The automatic doors of the AFK-Mart slid shut. They cut off the sterilized safety of the convenience store.
Rei was back in the soup.
The humidity of New Kowloon hit her like a wet towel to the face. It was thick. Cloying. It smelled of exhaust fumes, frying grease from a street vendor, and the faint, sweet rot of garbage waiting to be collected.
But this time, Rei didn't hunch her shoulders. She stood on the curb. She clutched the cold water bottle to her chest like a loot drop.
[ MISSION COMPLETE: TOUCH GRASS ]
[ REWARD: +50 THIRST ]
[ CURRENT BALANCE: 67 / 500,000 ]
"Sixty-seven credits," she whispered. She looked at the number floating in her HUD. "I risked public exposure and terminal cringe for the price of a used video game."
It was pathetic. It was grinding Level 1 slimes.
But she had done it. She had survived the raid.
[ HEAT: 42% (STABLE) ]
[ STATUS: DAMP ]
She started the walk back.
STEP. RUB. STEP.
SLIDE.
The friction was still there. The "Ventilation Protocol" ensured that her sweatpants clung to her damp inner thighs like a second skin.
It was torture. It was the specific kind of torture she usually read about in 3 AM fanfiction, but happening to her. Right now. On a public sidewalk.
But now, Rei viewed it differently.
It wasn't just shame anymore. It was XP Farming.
Every wet, sticky step was proof that her "Endurance" stat was climbing. She was tanking the embarrassment.
The city of New Kowloon towered above her. If she craned her neck, which she didn't because looking up triggered vertigo, she would see the Upper Levels. Pristine, chrome-plated skyscrapers piercing the smog clouds. Glowing with the clean blue logos of Shimizu Pharma and G-Glitch Technologies.
Up there, the air was filtered. Up there, people wore underwear.
Down here in Sector 4, the neon signs were cracked. They buzzed with the sound of angry wasps. Holographic ads for "Fast Loans" and "Cheap Bliss" flickered on the brick walls. They glitched into static every few seconds.
BZZT.
Her phone vibrated in her hoodie pocket.
Rei fished it out. She checked the screen while keeping her stride rhythmic to minimize the schlick sound of her thighs rubbing together.
[ MESSAGE FROM: RIKA ]
Attachment: A low-res meme of a goblin hoarding gold.
Rika: seen this and thought of u.
u alive? haven't seen u online in 2 days. tell me ur not dead so i don't have to delete ur browser history.
[ MESSAGE FROM: DANA ]
Dana: Hey Rei! Just checking in. I know you're going through a tough time, but I saw a cute cat cafe opened on Level 3. Maybe we could go next week? My treat! Miss you. xoxo
Rei stared at the screens. Two different timelines.
Rika. Her online best friend who lived in the "degenerate" trenches and thought "touching grass" was a slur.
And Dana. Her high school friend who radiated so much wholesome "normie" energy it physically hurt Rei to look at the text bubble.
"I can't go to a cat cafe, Dana," Rei muttered. She shoved the phone back into her pocket. "I'm currently speed-waddling home because a demon stole my panties to teach me about market economics."
She couldn't be a normie anymore. She had spec'd into a different class entirely.
She rounded the final corner to her apartment complex. She bolted the last fifty meters. Her flip-flops slapped loudly against the pavement.
She slammed into the lobby. The smell of stale floor wax welcomed her home. She hit the elevator button repeatedly. She watched the numbers tick down like a cooldown timer.
When the doors slid open on her floor, she stepped out. Her legs wobbled like jelly.
The adrenaline dump was hitting her now. The "Boss Fight" crash.
Then she saw it.
Light spilled out from under her apartment door.
Rei stopped dead. The Gamer Brain turned off. The cold, sharp dread of reality washed over her.
Mom.
Elena Locke was home.
Rei looked down at herself. She was flushed. Sweating. Clutching a water bottle and visibly trembling. She smelled like arousal and fear.
She looked like she'd just run a marathon through a red-light district.
"Okay," she whispered, smoothing down her hoodie. "Stealth check. Act normal. You just went to the store. You are a human daughter doing human things."
[ SANITY: 55% ]
[ WARNING: DECEPTION CHECK IMMINENT ]
She unlocked the door and stepped inside.
"I'm home," she called out. Her voice cracked slightly.
The living room was small. Cluttered. Warm.
Elena was sitting at the small kitchen table. She was still wearing her work uniform. A generic gray office suit that looked too big for her thin frame. Her head was in her hands.
She looked up as Rei entered. Her face was pale. Lined with exhaustion. But when she saw Rei, she forced a smile. It was a brittle, fragile thing.
"Rei," Elena said, her voice soft. "You went out?"
"Yeah," Rei said. She stayed by the door, hugging herself to hide the trembling. "Just... needed water."
Elena's eyes scanned her. Rei held her breath.
Does she know? Can she see the HUD? Can she smell the demons?
"That's good," Elena sighed. She rubbed her temples. "It's good to get fresh air. I'm sorry I'm late. The... the cannery was busy tonight. Lots of overtime."
Rei looked at her mother. Really looked at her.
[ PASSIVE SKILL TRIGGERED: DATA BREACH (LVL 1) ]
It happened automatically. The System overlay flickered to life. It projected text over Elena's head like a wiki page.
[ TARGET: ELENA LOCKE ]
[ STATUS: EXHAUSTED / OVERWORKED ]
[ WORKPLACE: THE VELVET LOTUS (SECTOR 4) ]
[ TRUTH: LIE DETECTED ]
Rei's stomach dropped.
The Velvet Lotus.
She knew that name. It wasn't a cannery. It was a high-end brothel in the Red Light District.
Her mother wasn't canning tuna. She was servicing clients. To pay for the apartment. To pay for Rei's internet. To pay the debt.
"Mom..." Rei started, but the words died in her throat.
"I'm going to bed, sweetie," Elena said. She stood up shakily. She winced as she moved, a hand going to her lower back. "My feet are killing me. Don't stay up too late, okay?"
"Okay," Rei whispered.
She watched her mother shuffle to her bedroom and close the door.
Rei stood alone in the hallway.
The Heat between her legs was still there. Throbbing. Demanding attention. But now, it was mixed with a cold, hard rage.
She looked at her HUD.
[ DEBT: 500,000 ]
Mom was playing the game on Hard Mode with no skills. No system. No protection. She was letting the city eat her alive to keep Rei safe.
"Okay, Nyx," Rei whispered to the empty air. The fear was evaporating. It was replaced by a cold, gamer-like calculation. "You want me to be a Succubus? Fine."
She turned and marched into her bedroom. She locked the door behind her.
"I'm going to be the best damn Succubus this city has ever seen. And I'm going to clear the board."
[ HEAT: 48% (CRITICAL) ]
[ SUGGESTION: MANUAL OVERRIDE RECOMMENDED ]