Good thing I practically live on the edge.
She reached up and unzipped her oversized black hoodie, letting it drop silently to the plush red carpet near the door.
The thick fabric was way too bulky. It would definitely snag on a beam and get her killed. Underneath, she was wearing a tight, low-cut black combat shirt that hugged every single curve of her body, paired with her skin-tight leather pants.
It wasn’t exactly standard heist gear, but it gave her the full range of motion she needed.
Plus, it made her look ridiculously hot.
If Donovan ever saw me like this, he would definitely swoon. Or arrest me. Either way, it’s a total win.
She cracked her neck. She rolled her shoulders, shaking out the last lingering bit of nervous tension.
Before the transmigration, Sunny couldn’t even touch her toes without pulling a hamstring. But right now, the five Agility points she had earned from running away from her fictional husband earlier were actively humming through her veins.
Her body felt impossibly light. Her muscles felt springy, primed with a supernatural flexibility that completely defied her old reality.
She took a deep breath, her violet eyes locking onto the closest red beam.
Let’s dance.
She approached the first set of lasers. Two beams formed a tight ’X’ about waist-high.
Sunny dropped to the floor with terrifying fluidity. She slid forward on her stomach, pressing her face against the soft carpet as the red light buzzed mere inches above her back.
She pulled herself through, sliding like a snake, and immediately popped back up onto her feet on the other side.
Okay. That wasn’t so bad.
She moved deeper into the room. The web got thicker. More complicated.
She lifted her right leg, hooking her combat boot over a waist-high beam, and bent backwards. Her spine arched at a crazy angle, threading her torso through a narrow triangular gap in the lights. She twisted her hips, pulling her left leg through the opening without even brushing the red light.
Holy shit, I am a literal ninja. Take that, Olympic gymnasts. I am a god.
The Agility points were doing all the heavy lifting. Her brain just calculated the path, and her body flawlessly executed the movements. She ducked under a high beam, vaulted silently over a low one, and did a smooth, twisting pirouette through a vertical gap.
She was sweating now. The ambient temperature in the room was rising rapidly from the sheer amount of concentrated light, but Sunny was completely in her element. She was halfway to the marble pedestal.
The Black Lotus was sitting right there, practically begging her to take it.
Confidence surged through her chest. This was way too easy.
She approached a dense cluster of lasers blocking the final stretch. Instead of taking her time and crawling under them like a sensible person, Sunny decided to show off.
Watch this, imaginary audience.
She planted her foot, dropped her centre of gravity, and launched herself into a low, aggressive slide across the carpet. She meant to glide smoothly under the cluster and pop up right in front of the pedestal like an action star.
She miscalculated the friction of the carpet.
She slid too fast. Her momentum carried her directly toward a low-hanging laser beam aimed straight at her chest.
FUCK!
Sunny threw her bare hands down, desperately digging her fingers into the plush carpet to brake.
She stopped.
The glowing red laser was exactly one millimetre away from the fabric of her tight black shirt.
Sunny’s eyes went completely wide. If she breathed out, her chest would expand. The beam would cut her. The alarm would ring.
She immediately sucked in a sharp, agonising breath.
Her ribs flared painfully. She held the air completely trapped in her lungs, her body frozen in a deeply unnatural, tilted plank position. Her arms shook violently under her own body weight.
Don’t move. Don’t breathe. Do not fucking sneeze.
A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead, stinging her eye. She didn’t blink.
Slowly, agonisingly, she shifted her weight backwards. Inch by inch. Millimetre by millimetre. She pulled her chest away from the red line.
Once she was a full foot away, she collapsed onto her side, exhaling the trapped air in a massive, silent gasp. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.
Okay. No more showing off. I am foolish
She scrambled back to her feet, wiping the sweat from her face. She carefully, methodically navigated the last three beams, finally stepping out of the laser grid and into the small clearing at the centre of the room.
She was standing right in front of the white marble pedestal.
The Black Lotus was encased in a thick, reinforced glass box. Inside, resting on a bed of black velvet, was an intricately carved wooden box holding a stunning, obsidian lotus flower.
It pulsed with a faint, dark energy that made the hairs on Sunny’s arms stand straight up.
This was it. The artefact that would give Donovan the edge in the days of the apocalypse.
He is going to look so ridiculously powerful when he uses this.
But Sunny wasn’t stupid. A Level 1 Awakened mafia boss didn’t just leave his most prized possession sitting under a regular piece of glass.
"System," Sunny whispered into the quiet room. "Do a full scan on this pedestal. Check for pressure plates, weight sensors, thermal triggers, or any other hidden bullshit."
The blue system interface immediately popped up in her vision.
[Initiating Deep Scan...]
[Scanning...]
Sunny tapped her foot impatiently. Every second she spent in this room felt like playing Russian roulette. Downstairs, the crowd was still roaring, but she had no idea how long the Viper Boss was going to entertain them on the balcony.
[Scan Complete.]
[No physical traps detected on the pedestal. Glass enclosure is electronically unlocked. Coast is clear.]
Sunny smirked.
Wow, Mr. Viper Boss. You really put all your eggs in the laser grid basket, didn’t you? What an absolute amateur.
She didn’t waste another second.
She reached out, grabbed the edges of the heavy glass case, and lifted it straight up. She set it gently on the floor.
She reached in and grabbed the intricately carved wooden box holding the Lotus. The wood was cold, humming with that same dark, supernatural energy.
"Gotcha," she whispered.
She immediately pressed the box against her chest and touched the silver crescent moon pendant resting against her collarbone.
Store.
The wooden box vanished from her hands, safely transported into the freezing, time-locked void of her spatial domain.
Sunny threw her head back, letting out a silent laugh of pure victory.
She had done it. She had successfully infiltrated the most dangerous underground arena in the city, bypassed a deadly security grid, and stolen a priceless artefact right out from under a mafia boss’s nose.
The fortified mansion was hers. The fifty grand was hers.
I am officially the greatest thief in Koria.
[Ding!]
[CRITICAL WARNING.]
[The Viper Boss is heading straight for this room.]
Sunny eyes popped out of its socket.
She spun around, staring at the heavy steel door on the other side of the deadly laser grid.
He was coming.