Riri moved along the left wall, knife held low, eyes tracking the darkness ahead. Emergency lighting persisted here—sickly yellow bulbs spaced thirty feet apart, most dead or dying. The sections between lights were absolute black. Her boots crunched on debris. Broken glass. Something that might have been bone. The System's objective counter ticked upward as she progressed.
[Objective Progress: Clear all enemies (4/87)]
Still eighty-three hostiles somewhere in this warren. The question was distribution—were they clustered in nests, or scattered across the entire station? Movement skittered in the dark ahead. Riri stopped. Three rats emerged from the shadows, spread across the tunnel width. All Level 3. They didn't charge—just watched her with those too-intelligent yellow eyes. Testing her.
She took one deliberate step forward.
The rats scattered—two bolted deeper into the tunnel, one dove into a maintenance alcove to her right. Interesting. They were afraid. Riri filed that observation away and kept moving. The tunnel sloped downward, curving gradually to the right. Water dripped from somewhere overhead—steady, rhythmic, maddening.
After fifty yards, the tunnel opened into a maintenance junction. Four passages branched off in different directions, each marked with faded signage.
TRACKS 1-2. TRACKS 3-4. ELECTRICAL. STORAGE.
And in the center of the junction, clustered around what looked like the remains of a maintenance cart, were twelve rats. Levels ranged from 3 to 5. The Level 5s were noticeably larger—mastiff-sized, with patchy fur and exposed muscle.
[Corrupted Rat - Level 5] [HP: 75/75]
[Corrupted Rat - Level 5] [HP: 75/75]
[Corrupted Rat - Level 4] [HP: 60/60]
Nine more health bars floated above the cluster. Riri's pulse spiked. Twelve versus one. In open ground. Bad odds.
She backpedaled into the tunnel, keeping her movements slow. The rats noticed—heads swiveling in unison, noses twitching. One of the Level 5s took a step toward her. Riri's gaze swept the junction, looking for advantages.
Exposed piping along the ceiling. A breaker box bolted to the wall, door hanging open, wires spilling out like entrails.
Wait. She looked up. The pipes overhead were old iron, thick with rust. One section sagged visibly, held in place by a single corroded bracket.
Twenty-five Luck. Let's test it.
Riri shifted her grip on the knife, took three running steps into the junction, and hurled the blade at the bracket. The throw was terrible—off-balance, no follow-through, aimed purely on instinct. The blade tumbled end-over-end, missed the bracket by two feet— —and struck a secondary support strut she hadn't even seen.
The strut snapped. The bracket gave way. Ten feet of rusted iron pipe crashed down onto the rat cluster. The impact was deafening—metal on concrete, bone crunching, rats shrieking. Water exploded from the broken pipe, flooding the junction floor in seconds.
[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Rat - Level 3] x4
[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Rat - Level 4] x2
[Corrupted Rat - Level 5 HP: 31/75]
[Corrupted Rat - Level 5 HP: 48/75]
[+90 EXP]
Six dead instantly. Two Level 5s injured but mobile. Four Level 3s scrambling through the rising water, disoriented. Riri didn't wait. She waded into the flood, scooped her knife from where it had clattered against the wall, and went for the injured Level 5s first.
The first one tried to turn—she drove the blade into the base of its skull. The second lunged—she sidestepped, let it crash into the wall, finished it with a slash across the throat.
[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Rat - Level 5] x2
[+40 EXP]
The remaining four Level 3s scattered into the side tunnels, abandoning the junction entirely. Riri stood knee-deep in cold water, chest heaving, blade dripping. The pipe continued to gush water, filling the junction at an alarming rate.
[Objective Progress: Clear all enemies (16/87)]
Sixteen down. Seventy-one to go. System #2's interface practically vibrated with excitement.
[Luck Proc: Environmental Hazard Triggered!]
[Bonus: Combo Kill multiplier applied! +15 Credits] → [+45 Credits (Triple Reward Active)]
Riri checked her Status.
[EXP: 145/200]
[Stamina: 71/110]
Close to another level. Stamina holding steady despite the exertion—forty-seven Agility meant her movements were efficient, minimal wasted energy. The water reached her thighs. Time to move. She waded toward the TRACKS 3-4 tunnel, chosen purely because it sloped upward and would drain faster. Behind her, the junction continued to flood, water creeping toward the other passages. Seventy-one rats left. She had five hours and forty-three minutes remaining. Plenty of time.
The TRACKS 3-4 tunnel was narrower than the main passage—barely six feet across, ceiling low enough that Riri had to duck beneath exposed wiring. The slope was steep, forcing her to brace one hand against the wall for balance. Water from the flooded junction trickled past her boots, forming a shallow stream that disappeared into the darkness ahead. No rats yet. Just silence and the sound of dripping water.
After thirty yards, the tunnel leveled out and opened into what looked like an abandoned platform. Smaller than the main station—probably a maintenance stop or overflow area. Two sets of tracks ran parallel, separated by a narrow walkway. And crouched on the far track, illuminated by a single flickering bulb, was a rat the size of a Great Dane.
[Corrupted Alpha Rat - Level 5 - ELITE] [HP: 150/150]
Elite. Wonderful.
The creature's fur was patchy, revealing scar tissue and exposed muscle beneath. Its eyes glowed a brighter yellow than the standard rats—almost luminous. When it exhaled, vapor plumed from its nostrils. It was staring directly at her. Riri's grip tightened on the knife. A hundred and fifty HP. That was triple a standard Level 5.
And Elite tags usually meant special abilities.
The Alpha's muscles bunched. Riri dove sideways as the creature launched itself across the tracks. It moved fast—blur-fast, inhumanly fast—and slammed into the wall where she'd been standing. Concrete cracked.
[Alpha Rat used Charge! +50% movement speed for 3 seconds]
Sometimes…she hated being right.
The Alpha recovered instantly, pivoting on massive hind legs. Its jaws opened—teeth like railroad spikes—and it lunged again. Riri rolled beneath the attack, came up near the edge of the platform. Her boot slipped on something slick—oil, maybe, or old blood—and she stumbled. The Alpha's claw raked across her shoulder.
[HP: 95/120]
Pain flared—sharp, hot, immediate. The tactical jacket's fabric tore. Blood welled beneath. Riri hissed through her teeth and lashed out with the knife. Blade connected with the Alpha's foreleg, cutting shallow.
[Alpha Rat HP: 141/150]
Nine damage. Pathetic. The Alpha snarled and lunged again. Riri threw herself backward, hit the ground hard, rolled to her feet. Her shoulder throbbed. Blood soaked through the jacket's lining, warm and sticky. She needed an advantage. The knife wasn't enough—not against that HP pool, not with her low Strength.
Her gaze swept the platform. Tracks. Walkway. A maintenance ladder bolted to the wall. Exposed electrical conduit running along the ceiling.
Wait. The water from the flooded junction was still trickling into this area. A shallow puddle had formed near the base of the tracks—maybe an inch deep, spreading slowly. And the exposed conduit was sparking. I
f that wasn't a sign, Riri didn't know what else was.
She backed toward the puddle, keeping the knife between her and the Alpha. The creature stalked forward, muscles coiled, eyes locked on her.
"Come on," she muttered. "Just a little closer."
The Alpha charged. Riri spun and sprinted for the ladder. Her boots hit the first rung just as the Alpha's jaws snapped shut where her ankle had been. She climbed—two rungs, three, four—and grabbed the sparking conduit with her free hand. Electricity arced through her palm. Pain exploded up her arm.
[HP: 82/120]
She yanked the conduit free from its mounting—wires tearing loose, sparks showering down—and threw it into the puddle below. The Alpha was already in the water, mid-leap toward the ladder.
The conduit hit the puddle.
Electricity discharge lit the platform in brilliant white. The Alpha convulsed, muscles locking, a sound like grinding metal ripping from its throat.
[Alpha Rat HP: 98/150] [Status Effect: Paralyzed - 5 seconds]
Riri dropped from the ladder, landed in a crouch beside the convulsing creature. The paralysis wouldn't last long. She drove the knife into the Alpha's eye. Blade punched through socket, scraped against bone, sank deep. She twisted, felt something vital give way.
[Critical Hit!] [Alpha Rat HP: 14/150]
The creature thrashed once—violent, desperate—then went still.
[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Alpha Rat - Level 5 - ELITE]
[+75 EXP] [Bonus Drop: Rat Fang Dagger (Uncommon)]
[Level Up! You are now Level 3!]
[+15 Stat Points Available]
[HP and Stamina Fully Restored]
Warmth flooded her body again. The gash on her shoulder sealed itself, pain evaporating. Her HP bar refilled to 130/130. Riri pulled the knife free, wiped it on her pants. The Alpha's corpse dissolved into gray mist, leaving behind a curved dagger with a blade made from what looked like polished bone.
She picked it up.
[Rat Fang Dagger (Uncommon)] [Attack: +30]
[Durability: 50/50]
[Special: Inflicts Bleed on critical hits]
Better than the Common knife by a significant margin. She equipped it immediately, letting the old blade dissolve. Fifteen more stat points. She dumped them all into Agility again.
[Agility: 47 → 62]
Her movements sharpened further. Reflexes faster, balance more precise.
[Objective Progress: Clear all enemies (17/87)]
Seventy rats left. Four hours and fifty-eight minutes remaining. Riri checked her inventory—three Health Potions untouched, two Stamina Tonics unused.
The level-ups had negated the need for consumables so far. Good. She'd save them for emergencies. The tunnel ahead stretched into darkness. Somewhere in that black, seventy more hostiles waited.
She started walking.