Ace pushed open the heavy fire door to the 44th floor, the soles of his sneakers completely silent against the concrete landing.
Floor 44 was the IT and Server floor. The sprawling open-plan layout of the lower levels was gone, replaced by a claustrophobic maze of massive, ten-foot-tall black server racks. A low, rhythmic hum vibrated through the floorboards, drowning out the ambient howling of the wind outside.
He stepped into the dim, flickering amber light of the emergency backups. The heavy red leather of his Demon Hunter's Coat settled perfectly on his shoulders. He reached to the small of his back, his fingers brushing the beautifully carved grips of Ebony and Ivory. He had the muscle memory burned into his soul, and part of him desperately wanted to test them out.
But common sense overrode his impulse.
Magical system or not, they were still guns. They didn't have suppressors. If he pulled the trigger in this enclosed concrete tower, the echoing gunfire would act like a dinner bell for every Walker and Variant within five floors. They were strictly for emergencies when stealth was no longer an option.
Ace let his hands drop from the holsters. He drew Tensa Zangetsu instead and glided into the narrow server aisles.
He needed to clear this floor silently, and he needed Upgrade Points.
The server racks acted as a massive funnel, creating dozens of blind corners. Ace used his Shinigami footwork to his advantage, turning the claustrophobic maze into a hunting ground. He found a pack of four Walkers huddled near a sparking electrical panel. Moving with frictionless speed, Ace stepped into their blind spot, decapitating two in a single horizontal arc before driving the pommel into the third's skull and piercing the fourth through the chest.
Just the soft chime of the Origin Veil collecting the loot followed.
[PROXIMITY SIPHON SUCCESSFUL]
Target: Tier 1 Walker (x4)
Essence Purified: +4 UP
He spent the next hour methodically stalking through the server farm. The reinforced Shihakusho robes made him feel impossibly light, and the Demon Hunter's Coat easily deflected the grasping claws of a Walker that managed to surprise him from behind a cooling unit.
By the time he reached the far wall, he had cleared eleven standard Walkers and cornered a hulking, muscular variant in the IT director's office, dropping it with a precise thrust to the brainstem before it could even roar.
[PROXIMITY SIPHON SUCCESSFUL]
Target: Tier 2 Variant (Brute)
Essence Purified: +11 UP
Current UP: 15
Ace wiped the dark blood from his blade and sheathed it with a sharp click. The 44th floor was completely secure.
He looked at the 15 UP floating in his vision, then up at the ceiling. He was standing directly beneath the 45th floor. He knew exactly what was up there, and the thought of pushing forward immediately made his stomach knot with tension.
"Pacing," Ace muttered to himself. "Don't rush."
He turned around and headed back to the stairwell. Floors 41 through 43 were already cleared and locked down, making the descent a breeze. He jogged down the concrete steps, pushing back into the familiar, amber-lit safety of the 40th-floor Armory.
He dropped onto the prop leather couch with a heavy sigh, pulling a half-empty bottle of water from his stash and taking a long drink. The physical rest was necessary, but he had come down here for a specific reason.
He walked over to the row of props he had logged the night before and picked up the massive Rebellion replica.
He was saving his second Core Slot for something special later—he just didn't know what yet—so he couldn't afford to Soulbind the demonic claymore and gain its flawless muscle memory. But once his Matrix unlocked, that shouldn't be a problem anymore. Still, he desperately needed a heavy option. If he ran into a heavily armored variant upstairs, his lightweight katana might glance off. He didn't need the finesse of a swordsman to swing a heavy piece of metal; he just needed the metal to be indestructible.
"Reinforce," Ace commanded, placing his hand flat against the painted foam.
[Cost: 15 UP. Confirm?]
"Confirm."
The sapphire energy violently surged from his chest, pouring into the physical prop. The material hissed, compressing and expanding rapidly as the Arcane logic overwrote its reality. The cheap foam and plastic warped, hardening into a massive, double-edged broadsword. The hilt twisted into the shape of a skeletal ribcage, a dormant horned skull resting heavily at the crossguard.
When the light faded, Ace reached out and gripped the hilt.
[Item Forged: Rebellion (Rank 1 - Common Arcane)]
[Current UP: 0]
Ace grunted, straining slightly as he lifted the massive blade. The weapon was monstrously heavy—just a massive, lethal slab of enchanted steel. It was clumsy, but if he swung it with both hands, whatever it hit was going to shatter. It was the perfect utility stat-stick.
He moved to rest it against his shoulder and realized he didn't even need to fashion a sling. His Demon Hunter's Coat had naturally adapted during its own reinforcement. Hidden seamlessly in the heavy leather between his shoulder blades was a specialized, heavy-duty magnetic latch. Ace slid the massive blade into place. It clicked securely against his back, the cold steel resting perfectly against the crimson coat—anime physics at their absolute finest.
He took off his equipment and sat down to think.
He leaned back on the couch, staring at the heavy steel doors of the Armory, mentally preparing himself for the change above.
Omni-Media hadn't just built an office building; they had built a monument to tech-bro excess. Floors 45 through 49 weren't divided into cubicles or executive suites. They were hollowed out into a massive, five-story atrium bordered by colossal, floor-to-ceiling glass windows that made up one entire side of the building.
It was designed as a "Recreational Park." It featured winding walking paths, imported exotic trees, running water features, and multi-tiered luxury apartments built directly into the inner walls for the CEOs and VIPs who lived in the building. An intricate network of open staircases and a central glass elevator connected the terraced floors, giving anyone inside a breathtaking view of the entire massive space and the Seattle skyline beyond the glass.
But that was before the world ended.
Ace thought about the massive, bioluminescent vines strangling the outside of the skyscraper. He thought about the unnatural mutation of the flora.
If those vines had breached that massive glass wall, that five-story indoor park wasn't a recreational area anymore. The sunlight pouring in, the running water, and the apocalyptic corruption would have turned floors 45 through 49 into a dense, vertical jungle.
He sighed. That was a tomorrow problem; now it was time to train and Trace more weapons.
Ace spent the next two hours running grueling physical drills, swinging the sheer, clumsy weight of Rebellion to build his raw strength before switching to the lightning-fast Kendo strikes of Zangetsu. Sweating and aching, he moved to the Costume Department's massive prop walls one last time. Pushing his mental endurance to the absolute limit, he spent the rest of the night Tracing more weapons into his Matrix. He logged the icy dread of Frostmourne, the chaotic fury of the Blades of Chaos, the holy light of the Master Sword, and a dozen others—fifteen new conceptual weapons in total, deepening his Arsenal bench before his brain finally hit a wall.
Completely exhausted from the physical and spiritual strain, he collapsed onto the leather couch and slept a dreamless sleep until the gray light of dawn crept through the windows.
When he finally woke, his muscles felt tighter, sharper, and perfectly synced with his class mechanics. Ace rolled his shoulders, feeling the comforting, heavy weight of Rebellion clicking onto his back and the sleek curve of Zangetsu resting at his hip. He stood up and looked toward the stairwell.
"Alright," he whispered. "Let's go touch some grass."