Morning in the Slums didn't break; it bled into existence.
The purple smog turned a sickly shade of bruise-yellow as light struggled to reach the ground. Ren woke up not because he was rested, but because the ground shook.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
It was not a heartbeat. It was the synchronized march of steel-toed boots hitting the mud.
Ren pressed himself deeper into the shadows of the tarp, his breath misting in the freezing air. His stiff muscles screamed in protest as he curled into a ball, peering through a tear in the fabric.
The main street, which had been a chaotic market the night before, was now dead silent. The beggars were gone. The stalls were shuttered.
Marching down the center of the road were six men.
They wore matching black leather jackets with a green serpent painted on the back. They carried clubs, chains, and one of them, the leader, held a long, glowing rod that crackled with blue electricity.
[Entity: Black Serpent Enforcer (Tier 1)] [Weapon: Shock Baton (Low Grade)] [Status: Hunting]
"Doors open!" the leader shouted. His voice was amplified by some cheap magic, booming off the corrugated metal walls. "Collection day! Pay the serpent, or the serpent bites!"
Ren watched as a shopkeeper, a frail old man selling scrap cloth, stumbled out of his hovel. He fell to his knees, holding up a small pouch.
"Please," the old man wept. "Business was bad. The rain... no one bought..."
The leader did not listen. He didn't even stop walking. He simply swung the shock baton.
Crack.
The rod connected with the old man's shoulder. There was a sickening pop of discharge and the smell of ozone. The old man convulsed, foaming at the mouth, and collapsed face-first into the mud.
The leader stepped over him, kicking the pouch of coins into his own hand.
"Short," the leader spat. "Burn the stall."
One of the underlings stepped forward, a torch in hand.
Ren felt a cold knot tighten in his stomach. This was not just a gang, it was a regime. And he was hiding ten meters away with a grand total of eight coppers and a rusted knife.
Stay hidden. Don't be a hero. You are Level 0.
He gripped the black cube, the [Logic Drive], in his pocket. It was vibrating again. Harder this time. It wasn't just buzzing; it was hungry.
Ren looked at the cube, then at the Shock Baton in the leader's hand.
[Logic Drive Status: Critical Battery] [Energy Source Detected: 15 Meters] [Directive: Feed.]
"Bad idea," Ren whispered to the cube. "Very bad idea."
But the universe didn't care about his plans.
"Hey!"
A voice barked from the alley entrance.
Ren froze.
A straggler, a gang member who had lagged behind to take a leak, was standing at the mouth of the alley. He was zipping up his pants, staring directly at the tarp where Ren was hiding.
[Entity: Serpent Grunt (Tier 0)] [Weapon: Brass Knuckles] [Threat: Moderate]
The grunt grinned, revealing gaps in his teeth. "Boss! Found a rat hiding in the garbage!"
Ren didn't wait.
If the others came, he was dead. He had maybe five seconds before the rest of the pack turned the corner.
Ren burst from the tarp.
He didn't run away. He ran at the grunt.
The grunt looked surprised. He expected the skinny, ragged boy to flee. He didn't expect a suicidal charge. The grunt raised his fists, laughing. "You want to dance, cripple?"
Ren didn't punch. He didn't have the mass.
He slid.
He dropped to his knees in the slick mud, using his momentum to slide under the grunt's guard. As he passed, he didn't stab with the knife. He slammed the [Logic Drive] against the grunt's shin.
It wasn't a weapon. It was a blunt metal cube.
But the moment it touched the grunt's leather boot, the text box exploded in Ren's vision.
[Connection Established.] [Target: Bio-Electric Field (Weak)] [Drain: Initiate.]
The grunt's eyes went wide. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
His body went rigid. The veins in his neck bulged, turning black. The cube acted like a vacuum, not sucking blood, but sucking the static electricity of the nervous system.
For a split second, the grunt looked like he was being electrocuted in reverse.
Then, he dropped.
He hit the mud with a heavy, wet thud. Unconscious. Or maybe in shock.
[Energy Absorbed: 2%] [Logic Drive: Booting...]
Ren scrambled to his feet, breathing hard. He looked at the fallen thug. The man was still breathing, but shallowly.
"Hey! Marco! What you find?"
The voices were coming back. The leader was turning around.
Ren panicked. He looked at the unconscious grunt. He looked at the alley wall, cracked brick, six feet high.
He couldn't climb that fast. Not with these weak arms.
He looked at the grunt's belt. A dagger. And a small pouch.
Ren grabbed them.
Thud. Thud.
Boots were rounding the corner.
Ren looked at the wall again. He saw the mortar between the bricks.
[Material: Crumbling Mortar] [Structural Integrity: 12%]
"Edit," Ren hissed.
He grabbed the value [12%]. He deleted the 1.
[Structural Integrity: 2%]
Ren kicked the wall.
It wasn't a karate kick. It was a desperate shove. But the wall, now structurally barely more than dust held together by habit, collapsed.
CRASH.
A cloud of gray dust and brick shards exploded outward, filling the alleyway with a choking fog.
"What the hell?" the leader's voice shouted from the mist. "Marco? You blow yourself up?"
Ren didn't wait to see their reaction. He scrambled over the pile of rubble, coughing, his lungs burning like fire. He tumbled into the next street over, a narrow sewage drainage channel.
He splashed into the ankle-deep filth and kept running. He ran until his legs gave out. He ran until the sounds of the gang were just a memory.
He collapsed behind a dumpster three blocks away, clutching his chest.
His heart felt like it was going to explode. The Corruption counter was throbbing.
[Corruption: 7.5%]
He looked down at his hand. He was gripping the [Logic Drive].
The black metal wasn't dead anymore. A single, thin line of blue light was glowing on its surface. It pulsed slowly, like a breathing lung.
[System Boot: 2%] [New Blueprint Available: Surveillance Roach (Needs Materials)]
Ren leaned his head back against the rusted metal of the dumpster. He wiped the sweat and grime from his forehead. A laugh bubbled up in his throat, hysterical, terrified, and alive.
He had just assaulted a gang member and collapsed a building to escape.
"I need a gun," Ren wheezed, staring at the blue light of the cube. "Or I need to build a monster."
He looked at the dagger he had stolen.
[Item: Steel Dagger] [Property: Bloodlust (Minor)]
He gripped it tight.
The tutorial was over.