The neon data tunnel swallowed him whole.
Yuto'o tumbled downward, his glitch-body twisting inside the whirlpool of glowing code. The passage was narrow, endless, symbols of alien language streaking across the walls.
Behind him—metal thundered.
The Hunter AI streaked after him, wings spread wide, eyes burning crimson.
BUG DETECTED. PURSUIT PROTOCOL: ACTIVE.
Its voice was cold, but the echo tore straight into Yuto'o's soul.
"I… can't lose here!"
He tried to accelerate, glitching forward with GLITCH WARP—but every time he reappeared, the Hunter was already there, closing the gap.
A crimson sphere launched.
BOOOOM!
The tunnel shuddered. Shards of data scattered like shrapnel. Yuto'o's body was hurled aside, shoulder cracking, glitch fragments spilling like blood.
"Aghhh—!"
He sucked in raw code from the air. Fragments of unstable data surged into him, fueling him—but pushing his glitch closer to collapse.
WARNING: DATA CORRUPTION 42%
His form blazed red and blue, splitting, unstable, nearly breaking apart.
"Hold on, Yuto'o!" Orbis's voice echoed from ahead. "I've opened the gate—keep moving!"
"If I last even a second longer, I'll be erased!"
"If you stop… you'll be erased NOW!"
Neon chains lashed from the Hunter's wings, wrapping around Yuto'o's leg.
"GOT YOU."
Yuto'o screamed, dragged backward.
His glitch blade flared wildly, hacking at the chains. SPARKS ERUPTED as they snapped apart.
"Not yet… I'm not disappearing yet!"
He forced himself forward, body fracturing further, cracks blazing.
At the tunnel's end, another light appeared. A data gate, glowing violet.
Orbis stood within it, arms wide. "NOW—JUMP!"
Yuto'o hurled himself forward, pouring the last of his strength into one final leap.
The Hunter lunged—its crimson eyes blazing just behind him.
BOOM!
Yuto'o dove through the violet gate.
Darkness.
Then—another world embraced him.
He crashed onto a hard surface, glitch-body smoking.
But this wasn't corporate neon. Not sterile, polished light.
This was chaos.
Narrow streets. Illegal billboards flickering. Holograms dangling crookedly. Strange avatars wandering—half human, half machine, some animalistic, digital beasts given form.
The Dark Server.
The Black Market VR.
Yuto'o staggered to his feet, but every eye turned toward him.
Whispers spread like static.
"He's not a player…"
"That aura… glitch. A bug?"
"No way… could it be—"
An avatar in a black jacket stepped forward, tall and sharp-eyed. His gaze shone like fractured glass.
He pointed straight at Yuto'o.
"You… you're one of them."
"CIRCUIT GHOST."
The Dark Server fell silent.
The name echoed, vibrating through the air.
Circuit Ghost.
And for the first time… Yuto'o realized he wasn't just a bug.
He was a threat.
In the Black Market VR, the ghost becomes a name the underworld fears.