The convenience store's back entrance was a rusted rolling iron shutter, propped open just enough to reveal a jagged, pitch-black gap. A dim, yellow glow flickered inside—someone was using a phone flashlight for illumination. The four of us crouched behind a dumpster, moving with the agonizing silence of a server room at midnight.
Voices drifted out, thick with the kind of casual arrogance you only hear from people who think they've already won.
"...This energy crystal is blue. Quality's a tier higher than yesterday's. Whoever snags it levels up first."
"Shut the hell up. Boss said whoever contributes the most gets the first pick."
"Contribution? Last time you cherry-picked three crystals and swallowed them yourself."
"So what? Might makes right. You want some?"
I pressed my back against the brick, listening intently. There were at least five of them, levels ranging from 5 to 7. The loudest one had a grating, nasally tone, like he was auditioning for the role of 'Disposable Henchman #1.'
"They're organized," Mia whispered in my ear. "Sounds like a formal party, not just randoms."
I nodded. I'd seen a few clusters of names climbing the leaderboard together: #12, #19, #31... likely these guys.
Marcus gripped his axe handle, his voice a low rumble. "We going in hot?"
I shook my head. "Outnumbered and under-leveled. We scout first. If we can steal, we steal. If not, we bail."
Tyler swallowed hard. "They have the crystals... the ones we need for the base upgrade."
"Exactly. Which is why we can't be stupid." I pointed toward the gap under the shutter. "I'm going in solo to recon. You guys hold the perimeter. If you hear things go sideways, run."
Mia frowned. "Alex, that's suicide."
"What's suicide is staying at Level 1. If we don't upgrade the territory and another wave of heavies hits tonight, we're finished."
I took a breath and toggled [Analyst's Eye]. Faint lines traced across my vision: the shutter's weak point was a corroded hinge on the bottom left; the interior shelving created a series of blind spots in the shadows. Perfect.
I slid through the gap, belly-crawling like I was playing a stealth game with the difficulty turned up to 'Nightmare.' The storage room smelled like moldy cardboard and stale cigarettes. I tucked myself behind a stack of expired potato chip boxes and peered into the main floor.
Five players.
The leader looked to be in his mid-twenties, sporting a buzz cut and a jagged scar running from his brow to his jaw. He was wearing a tactical vest that definitely didn't come from Earth—it pulsed with a faint light, a name tag floating above it: [Thorn – Lv.7].
He was twirling a short blade that shimmered with a predatory blue glow. Around him were four lackeys: two bruisers, a scout with a recurve bow, and a girl holding a glowing staff—a healer or a mage.
On the floor lay several crates of water and three fist-sized blue gems. Energy Crystals. They hummed with power.
Thorn knelt, picking one up. "System says we can inject these directly into a core. Once we hit Level 2, we get turrets. We should have farmed more yesterday."
The archer let out a sleazy chuckle. "Boss, that shitty diner down the road? Looks like someone claimed it. They cleared a Night Watch quest last night. Some guy named Alex Chen jumped to #47."
Thorn's expression soured. "Alex Chen? A fresh spawn?"
"Yeah, hit Level 4 overnight. But there's seven of them."
Thorn scoffed. "Seven low-level trash mobs. Once we hit Level 2 and get our turrets online, we'll head over and 'incorporate' them. They refuse? We clear the lot and flip the territory."
The girl with the staff spoke up. "Boss, the System warned about PK. We lose Soul Points for killing players. If we go too far..."
"So we lose points," Thorn snapped, tossing the crystal into his bag. "Survival of the fittest. This is a game, isn't it? The one with the biggest stats makes the rules."
My heart hammered against my ribs. Soul Points? The System hadn't mentioned that to us yet. A hidden mechanic.
[Analyst's Eye Triggered: Player Conflict Rules Detected]
[Warning: First player kill deducts 10 Soul Points. Consecutive kills increase penalty. Soul Points at 0 = Permanent Deletion.]
I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the storage room's draft. This wasn't a game. It was a death match with a built-in ban hammer.
I started to back away, ready to vanish. But then, the archer's head snapped toward the storage room.
"Who's there?"
I froze.
The archer drew his bow, the tip of the arrow centered right on my stack of boxes. Thorn narrowed his eyes. "Come out, little mouse. I can smell the sweaty programmer stench from here."
Shit. Cover blown.
No more stealth. I went for the loud option.
"Mia! RUN!" I screamed, bolting for the back door.
The archer let fly. I rolled, the arrow thudding into the wall where my head had been a second ago.
[HP: 98 / 148 (Minor Graze)]
Outside, Marcus heard the shout and didn't hesitate. He kicked the iron shutter upward with a deafening bang and swung his axe at the archer, forcing him to dive back. "Keep your hands off our dev!"
Combat exploded.
Thorn sneered, flicking his short blade. A burst of blue energy erupted from the steel.
[Skill: Thorn Entanglement Lv.3]
Vine-like energy tendrils surged from the floor, lashing out at us.
"Don't fight them!" I yelled. "Grab a crystal and go!"
Tyler charged in from the flank, firing a bolt at the healer to keep her busy. Mia smashed a bottle of whiskey we'd brought from the diner, lighting the spill with her lighter. The sudden wall of fire charred Thorn's vines, giving me a window.
I dove through the chaos, lunging for the floor. My fingers closed around one of the blue crystals, and I shoved it into my jacket.
Thorn's eyes went red. "You're dead, kid!"
He lunged, the blue blade whistling toward my throat. I brought up the tire iron. Metal screamed against metal, sparks showering my face. The strength gap was massive; I was blown back three steps, my arms going numb.
[Stamina -15]
But I wasn't done. I triggered [Improvised Traps Lv.1], kicking a stack of empty plastic soda crates directly into Thorn's path.
As he stepped forward to finish me, his foot caught the sliding plastic. He overbalanced—tripping.
I didn't wait to see him hit the ground. "GO! EVERYBODY OUT!"
We scrambled out of the convenience store, Thorn's roar echoing behind us. "Alex Chen! I'm going to remember your face! Next time I see you, your base belongs to me!"
We didn't stop running until we hit the translucent shimmer of Dawn Station, lungs burning as we collapsed inside the safe zone.
[Item Obtained: Energy Crystal (Blue) x1]
[Quest Complete: First Recon! +80 Territory XP]
[Warning: You have been marked as Hostile by Player 'Thorn'. PK penalties reduced by 10% for future encounters.]
Marcus sat on the floor, gasping for air. "Those sons of bitches... they're actually hunting players."
Mia's face was ashen. "They're organized. They know the mechanics better than we do. We have to move."
I pulled the crystal from my pocket and slammed it into the diner's core.
[Injecting Energy Crystal...]
[Dawn Station Upgrading...]
[Territory Level: Lvl 1 → Lvl 2]
The walls hummed with power. The defensive shimmer thickened, and a crude wooden watchtower began to manifest near the entrance.
[New Functions Unlocked:]
Basic Sentry Turret (Manual operation, 50m range, Medium Damage).
Resource Node: Parking Lot (Generates 10 Basic Materials/Day).
Territory Reputation: +50 (Visible to other players).
But then, a warning in bleeding red text appeared.
[Warning: Hostile Player Party 'Thorn' has entered a 500m radius. Attack imminent within 1 hour.]
I looked at the group. Tyler was shaking. The others looked like they were ready to bolt.
"They're coming," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "And we're going to have to fight for this place."
"We're only Level 4," Tyler stammered.
I looked up at the newly formed sentry tower and gripped my tire iron.
"We're low level, sure. But we have a base, we have a team, and we have a brain. Now, let's get to work."
[To be continued...]