Chapter 1 — Sync
🎮 Scene 1 — 7:32 AM | Red Portal, Sector 9 | LIVE FEED
[Operation: Vein Reaper Program – Phase II]
A thick red mist hugged the battlefield, swirling around cracked stones like blood-smeared fog. Everything looked dead, twisted, cursed.
Five users stepped through the rift. No chatter. Just quiet tension.
They weren't noobs—they were the Vein Reaper Unit, and today was supposed to be a standard raid.
Yeah, right.
Then the ground rumbled. Hard.
And from the ruins ahead… a five-headed serpent rose.
Each head burned with a different element—fire, frost, poison, lightning, and void. Its scales looked like living armor, and just standing near it made the air feel thick and heavy.
As if that wasn't bad enough, hundreds of smaller serpents started pouring out from underground cracks, hissing like a living tide.
> SYSTEM ALERT
BOSS IDENTIFIED: HYDRASKIN (FIVE-HEADED VARIANT)
THREAT LEVEL: RED-CLASS
TIME LIMIT: 12 MINUTES
TEAM SYNC: 89%
[VEIN REAPER PROGRAM ACTIVE]
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🛡️ Deployment Team – Vein Reaper Unit
Do Kyun — Bulwark (Team Leader)
Min Jae — Ghostblade
Seo Rin — Ethercaster
Hana — Lifecode
Ji Woo — Tracer
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> Do Kyun: "Nobody dies today. Formation B. I'm going in."
> Min Jae (checking his knives): "Left flank's mine."
> Seo Rin (lifting her staff): "Frost Net in two."
> Hana: "I've got heals. Just don't be stupid."
> Ji Woo (clicks his scope): "Last clip. Let's make it count."
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Do Kyun rushed forward, shield up. The fire head lunged and slammed into him, sending sparks flying. His boots scraped hard—but he held. Barely.
Then venom sprayed from the green head.
> Min Jae: "Poison spit!"
He blinked behind it—literally. Shadow-blinked.
His blade struck under the jaw, but the monster barely reacted.
> Min Jae: "Pulse point's under the chin! Hit it!"
Ji Woo fired from above, trying to blind the second head.
Ping. Ping.
Nothing pierced.
> Ji Woo: "Damn scales—aim for the joints!"
Suddenly, the massive tail whipped around.
> Seo Rin: "DUCK—!"
CRASH. Ji Woo got flung into a wall and didn't get up.
> Hana (panicked): "Ji Woo!"
She rushed over, light already glowing in her hands.
> SYSTEM: HEAL SUCCESSFUL. BATTERY: 58%
Ji Woo groaned, coughing.
> Hana (soft): "Don't scare me like that…"
No time to breathe.
> Do Kyun: "Left side! Pressure! Keep pushing!"
Seo Rin raised her staff and froze two of the heads solid.
> Seo Rin: "They're locked—go!"
Min Jae dashed forward and stabbed one of the frozen eyes. It shattered—blood and crystal flying everywhere. The beast roared.
> Min Jae: "Still angry. Good."
Then the ground cracked again.
More snakes.
> Seo Rin: "I'll handle the adds! Finish the boss!"
She scorched the horde in a wide cone of fire.
BOOM.
A shockwave from the main head blasted through the field.
Do Kyun took it straight on. His shield shattered.
He didn't move.
> Hana: "DO KYUN!!"
She stumbled forward, light flickering. Her system struggled.
> SYSTEM: SYNC CRITICAL. AUTO-EJECT: DISABLED
> Seo Rin: "Min Jae—NOW!"
---
Min Jae activated Overdrive Mode.
Red energy flared as he sprinted up the serpent's back like a demon.
> Min Jae: "Give me the core—NOW!"
He drove both daggers deep into the final head.
> Seo Rin: "Lightning—CLEAR!"
Her final cast struck.
The beast collapsed.
> SYSTEM REPORT — VEIN REAPER PROGRAM
RAID COMPLETE
REMAINING USERS: 3
CASUALTIES: 2
EXTRACTION IN: 60 SECONDS
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🎮 Scene 2 — 8:00 AM | District 13 | Jax Lee's Apartment
Plink. Plink.
A leaky faucet echoed in the tiny room.
Jax sat on his mattress, bruises showing beneath his hoodie.
Same hoodie. Same broken ceiling. Same silence.
He chewed stale bread and spat it out.
Outside, the sky buzzed with holographic ads—new gear, rankings, flashy guild reels.
Then a replay of the Red Portal raid flashed across his cracked window.
Five-headed boss. Flames. Victory.
Jax stared.
> Jax (quiet): "…Someday."
His phone buzzed.
No messages. Just one pinned article:
> 📂 MISSING: SYSTEM USER — LEE DAEJUN
STATUS: UNKNOWN
His father.
He locked the screen, stood up, and shoved his hands in his pockets.
> Jax (inward):
"He went into a portal… and never came back."
"They said he vanished."
"But I know something took him."
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🎮 Scene 3 — 8:22 AM | Sector 1 — Observation Room
Screens replayed the Red Portal footage—static, heat signatures, final strikes.
> Officer 1: "Raid clear. Two down. Three out."
> Agent Corrin: "Mark the survivors. Especially the healer."
Another screen flashed—glitched red.
> Officer 2: "Anomaly. District 13. Sync echo spike."
> Corrin: "Unregistered?"
> Officer 2: "Seventeen. No system log."
> Corrin: "Name?"
> Officer 2: "Jax Lee."
Corrin leaned in, staring at the blurred camera feed of a boy in a hoodie.
> Corrin: "Trace him. Quietly. No network alerts."
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🏛️ Scene 4 — 8:30 AM | Skyward Command – Executive Wing
The skyline burned with morning light.
President Seon Juwon watched the raid in slow motion, arms crossed.
> Seon: "The boss mutated. It learned mid-fight."
> VP Rika Han: "That's beyond Red-Class behavior."
> Seon: "It adapted to their abilities. That means interference…"
> Rika: "From the raid team?"
> Seon (cold): "No. From outside. An unsynced signature."
He turned to the window.
> Seon: "Old signals are waking up. Ones we buried."
> Rika (tense): "You think it's… one of those?"
> Seon: "If it is… then everything changes."
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⚠️ END OF CHAPTER 1
> [Author's Note: Chapter polished/revised on June 27 for smoother pacing. No plot changes.]