One Kick Girl — Chapter 86: "Echo-Leg vs. Elevator Music"
POV: Raon (with Echo-Leg interjections)
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1. The Elevator of Doomed Destiny
Bureau Tower had 99 floors.
Floor 1: Lobby.
Floor 99: Director Kimchi and Three Unspoken War Crimes.
I needed to get to Floor 60 for "Mandatory Resonance Stabilization Drills."
Which was government code for:
> "Please stop destroying the city by accident."
Shion had already retreated to her office after three separate migraines.
So I took the elevator alone.
Worst mistake of my life.
I stepped inside. Doors closed.
The screen blinked:
> ♪ CONFIRMED: CALMING CORPORATE ELEVATOR MUSIC MODE ♪
A soft, gentle jazz loop activated.
A whisper echoed from my shin:
> kill
"No," I hissed.
"We're not doing this again."
> volume is disrespectful. eliminate.
"It's literally low-fi saxophone."
> saxophone is the weapon of tyrants.
I stared down at my glowing gold leg.
"I miss when you were just a limb."
> i am improvement.
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2. The Music Gets Ideas
At floor 12, the elevator's speakers warbled.
The jazz loop glitched—then became anime opening remix, synth pads and heroic drums.
Echo-Leg pulsed like a sunbeam.
> battle.
"We are not in a battle," I murmured.
> THIS IS WAR.
A bass drop thundered.
The elevator vibrated.
My knee twitched like a trained assassin.
I clenched the rail.
"You will NOT kick anything—"
> target acquired.
"What target—"
The speakers.
The ones inside the ceiling panel.
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3. Decision Point
I looked up.
> da-da-da DAAAA daaaa… RISE, HERO OF TOMORROW—
Echo-Leg hummed. Resonance pooled around my heel. The gold glow sharpened like a blade.
> Strike before the chorus.
"ARE YOU INSANE? THAT'S THE BEST PART!"
> the chorus will consume all who hear it.
"That's literally the point of anime openings!"
> i do not tolerate propaganda.
I screamed at the ceiling.
"THIS IS NOT PROPAGANDA—IT'S CULTURE."
The elevator answered by adding auto-tuned vocals.
Echo-Leg whispered:
> permission to execute.
"…granted."
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4. The Kick of Legendary Bad Decisions
My heel shot up.
No hesitation. No mercy. No courtesy for OSHA regulations.
I delivered a spinning crescent kick straight into the speaker panel.
The sound didn't break— Reality did.
Gold resonance erupted like a sonic grenade. The elevator shook violently. Floor numbers flashed like stock market panic.
The music screeched and then died like a small animal hit by a truck.
Silence.
Beautiful, pure, terrified silence.
Echo-Leg purred:
> victory.
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5. The Elevator Reacts
An automated voice crackled:
> NOTICE: RESONANCE ANOMALY DETECTED. ENTERING MUSIC HARDMODE.
"What—"
The speakers rebooted.
Instead of calm jazz or anime OP…
It was…
ELEVATOR VERSION OF EUROBEAT.
Fast. Unhinged. Illegal in seven countries.
The whole cabin turned into a nightclub for demons.
Echo-Leg vibrated like a blender.
> HEAVEN.
"NO—BAD—HEEL—DOWN."
The beat accelerated. My pulse matched it. Echo-Leg flashed gold streaks across the walls.
The elevator lights strobed.
I knew: If the chorus hit, we'd break sound laws and probably the building.
So I picked the lesser crime.
I kicked the wall.
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6. Elevator System: Rage Mode
The elevator snapped into emergency lockdown.
Red lights. Sirens. Robotic voice.
> PASSENGER DETECTED: MEGATHREAT.
"What the—MEGATHREAT?!"
> DEPLOYING DEFENSE: MUZAK CANON.
The entire ceiling opened.
A speaker cluster bigger than a vending machine descended like a vengeful god of Spotify.
Echo-Leg screamed:
> FINALLY A WORTHY FOE
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7. The Final Kick
It fired.
Not music. Not sound.
Corporate sales-conference dubstep.
Weaponized PowerPoint energy.
My eyes watered.
I had a flashback to Dome's therapy sun. To Baron Silence's tomb of stolen music. To DJ Bloop screaming at me in glitch language.
I had no choice.
I jumped.
I spun.
I kicked.
Heel to subwoofer.
The elevator detonated.
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8. Aftermath
Doors opened to Floor 38.
Smoke poured out.
Alarms blared.
A team of bureaucratic responders stared at me: helmets, clipboards, trauma in their eyes.
One pointed shakily.
"…Why is your leg glowing?"
Echo-Leg responded:
> because it is destined.
I raised my hands.
"It was the music."
They looked at the ceiling—now a crater.
"…You assaulted elevator infrastructure?"
"It assaulted me first!"
Echo-Leg hummed in smug agreement.
> Round 2 soon.
I glared down at it.
"We're taking the stairs next time."
> coward.