[LATE NIGHT – SATO RESIDENCE]
The house was quiet.
Lilly sat at the kitchen table, her laptop open. The screen glowed with encrypted maps of District 9.
"Industrial sector," she whispered to herself. "Abandoned since the '98 riots. High criminal density. No cameras."
She looked at the clock. 11:15 PM.
Noah walked into the kitchen. He was wearing a black hoodie and dark cargo pants. He looked serious.
"You're going," Lilly said. It wasn't a question.
Noah nodded as he tied his shoelaces.
"Yeah. I have to."
(If I don't get that discount, my allowance is doomed forever.)
Lilly stood up. "I'm coming with you."
Noah paused. He looked at her.
"No," he said firmly. "It's going to be crowded. And messy."
(It's a midnight sale, Lilly. People push and shove. You're too small; you'll get trampled.)
Lilly clenched her fists. "I can handle messy."
"It's better if I go alone," Noah insisted. "I can move faster. Get in, get the... thing... and get out."
(The thing being the coupon redemption.)
Lilly searched his eyes. She saw determination. A willingness to face danger alone to protect her.
"…Okay," she whispered. "But take this."
She handed him a small, black earpiece.
"If you scream," she said, "I'm calling everyone."
Noah blinked.
"Why would I scream?"
(It's just an arcade sale. It's not a haunted house.)
He put the earpiece in anyway. "Thanks."
He opened the back door and slipped into the night.
[DISTRICT 9 – MIDNIGHT]
The rain had stopped, but the fog had rolled in.
District 9 wasn't an arcade.
It was a maze of rusted shipping containers, broken streetlights, and silence.
Noah checked his phone. 11:55 PM.
"This map is terrible," he muttered, kicking a loose can. "Where is the entrance?"
He held the crumpled note in his hand.
"Maybe it's a pop-up store?" Noah wondered. "Like those secret fashion drops Nana talks about."
He turned a corner into a wide, open clearing between two warehouses.
He stopped.
There were people here.
A lot of people.
But they weren't shoppers.
Thirty men stood in the mist. They wore tactical vests, masks, and held weapons that definitely weren't for sale.
At the center of the clearing sat a single wooden chair.
And sitting in it, smiling that annoying smile, was the Man.
[THE SMILING MAN – POV]
"He came," the Smiling Man whispered.
The mercenaries shifted uneasily.
"Is that him?" one asked. "Just a kid?"
"That," the Smiling Man said, standing up, "is the one who broke the glass."
He spread his arms wide.
"Welcome, Noah Sato!"
[NOAH – POV]
Noah squinted.
Is that... the weird guy from the street?
Why is he here? Does he work for the arcade?
Noah looked at the thirty men. They looked tough. They were blocking the way forward.
Oh, Noah realized. This is the line.
These guys are queuing for the sale too. Man, they look serious. They brought gear.
Noah sighed. He hated cutting lines, but he had a specific invitation.
He stepped forward.
"Excuse me," Noah called out. "I have a note?"
The mercenaries tensed. Hands hovered over holsters.
The Smiling Man laughed. "A note! He brings a note to a war!"
Noah held up the crumpled paper.
"It says Midnight," Noah said, walking closer. "Am I late?"
One mercenary—a giant man with a metal bat—stepped in Noah's path.
"You're dead, kid," the man growled.
Noah frowned.
Dead? Is that slang for 'last in line'?
"Look," Noah said politely. "I just want to get in, get the deal, and leave. I don't want any trouble."
The man swung the bat.
[THE ACCIDENT]
Noah saw a penny on the ground.
A shiny, lucky penny.
"Oh!" Noah gasped.
He dropped to his knees to grab it.
The metal bat whooshed over his head, missing him by a millimeter. The force of the swing was so hard that the mercenary spun around, lost his balance, and slammed face-first into a shipping container.
CLANG.
The mercenary slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Noah stood up, holding the penny.
"Yes!" he whispered. "Lucky!"
He looked at the unconscious man.
"Whoa, dude. Careful. The floor is slippery."
Silence.
Absolute, terrified silence.
The other twenty-nine mercenaries took a step back.
"D-Did you see that?" one whispered.
"He ducked the swing... without even looking."
"He moved faster than eyesight."
"And he picked up a coin... to mock him."
The Smiling Man's eyes lit up with ecstasy.
"Magnificent," he breathed.
[CONTROL ROOM – SATELLITE FEED]
"Target down!" the analyst screamed. "Noah neutralized the heavy hitter in 0.4 seconds!"
The Commander stared at the screen.
"He grabbed a coin," the Commander noted.
"Sir?"
"He took a trophy," the Commander said, voice filled with awe. "He dropped an elite mercenary, took his payment from the ground, and stood back up."
"What kind of monster charges for a beatdown mid-fight?"
[BACK IN THE CLEARING]
Noah put the penny in his pocket and looked at the group.
"Okay," Noah said, checking his watch. "Anyone else?"
(Anyone else want to grab that penny? No? Good.)
To the mercenaries, it was a challenge.
Anyone else want to die?
They hesitated.
Noah sighed. He walked forward, straight toward the Smiling Man.
The mercenaries parted like the Red Sea. They were paid to fight, not to die against a supernatural coin-collecting demon.
Noah stopped in front of the Smiling Man.
"Okay," Noah said, holding out the crumpled note. "I'm here."
The Smiling Man looked at the note. Then at Noah.
"You are everything I hoped for," the Man whispered.
Noah blinked.
"Thanks? So... is the discount still valid?"
The Smiling Man paused.
"The... what?"
"The deal," Noah said. "For the glass. I broke the glass."
The Smiling Man's smile faltered for the first time.
"You want... payment? For breaking the seal?"
Noah nodded. "Yeah. It was expensive."
The Smiling Man threw his head back and laughed. A manic, terrifying sound.
"He wants payment! He wants a bounty!"
The Man reached into his jacket.
The mercenaries flinched.
The Government watchers held their breath.
He pulled out a heavy, gold medallion. It had a weird symbol on it.
He tossed it to Noah.
"Take it," the Smiling Man said. "It's yours."
Noah caught it. It was heavy.
Is this a token? Like a super-token for the arcade?
"Cool," Noah said. "Thanks."
He put it in his pocket.
"Well," Noah said, looking around the foggy, creepy warehouse district. "I gotta go. Nana worries."
(Even if Nana's not home! It's late.)
He turned around and walked away.
Through the mercenaries.
Past the unconscious guy.
Into the fog.
No one stopped him.
[LILLY'S EARPIECE]
"I got it," Noah's voice came through, clear and calm. "It was weirdly crowded, but I got a golden token."
Lilly slumped in her chair, sweat dripping down her face.
"He got the token," she whispered. "He defeated the boss and took the emblem."
[THE SMILING MAN]
He watched Noah disappear.
"He didn't even draw a weapon," the Man murmured. "He treated us like insects."
He touched his earpiece.
"Tell the Network," he said. "The King has returned."
[NOAH – WALKING HOME]
Noah flipped the gold coin in his hand.
"I wonder if this works on the claw machine?" he wondered. "I hope it's worth at least fifty bucks."
He hummed a tune, unaware that he had just been crowned the leader of the underworld's most dangerous faction.