That night, Neon Haven trembled.
Thousands of avatars crowded around a colossal glitching gate beneath the city—the gateway into the Neon Labyrinth.
Noise filled the air.
"The Circuit Ghost's actually trying it?"
"No one's ever come back alive."
"We'll watch him get erased with our own eyes."
At the front, Kaelith stood tall with a cadre of Syndicate enforcers. His cloak shimmered green and violet, his smile razor-sharp.
"Circuit Ghost. You go in alone. If you fall, your body belongs to Haven. But if you succeed…"
He gestured toward the Syndicate's towering neon citadel, its logo spinning above like a crown of fangs.
"…Omega opens for you."
Yuto'o stood firm, his body fractured and bleeding data, glitch-blade trembling in his grip. Behind him, Yuuki and Orbis watched in silence.
Yuuki's voice cut the air, cold and steady.
"Boy. Remember your oath. If you don't walk out alive, your words mean nothing."
Yuto'o turned, his red-blue eyes burning.
"I won't be erased. I'll return with the Guardian's head."
[ACCESS: NEON LABYRINTH – INITIATED]
The glitch gate roared open.
Yuto'o stepped inside.
THE GUARDIAN OF THE NEON LABYRINTH
Name: The Neon Chimera
Form:
Towering as tall as buildings.
A fused monstrosity: a dragon's head burning green, a wolf's body formed of data-fire, and a lashing tentacle-tail glowing neon.
Its eyes flickered red and green, its maw vomiting corrupted code.
Its hide was cracked and unstable, like failed synthetic data forced into existence.
Arena:
Shifting neon maze.
Moving walls, collapsing floors, void-traps, and holographic spikes.
Light strobing violently, electronic thunder echoing through every corridor.
Abilities:
1. [Neon Breath] – vomits data-toxin that corrodes avatars and accelerates corruption.
2. [Data Tentacle] – multi-angle tentacle strikes that tear through guardians and walls.
3. [Labyrinth Shift] – rearranges the maze, trapping prey in infinite loops.
4. [Core Split] – splits its body into three glitch entities (Dragon, Wolf, Tentacle) to attack simultaneously.
This was no mere guardian. It was Syndicate's failed creation—too powerful to control. That's why they offered it as the Ghost's trial.
INSIDE THE LABYRINTH
Yuto'o walked forward, walls of neon pulsing around him. Cyan and emerald light shimmered across his fractured face, his breath sharp, blade drawn tight.
The Neon Labyrinth shook with a digital roar.
Out of the darkness stepped the Neon Chimera—its body a corrupted fusion of dragon, wolf, and writhing neon tentacles. Its eyes burned red-green, each step shattering the holographic floor beneath.
[NEON CHIMERA – GUARDIAN PROTOCOL: ACTIVE]
[OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE INTRUDER]
Yuto'o stood tall in the shifting corridor of glitches, his body already 60% fractured. His breathing was ragged, but his eyes burned hotter than the neon storm around him.
"If I fall… let it be here. But I won't be erased before I reach Reboot."
He advanced, glitch-blade trembling with unstable light.
The Chimera roared. Its dragon head unleashed a torrent of toxic neon.
[NEON BREATH]
Emerald fire tore through the corridor, collapsing walls into void.
Yuto'o warped aside, appearing atop a wall—only for a tentacle to smash through it, hurling him down.
Five glitch guardians surged from the floor to intercept.
The Chimera's tail lashed once. BOOM! All five were shattered.
[LABYRINTH SHIFT]
The maze walls groaned and rearranged. Yuto'o was trapped—dragon jaws in front, wolf glitch at his back, neon tentacles descending overhead.
Blood-data dripped from his fractures. He grinned.
"Good… more enemies means more reasons to live."
His aura flared violently.
[GLITCH WARP FIELD – OVERCLOCK]
His body split into dozens of glitch-shadows, warping across the labyrinth, blades slashing from every angle.
KRANNNGG!
The glitch-blade carved across the dragon, sparks bursting neon. Yuto'o warped behind the wolf, driving his sword through its eye-core.
BOOOM! The wolf howled, collapsing into fragments of corrupted green data.
But a tentacle smashed Yuto'o sideways, sending him slamming into a wall. His fractures spread to 70%.
"Aghhh—DAMN IT!"
The Chimera roared louder, its body splitting apart into three complete forms: dragon, wolf, tentacle.
[CORE SPLIT – ACTIVE]
Three bosses. One Ghost.
Yuto'o staggered to his feet, blood-data pouring. His grip tightened on his broken blade.
"I will not be erased. I swore—I will reach Reboot."
He warped forward, aura burning red-blue like a storm.
[POSSESSION LEVEL 3 – UNSTABLE]
A giant glitch guardian surged up from the labyrinth floor, clashing head-on with the neon dragon.
Yuto'o leapt toward the wolf again, stabbing deep into its chest-core. Sparks exploded, the wolf dissolving into shards.
The tentacle lashed from behind, wrapping around his body, crushing his frame.
[CODE STRAIN – CORRUPTION +5%]
His fractures surged to 75%, blood-data bursting from his wounds.
"NOOO—!"
His body ignited.
[OVERCLOCK BURST – MAX OUTPUT]
The explosion of glitch shredded the tentacle into raining fragments.
The neon dragon gathered one last breath.
[NEON BREATH]
A storm of emerald fire poured forward.
Yuto'o warped straight into it, his body nearly shattering under the corrosion. His blade screamed with cracks.
"…I am the CIRCUIT GHOST!"
He struck with everything left.
The glitch-blade cleaved the dragon's skull.
BOOOOOOMMMM!!!
Blue-red clashed with neon green, detonating the entire maze into a storm of collapsing code.
Silence.
Data ash floated like snow.
At the center of the ruin, Yuto'o stood—his sword broken in half, his body fractured 80%, blood-data spilling down his frame.
At his feet: the shattered head of the Neon Chimera, crystallized into a glowing glitch core.
[GUARDIAN PROTOCOL – TERMINATED]
[TRIAL COMPLETED]
Outside the labyrinth gate, the waiting crowds of Neon Haven froze as light spilled out.
The door opened—Yuto'o emerged. Broken, barely standing, but alive. In his hand, the Chimera's crystalline head gleamed.
The underworld erupted in frenzy.
"He survived!"
"The Circuit Ghost killed the Chimera!"
"A new Ghost has risen!"
Kaelith stepped forward, his green eyes flashing, applause slow and deliberate.
"Well done, Circuit Ghost. You succeeded where all others failed. As promised…"
He gestured to the Syndicate's neon tower, glowing brighter than ever.
"…Omega Server is now open to you."
Yuuki appeared at Yuto'o's side, her whip humming faintly. She smiled cold, sharp.
"You're alive, boy. But if you keep burning yourself like this, your oath will be nothing but your gravestone."
Orbis clutched the Chimera's crystal, voice trembling.
"Omega Server… the first door to Reboot."
And far away, in the corporate towers, the executives were already waiting.