The smell of stale blood, cheap liquor, and raw, desperate adrenaline hit her lungs before she even reached the bottom of the basement stairs.
The Viper’s Den did not exist on any official map of Koria. You had to know a guy who knew a guy just to find the rusted metal door tucked behind an abandoned slaughterhouse in the city’s most violent district.
It was a place where the rich came to watch the poor tear each other apart for scraps.
Sunny stood in the freezing, trash-littered alleyway, staring at that rusted door.
She pulled the hood of her oversized black sweatshirt higher over her head, letting the thick, dark fabric cast a deep shadow over the upper half of her face. She adjusted the waistband of her tight black leather pants, her fingers trembling just a fraction.
She stomped her heavy combat boots against the wet asphalt. She needed to shake off the nerves.
I am actually going to throw up.
She pressed her hand flat against her stomach. She was about to rob a Level 1 Awakened mafia boss inside his own underground fortress. If anyone caught her down here, there was no bluffing her way out.
They would snap her neck, feed her to the fighting dogs, and mop up the mess before the next match even started.
Focus, Sunny. You want that fortified mansion. You want that fifty grand. Get in, get the Black Lotus, and get out.
She shoved her hands deep into her hoodie pockets, lowered her head, and pushed the metal door open.
The wall of sound physically pushed her back a step.
The bass from the club’s massive sound system rattled her teeth in her skull, but it was completely drowned out by the deafening, animalistic roar of a thousand bloodthirsty people.
The interior was a massive, hollowed-out concrete bunker. The entire center of the room was dominated by a brutal, steel-wire fighting cage. Two massive men were currently tearing each other apart inside it, their fists wrapped in bloody tape. Blood splattered violently against the glass.
The crowd screamed in absolute frenzy. Stacks of cash flew through the air as bookies screamed the changing odds.
Sunny kept her head down. She hugged the shadows along the perimeter of the concrete walls, her black outfit blending perfectly into the grim environment.
No one paid attention to her because there were a lot of weird-looking people scattered around, and no one would ever guess a female would be here.
She didn’t look at the cage or the men shoving past her with bloodshot eyes and spilt drinks.
She just scanned the perimeter.
In the original novel, the author had spent two agonisingly long Chapters describing the exact architectural layout of the Viper’s Den. It was a massive info-dump that readers absolutely hated in the comments, but right now, Sunny wanted to kiss the author on the mouth.
The author described it like Donovan was going to infiltrate the place, but it turned out that Donovan had ties with the Viper boss.
She knew the camera blind spots. She knew the guard rotations. She knew exactly where the Viper Boss kept his personal vault.
Third floor. The private VIP balcony.
She bypassed the main stairwell entirely, ignoring the velvet ropes and the heavily armed bouncers checking gold access passes. Instead, she slipped down a narrow, dirty corridor labelled ’Staff Only’.
A bored-looking guard stood at the very end of the hall. He was leaning against a doorframe, smoking a cigarette and tapping ashes onto the floor.
Sunny stopped dead in her tracks. She flattened her back against the cold wall, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Crap. The book said the service corridor was empty during the main event.
She peeked around the corner. The guard wasn’t moving. He took a long, slow drag of his cigarette, his eyes glued to a small television screen mounted on the wall that was broadcasting the bloody fight outside.
Sunny remembered she had 5 agility points.
She could make use of that.
She reached down and unlaced her left combat boot, slipping it off; her socked foot hit the floor. She gripped the boot by the ankle, weighing it in her hand.
Sorry, buddy.
She threw the boot as hard as she could down the opposite end of the hallway.
It hit a stack of empty metal beer kegs with a deafening, metallic crash.
The guard jumped out of his skin. He dropped his cigarette, his hand flying instantly to the holster at his waist.
"Hey! Who’s back there?" he barked.
He drew his weapon and jogged toward the fallen kegs, his back completely turned to the stairwell door.
Sunny didn’t hesitate for a microsecond. She darted across the open hallway. Her movements were unnervingly fast and silent, the system’s agility points carrying her across the gap before the guard even reached the kegs.
She slipped through the door, pulled it shut without making a sound, and started climbing the concrete service stairs. She took them two at a time.
She reached the third floor.
The atmosphere up here was entirely different. The deafening roar of the crowd below was instantly muffled by thick, soundproofed walls.
The dirty concrete floors transitioned into plush, blood-red carpet. The air smelled like expensive imported cigars and top-shelf liquor, not sweat and iron.
Sunny pulled her dark hood down tighter over her face.
She crept down the luxurious hallway, her socks making zero sound on the thick carpet. At the very end of the corridor sat a massive steel door. The Viper’s private room.
Two massive guards stood on either side of the entrance.
Sunny stopped. These weren’t street thugs. They looked like professional mercenaries. They wore tailored black suits, earpieces, and held matte-black assault rifles tight across their chests. Their eyes scanned the hallway with focus.
Okay, throwing a shoe isn’t going to work on these guys.
Sunny pressed herself back against the wall, her mind racing. She needed a distraction. A massive one.
Down below, a sudden, explosive roar erupted from the crowd. It was ten times louder than before, vibrating violently through the floorboards beneath her feet.
Suddenly, she noticed someone step out of the room, and she immediately ducked, her heart racing with fear.
The Viper Boss!
The two mercenaries at the end of the hall grunted.
"Boss is showing off again," one of them muttered, smirking.
"Main event must be ending," the other replied, taking a step forward. "Let’s get a look."
They turned away from the door. Just as the Viper boss took another corner towards the crowd, he didn’t even say anything to the men. The two men walked in the opposite direction, towards the balcony overlooking the fight.
It was a microscopic window of opportunity.
But Sunny was ready to take it!
Sunny lunged.
She moved faster than her own brain could even process. She slid across the plush red carpet, coming to a dead, silent halt right in front of the electronic keypad mounted next to the vault door.
She held her breath. Her hands were shaking violently as she punched in the numbers. She kept on looking at the hallway where the Viper boss had gone down.
0-4-0-9.
It was the exact date the Viper Boss brutally murdered his first rival. The author had mentioned it in a passing sentence during a random flashback Chapter.
If the author had changed the lore for the physical world, Sunny was going to get a bullet in the back of her head right now.
The keypad beeped solid green.
Her heart jumped, but the door clicked.
Sunny grabbed the cold metal handle, pushed the door open just enough to slip her slender body through, and pulled it shut behind her. The heavy thud of the internal locks engaging echoed loudly in the dark room.
Outside, the men looked back at the door and thought the Viper boss had forgotten something.
She let out a massive, trembling breath. She rested her forehead against the cold steel of the door, her heart threatening to beat its way out of her chest.
I am alive. Holy shit, I am actually alive.
She turned around.
The room was pitch black.
She reached into her pocket, pulling out a small, cheap penlight she bought at the convenience store earlier. She clicked the button.
The tiny beam cut through the darkness, illuminating a sprawling, ridiculously luxurious office. There were leather couches, expensive paintings, and a massive mahogany desk.
But at the very centre of the room sat a solid white marble pedestal. Resting on top of it, encased in thick, bulletproof glass, was a beautifully carved wooden box.
The Black Lotus.
Sunny grinned. There you are.
She took a confident step forward.
A sharp, mechanical sound echoed from the ceiling above her. Suddenly, a faint, high-pitched hum filled the room.
Red lights flickered to life.
Sunny froze instantly. Her foot hovered an inch above the floor.
A dense, complex web of crimson laser beams ignited across the entire room. They crisscrossed chaotically from the ceiling to the floor, bouncing off tiny, invisible mirrors hidden in the walls.
They formed an impenetrable, glowing red net of security between her and the marble pedestal.
If she touched even one of them, the silent alarm would trigger. The steel door behind her would lock down permanently. Sunny stared at the glowing red lasers.
She didn’t panic. Instead, a slow, completely unhinged smirk curled at the corner of her lips. She cracked her knuckles, the sharp sound echoing in the quiet room.
"I am in."