The Phantom Nest was silent. Neon code spiraled across the tower walls like stars.
Veynar appeared through a hologram screen, his smile sharp with mischief.
"Circuit Ghost. Yuuki. The underworld's been buzzing since you showed up. But let's get back to business."
He snapped his fingers. A glowing blue map unfolded.
"This is your target. A NEONIX CORP data labyrinth. Packed with glitch traps, guarded by AIs. If you want the next clue to the Reboot Server, steal the data at its core."
Yuto'o tightened his grip on his glitch blade.
"You really enjoy watching people nearly die, don't you?"
Veynar chuckled softly. "I only deal in trades. You want truth? You pay with digital blood. Simple."
Yuuki stepped closer, crimson eyes burning.
"And you know what happens to brokers who try to cheat me."
Veynar's smile twitched for a moment before he recovered.
"Relax, Yuuki. I always keep my promises."
The portal opened.
Yuto'o, Orbis, and Yuuki stepped through.
They emerged into the data labyrinth.
Towering walls glowed with blue neon. Endless branching corridors twisted into infinity. Wild code floated in the air like smoke. Whispers murmured from every direction, as if the server itself were alive.
Orbis muttered. "This isn't just a labyrinth… it's alive, trying to deceive our senses."
Yuto'o gripped his blade tightly. "Can you handle the map?"
"Partially. But don't expect me to control everything. This labyrinth is tied directly to a core AI."
Yuuki smirked faintly. "Good. I hate places that are too easy."
They began their advance.
From between the walls, glitch-beasts emerged—neon hounds with jagged crimson teeth.
SECURITY PROTOCOL: NEON HOUND DEPLOYED
The hounds charged, eyes blazing.
Yuto'o leapt forward, slashing with his glitch blade. One shattered, data spraying into the air. But two lunged at him, slamming him into a wall.
"Aghh!" His body cracked deeper.
Yuuki landed gracefully. Her neon prosthetics shifted, arm elongating into a radiant blade. In a single sweep, three hounds were cleaved apart.
Data blood sprayed across the neon ground. Yuuki stood poised, her hair flowing like a phantom.
She smiled at Yuto'o. "Too slow."
Yuto'o grit his teeth. "I can handle it myself!"
They pressed deeper.
The traps grew stranger—the floor vanished without warning, walls shifted and crushed inward, voids opened to swallow them whole.
Orbis strained, casting holographic barriers to save them again and again.
"I can't hold this much longer if we keep going like this!"
Suddenly Yuuki stepped forward.
"Phantom Override."
The entire labyrinth froze. Walls halted mid-shift. Floors stabilized. Digital whispers went silent.
Yuuki walked calmly toward the center, as if the world itself bowed to her command.
Yuto'o stared, awe tangled with jealousy.
"It's like… you control reality itself."
Yuuki turned, her smile razor-sharp.
"That's the difference between a newborn Ghost… and a legend."
At last, they reached the heart of the labyrinth.
The glowing core floated at the chamber's center, pulsing slowly like the heart of the server.
Hundreds of black Guardians encircled it, crimson eyes burning bright. Their neon spears rose in perfect unison, forming a wall of steel and light.
[LABYRINTH DEFENSE PROTOCOL: MAXIMUM]
The floor trembled. The air buzzed with a digital hum.
Yuto'o stepped forward, his glitch blade quivering wildly, his fractured body glowing red and blue.
"I… won't stop. Even if the whole world stands against me."
Beside him, Yuuki smiled faintly. Her neon prosthetic reshaped into a violet-pink whip, sparking with glitch aura.
"Let's see… how long you can survive, Circuit Ghost."
The Guardians charged as one.
Hundreds of neon spears rained down like a storm of lightning.
Yuto'o roared, leaping forward. He warped into the middle of their ranks, slashing hard.
BOOOOM!
Five Guardians shattered at once, data bursting across the chamber.
But dozens more closed in, their spears stabbing into his glitch armor.
"Aghhh!" Data-blood sprayed as his cracks split wider.
Yuuki vaulted effortlessly. With one whip strike, ten Guardians were hurled into the air, bursting apart in neon fragments.
She spun gracefully, her whip shifting into a long blade, slicing through three more in a single motion.
"Don't get greedy, boy. These enemies won't end if you rush headlong."
Orbis pressed his hands to the floor, a violet hologram expanding outward.
[BARRIER FIELD ACTIVATED]
Walls of light shielded Yuto'o from the next wave.
"Focus on the attack—I'll cover the rear!"
Yuto'o gritted his teeth, gripping his sword. His body shuddered, glitch energy exploding outward.
[DATA LEECH – LEVEL 3]
[GLITCH SPEAR – DEPLOY]
A spear of red-blue glitch formed in his hand. He hurled it.
SHHHRRRAAANG!
The spear pierced through the Guardians' line and detonated, destroying twenty at once.
He warped to the spear's point of impact, reappearing in the explosion, blade slashing.
Twin blasts tore apart more Guardians.
But the labyrinth's core flared. From the walls, a massive figure emerged—armored heavier, wielding a colossal glitch axe.
[ELITE GUARDIAN DEPLOYED]
Yuto'o blocked its strike with his blade. Sparks of neon fire erupted, driving him backward, nearly to his knees.
"I… can't take this one alone!"
Yuuki stepped forward, crimson eyes gleaming.
"Circuit Ghost… watch carefully. This is the difference between us."
She soared high, prosthetics reshaping into twin blades.
"Phantom Strike."
BOOOOOMMMM!
In an instant, the Elite Guardian was cleaved in two. Its core exploded like a star bursting apart.
Fragments of neon rained down, illuminating the labyrinth in a storm of light.
Yuto'o stood frozen, awe and jealousy twisting in his chest.
"She's… so far ahead of me."
Yuuki landed lightly, hair flowing in her glitch aura. She glanced back with a razor smile.
"See? This is the gap between a legend… and a newborn ghost."
Orbis shouted, his voice urgent. "The core's weakened! Now, Yuji—finish it!"
Yuto'o gathered every ounce of power into his blade. His body buckled, fractures blazing red-blue.
He screamed, slashing straight into the labyrinth's core.
KRRAANNNGGG!!
The core cracked, quaked—then erupted in a brilliant surge of blue light.
The remaining Guardians froze. Their bodies collapsed into dust, vanishing into the void.
The labyrinth fell silent.
Yuto'o staggered, nearly collapsing. Orbis rushed to steady him.
Yuuki stood calmly before the shattered core, her whip dissolving away. Her crimson eyes glimmered with unreadable mystery.
"Not bad. You're still alive."
From the debris, a radiant crystal emerged.
Orbis caught it, his eyes widening.
"This… is a record of other Ghosts. Data about those who existed before you."
Yuto'o stood in silence, red-blue blood dripping from his fractured body.
Yuuki only smiled faintly.
"Now, Circuit Ghost… you'll learn the true cost of this path."
The labyrinth is broken, the first shard revealed—and the ghost takes his first step into the secrets of his kind.