The elevator shuddered as it descended.
Stone walls gave way to metal — dark panels streaked with light that pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Noah gripped the rail, jaw tight. Every few seconds, the intercom whispered fragments of a calm, female voice.
"Compliance ensures progression.
Disobedience leads to deletion."
When the doors finally slid open, heat hit him like a wall.
The Disciplinary Tier wasn't a dungeon — it was a city beneath a city, carved from stone and steel. Rows of flickering lamps hung from chains, casting long shadows across crowded alleys.
The air smelled of sweat and metal.
A soldier in white armor stepped forward, scanning the newcomers. "Tier-D entrants, move along! Quarters are assigned by block. Credits are earned through service, survival, or combat."
Noah followed the group into a tunnel that opened into a vast cavern.
Hundreds of people milled about — some cooking over makeshift fires, others repairing gear. It wasn't chaos exactly, but it wasn't peace either.
[System Notice: Welcome to Disciplinary Tier – Haven-17]
[Privileges: Limited]
[Restrictions: City travel locked / Market access locked / Weapon carry limited to Rank-C or lower.]
He sighed. "Great. Fantasy prison."
A voice beside him chuckled. "Better than being dead."
Noah turned to see a girl leaning against a pillar — messy black hair, a streak of grease across her cheek. She wore a patchwork jacket and a pair of modified gauntlets that glowed faintly blue.
She extended a hand. "Kira. Engineer class. You?"
"Noah Turner," he said, shaking it. "Support Technician. Apparently that means 'guy who fixes stuff until he dies.'"
Kira smirked. "Then you'll fit right in."
She led him through the tunnels, explaining as they walked. "Each lower block has a captain. You do jobs — resource gathering, repairs, monster cleanup — to earn points. Earn enough, and you move up a Tier. Fall behind…"
Her eyes flicked toward a corner where a pair of guards were dragging away a man whose mark had turned red. He was screaming until the sound cut out mid-breath.
"…you get recycled," she finished quietly.
Noah's stomach twisted. "Recycled?"
"System word for erased," she said. "Don't ask where the energy goes."
They stopped at a small workshop — shelves of scrap metal and cracked mana cores. "This is mine," Kira said. "You can crash here for now. But don't expect kindness from everyone. Up top, they call us the city's 'errors.'"
Noah looked around the dim room. "Figures. My best friend glitches a Divine rank, and I end up in debug mode."
Kira raised an eyebrow. "Your best friend?"
"Yeah," Noah said softly. "Lucas Hayes. He's probably up there in some fancy room right now."
"Then you'd better stay alive long enough for him to find you," she said, handing him a damaged mana drive. "Here — fix that. If you can get it working, you'll earn your first points."
Noah took it, smiling faintly. "A quest. Great. Just like home—except home didn't delete people for failing."
Kira laughed quietly. "Welcome to Haven-17."
Hours later, when the lights dimmed to simulate night, Noah sat alone at the workbench.
The mana drive hummed weakly under his fingers, glowing brighter as he adjusted the circuits.
His wrist screen flickered.
[Support Technician Skill Unlocked: System Trace (Lv.1)]
[Function: Detect hidden data patterns in nearby code structures.]
A small map appeared in his vision — a pulse of light deeper in the tunnels, marked [Restricted Node].
Noah frowned. "What are you hiding down here…?"
He shut off the light, pocketed his tools, and stared toward the darkness beyond the settlement.
Somewhere above, Lucas was probably asleep in a golden room.
"Hang on, man," he whispered. "I'll catch up."
He stepped into the tunnel, following the faint light of forbidden code.