Quinn woke up very early the next morning.
The sun was not even awake yet.
She sat up in her small bed and rubbed her tired eyes.
“System,” she whispered softly.
Ding!
A bright blue screen popped up in the dark room.
[Current Status]
Name: Quinn Carter
Level: 2
Class: Solo Fighter
HP: 120/120
EXP: 50/300
Strength: 12
Agility: 14
Quinn smiled.
The stolen bio-chip was still inside her.
It was not a dream.
She felt stronger and faster than ever before.
She put on her Harrington Academy school uniform.
Then, she put her father’s old black leather jacket over her shoulders.
The heavy jacket smelled like old leather and justice.
She walked quietly into the kitchen.
Her sick mother was still sleeping.
Quinn left a small glass of water and a pill on the table for her.
After that, she grabbed her heavy backpack and left the apartment.
When Quinn arrived at the giant Harrington Academy, the loud school bell rang.
She walked down the clean marble hallway toward her locker.
But someone was already standing there.
It was Elijah Cranston.
The awkward billionaire boy wore a perfect blue suit.
He held a large, warm cup of fancy coffee in his hands.
He looked very nervous.
When he saw Quinn, his face turned bright red.
“Good morning, Quinn!” Elijah said quickly.
He held out the coffee cup.
“I bought this for you.
It has extra sugar and caramel.
I, um, I wanted to say sorry again for splashing you with mud yesterday.”
Quinn stopped and looked at him.
She remembered the secret police file.
Elijah’s family company, Cranston Industries, built the bio-chip.
His father might be a very bad man.
But Elijah just looked like a sweet, silly boy who had a massive crush on her.
“Thank you, Elijah,” Quinn said.
She took the warm coffee and took a sip.
It tasted amazing.
“Hey, can I ask you a question?”
Elijah’s eyes lit up happily.
“You can ask me anything!
Do you want a new car?
A helicopter?”
Quinn laughed a little bit.
“No, nothing like that.
Does your family’s company own any old, empty buildings in the city?
Like old warehouses?”
Elijah pushed his thick glasses up his nose.
He thought for a second.
“Yes, we own a lot of them.
Most of them are in the East District.
They are very old and dirty.
My dad stopped using them years ago.
Why do you ask?”
“Just a school project,” Quinn lied smoothly.
She smiled at him, and Elijah looked like he might faint from happiness.
Suddenly, Noah Brooks walked past them.
He wore a sharp black jacket and carried an expensive tablet.
He smirked at Elijah, then looked at Quinn.
“Careful, Elijah,” Noah said in a smooth, teasing voice.
“The new girl might just be using you for your money.
She looks like a girl who hides a lot of deep secrets.”
Quinn glared at Noah.
“Mind your own business, Noah.
Or I will mind it for you.”
Noah laughed a dark, handsome laugh.
“Oh, I really like her.
See you in class, detective.” He winked at her and walked away.
Quinn rolled her eyes.
The boys at this school were completely crazy.
She grabbed her books from her locker and went to her morning classes.
Later in the day, it was time for gym class.
The coach told everyone to run fast sprints across the basketball court.
Marcus Reed, the giant basketball star, lined up right next to Quinn.
He flexed his huge arm muscles.
“Try to keep up with me, Quinn,” Marcus said with a big, proud smile.
“I am the fastest player on the team.
But do not worry, I will go easy on you.”
“Do not go easy,” Quinn said coldly.
The coach blew his loud whistle.
“Go!”
Marcus ran very fast.
But Quinn had her Level 2 System stats.
Her Agility was at 14, which was much higher than a normal person.
She pushed off the wooden floor.
She moved like a rocket.
She crossed the finish line three full seconds before Marcus did.
Marcus stopped running and stared at her in total shock.
He was breathing heavily.
“How did you do that?
You are tiny!”
“I told you, Marcus.
I do not need your protection, and I do not need you to go easy on me.” Quinn grabbed her water bottle and walked away.
Marcus watched her leave.
His heart beat very fast.
He was completely obsessed with her tough attitude.
He wanted to win her over, no matter what it took.
When the school day finally ended, Quinn did not take the bus home.
She took a dirty city train to the East District.
She wanted to check out the old Cranston warehouses.
The secret police file said The Gamemaster used these buildings to hide stolen things.
The East District was dark, wet, and scary.
Rain started to fall from the sky.
Quinn pulled her father’s leather jacket tight around her body.
She found the exact address from the file.
It was a giant brick building with broken windows.
The front door was locked with a heavy metal chain.
Quinn did not care about locks.
She stepped back, ran two steps forward, and jumped.
She grabbed the edge of a broken window high up on the wall.
She pulled her body up easily and climbed inside.
The warehouse was very dark.
It smelled like old rust and wet dirt.
There were giant wooden boxes piled everywhere.
Quinn walked slowly and quietly.
Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps.
“Who is there?” a rough voice yelled.
Three big men walked out from behind a pile of boxes.
They looked very mean.
They wore heavy leather vests and had tattoos on their necks.
They held long metal pipes.
[System Alert: Combat Started!]
[Enemies: 3 Guard Thugs (Level 4)]
[Threat Value: Medium]
“Look what we have here,” the first man said.
He had a nasty scar on his cheek.
“A little school girl is lost.
The Gamemaster does not like people snooping around his property.”
Quinn’s eyes went cold.
They worked for The Gamemaster!
This was exactly what she wanted.
“Tell me where your boss is,” Quinn demanded bravely.
“Tell me right now, or you will all need a doctor.”
The three men laughed loudly.
The scarred man swung his metal pipe right at her head.
Quinn did not blink.
Thanks to her new stats, the man moved very slow to her.
“Boom!”
Quinn ducked quickly under the swinging pipe.
She stepped forward and delivered a lightning-fast jab right into the man’s stomach.
The impact was super hard.
A visible shockwave exploded from her fist.
The man folded in half, gasping for air.
Before he could fall, Quinn grabbed his shoulders.
She jumped up, planted her feet on his chest, and used him like a springboard.
She launched herself backward into a perfect backflip.
While she was upside down in the air, the second man rushed forward.
Quinn’s heavy boot caught him right under his jaw.
“Smack!” The powerful backflip kick sent the second man flying backward.
He crashed hard into a pile of wooden crates.
The crates broke into pieces, and the man was knocked out cold.
The first man finally fell to the ground, holding his stomach in deep pain.
Now, only the third man was left.
He was the biggest one.
He roared in anger and ran toward Quinn like a wild bull.
He swung his thick pipe wildly.
Quinn used a fast shoulder roll recovery to dodge the heavy weapon.
She rolled smoothly on the dirty floor and popped back up to her feet.
The big man was right in front of her.
Quinn spun her body around fast.
She performed a powerful spin sweep with her right leg.
Her foot hit his knees with a loud cracking sound.
The big man yelled out and fell to his knees.
“Night, night,” Quinn said.
She twisted her hips and threw a massive uppercut.
“Bam!” Her fist collided right with his nose.
The man’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he hit the floor with a heavy thud.
All three men were completely defeated.
The warehouse was quiet again, except for the sound of the rain outside.
[System Alert: Enemies Defeated!]
[EXP + 300]
[Ding!
You leveled up!]
[Level 3 Reached.
All Stats increased by 2!]
[New Skill Unlocked: Eagle Eye (Lv.
1) – Allows the host to spot hidden clues in the dark.]
Quinn smiled brightly.
She loved leveling up.
The warm energy rushed through her blood.
She felt even stronger than before.
She walked over to the first man with the scarred face.
He was still groaning on the floor.
She reached into his vest pockets to see what he had.
Her fingers touched something cold and heavy.
She pulled it out.
It was a solid silver coin.
On one side of the coin, there was a picture of a skull.
On the other side, there was a strange, complicated puzzle carved into the metal.
[Hidden Item Found: The Cipher Coin]
Quinn remembered her father’s files.
The serial killer called the Cipher Killer always left a puzzle coin at his crime scenes.
This meant The Gamemaster and the Cipher Killer were working together in this very warehouse.
Suddenly, Quinn heard a very soft sound coming from the roof of the warehouse.
It sounded like footsteps.
Someone was watching her fight.
She looked up quickly.
Because of her new Eagle Eye skill, she could see perfectly in the dark.
High up on the metal beams of the ceiling, a young boy sat quietly.
He wore a dark black hoodie that hid his face.
He looked like a dangerous, underground fighter.
He stared down at Quinn.
He did not look scared.
He looked very impressed.
Then, he raised two fingers to his head, gave her a lazy salute, and jumped out of a broken window.
He vanished into the dark, rainy night.
Quinn frowned.
Who was that mysterious boy?
And why was he watching her?
“This game is getting very interesting,” Quinn whispered to herself.
She put the silver Cipher coin into her pocket and walked out of the warehouse.
She was a solo player, and she was ready for the next level.
[Current Status]
Name: Quinn Carter
Level: 3
Class: Solo Fighter
HP: 140/140
EXP: 50/500
Strength: 14
Agility: 16
Perception: 12
Intelligence: 14
Skills: Basic MMA (Lv.
1), Eagle Eye (Lv.
1)
Active Quest: The Gamemaster’s Secret