The stadium speakers crackled to life with a high-pitched, screeching tone that made my teeth ache.
[TEAM 01: MIDNIGHT, VELVETVICE, AME. ROLES ASSIGNED: NAVIGATOR, SPOTTER, DECOY. ENTERING MAZE IN 3... 2... 1...]
The floor beneath us didn't just open; it disintegrated. I felt the familiar, sickening lurch of a digital gravity drop. As I plummeted into the darkness of the prison-maze, I grabbed Kyouya's hand, our Share-Link locking us into a singular, agonizingly tight frequency.
"Don't let go," I shouted, my voice swallowed by the roar of the descending machinery.
"Try to keep up, you fucking idiot!" Kyouya screamed back.
We hit the floor of the first sector with a bone-jarring thud. The lights flickered to life—a nauseating, strobing fluorescent white that made the walls look like they were breathing.
I looked at my interface. My HUD, usually a cluttered mess of data, was dead.
Confiscated by the system.
My hands felt light, empty, and terrifyingly human.
