a new type of enemy. First the troops, then the air force...”

“Now it is the special units.”

Jian focused her aim on one of them and dashed back. The troops attempted to chase her down, but before they could reach her, she already fired her shot and eliminated one of the troops.

The other three charged at Jian. They were all armed with spears, and Jian, despite mostly being on the back foot, was getting chipped pretty consistently. Jian focused and fired at the ground, but she forgot that smokescreen tactics wouldn’t be too efficient in this type of setting.

“Graphical limitations, Jian!” Yuuka yelled. “Come on. Just...beat them to death or something!”

Jian’s left arm was impaled by one of the spears, and she narrowly leaned her head to the side, avoiding a spear flying right into her eye. She allowed the leading troop to get even closer to her and caught it off guard with a powerful kick to the body. She followed it up with a shove-kick, all while aiming at it. The troop’s head was blown off clean.

The remaining two still kept on pushing forwards. Jian dodged their maneuvers before noticing that her back is up against a wall. Just as the soldiers charged in, she jumped up, and pushed herself off of the wall. Amidst that acrobatic showcase, she destroyed one of the troops’ heads. Now, when it was a one on one, Jian confidently closed the distance and overwhelmed the troop with constant kicks and strikes. She used her left hand to punch, and her right hand to build up a shot. Once her close quarters combination was done, she killed it in one shot.

[PLAYER HAS CLEARED THE ENEMIES]

[REWARD HAS BEEN AUTOMATICALLY DEPOSITED INTO PLAYER’S INVENTORY]

[ERROR: INFLUX OF SOUL PROWESS DETECTED]

It felt like the entire world was shaken, and Jian could sense a soul presence nearby that flared like no other.

“What was that?” Jian said, catching her breath and chugging down another health potion, restoring her wounds. “And...how much longer do I have to do this for?”

“Jian, listen to me carefully.” Yuuka said. “Judging by the influx of data, the next wave is the penultimate one. After that, the hacker will have no choice but to pay a visit himself. Here, take this.”

[SYSTEM PROTOCOL OVERRIDDEN]

[ALLOWING FOR DIRECT INTERFERENCE]

[INTERFERENCE TOKEN ID: 8===D]

[EXECUTING COMMAND...]

[A NEW ITEM HAS BEEN DEPOSITED INTO PLAYER’S INVENTORY]

Jian observed the dagger that appeared in her hand. It had a pink handle and a blade that resonated with a special type of power.

“It’s a weapon imbued with ‘Digital Overdose’.” Yuuka said. “Once you see the hacker, you’ll need to stab them with it.”

“Got it.” Jian said. She watched the new wave of enemies slowly emerge, as their silhouettes were highlighted through the surroundings.

“I managed to regain control over the digital space.” Yuuka said. “Hehe, since my acclamation is active, I might as well try something :3”

The sky flashed black for a few seconds, and the terrain flashed dark green and minimalistic again. A large majority of the incoming troops were instantly destroyed. Jian sighed in relief, but the battle wasn’t over yet - she saw one large silhouette behind a building. A building that was destroyed a few seconds later.

“You take care of the big one.” Yuuka said. “The hacker didn't like what we just did. I’m getting extra busy.”

“Got it!” Jian took aim at the giant. It charged at her, but she had enough time to accumulate quite a powerful shot. Once fired, it pierced a hole in the giant’s stomach. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t drop dead, but instead continued its advance.

Jian dodged at the last second, avoiding being crushed by its gigantic hand. She propelled herself up on another roof, and started firing rapid shots at it. The giant’s massive arms destroyed the buildings, but Jian simply kept jumping around between them. Eventually, she got far away enough to get a bit of extra time. The now wounded giant found it difficult to keep up the pressure. With one clean shot, Jian blew its head open.

[PLAYER HAS CLEARED THE ENEMIES]

[REWARD HAS BEEN AUTOMATICALLY DEPOSITED INTO PLAYER’S INVENTORY]

[WARNING: SYSTEM HARDWARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH PROCESS INTENSITY]

“Where is the hacker?” Jian asked. She tightly held onto the blade bestowed to her by her comrade.

“Should be arriving pretty soon.” Yuuka replied. “By the way, don’t accidentally cut yourself with the weapon. Your brain will turn into a milkshake.”

“Right.” Jian said.

A moment later, the sky shook. The ground rejected itself, and a lethal black devoured the pink sky, at least half of it - Yuuka resisted and kept the other half to herself. Through her x-ray vision, she saw not just a group emerge, but an entire army. It had two giants, groups of special troops, a load of infantry and an intimidating air force.

And leading the army was a figure that had an incredible soul presence.

“Yuuka, I cannot deal with all of this on my own.” Jian said. “Do something. Do that...do that thing you just did.”

“Nah, too boring.”

“What?”

“Here, let me do something even better!” Yuuka cheered. The blackness that tried to overthrow the sky was pushed back by the overarching pink’s dominance. Who was to say that the owner of the digital space couldn’t conjure an army like its invader?

Large pink cat-like creatures triumphed over the battlefield. Cats with wings attached to their bodies flew in, carpet bombing the enemy forces with glitter and sunshine. The special forces infiltrated from the sides, decimating that of the opponent. And the army of kittens followed suits.

“Go, my beloved creatures! Kyahahahaha!” Yuuka exclaimed. And whilst an all-out war was breaking out between the two digital species, the hacker appeared in front of Jian. He looked like a watered down version of its vessel.

“Already at the final boss...this felt laughably rushed. It usually takes Yuuka hours to beat video games and she is extremely good at them...”

“Focus, Jian.”

“He has a transmission-type ability that lets him teleport right in front of me. It likely works over long distances, cooldown is unknown.”

“All I have to do is to hit him once with the blade.”

“Then again, he has as much authority as Yuuka here.”

She took a deep breath.

“I’m not going to let her down.”

“Alright, Jian. Now just focus on-KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Yuuka?!” Jian was taken aback by Yuuka’s almost inhuman scream of anguish.

“I-I-I-It’s...” Yuuka said, while stuttering, unable to compile her words into a coherent sentence. “He’s hacking...into my head...”

From the outside, all that could be seen by Dima was two semi-conscious soldiers staring at nothing, their minds connected via some simple wires. Sure, Yuuka had a nosebleed, but using oneself as a proxy for another soul to travel into a digital space is bound to be at least a little straining on the brain. But that instant, blood poured out of her nose like a southern waterfall, a few drops of blood even escaped her eyes.

Dima jumped back in surprise, unaware of what to do, unsure if she was even alive. Yuuka’s hands twitched, she looked like she was spasming or having a seizure.

And inside the digital space, the blackness started to conquer all else.

“Jian...kill him...” Yuuka completely abandoned her happy and excited attire. “He’s gonna...hack into my brain and kill both of us...and if I’m dead, I’ll m-miss a strea-KYAAH!”

[WARNING: DIGITAL SPACE CORRUPTION REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS]

[INSTRUCTION SET RECEIVED. EXECUTE? Y/N]

[N]

[UNABLE TO PROCESS RESPONSE]

[PROCESSOR CORRUPTION HAS SURPASSED THE ALLOWED LIMIT]

[TRANSFERRING AUTHORITY TO CAPABLE PROCESSOR]

[CAPABLE PROCESSOR IDENTIFIED AS “NACHTVESSEL ALPHA”]

[N]

[N]

[N]

[UNABLE TO PROCESS RESPONSE]

[WARNING: EXCESSIVE CPU USAGE]

“J-Jian...use the...p-payload...” Yuuka barely said.

“On it.” Jian replied, charging at the intruder. Just as she was about to land an overhand on his face, he teleported away, appearing right behind her. Jian quickly swung with the dagger, but failed to hit the target again.

Alpha teleported around again, every time he did so he made sure to appear in Jian’s blind spot and strike her. After the untrackable beatdown, he abruptly feinted one of his attacks and appeared right in front of her - knocking her back significantly, slamming her into the window of a nearby building.

Jian took aim, but before she could even shoot, Alpha teleported away and appeared right next to her, kicking her down.

“I can’t charge anything up if he keeps moving like this.”

“My only option is to predict his teleportation and get a clean hit.” She thought, holding onto the dagger even tighter.

On the ground, the battle wasn’t going smoothly either. Yuuka’s pinkish cattish army was now on the backfoot, getting crushed by Alpha’s superior forces. Most of them were being outright deleted. Slowly, the space was beginning to lose its shape, the poorly textured streets of Akihabara were slowly being reduced to darkness and green grid lines, as if a disease was invading the digital domain.

Alpha appeared behind Jian and took a step back - almost as if he anticipated Jian to predict his teleportation. Now, instead of constantly teleporting around, he engaged carefully and with precise combinations - using teleportation as a means to dodge or retreat instead of attacking. He attacked with various strikes and kicks, and Jian had no apparent response to it.

However, the battle would shift once Alpha summoned a pair of blades in his hands. They looked like sables and were colored black and red.

“I cannot even use the terrain because apparently it doesn’t process properly...” Jian thought, disappointed. “This is why Yuuka spends so much money on her equipment, isn’t it?”

“Yuuka...”

“Hang on tight.”

Jian aimed and fired at Alpha. Instead of charging up or fully aiming the shot, she opted for a quick impact to surprise her opponent. She charged in as fast as she could, stopping right before getting into melee range. And Alpha fell for it.

He teleported away on impulse, but unfortunately for Jian, he appeared much further away than anticipated. This time, however, he would catch Jian off guard. He teleported right in front of her, and Jian, who thought he’d opt for a backstab, now had her back exposed to the invader.

He slashed her with his sables. Jian, shocked and even embarrassed, turned around, but Alpha was already next to her. The next attack was a stabbing one. Jian found herself skewered on a pair of sables, blood leaking out of the wounds.

“Damn it...”

“At least I saved this thing.”

Instead of fighting back, she reached into her pocket and got a bottle with red liquid out. She broke it against her forehead and dumped the liquid into her mouth, and now had enough strength to push Alpha away. Both of her wounds instantly regenerated.

Alpha stepped back and teleported behind her. Jian, who was now accustomed to the risk of turning round, leapt forward instead. Alpha missed, and Jian knocked her away with a spectacular back kick. She quickly turned around and launched the dagger at him. Alpha, slammed into a wall, only dodged it at the very last second.

“That might have been a mistake...”

Alpha teleported in front of Jian again, swinging his blades, landing slashing attacks on Jian who was trying to circle around him and retrieve the dagger. But it was a difficult task, as Alpha’s swordplay was proficient enough to keep her away. And on top of that, he just kept on teleporting. And during one such exchange, he managed to stab her in the stomach.

“You...” Yuuka’s voice was heard again, this time, instead of being in pain, it sounded thunderous and enraged.

“Get your hands off of my Jian!!!”

Parts of the black sky shattered, and divisions of the invading army were destroyed on the spot. And Alpha himself was poisoned, he had various commands and numbers linger around his head. And his movements seemed odd. As if he was trying to do something, but couldn’t.

“Jian, his teleportation is a result of h-him gaining control over the digital space.” Yuuka explained, while Alpha was struggling to come to terms with the predicament. “He kept modifying his own positional coordinates. But now that you hurt him a little, I regained some of the control and removed that ability!”

However, something more unexpected took place. The environment seemed strange now, the black was replaced by a vibrant night sky, with beautiful shining stars and precisely mapped constellations. It looked like a genuine art piece.

And the light that emanated from it, dozens of poems could be written about its many shades alone. The unmatched beauty of such a sight felt surreal to comprehend, as if it was a scenery that only chosen ones could observe. And it filled Yuuka with a sense of terror.

[SYSTEM WARNING]

[DIGITAL SPACE OVERLOADING HARDWARE]

[OBSERVING USAGE...]

[CPU: 97% - CRITICAL]

[MEMORY: 65%]

[DISK: 70%]

[NETWORK: 25%]

[SYSTEM CRASH IMMINENT]

"He's maxing out the graphic settings?!"

“Cheap fucking laptop!” Yuuka yelled. “Get him now before the whole thing crashes!”

Jian, holding onto her bleeding wound, still found the courage within herself to keep fighting. She knew that this was their only chance to kill a potentially invisible and unkillable force. She aimed at Alpha’s arm, and while Alpha was rushing towards her, managed to sever it with one clean shot.

Up close, it was now Jian who held the advantage. She landed a right hook, followed by a kick to the body and a hook kick to the head. She evaded a slashing attack by Alpha and as they both went in for push-kicks, Jian’s superior strength emerged victorious. Jian immediately charged in, rapidly closing the distance and landing a nasty punch to Alpha’s gut. Alpha stepped back. But just as Jian attempted to push further, she found herself impaled on Alpha’s sable.

This time the blade pierced right below her chest, and the wound was far more dangerous.

“Jian!” Yuuka called. “He’s trying to overload the system and take us down with him! Kill him now!!!”

The dagger, firmly stuck in the poorly textured wall, started glitching out, and it disappeared. It appeared a second later, suspended in the air, right next to Jian. And she managed to catch it.

[WARNING]

[CPU USAGE AT 100%]

[SHUTTING DOWN PROGRAM...]

“Jian!!!”

Jian grabbed Alpha. She pushed herself into the blade, impaling herself deeper, but at least she managed to close the distance. And with one decisive stab, Alpha was completely incapacitated.

“Way to go! :D” Yuuka cheered.

[EXTRACTING CLUELESS_PEANUT46]

[EXTRACTING YUUKA_HOSHIKAWA FROM THE SYSTEM]

[INITIATING SYSTEM SHUTDOWN]

Jian took a sharp breath. She found herself sitting down in the tent. She instantly reached for her stomach, but couldn’t find the wound there.

“Ah...it’s over...” Jian sighed. A second later she felt like she woke up again, and she instantly reached for Yuuka, who appeared to be asleep.

“Yuuka? Are you alright?!”

“Mhm... so tired...” Yuuka said in a muffled voice. “Ahh, my brain feels foggy ~”

“Yuuka, I did it.” Jian said. “He should be dead.”

“I know you did it.” Yuuka gave a faint smile. “I’m proud of you, Jian.”

Jian couldn’t react, neither did she know how to, so she just looked at her comrade. But she did smile a little bit.

A second later, they felt and saw something that while shouldn’t have happened, technically could have...and did.