Chapter 5 – The Iron Labyrinth

The silence was almost worse than the screams.

Ryo sat against the cold steel wall, heart still slamming against his ribs. His hands shook, his muscles locked with the raw memory of the Forgotten Ones—those things.

Human-shaped, but not human.

Twisted, repurposed.

What the hell had they just survived?

> "Feeling overwhelmed, rookie? Maybe next time, don't wander into haunted murder tunnels like an idiot."

Ryo inhaled sharply, forcing his hands to steady. "Not now, system."

> "Oh? You want a moment to process your trauma? Adorable. But let's focus on the bigger issue—you're not out of the woods yet."

Ryo grimaced but didn't argue. The system was right.

He forced himself to stand, muscles aching in protest. The others were doing the same. Vos paced in front of the sealed blast door, running a gloved hand through his short-cropped hair.

Karin was reloading her rifle with shaky hands, eyes fixed on the door like she expected it to burst open at any moment.

Ryo took a deep breath. Time to be useful.

"…Where are we now?" he asked, scanning the chamber.

It was bigger than the previous tunnels. Unlike the rusted corridors they had passed through earlier, this place had an industrial feel. Thick pipes lined the walls, and the air smelled of machine oil and something metallic.

Vos exhaled. "We're in the old Iron Labyrinth."

Ryo raised a brow. "That sounds even worse than 'Ghost Roads.'"

Karin let out a humorless chuckle. "Yeah, well, it's not much better."

Vos nodded. "This place was an underground research facility before the war. Experimental weapons, advanced machinery… and some projects that should have never existed." His jaw tightened. "When the war started, the whole facility was abandoned. Or at least, that's what we thought."

Ryo grimaced. "So we're trapped in a forgotten black-site full of nightmare fuel."

> "Ding ding ding! Give the boy a prize. Too bad it's just more suffering."

Karin stood, tightening the strap on her rifle. "At least we're not dead. Yet."

Ryo glanced at her. "…That supposed to be comforting?"

She smirked. "Take what you can get, new guy."

The Dead Tech of the Past

Vos adjusted his coat. "No point standing around. If Fort Daedalus is still operational, there's an emergency tram system deeper inside. We find it, we get out."

No one argued.

They moved out, weapons ready, stepping deeper into the Iron Labyrinth.

The halls were silent, but it was the kind of silence that felt unnatural. The kind that made Ryo's skin crawl.

Then they started seeing the machines.

Dead ones.

The first chamber they passed was full of rusting mechs, their frames half-disassembled, their metal twisted and scorched. Some had human bones tangled in their wiring.

Karin wrinkled her nose. "What the hell happened here?"

Vos exhaled. "This was Hellion tech. Some of their first-generation War Walkers. Looks like someone—" He paused, crouching near one of the destroyed machines.

Ryo frowned. "What is it?"

Vos turned the damaged skull of a Hellion soldier, his voice grim.

"…Someone turned their own machines against them."

A chill ran down Ryo's spine.

Before he could process that, the system pinged.

> [NEW QUEST: THE MACHINIST'S CURSE]

Objective: Discover the fate of the Iron Labyrinth.

Bonus: Recover usable schematics.

> "Ohhh, this is gonna be fun. Hope you like horror stories, rookie."

The Factory of Corpses

They moved cautiously through the abandoned halls. Flickering emergency lights cast eerie shadows, and every step echoed too loud.

Then—

A humming sound.

Low. Mechanical.

Ryo tensed. "Did anyone else hear that?"

Karin nodded, raising her rifle.

They rounded the next corner—

—And froze.

The room was massive, an old assembly line. Conveyor belts stretched across the floor, rusted mechanical arms frozen in time.

But that wasn't what made them stop.

It was the bodies.

Dozens. Maybe hundreds.

Hellion soldiers, their corpses half-infused with machines. Some had metal plating grafted to their bones, others had wires running through their skulls.

Ryo's stomach churned. "What… the fuck is this?"

Vos's face darkened. "…Someone was trying to create something.**

Karin muttered, "Or fix something."

> [Tactical Analysis: CORRUPTED BIOMECH EXPERIMENTS DETECTED.]

Warning: Unknown AI presence still active.

Ryo's heart skipped. "Wait. Still active?"

Then the humming grew louder.

> "Uh-oh. Looks like you woke something up."

A metallic groan echoed through the factory.

Then—

The corpses started moving.

The Awakening

"FUCK!" Karin fired first, her bullet punching through a soldier's skull.

The body twitched.

Then kept moving.

Vos barked, "Aim for the joints!"

Ryo snapped his rifle up, took aim at the knees, and pulled the trigger. The thing staggered, metal tendrils snapping, but it still crawled forward.

> "Oh, fantastic. You're fighting steampunk zombies. Have fun."

The machines screamed.

Then they attacked.

One lunged for Ryo. He barely dodged, swinging his rifle like a club, smashing it across the thing's metal-plated jaw. It snapped back, but didn't stop.

"FALL BACK!" Vos roared.

They ran, bullets tearing into the mechanical horrors, but there were too many.

The only way was forward.

Ryo saw a heavy blast door ahead.

> "Pro tip, dumbass—those doors were meant to keep things in. You might want to reconsider running straight into another death trap."

"You have a better idea?!" Ryo snapped, sprinting toward it.

> "Fair point. Carry on."

Vos slammed his hand against the control panel. The door groaned open.

They rushed inside.

The door slammed shut behind them.

For a moment, just a moment, there was silence.

Then Ryo turned.

And his blood ran cold.

Because this wasn't an exit.

This was a control room.

And at its center—

A throne of rusted metal.

And in that throne—

Something sat up.

Its eyes flickered to life.

A cold, distorted voice rattled through the speakers.

> "Ah… new visitors."

> "It has been… so long."

> [WARNING: HIGH-LEVEL THREAT DETECTED.]

Ryo's grip tightened on his rifle.

Because whatever this thing was—

It wasn't human.

And it had been waiting