Jace led fast, and low.
Down broken stairwells, through half-collapsed tunnels, across bridges made from scrap and wire. Drift's underbelly wasn't just rotting,it was alive, pulsing with flickering lights and coin-fed machines that drained energy from the air.
Kael followed, hood up, hands in pockets.
His balance ticked again: 58 Coins.
The system didn't care if he was hiding. It still charged him for existing.
---
They finally stopped in front of a steel door, barely visible behind layers of graffiti. A coin slot scanner blinked faint blue.
Jace pulled a small coin from his sleeve,thin, scratched, not system-issued.
> "Undermarket pass," he muttered. "One use."
He slid it in.
The door unlocked with a clunk, revealing a narrow hallway lit by exposed wires.
"Welcome to the cracks," Jace said. "Where the real players stay hidden."
---
They walked past makeshift stalls. Players with blank faces hawked stolen gear, scrap skills, illegal food. Kael's bounty balance hovered over his head, but no one moved.
No one wanted to die.
The Undermarket didn't care about system bounties — only coin flow.
---
They stopped at a booth made from a repurposed shipping crate.
A woman sat inside, legs crossed, spinning a black-glass coin mask in one hand.
Her eyes were covered by digital lenses, glowing softly.
"Name?" she asked.
Jace nudged Kael.
"…Kael."
She snorted. "Not anymore."
---
She tapped the screen.
> "Name wipe: 25 Coins."
"Balance mask: 50 Coins."
"Black Coin user fee: 10 Coins per hour."
Kael flinched. That's 85 Coins. He only had 58.
She grinned.
"Short on balance? You can always trade… something else."
---
The scanner hummed.
Kael's palm hovered over the black-glass panel, cold light pulsing as the Mask Dealer leaned in, lenses flickering with data feeds.
> [Trace Scan: Active]
Black Coin Residue: Detected
System Alert: Signal Interference Logged
Sync Warning: Ledger Guard Trace Risk (Medium)
Kael clenched his jaw.
> "Make it quick."
The scanner flashed once—sharp, blinding—and then it was over. A small vial filled with shimmering black code particles slid into the dealer's hand.
She grinned.
"Worth every coin," she murmured, pocketing it.
---
> [Name Wipe: Confirmed]
Your new ID: Null-13
Balance Mask: Active (Displays 12 Coins)
Bounty Mask: Suppressed – 48 hrs
Kael's real balance still read 58 Coins, but anyone scanning him now would see 12 — just another broke player.
No bounty. No alert.
Invisible.
---
"You're free to go," the dealer said, kicking back with a lazy smile. "For now."
Jace clapped him on the shoulder. "Told you she was legit."
Kael didn't reply.
His gut twisted. The scan felt wrong. Too clean.
> [System Alert: New Tracker Attached]
Source: Unknown
Signal Trace Active: 3%... 4%...
Kael's eyes narrowed.
She didn't just scan him. She tagged him.
---
He stepped back, fast.
> "Remove it. Now."
The woman's smile sharpened.
"Refunds cost extra."
Kael's hand clenched. His balance surged 58 → 60 Coins — her system tried to drain him without warning.
Black Coin residue sparked at his fingertips, uncalled but waiting.
---
> [Black Coin Use Available: "Signal Jam"]
Cost: 1 Black Coin
Effect: Disable local trackers. Duration: 1 hour.
Kael didn't think.
He activated it.
---
The lights flickered, the screens glitched, and the woman's lenses sparked — she screamed, grabbing her face.
The room darkened.
Kael turned, already moving.
> [Black Coin Use Logged]
[Tracker Disabled. Trace Lost.]
---
Jace chased after him. "That was insane!"
Kael didn't stop.
He was done playing safe.
---
Kael and Jace burst into the night.
Drift's underbelly swallowed them again — blinking signs, coin-fed machines, the hum of survival.
Jace pulled Kael into another alley, panting. "You just black-jammed the Mask Dealer. She'll have a bounty on you now—not system posted. Street-posted."
Kael didn't care.
He felt clear for the first time since the Coinverse began.
Balance: 58 Coins
Tracker: Offline
Bounty: Masked
He was off-grid — but not safe.
---
Jace hesitated. "There's… someone else you need to meet."
Kael turned.
Jace's eyes darted. "I wasn't gonna say anything, but after that stunt? You're gonna need coin flow fast. There's a coin trap broker nearby. Illegal auctions. Off-grid kills."
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"Coin trap?"
Jace nodded. "You bait high-balance players into fights. Auction triggers mid-battle. Trap triggers. Winner takes everything."
Kael considered it.
Risky. Illegal.
Perfect.
---
> "Take me."
Jace smirked. "Didn't think you'd say no."
---
They moved again. Down. Deeper.
Into a coin-lit vault, where numbers glowed on every wall, and balance bled from the air.
At the center stood a man, face hidden behind a steel coin mask, voice like static.
> "You want to buy a trap, Black Coiner?"
"Or do you want to be the bait?"
Kael stepped forward.
"I want it all."
---
Kael stood in the middle of Drift's toll street, the coin trap disk pulsing faintly beneath his feet.
Across from him, Tess Vale approached — tall, armored, confident. Her balance floated high over her head: 312 Coins, glowing gold.
She didn't draw a weapon. She didn't need to.
> "So you're the bounty boy," Tess said, amused. "Didn't expect you to show yourself."
Kael said nothing.
He just stepped back — one pace.
Onto the trap.
---
> [COIN TRAP ACTIVATED]
Auction Mode: LIVE
All skills locked. Balance bidding initiated.
Prize: Control of battlefield. Winner sets fight rules.
Tess blinked. "You set a trap?"
Kael smirked.
> "Let's bid."
---
The auction feed appeared mid-air between them.
> [Initial Bid: Tess — 20 Coins]
[Kael — 1 Coin]
She laughed. "You're broke, remember?"
Kael didn't blink.
> [Tess — 50 Coins]
[Kael — 2 Coins]
Tess's eyes narrowed. "You serious?"
She raised her bid.
> [Tess — 100 Coins]
[Kael — 3 Coins]
Tess growled.
> "You're just wasting time."
---
She raised again.
> [Tess — 150 Coins]
[Kael — 4 Coins]
---
The trap flashed.
> [Auction Timer Ending... 3... 2... 1]
Highest Bid: Tess — 150 Coins
Control: Granted
Balance Drain: Activated — User: Tess Vale
Coin Loss: 150 Coins deducted.
---
Kael smiled.
> [Black Coin Skill Available: Balance Theft]
Cost: 1 Black Coin
Effect: Steal 50% of enemy's balance.
---
Kael moved.
> [Balance Theft: Activated]
Tess gasped.
Her balance drained again — 162 → 81 → 0.
She staggered.
> [Buy Death: Triggered]
She fell.
---
> [You have earned 312 Coins]
New Balance: 369 Coins
Bounty Status: Elevated
Kael pocketed the trap disk, now burnt out.
Behind him, Drift watched.
He walked away without a word.
---
Kael didn't sleep.
He couldn't. Not with 10,000 Coins posted on his head and every player in Drift suddenly trying to guess where he'd go next.
But Kael wasn't hiding.
He was planning his next kill.
---
From the rooftop, he watched the auction feeds flicker across the skyline. Every screen advertised something — a skill, a weapon, a trap. The city wasn't just alive with violence. It was alive with transactions.
Down below, players traded coin for safety, for guards, for balance masking. Kael had seen two players fight just to pay a toll that let them cross a bridge.
---
> [Undermarket Invite Received]
Event: Shadow Auction – Vault D
Entry: 100 Coins
Rules: No IDs, No Bounties, No Rules
---
Kael transferred the fee.
> Balance: 369C → 269C
His screen flickered.
Coordinates dropped into his vision.
Vault D wasn't on any map — but Drift had levels, and some were buried deep.
---
Jace appeared, breathless. "You really going?"
Kael didn't look away from the skyline. "Yeah."
"Auctions like that… they don't sell safe stuff. You buy blood skills, or stuff banned by the system."
Kael turned. "Good."
---
Fifteen minutes later, they reached Vault D — an old coin bank from before Coinverse, now gutted and repurposed. The vault door was rusted open, revealing a crowd of masked players, each showing no balance above their heads.
Stealth mode.
Kael's mask held. His balance was hidden.
---
Inside: a ring of coin projectors, a central auction block, and a skill list scrolling midair.
Kael's eyes locked on the third item.
> [Skill: Coinburn Strike]
Type: Offensive
Effect: Convert 10% of balance into pure damage.
Starting Bid: 50 Coins
---
Perfect.
Kael smiled.
He stepped into the ring.
Let's see who could afford pain.